Originally posted Aug. 19, 2009
By REBECCA P.
“Meet Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki, two girls with the same last name, but very different lives and personalities. Nana Komatsu is naïve, childish and not the brightest crayon in the box, but she knows about love. By moving to Tokyo, will she find happiness with Shoji?
Nana Osaki on the other hand is a singer in the popular band blast. She’s tough, cool, and just needs her music. She’s currently with the love of her life Ren and everything is going right in her life until Ren is offered the deal of a lifetime to play for the band Trapnest leaving Nana behind.
How will the lives of these two opposite girls clash and more importantly will they survive each other and find their true loves in Tokyo?”
My thoughts
The first volume of Nana is a volume introducing us to both Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu. We’re told their love lives, career and school lives, about their friends and we just get an overall introduction up to the point where they’re on their way to Tokyo. This doesn’t set up much for the story being an introduction volume (and literally the only progress made is getting to know the two Nanas), that aside their starts are interesting to read.
Art-wise the style is simple, yet intriguing. It’s not anything special, but it’s unique in a good way. Not much emphasis is placed on the area or things surrounding characters, but 95 percent of the drawing is given to character designs and fashion (special emphasis on fashion). While the art may not be a big hit, the story is catchy and the focus and attention lies in the smart dialogue and progressing story.
With two main protagonists, its important for them to be likable. Nana Komatsu is the bubbly airhead who falls for a lot of guys (oh, and gets with a married man) and I found her to be annoying, but she’s still young and even from reading her story we can see her maturity slowly grow. Nana Osaki on the other hand has a chip on her shoulder and is prideful. She’s more together and the opposite of Komatsu in every way. I liked Nana Osaki more than the other Nana, but let’s see what happens once the two meet, shall we?
There is a healthy cast of other characters that help bring out the story. The story isn’t perfect as it hasn’t even begun (let’s just call this a “meet the characters” volume) but leaves a lot of story open for future volumes. One thing I also enjoyed was how realistic the characters were and how uncliched they were. Komatsu has an obsession with the demon lord that’s a figment of her imagination, and I’m sure we all have one friend with some strange jokes we don’t quite get (said demon lord is created to bring destruction to her).
The first volume is a great read to a fantastic series. There’s a reason it’s one of the top selling shojo manga of all time: it’s that good. While this is merely a “meet the characters” volume, it’s a must-read to understand a complicated and very good series. If you like romance, fashion, and reading about the life of a young woman in Japan, this is for you.
