Nana (also called NANA) is a Japanese manga series created and drawn by Ai Yazawa. It first appeared as a two-part introduction in Shueisha's monthly shōjo manga magazine, Cookie, in 1999. The series was then published regularly in the same magazine from May 2000 to May 2009 before being paused without a set return date. The story has been collected into 21 tankōbon volumes. The manga follows Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu, two women who move to Tokyo at age 20. The story focuses on Nana O.'s journey to gain fame and Nana K.'s search for love, while both try to keep their friendship strong.
The manga was adapted into a live-action movie in 2005, with a second movie released in 2006. A 47-episode anime television series, produced by Madhouse and directed by Morio Asaka, aired on Nippon TV from April 2006 to March 2007. All versions of Nana have been made available in English in North America by Viz Media. Viz published the manga in their Shojo Beat magazine until August 2007 and also released it in book format. They made both films available in English in 2008, and the English version of the anime was shown on the Funimation Channel starting in 2009. In 2021, Sentai Filmworks took over the rights to license the anime again.
Nana received the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo category in 2003. By 2019, the manga had sold over 50 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most successful manga series ever.
Plot
On March 5, 2001, Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu, called Hachi, meet when Nana K. moves to Tokyo at age 20. Nana O. wants to start a music career with her band, Black Stones, while Nana K. moves in with her boyfriend and friends. Even though they have different personalities, they decide to be roommates to save money on rent. Their friendship later faces challenges as they deal with love, goals, and personal problems.
After Nana K. ends her relationship with her dishonest boyfriend, she starts dating Takumi, the bassist of the popular band Trapnest, which makes her friendship with Nana O. more difficult. Nana O. begins a relationship again with her former boyfriend, Ren, who is also a guitarist in Trapnest. Nana K. also develops feelings for Nobu, a guitarist in Black Stones, but after learning she is pregnant, she marries Takumi. Nana O. feels upset about the growing distance between them and decides to help Black Stones become more successful to fix their friendship.
When a newspaper reports on Nana O. and Ren’s relationship, Black Stones becomes famous and starts performing professionally. However, their relationship worsens because of Nana O.’s jealousy and Ren’s drug use, even though they are engaged. As more media attention grows, Nana K. learns about Nana O.’s family, including her birth mother. Before Black Stones’ first tour, their bassist, Shin, is arrested, which leads Nana O. to try a solo music career. Soon after, Ren dies in a car accident, leaving Nana O. to deal with sadness and rethink her dependence on Nana K.
Later parts of the story show that many years have passed, and people say Nana O. is dead. Nana K. and her friends find out she ran away to England and try to find her.
Characters
Black Stones, also called Blast ( ブラスト , Burasuto ), is a rock band. Nana O. is the main singer. Ren was a member of the band, but he left to join another group called Trapnest. After Ren left, the band hired a new member named Shin. The band gained many fans and later signed a contract with Gaia Records.
Media
The manga Nana was written and drawn by Ai Yazawa. It first appeared as a two-part story in 1999 in Shueisha’s Cookie magazine, which is a sister publication of Ribon. At first, Yazawa was asked to create two short stories to help launch Cookie. She decided to connect the stories so they would be easier to read if they were published as a series. Yazawa said she had wanted to draw a story about a rockabilly band while working on I'm No Angel in the 1990s. For Nana, she chose to focus on a punk band instead because she had already drawn one of the main characters with a pompadour hairstyle for I'm No Angel.
Nana was later published as a monthly series in Cookie, beginning on May 26, 2000. It ran for 84 chapters until May 26, 2009. In June 2009, the series was paused because Yazawa became ill. She returned from the hospital in early April 2010, but it was not clear when or if she would continue the manga. During her 2022 art exhibition, Yazawa said she hoped to continue the series once she could.
The chapters of Nana were collected into 21 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, published between May 15, 2000, and March 13, 2009. The most recent four chapters were not included in a tankōbon volume. Each volume also includes a short bonus comic called Junko's Room, which features Junko as the owner of a bar. Characters from Yazawa’s other works sometimes appear in these comics.
In North America, Nana is licensed by Viz Media. It was published in Shojo Beat, starting in the July 2005 issue and ending in the August 2007 issue. The 21 volumes were released between December 6, 2005, and July 6, 2010. Viz Media added the series to its digital service in May 2023. On January 24, 2025, Viz Media announced it would publish the series in a 2-in-1 omnibus edition in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The manga Nana features the brand Vivienne Westwood, as Yazawa is a fan of the brand. Some outfits in the series are real clothing from her personal collection.
Two live-action films based on Nana were made. The first film, Nana, was released on September 3, 2005. It stars Mika Nakashima as Nana Osaki, Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi (Nana Komatsu), Ryuhei Matsuda as Ren Honjou, Tetsuji Tamayama as Takumi Ichinose, Hiroki Narimiya as Nobuo Terashima, and Kenichi Matsuyama as Shinichi Okazaki. The DVD version was released on March 3, 2006. The film earned more than ¥4 billion in Japan and stayed in the top 10 for several weeks.
A sequel, Nana 2, was released on December 9, 2006. Miyazaki, Matsuda, and Matsuyama did not return to play Hachi, Ren, and Shinichi. Their roles were given to Yui Ichikawa, Nobuo Kyo, and Kanata Hongō, respectively.
An anime version of Nana was produced by Nippon Television, VAP, Shueisha, and Madhouse. It was directed by Morio Asaka, with Tomoko Konparu writing the scripts, Kunihiko Hamada designing the characters, and Tomoki Hasegawa composing the music. The anime aired on Nippon TV from April 5, 2006, to March 28, 2007. The first and third opening songs, "Rose" and "Lucy," and the third ending song, "Kuroi Namida" ("Black Tears"), were performed by Anna Tsuchiya, who also sang for Nana Osaki in the anime. Olivia Lufkin performed the second opening song, "Wish," and the first two ending songs, "A Little Pain" and "Starless Night," and also sang for Reira Serizawa. The anime was released on 17 DVD volumes by VAP between July 7, 2006, and November 21, 2007.
Viz Media licensed the anime for release in North America and released it on four DVD box sets between September 9, 2009, and April 13, 2010, including an English dub. Funimation acquired the rights to the dub and aired it on the Funimation Channel in 2009. After Viz Media lost the rights, Sentai Filmworks re-licensed the series in 2021 and released it on its Hidive service on April 22, 2021. Sentai Filmworks also released the anime on a SteelBook Blu-ray edition on February 22, 2022, and a regular Blu-ray edition on May 17, 2022.
The anime was created to match the manga and adapted up to the first chapter of volume 12 to avoid adding extra storylines. In April 2007, Junko Koseki, the editor of Nana at Shueisha, and Masao Maruyama, then-managing director of Madhouse, said they would wait until the manga was finished before making more anime.
Two image albums inspired by Nana were released: Punk Night: From Nana by King Records on September 26, 2003, and Nana's Song is My Song by Momo & Grapes on November 6, 2003. A tribute album, Love for Nana: Only 1 Tribute, was released by EMI Music Japan on March 16, 2005. It included songs by artists such as Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, Skye Sweetnam, and other Japanese musicians.
A video game version of Nana for the PlayStation 2 was made by Konami and released on March 17, 2005. A PlayStation Portable game, Nana: Everything Is Controlled By The Great Demon King!?, was released on July 6, 2006. A Nintendo DS game, Nana: Live Staff Mass Recruiting! Beginners Welcome, was released by Konami on June 21, 2007.
Reception
Nana was recommended by the Jury in the Manga Division during the sixth and eighth events of the Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2002 and 2004. Along with Kaze Hikaru, Nana won the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo category in 2003. It was named the top favorite shōjo manga by Oricon Style in 2005. Nana was nominated for the 10th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award in 2006.
In 2007, the Young Adult Library Services Association in the United States included the series in its "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list. Deb Aoki of About.com ranked Nana as the fifth "Must-Read" shōjo manga series in its "Top shojo Manga Must-Reads" list. Aoki described the manga as "a beautifully-drawn series that is filled with heartfelt drama, big city glamor, fabulous fashion, rock and roll sass and many unexpected twists." She also listed Nana in her "50 Essential Manga for Libraries" list, noting its mature themes and stating it shows the need for adult collections. A 2012 survey by Goo, involving 1,939 people, found Nana among the top favorite manga for women. The Independent noted that part of the appeal of Nana in Japan was its focus on the contrast between a rebellious character and a character who follows traditional values.
The 18th volume of Nana was the second highest-selling manga volume in 2007. In 2008, the 19th volume was the third highest-selling, and the 20th volume was the fifth highest-selling in Japan, selling over 1.6 million and 1.4 million copies, respectively. In the first half of 2009, the 21st volume was the third best-selling manga volume, with sales of 1.4 million copies. By the end of 2009, Nana was the sixth best-selling manga series, with 3.1 million copies sold. By 2005, the first twelve volumes had sold over 22 million copies. By 2008, the series had sold over 43.6 million copies. By 2019, Nana had sold over 50 million copies worldwide. In the United States, the 21st volume reached ninth on the New York Times Graphic Books list for the week of July 10.
The anime adaptation of Nana had an average TV rating of 6.3% in the Kanto region, which was unusually high for a late-night anime. This rating was later surpassed by Nodame Cantabile, which reached 6.6% in November 2008.