Line #53 Manga/Nana


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_nana.jpg]]
5
6	->''"Hey Nana, do you remember...?"''
7
8	Nana "Hachi" Komatsu is a 20-year-old GenkiGirl from the countryside with a bad habit of falling in love at first sight. Nana Osaki is a 20-year-old punk rocker from a different small city, who's coming off a bad breakup with her boyfriend (and former bass player of her band). When "Hachi" decides to follow her boyfriend to Tokyo, and the other Nana heads there to start her music career, the two young women meet by chance on a snowbound train. They rent an apartment together several days later. [[{{Deconstruction}} Surprisingly realistic drama]] and an [[PseudoRomanticFriendship oddly romantic friendship]] ensues.
9
10	The manga ''Nana'' is technically {{shoujo}}, but according to Website/TheOtherWiki, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Nana_%28manga%29#.22Genre.22 it's often been confused for]] {{josei}}, and according to that same wiki, by 2005, it was the fourth best selling {{shoujo}} manga. The first live action movie was the #2 film in Japan in 2005, behind only the then-latest film from Creator/StudioGhibli, ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle''. The anime ran for 47 episodes and is licensed for distribution in North America. Both the anime and the manga are licensed by Creator/VIZMedia, Viz lost the license and the anime is now licensed by Creator/SentaiFilmworks and is streaming on Creator/HiDive.
11
12	The manga began serialization in the magazine ''Cookie'' in 2000, but it went on an indefinite hiatus in 2009 due to the author, Creator/AiYazawa, recovering from an illness; while it has yet to resume, as of 2022, Yazawa has stated that she does eventually plan to continue the story.
13
14	In 2013, to commemorate the 100th issue of ''Cookie'', [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-01-25/nana-yazawa-draws-new-junko-room-chapter a bonus chapter was released.]]
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16	Not to be confused with ''[[Anime/SevenOfSeven Shichinin no Nana]]''.
17	----
18	!!Tropes:
19
20	* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Hachi's neglect of Shoji in favor of focusing her energy on Nana and Blast is part of the reason why [[spoiler:Shoji strays.]] Averted with [[spoiler:Nana and Ren whose love for one another did not dim while he was with Trapnest.]]
21	* AllMenArePerverts: Every guy in Japan knows who porn star Yuri is.
22	* AmIJustAToyToYou: Hachi and Reira both ask this. [[spoiler:Of the same guy, no less.]]
23	* AscendedFanboy: Misato is hired as one of BLAST's managers/assistants.
24	* BabiesEverAfter: Or rather, a {{Deconstruction}} of it.
25	* {{Backstory}}: The manga does this well and eventually shows the members of Trapnest (Yasu, Reira, and Takumi) when they were in high school together.
26	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Takumi, probably the closest this series has to an antagonist, ultimately marries Nana and fathers her children.]]
27	* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: [[spoiler:The hinted infatuation between the two Nanas is practically thrown overboard as the series progresses.]]
28	* BathtubBonding : Nana K and Nana O are seen bathing and discussing life. This also happens with Nana and Takumi, as well.
29	* TheBeautifulElite: The members of Trapnest, such as Reira, and Ren are considered beauties, and the boys in BLAST are considered attractive as well.
30	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Post break-up with Shoji, Hachi wishes that her next boyfriend is cold and distant so that it would hurt less when he inevitiably betrays her. Nana also wished that Hachi would soon get a boyfriend, one with long hair since Hachi prefers it. [[spoiler: Enter [[JerkAss Takumi.]]]]
31	* BetaCouple: Junko and Kyosuke
32	* BilingualBonus: For Japanese viewers in particular since both the lyrics of almost all of BLAST's and Trapnest's songs include English phrases
33	* BittersweetEnding: At least for the anime; the manga is on hiatus. [[spoiler: Hachi eventually seems to break away from Takumi, and maintains a friendship with some of Blast. But ultimately the two Nanas part ways seemingly forever, something which Hachi is still devastated by.]]
34	* BluntMetaphorsTrauma: Shin, particularly in early chapters. [[spoiler:Though, there's a reason for this. He didn't live in Japan until his teens and was apparently brought up by a bilingual flight attendant.]]
35	* BreakTheCutie: One of the premier examples in shoujo manga.
36	* CallForward: Very effectively inverted. Hachi as the narrator addresses a lot of questions on whether or not their future would've been different if Hachi had acted or reacted to something differently. This creates the sense that something BAD has happened in the future that has separated Hachi and Nana but since the audience doesn't know exactly what that is, even during happy episodes and chapters there's an ominous feeling permeating throughout the narrative.
37	* CampStraight: Nana originally thought Shin was gay, but it turns out he was always part of CampStraight.
38	* TheCasanova: Takumi, who always seems to be juggling two or three girls at the same time.
39	* CastingCouch: In a variation, [[spoiler:Misato may be sleeping with the agency president for Blast's benefit]]. The series went on hiatus before it was confirmed.
40	* ChildNamingRequest: Nana K asks Ren to name her child.
41	* CigaretteofAnxiety: Almost everyone smokes and almost everyone is going through emotional turmoil. These show up all the time.
42	* ClingyJealousGirl:
43	** Yuri isn't exactly amused by [[spoiler:Mrs. Takumi Ichinose staying at the same dorm as Nobu and makes her feelings ''very'' clear.]]
44	--> '''Yuri''': Nice to meet you, ex-girlfriend. I'm the new girlfriend.
45	** Nana O. has some of this with regard to Hachi early in the series.
46	* CompeteForTheMaidensHand: Takumi and Nobu with Hachi
47	* CountryMouse: Hachi comes from a small town. So does the other Nana, but she is not as "mousy" about it.
48	* DarkerAndEdgier: This is a shoujo manga, not josei. But because all of the characters have realistic flaws and are constantly making poor choices because of those flaws, it can easily be mistaken for josei.
49	* DeadGuyJunior: [[spoiler: Little Ren.]]
50	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Ren. You'd think death by overdose (since he has a really bad addiction relapse by the later chapters), but it is in fact a car crash that does him in.]]
51	* DebutQueue: The manga begins with ADayInTheLimelight origin stories for both Nana and Hachi.
52	* DistantFinale: [[spoiler:It is pointed that there is one ''six years later'', at the least.]] For the anime, the manga being on hiatus.
53	* DomesticAbuser: Takumi to Hachi. Takumi attempts to manipulate and control Nana, and [[spoiler: rapes her on two occasions.]]
54	* DrugsAreBad: [[spoiler: Since becoming famous Ren has picked up a drug habit, implied heavily to be influenced by his loneliness at being apart from Nana. He struggles to stay clean with Nana back in the picture, but relapses when she focuses more on her music. The only ones that know are the other members of Trapnest.]]
55	* DysfunctionJunction: The majority of the characters. For example, Nana O. was abandoned by her mother, and Takumi had an alcoholic father.
56	* ElegantGothicLolita: Misato.
57	* EmpathicEnvironment: There is rain and snow for fear and despair, sad clouded days, melancholic sun... almost everything to represent the [[{{Wangst}} characters feelings at the moment]].
58	* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Nana O.'s fans are mostly girls, and they go all lovestruck all over her. Nana K. loves her too, and Misato.
59	** EvenTheGuysWantHim: Shin, who charges extra for guys.
60	* EverybodySmokes: The vast majority of the cast. BLAST is even named after [=BlackStones=], a real-life Swisher brand of cigarettes.
61	* {{Expy}}:
62	** Ren is one to [[Music/SexPistols Sid Vicious]] - whom he cites as an influence for himself. And Nana's appearance - at least in the Movie version - was stated by her actress to be based off of J-Rocker Shiina Ringo.
63	** Most of the characters' designs seem to be either borrowed or updated versions of ones from Yazawa's older works. Ren looks quite similar to Takeshi from ''Manga/NeighborhoodStory'', save for Takeshi's red hair and eyebrow piercing, and also plays the guitar in a band. Takumi's design is particularly prevalent, though, having not [[http://i53.tinypic.com/5yrzt1.jpg only looking]] like an older version Tomoki from ''Kagen No Tsuki'' (and who also cheated on his girlfriend) but also Yuusuke from ''Manga/NeighborhoodStory'' and to a lesser degree, Akira (with his hair down) from ''Manga/TenshiNankaJaNai''.
64	* FaceFault
65	* FanGirl: Misato, who has binders of BLAST trivia.
66	* TheFashionista: Both Nanas, although their tastes couldn't be more different.
67	* TheFellowshipHasEnded: Happens twice. [[spoiler: The first is when Shoji cheats on Nana which effectively ends the friend group of him, Nana, Kyousuke, and Junko. The second is when Hachi picks Takumi over Nobu, which basically removes her "Team Mom" role from BLAST.]]
68	* FlashForward: Beginning with volume 12, there are segments that take place in the distant future, where [[spoiler:Nana and the former Black Stones members try to look for Nana.]]
69	* {{Foil}}: What the entire show is premised on. Nana K. is an open, needy, dependent, selfish, immature woman who falls in love WAY too easily with men who don't always deserve it and has no real dream for herself other than to be happy with the one she loves. Nana O. is a fiercely independent, emotionally closed-off, mature-for-her-age woman who at times takes for granted the love she has from others and is willing to sacrifice and repress her own love for the sake of her dreams and ambition.
70	* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler:Trapnest's agency and Takumi are against Ren deciding to check himself into rehab as the foreseeable scandal would mean the end of the band. Layla takes it upon herself to run away as a distraction, but Ren--being the selfless person he is--goes after her. He crashes from speeding on the snow-covered roads while trying to lose paparazzi following him. His death does not only affect Trapnest, but it becomes a catalyst towards Nana O.'s future disappearance and the end of Black Stones.]]
71	* GenkiGirl: Nana K. is considered by her roommate to be like a puppy for her energy and desire to please so she's nicknamed Hachi, as in UsefulNotes/{{Hachiko}}.
72	* GratuitousEnglish: The grammar is good, but the pronunciation varies. In TheMovie, Mika Nakashima (Nana) has a very thick accent. The anime series used one bilingual singer and one who isn't fluent in English but has a good accent. On the other hand, bad English would be in-character.
73	* GreyAndGreyMorality / WhiteAndGreyMorality: There really are no true antagonists but a rather SliceOfLife story with complex, human, and relatable characters.
74	* GyaruGirl: Nana K's sister Nami is "still a ganguro girl." She is tanned and open about sexual matters.
75	* HorribleHollywood: Well, horrible music world. Full of Yakuza who pick up runaways and get them into porn, and music company presidents who get guitarists into heroin.
76	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Considering most of the male cast is near six feet or above... [[spoiler:But mostly present in Shoji/Sachiko.]]
77	* HumbleGoal: Misato states that her purpose in life is being a BLAST groupie.
78	* ImAManICantHelpIt: Takumi's excuse for his constant philandering.
79	* InstantBandages
80	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A tragic double case of this.
81	* IdenticalStranger: Shin's "guardian" Ryoko looks a fair bit like Reira at first glance, [[spoiler:and one of Takumi's many liaisons involves an actress with a passing resemblance to her as well. Hachi herself points this out to him once while watching a popular drama she's on-- of course, completely oblivious to the fact that they'd just slept with each other. He understandably [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend gets squicked]] and flat out denies it.]]
82	* JerkAss: Takumi. He tends to flip between this and JerkWithAHeartOfGold. [[spoiler:But mostly when it comes to Hachi's pregnancy. ... Most of the time, anyway.]]
83	* KarmaHoudini: Takumi never gets the smack-down he so much deserves.
84	* KissOfLife: [[spoiler:In the case of Nana's panic attacks -- once from Ren and another later from Hachi.]]
85	* LadyInRed:
86	** In the manga, [[spoiler: Shin and Reira have a joint birthday party, bringing together all of the major players, and Hachiko finally sees Nobu with sensual porn-star Yuri and begins to speculate on their relationship.]]
87	--->'''Hachi''': I wonder... who that girl was. You don't see anyone around here wearing a red dress anymore.
88	** Nana O. also bought herself a red dress when her grandmother passed away, largely because her grandmother forbade her from wearing red to tempt men.
89	* LoonyFan: Misato is very nice, but also ''very'' obsessed. One scene plays it for joking horror: she uses a utility knife to cut out a tabloid article about Nana and adds it to her [[StalkerShrine collection]] while her TV runs a news story about a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything stalker taking pictures of someone for years and then murdering her]]. Misato turns it off and asks her framed photo of Nana about love and self-control.
90	* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Nana K. notes that she wants someone who will treasure her, but falls in love at first sight, despite the man's inner character.
91	* LoveHurts: Both Nana K. and Nana O. suffer from fatally flawed relationships.
92	* MeaningfulFuneral: Averted. [[spoiler: There are scenes with Ren in his coffin, scenes before the funeral and after the funeral but not really one single scene from the funeral itself]].
93	* MeaningfulName: The title of the series. It is named ''Nana'' because of the protagonists, Nana Komatsu and Nana Ohsaki, who start living together in the same apartment. And it gets down from there.
94	** "Nana" is also "seven" in Japanese. Nana K. (Hachi) has a superstitious obsession with the number seven, believing that it brings bad luck. Two sevens in one place are particularly unlucky. And their apartment number is ''707''. Which makes it ''four'' sevens in the same place.
95	** Taking that in consideration, chapter 77 is definitely a bad omen. [[spoiler:Ren is killed in an automobile crash accident.]]
96	** Hachi's nickname is also more meaningful than it first appears. The "seven and eight" and "she's like Nana O's dog" jokes are obvious, but the real symbolism only becomes clear much later in the story. [[spoiler:Hachiko, the dog, is famous in Japan for waiting for his owner at the local train station for years after his owner passed away. In the timeskip sections of the story, Hachi waits for Nana O. to return to apartment 707 even when Nana O. is long believed to be dead.]]
97	* TheMistress: [[spoiler:Hachi, surprisingly, during her high school years. See also Takumi's stable of ladies.]]
98	* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: [[spoiler:Nana to Ren.]]
99	* NoFourthWall:
100	** An entire scene in episode 15 makes heavy references to the production of the show, and has minor cast members discussing when they get time off (during sweeps)... and worrying about the show being canceled if "Hachi" were to kill herself.
101	** The manga is possibly even worse (or better, depending on your point of view) in this respect. The Nanas regularly ask the author to hurry up boring scenes, and at one point chastise her for overusing [[SevenIsNana number seven-related symbolism]].
102	** "Junko's Bar", at the end of the volumes, is definitely built with no walls for both the readers, and the characters of the series (and other guests from Yazawa's other works), while serving as a space of promotion as well.
103	* NoodlePeople: Almost everyone. More noticeable in the manga.
104	* OddCouple: Nana K. is a perky cheerful girl who falls in love at first sight. Nana O. is a quieter and cooler type.
105	* OperationJealousy: It's heavily implied that this is why [[spoiler:Reira started going out with Yasu in high school.]]
106	* OppositesAttract: Despite being exact opposites right down to their family origins, the two Nanas seem to enjoy each other's differences.
107	* PoorCommunicationKills: Virtually all the drama and tension in the series is from characters being to proud or humiliated to actually clarify what's on their mind, and letting everyone's worst imaginations run wild.
108	* ProductionThrowback: The volume extras have characters from Yazawa's older works, like ''Manga/ParadiseKiss'' and ''Manga/TenshiNankaJanai''.
109	* RedStringOfFate
110	* SmokingIsCool: Everyone smokes, with exception of Hachi, Reira and Nobu.
111	* SmugSnake: Takumi.
112	* SecretRelationship: [[spoiler:Takumi/Hachi and Shin/Reira.]]
113	* SevenIsNana: The whole premise.
114	* SexChangesEverything: For pretty much everyone.
115	* ShipSinking: [[spoiler:While it is open about what could happen with Nobu and Hachi in the "present", especially concerning that she gets divorced from Takumi sometime in the six years period... it is definitely clear that Nana and Ren as a couple gets sunk... when he dies.]]
116	* SignificantNameOverlap: The story kicks off when two girls named Nana have a chance encounter and hits it off so well they become roommates. Nana Komatsu is nicknamed "Hachi" to tell her apart from Nana Osaki. Having their given names the same makes their differences more obvious.
117	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Under all the emotional hardships and depressing elements of both the series and the manga is a heartfelt, realistic, relevant, and hopeful message of "as long as we are alive something good will happen"
118	* SnowMeansDeath
119	* SpecialEditionTitle
120	* SproutingEars: Nana K. is often shown with dog ears and the dog comparison is discussed among the characters. It's part of the origin behind her nickname "Hachi". Nana O. is also sometimes seen with cat ears.
121	* StalkerShrine: Misato has a framed photo of Nana and bookshelves full of organized BLAST material.
122	* StepfordSmiler: Almost the entire cast, though particularly Hachi, Reira, Shin and Misato.
123	* SunglassesAtNight: Yasu.
124	* TeamMom: Hachi, who is usually the childish one in most of her relationships, is actually quite motherly towards the members of Blast (with the exception of Yasu, who is this type of character himself), even before [[spoiler:she finds out she's pregnant]]. Afterwards, it only increases especially in regard to [[spoiler: her taking care of Nana after Ren's death in the current story arc. Shin even starts referring to her as "his mother".]]
125	* ThoseTwoGuys: In-universe, Takumi mentions that most people only know him and Naoki as "the long haired guy and the blond guy".
126	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Nana Osaki is the tomboy, Nana Komatsu is the girly-girl.
127	* TookALevelInBadass: Yasu dealing with the paparazzi [[spoiler:and the media circus around Nana O. and Ren's relationship in episode 39 of the anime. ''Twice''.]]
128	--> ''"Instead of looking in other people's gardens, make sure your own flowers bloom"''. (Badass Walk)
129	* TruthInTelevision: Marijuana and other hard drugs are banned in Japan, with Japanese law enforcements take violations seriously to the point that being caught with marijuana is enough to get you to kiss your career goodbye. In later parts of the manga, [[spoiler:Shin gets arrested after he and his pimp get caught with marijuana, which causes Black Stones to cancel their first tour. However, it becomes a SubvertedTrope when in chapter 66, the distant future shows that Shin is now a successful actor, though Yasu does mention he should be grateful that he was even able to make a CareerResurrection at all.]] Another instance of this happening is when, shortly after [[spoiler:Ren dies]], Takumi and Yasu speculate if it was due to drug use. Takumi begins to become concerned about how this would affect [[spoiler:Ren]] legally until Yasu mentions that the police will do nothing about it as [[spoiler:Ren is dead]].
130	* UnlimitedWardrobe: Pretty much everybody, but especially Hachi. Justified, since the author originally went to school for fashion design before becoming a mangaka.
131	* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Reira, who unfortunately suffers from a ''lot'' of {{UST}} because of it.
132	* WhamEpisode:
133	** When it is revealed that Hachi got pregnant. [[spoiler:And that she is unsure who the father is: it was either Nobu or Takumi, and neither takes the news well.]]
134	** [[spoiler:The flash forward chapters are whole built into this. The first flash forward chapter reveals that Hachi had a cute little girl named Satsuki, but the ''WHAM'' happens many chapters later when it is revealed that she has an ''older'' brother, named Ren.]]
135	** [[spoiler:When it is discovered that while Nana's mom abandoned her, she formed a new family, and ''Misato'', her number one fan, is not who ''she'' is supposed to be, taking the name of Nana's real ''half-sister''.]]
136	** [[spoiler:In another flash forward chapter, Hachi finds out that Nana is still alive and well, and her whereabouts are rumoured to be in Europe.]]
137	** [[spoiler: Ren's death in chapter 77. Partly drugged, followed by paparazzi, he took a wrong turn (by a distraction) and crashes. The real sad thing of this? It happened on Nana O.'s birthday.]]
138	* WhosYourDaddy: [[spoiler:Hachi's pregnancy in the current storyline--nobody's sure if little Ren is (biologically) Takumi's or Nobu's.]]
139	* YokoOhNo: [[spoiler: This is how the Trapnest fans see Nana O. when it is openly reported that Ren was not only in Black Stones, but also her boyfriend. Especially when BLAST gets known in the music media, the fans thought that Nana was only using Ren as a "ladder" to success. It doesn't end ''good'' for either her career or herself.]]
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Context Manga / Nana