Nana, Vol. 1

by Ai Yazawa

Book Overview

A chance meeting on a train to Tokyo sends two girls named Nana on a collision course with destiny!

Nana "Hachi" Komatsu hopes that moving to Tokyo will help her make a clean start and leave her capricious love life behind her. Nana Osaki, who arrives in the city at the same time, has plans to score big in the world of rock'n'roll. Although these two young women come from different backgrounds, they quickly become best friends in a whirlwind...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1421501082
• ISBN13: 9781421501086
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.9" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

My favorite manga

This great manga for older teens. Its about two girls with same name who meet and try to find themselves.

Nana

I saw the anime for this before I started to read the manga and I have to say that it is an amazing story so far. So in the fact that I wanted to know what happens next (or in between the story and "ending" they used in the anime) and started reading the manga. The story so far is exactly as the anime shows but the only thing I did not like about the english translated Manga is the fact that they use the most annoying slang when the characters are talking or thinking. The subtitled version of the anime that I watched (on-line) was wonderful, and the slang used in the manga was not in that. I think that the manga would be a lot better if they would just translate it without the annoying slang. Like having the characters constantly saying "man" or "dude" or such things at the end of every sentence, it's just annoying and clearly these characters do not talk that way. But the above is the ONLY negative thing I have to say about it. It is a great story and I highly recommend both the manga (despite the annoying slang) and the anime series. I have yet to see the live action films.

The third best seller shojo manga worldwide!!!!

Love nana, even though people say that the translation is bad. I don't see the big deal, Nana is very good and very different!!! Love is not the main part of the plot! It also has insight scoop in the celebrity life.

Fantastic

I got obsessed with Nana when it was in a monthly Animation mag that I received. They stopped having it in the magazine on the 7th or 8th edition, so I had to go and buy it. Now I have all of them. Nana is about 2 girls who's name is Nana. It's how they meet and become friends. One Nana is a punk girl who sings in a band, The Black Sones. And the other Nana is just a girl with bad luck in love. I highly recommend this series!

I am definitely going to be a fan for all volumes...

I simply adore this manga. Huge in Japan, NANA recently made the swim across the Pacific to US markets, and horray for that! 20-something Nana Komatsu is your average charming 'hopeless good girl,' an aimless graduate trying to find direction, survive self-doubt, and a string of never-ending boyfriends. Nana Osaki is nearly the opposite: a cool, confident, focused lead singer of her own punk band and dealing with internal longing for success and the only man she loves. This first volume fills in the details of their lives and how it is that they later came to be on the same train to Tokyo, where despite their obvious differences, they soon become roommates and the best of friends in one of the most charming and endearing storylines ever. This is not necessarily what American audiences think of when they think of manga (Japanese comics). It's not rockets or robots shooting up the old west, or cowboys in deep space. Instead NANA is a more down-to-earth read about growing up, aspirations, relationships and a more intimate side of two contemporary heroines. The title falls under the term 'shojo' and it's like 'chick-lit' manga - except for a slightly mature audience. This particular series is not for young kids as it has an amount of sex and adult socializing, but NANA is a really good read!! Forget feeling silly, or feeling like you're 'too grown up' to read comic books! Artist Ai Yazawa has created a story and artwork that is both delicate and nicely stylized. It's a pleasure to read, doesn't force unrealistic circumstances down your throat, but rather engages and endears. Most of all, it's just as enjoyable the second time around... and there aren't many 'chick-lit' or even manga books that can claim that. I understand that in Japan, NANA is such a sensation that fans have named cafes and clubs after it, demanded and purchased a NANA video game, and there has been a live-action movie (I'd definitely see that). I've read the first novel and kept up on the serialized version in various magazines. I'm already convinced I'm going to be a fan for all volumes... Read with confidence, NANA is an enjoyable guilty pleasure - like getting the uber-large super mocha latte...

Nana...

Nana is a story of two girls who meet on a train to Tokyo and become fast friends. The first volume in this 14+ volume series introduces us to the girls (both are named Nana, which means seven in Japanese) to their friends, and the loves of their lives. Nana is by the same manga-ka who did Paradise Kiss, and it is a manga more concerned with day to day lives of the characters and their interactions. The art style is very unique and very beautiful. Yazawa carefully constructs three dimensional characters that one comes to care about. Nana Komatsu is a boy-crazy artist wannabe who follows her boyfriend to Tokyo. She is a bit airheaded, but not stupid. She is aware that her sometimes foolish ways can get her into trouble and she's quite superstitious, citing that the Demon King is out to punish her for her deeds. Nana Osaki is a singer in a rock group. She goes to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She is more levelheaded and serious. When these two girls meet, they hit it off immediately and by coincidence become roommates. The story chronicles their friendships, hardships and so forth. This type of manga is usually classified as Shojo, because it generally appeals to females. The rating will probably be older teen because this series deals frankly with issues like sex, though it is never gratuitous. Nana will probably appeal to those who like Paradise Kiss or any of Ai Yazawa's other work. Here's hoping that Nana being translated means that Yazawa's other work like Gokinjo make it over here as well.