Cannot Catharsize: Nana

Ah, the slow days of summer. It's nice to be able to just sit around and relax and do absolutely nothing, and then watch as my days go from meandering to sprinting in a moment AKA when I start my job. I've taken a pretty long break from writing, and depending on how my summer goes, I may not be writing too much on the blog (at least until next semester). But more on that some other time.

Right now, it's another edition of Cannot Catharsize, this time featuring the exquisite anime, Nana, that I just recently finished burning through. Nana is a shoujo anime, based on the manga written (drawn?) by Yazawa Ai, which started airing originally in Japan in 2006. I will be the first to admit that I was quite tentative about watching this anime at first, being that it is mainly a romantic story, mostly plot driven with absolutely no fighting (none physical anyway) nor explosions. But, after watching the first 4 episodes, I found myself hopelessly intrigued by the characters.

The main plotlines revolve around two characters, both named Nana. The first Nana you meet is Komatsu Nana, a naive, air-headed, and spacey girl from rural Japan. At the beginning of the anime, you see her taking the train to move to Tokyo, presumably to live with her boyfriend who moved to Tokyo a year earlier, Shouji. She makes frequent references to the "Demon Lord" (Dai Mao in Japanese), contributing to some elaborate fantasies that she manages to concoct regarding both her friends and her boyfriend (such as when she imagined that he had found a new lover in Tokyo named Sachiko and had been cheating on her for the past year). At first, her character seems like your typical, annoying young girl character, complete with overdone facial expressions and outbursts of emotion, but beneath the surface, she is an extremely complex and pitiable person. Gradually, her annoying habits transform into endearing qualities, with many of the characters at first put off by her outgoing character, only to find themselves wishing they could spend more time with her later.

The second Nana is Oosaki Nana, a husky-voiced, punk-rock singer. She comes off as strong and confident at first, seemingly much more reliable and even-keeled than K-Nana. However, as the series goes on, her flaws begin to seep through, and her character transforms from the strong leading heroine to the emotionally unstable partner, becoming dependent on the support and love of K-Nana, whom O-Nana affectionately names, "Hachiko," after a famous Japanese dog ("nana" also means seven in Japanese, while "hachi" means eight).

Some of the other characters include O-Nana's band, "The Black Stones", including the lawyer-drummer Yasu, O-Nana's only high school friend and lead guitarist Nobu, and the bassist, high-schooler turned child-prostitute Shin. Additionally, there is the rival band, "Trapnest," which include: Reira, the beautiful female lead singer; Takumi, the leader and bassist; the lead guitarist, former "Black Stones" member and O-Nana's lover, Ren; and the drummer, Yasu's old friend, Naoki. On K-Nana's side, you meet Shouji, and their friends, Junko and Kyosuke. While this presents itself as a large ensemble cast, each member is so different, not only image-wise, but also in character and personality. As each character is introduced, their relationships begin to intertwine, with the two rival bands having many inter-band relationships. This leads to many complications between each member doing what's best for their band versus what's best for themselves.

While the anime has many different underlying themes and numerous motifs (such as the use of nana, music, and the part-time jobs each of the characters possess outside of music), one of the main themes is ignoring that which is immediate in favor of that which may come in the future. Throughout the story, the characters continually choose that which they believe will bring them more happiness in the long run versus that which has made them happy up until that point. No details, because most of the occurrences are plot drivers, but it is very interesting to see the characters rationale for making each decision, even if you can see right through them as a viewer.

Overall, I absolutely loved watching this anime, burning through all 47 episodes in about a week. Another season should be forthcoming, and I honestly can't wait to finish the story. I think I'll start rating the anime's I watch, retroactively giving Gundam 00 a B+, and Welcome to the NHK an A-

Grade: A

I leave you with the second OP, "Wish" by Olivia, which is inspired by Reira in "Trapnest."