Nana: Volume 1 by Ai Yazawa
Published- San Francisco: Viz Media, 2005. 179 pages.
Nana Komatsu suffers from a long line of bad relationships. After her latest boyfriend (a married, older man) leaves her when he is transferred to Tokyo, Nana is devastated. Her best friend Junko informs her that sometimes relationships are easier if you see men as people first, and men second. Nana decides to give this a try with Shoji, the first nice guy she has met. Unfortunately, Shoji is attracted to her and would like to be more than friends.
Nana Osaki is a punk rock princess. Her life has not been easy. She was raised by her cold grandmother and kicked out of high school, accused of prostitution. Nana’s life finally seems to be going well. Her band is just starting to make a name for itself. She and Ren the bassist are in love. Then Ren is offered a record contract in Tokyo, playing for another band. Nana decides to stay home to be her own person.
This was my first manga. It took me about 10 pages to get the hang of how to read the dialogue and pictures. After I got used to the format I began to enjoy the story line (since I could actually follow it). The illustrations were light, detailed, and add to the character’s emotional responses. Nana is definitely shojo, chick lit all the way. Nana Komatsu’s story line was more soap opera like, while Nana Osaki seemed to be too self reliant and self confident to live a soap opera. I am interested to continue the series to see how exactly the two women’s lives come together.
Cover art: The cover art uses similar illustrations to the pictures in the story, but contain more shadowing and detail. The woman on the cover seems to be Nana Osaki a punky outfit reading a newspaper at a solitary table.
3Q, 3A
Sr
