“Vivienne Westwood, The Sex Pistols, Seven Star cigarettes, coffee with milk and strawberry cake.” These five things meld together to create the life-changing anime, Nana. Based on the hit manga by Ai Yazawa, Nana tells the story of two girls with the same name who meet on a train going to Tokyo. From that moment onward, they become exceedingly close and their lives become intertwined. From the show’s look to its character writing, Nana meets the mark every time making it one of the most groundbreaking anime of all time.
From an aesthetic point of view, Nana has two different vibes which reflect the main girls’ personal style. The British punk movement heavily inspired the first, paying odes to Vivienne Westwood left and right. The designer’s presence in both the show and manga is very obvious–her pieces are worn by the majority of the characters in both. The more edgy look suits her as she is the lead singer in a punk band and has a more jagged personality. The second is a softer, more cutesy look which is kind of inspired by early Dior. Pastel pink and frilly outfits are a staple for Nana Komatsu (Hachi) and it perfectly represents her; she is kind, bubbly, and a little naive. Being surrounded by famous punk stars from the second she finds her way to Tokyo writes her character as a fish out of water and her soft, feminine look against the gritty visuals of the show solidifies this wonderfly.
Along with looking gorgeous, the show creates characters who are both likable and flawed. Let’s take the main two girls for example. Nana is a character who has been let down by the people in her life, mainly her mom. Not trusting the world and people around her, she is viciously self-reliant and more driven by logic and a need for control than emotion. Hachi on the other hand has not experienced this feeling of being let down. Even if she did, she would blame herself and continue to put the people around her on a pedestal. Her need for love from people, insignificant or not, is often so intense it’s blinding, making her more driven by emotion and people-pleasing than anything else. Their issues and internal struggles are so relatable but more importantly to the show, both of these core character flaws balance each other out when the girls are together–Hachi softens Nana and Nana guides Hachi to the right path. When in combination with each other they are loved by the audience and when they aren’t, you can almost hear the hearts shattering.
For example, at the climax of the show, Hachi gets pregnant. At the time, she had been with two different men: Takumi and Nobu. Takumi is the bassist in Hachi’s favorite band, Trapnest and she is immediately star-struck when they meet. But when he starts mistreating her, she becomes distant and decides to leave him to pursue a relationship with Nobu, Nana’s best friend. The issue is that because Hachi is driven so strongly by a need for love, she doesn’t want to hurt Takumi so, instead of directly ending the relationship, she sends him a rather vague message saying she is done with him. All of this miscommunication comes to a head when she finds out she’s pregnant. Takumi finds out and forces her to tell Nobu about the pregnancy and even though Nobu is willing to raise the child as his own, Hachi ultimately decides to leave him for Takumi to give the baby a better life.
At this moment the cheerfulness of the show comes to an end because of an unfortunate domino effect. Hachi’s not breaking up with Takumi gets her married to him and traps her in an abusive, restrictive relationship. This causes her to lose both Nobu and Nana as an extension because Nana feels betrayed when Hachi decides to be with Takumi rather than Nobu. Their lives, although still loosely connected in an abstract sense, become separated due to their circumstances.
Although very distressing, things like these always happen in the show–characters’ actions will always have realistic consequences. I think that the beauty of the show comes from the underlying theme of “bad things happen, but we can always survive if we have love in our lives.” Nana gives hope and empathy to us in a world that is often hopeless and unforgiving.
