Nana to Kaoru
Nana & Kaoru

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Holy shit this turned into something I really did not expect considering this is a S&M Manga. This is soo fricking good I literally thought it would just be S&M and I kind of hesitated to read this Manga but damn I'm glad I was wrong, It really had an amazing way of story telling that I did not expect from S&M Manga. Nana to Kaoru obviously have eroticism and naughty stuff on it considering its an S&M ecchi Manga but that doesn't really take off the excellent characters and the storytelling aspect of this Manga, it may not be for all the Manga readers ... out there but please give this Manga a shot because its really good.

Overall: 9/10 or a 10/10

I'm leaving this short review for nostalgia purposes.

Well, I have mixed feelings about this manga. On one hand the "will-they-won't-they" style of romance storitelling is painful, tiring, and infurating. I can't stand it. On the other hand the BDSM (more precisely the Bondage) aspect of it is exceptional. Really conveys the emotional rollercoaster of this weird kinky world. Hence, if you want to read a good romance story then look elsewhere, however if you are curious about the kink, then I would definietly recommend it to you. Both the top and the bottom aspect are written really well. Also, if you are younger and new to this world, then I would say ... this manga is handy and quite helpful to sort out your uncertainities, and your conflicting feelings. It depicts a healthy way to participate it, and it shows the beauty in it.

Even though I was complaining about the romance, it was mostly understandable from the perspective of our our main duo. It is not that simple to accept that you are very different from the norm. Also additionally Kaoru (male lead) has a low self-esteem, or I would say realistic self-esteem, since he is not smart, nor successfull, not even handsome, he is just a deviant. Contrary, Nana (female lead) is a beauty, smart, charismatic, and popular so it is understandable she wants to keep up the faceade. So as you can see it is not a perfect breeding ground for a romance to begin with betwen them. Hence why their only connection was their kink, which was fine for a long time, but with 4,000 pages of romance going nowhere, it was tiring. Also the writing didn't make it more digestable, since every time when they tried to "confess their feelings" they were interrupted by some random external factor. This is fine for a few times, but if this is the only way you stall the development of the relationship, then it becames plain annoyance.

I want to add though, that the characters themselves where quite well written. Both Kaoru and Nana were really well fleshed out. Their feelings, insecurities, fears and thoughts were palable. Their backstory was lifelike, and the perfect breeding ground for their slightly distorted personalities and desires. All in all I do think they were solid leads for a story like this. Also the sidecharacters were quite well written as well.

All in all, as I said in the intruction, don't read this if you are curious about a good romance story, since this is not one, but if you are curious about this deviant world then definietly a good starting point. It will not throw you in the deepest pit of the rabbithole, but you will get the taste of it. I also like that this is not a sadistic h-manga and perfectly depicts that this world is more about mutual attention, attuning to each other, self-control, and not about animalistic instincts. (Also if you read this, don't miss out the Nana to Kaoru: Black Label for a more statisfing ending)

I don't want to go on a rant so I'll try to keep this short. I'll start this off by say, if you are hoping to read this series for the kinky factor and mostly just that than I think you'll like this a lot? Maybe? I'm not really into S&M so those segments didn't do much for me outside the first few sessions but obviously if you are into that stuff then by all means enjoy.

If you're a poor hopeless romantic idiot like me who is going into this expecting a well told romance story with a kinky factor and amazing character development ... and whatnot, then do yourself a favor and don't read this. I'm not going to spoil anything but I will say this series is the literal embodiment of nothing happens. The whole story revolves around male MC liking female MC and female MC somewhat liking male MC but mostly liking the S&M sessions and then they have some sort of conflict. They then proceeed to have a session to "clear up the air" and then repeat. Theres a lot of side plots that I personally was invested in or at least curious in and all of them aside from a few got dropped entirely with no resolution or just forgotten and the very few that did have resolutions, felt more like cliffhangers or had no proper resolution. The ending was a huge let down, both in this and the sequel manga.

If you want to read something similar that follows the same vibe as this story (a kinky "romance" comedy) but with an actual ending and actual development then I'd recommend reading a series called Sundome.