Nana

Departing from their respective hometowns, two young women with identical names are brought together in their pursuit of new beginnings. With their hearts set on going to Tokyo, Nana Komatsu dreams about blissful love, while Nana Osaki aims for a successful music career.

The former has a cheerful and friendly nature, but her naivety has steered her romantic life astray until she meets her dependable boyfriend—Shouji Endo. Without letting herself be dismayed by Shouji's decision to study in Tokyo, Nana works hard to earn enough money and follow him there. Meanwhile, her namesake is a solitary punk vocalist whose impassioned romance with her band's bassist, Ren Honjou, comes to a sudden end. Though heartbroken, Nana bravely looks forward and travels to the capital with the ambition of becoming a recognized artist.

Shortly after they arrive in Tokyo, the girls cross paths again due to an unexpected coincidence that ultimately leads them to live under the same roof. As they grow closer, the two strive to support one another amid their struggles to forge a future for themselves.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Osaki, Nana Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Komatsu, Nana Main

Kawana, Midori Japanese

Okazaki, Shinichi Supporting

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Takagi, Yasushi Supporting

Kawahara, Yoshihisa Japanese

Terashima, Nobuo Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Honjou, Ren Supporting

Kiuchi, Hidenobu Japanese

Ichinose, Takumi Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Serizawa, Layla Supporting

Hirano, Aya Japanese

Shinoda, Miu Supporting

Chiba, Saeko Japanese

Saotome, Junko Supporting

Honda, Takako Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Nakatani, Toshio Producer

Nakamoto, Kenji Producer

Reviews

May 26, 2025

ayumiin

Recommended

There’s something quietly magical about NANA. It doesn’t scream for your attention the way other series might. It doesn’t deal in over-the-top fantasy or high-stakes battles. Instead, it walks beside you—like an old friend on a rainy day—talking about life, love, and all the messy little feelings that live in between.

The story begins on a train headed to Tokyo, carrying two very different girls who just happen to share the same name: Nana. That coincidence is only the beginning of something much deeper. Nana Komatsu (nicknamed Hachi) is soft, dreamy, and hopelessly romantic—she falls in love like she breathes. Nana Osaki, on the other hand, ... is fierce, guarded, and completely consumed by her passion for music and her band. When fate brings them together as roommates, what unfolds is less about plot and more about people—their flaws, their choices, and how their lives tangle in heartbreaking, beautiful ways.

What makes NANA so special isn’t just its premise—it’s how human it is. Every character feels like someone you’ve known or might become. The series doesn’t idealize its cast; it lets them be messy, inconsistent, and painfully real. Hachi, for instance, is often criticized for her poor decisions and emotional volatility—and, honestly, that’s fair. But that’s also what makes her so easy to empathize with. She tries. She stumbles. She learns. Meanwhile, Nana Osaki hides her vulnerabilities behind thick eyeliner and a biting tongue, but her loyalty and longing are deeply moving once the walls come down.

The tone of the anime shifts as the story deepens—starting with sparkly city excitement and friendship high, only to slowly spiral into something more melancholic and emotionally raw. It explores the bittersweet side of love and the weight of missed chances. The series never feels melodramatic for drama’s sake; it aches with intention.

Visually, NANA isn’t the flashiest anime out there, but the art style suits the tone well—elegant, minimal, and mood-driven. Madhouse does a great job maintaining that balance between gritty realism and shoujo softness. The world feels like it exists just outside your window, especially room 707, where so much of the show’s heart lives.

And the music… oh, the music. It’s not just background noise—it is the story. The songs, performed by Anna Tsuchiya and Olivia Lufkin (voicing the two fictional bands), are raw, catchy, and emotionally charged. “A Little Pain,” “Rose,” and “Kuroi Namida” don’t just complement scenes—they echo them. If you’ve ever cried because a song understood you before a person did, NANA gets that.

There are flaws, of course. The pacing can feel slow at times, and the recaps are a bit much. Some character decisions will frustrate you to no end. But honestly? That just makes the experience more immersive. Life is messy. So is NANA. And that’s the point.

Watching NANA is like reading a diary that wasn’t meant to be read. It’s personal. Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s heavy. But above all, it’s sincere. It reminds you that people change, that some relationships don’t last, and that love—whether romantic or platonic—is never easy, but it’s always worth remembering.

It doesn’t tie things up neatly. It’s not comforting in the traditional sense. But if you’re someone who finds comfort in honesty, who likes stories that feel like something you’ve lived through, NANA might stay with you long after the final episode.

It’s not just about growing up. It’s about what we lose, what we gain, and who we become along the way

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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May 20, 2025

50Fiftillididee

Mixed Feelings

Na Na Na Na 🍓 Hey Hey 🎤 Goodbye °7° °good° 💯%🔍

Punk music is about bucking the crowd. It's about going the other way and being edgy. From my point of view, the crowd isn't quite right about this one. As of ep10 I was wondering when it would get good. It never did and stayed in the ‘not bad” range.

N is a 2006 release that is rated 8.55 on MAL. It is 1 season consisting of 47 23-minute English dubbed episodes with CC available. The follow-up, Nana Recaps from 2006, consists of 3 23-minute episodes. The opening ... episodes of the show delve into backstory. Hachi's been dating lots of men. Young, old, married, single ··· she always has someone on the hook ··· and she's always getting her heart broken.

Kelly Sheridan is the English voice for Komatsu Nana - “Hachi”. She's a middle child. She comes from a “typical middle class home”. Her life has been “very average”. She snuck out of the house for Tokyo the moment she got her college acceptance. She is going to go live with her bf, Endo Shouji (Jeremy From). She gets her pride from the attention and affection of the opposite sex. On the train she ends up next to a striking punk chick, guitar in tow.

Wait, the punk chick is ALSO named Nana. Osaki Nana is the punk chick. The raspy Rebecca Shoichet does the English dubbing. This Nana gets her pride from facing adversity.

The train ride takes 5 hours due to bad weather. They become friendly but never exchange numbers. They meet up again when they both try to rent the same apartment and decide to become roommates. Right away, Punk Nana points out that the other Nana is like a puppy. Cute, sweet, obedient, and in need of lots of attention. “I was going to get a pet anyway,” Nana shrugs. She nicknames her “pet” Hachi/Hachiko. From that point on, that's what e'erbody calls her.

Punk Nana is lead singer of the band, Blast. She hasn't dated since Ren left. The bass player migrated to Tokyo a couple years ago and achieved super stardom with the band, Trapnest. She never got over him, even when she never heard from him.

Saotome Junko is Hachi's BFF from way back. She's gone to Tokyo, too, so when Hachi arrives, she has support. She's going to need it, too, because Shouji turns out to be a bust. So Nana suffers heartbreak, again. She focuses on employment, and as she gets to know Nana better, she focuses on finding band members to resurrect Blast. Takagi Yasushi (Yasu) arrives in town. He helps run the band and he's also an attorney- a bald one with tatts and piercings. They scoop up Okazaki Shinichi and Terashima Nobuo and they get a pretty good sound going. They form a band and a bond.

Honjou Ren's Trapnest band mates come into the frame as well. Reirra is their lead singer. She's tiny and adorable with big eyes and a full head of loose curls. Rumors swirl about her and her bandmates, including her and Ren. Ichinose Takumi is one of the main players of Trapnest. He's a womanizer and he decides to “izer” Hachi. Nana is NOT pleased about this.

Once Hachi learns that Nana and Ren had a thing, she works on bringing them together, because that's what Hachi-Nana does. She is loving. It has a powerful pull. She brings others together.

So, what's wrong with the show? There's an empty feeling to it. Hachi is difficult to like in the opening episodes. I wanted to slap her. I was thinking 47 episodes of her is too much: She had better shape up soon. She doesn't, though. Hachi ends up taking the coward’s path, once again. The art is pretty standard. People are almost uniform with only slight variations in height and hair color. Most of them have big eyes, especially the females. The music should be better. It's trite pop-punk. There's no resolution. The show sort of drifts away like a moody song.

“It's one thing to be all about the music, but if nobody gets to hear it, what's the point?” Yasu has a point. While Hachi is the lead character, we are following 2 punk bands. One is trying to break into the scene and “make it,” while the other is trying to maintain, to hold together their lives and keep a good thing going. Part of the problem is that good things always look better than they are from the outside looking in. (Come to think of it, this is true for bad things, too. People tend to minimize other people's problems and pain). Being famous, rich, and successful hasn't made the Trapnest band members' lives perfect. It just created a new set of problems. Hachi isn't done with the heartbreaking - not her own heart nor the hearts of others. But there's no meaning to it in the end. There isn't even a message of hope. This show is in the category: Time-filler, and seems to be suited for teen girls.

It has its moments. While the plot doesn't excite me, there are worthy lines and ideas to be gleaned. Here's one example: “I still believe that life is what you make of it. The difference is, now I understand, that not everybody can be strong all the time. Because of that, I'm nicer to people now than I was back then.” I've learned the hard way that to be in pain is to be alone. Having gone through life-altering trauma myself, that sentence wraps up my sentiments precisely. Admitting our own shortcomings is a rare act, indeed. These days, most people seem to presume they are good, worthy, important and smart. People are liars and we lie to ourselves first. “I was too weak to accept you as you are. It's just that I preferred the pain of breaking into pieces and the loneliness I felt from losing everything. I was too fragile.” Lines like that are worthy of reflection. “To cherish something is a difficult thing to do… I believe it's only when you're able to be with someone without all the lies and the pretense that you can really start to examine yourself, but if you look away you lose everything. And I don't want to lose,” says Rierra. Life, love, loss, and even pregnancy - it's all going to happen, whether we're ready for it or not. Best to give it some thought and be somewhat ready.

It's not empty-headed, it's just a tad… empty feeling. Therefore, Nana's appeal is most likely a niche audience. What do I recommend?

From lite&trite to heavy&serious, here's some recs ~

Ouran High School Host Club-8,
Maid Sama 10,
Kayuga Sama Love Is War,
Toradora-8.5,
Love Chunibyo And Other Delusions 8.4,
Special A Class,
Toradora-8.5,
Real Girl-7.5,
Your Lie In April-9,
Violet Evergarden-9.5

QUOTES📢

Haven't you figured out how stupid I am?

If you laugh at love, love will make you cry.

Love and pain are inseparable.

“Ultimately, fighting is nothing more than egos slamming into each other. Just cuz you may have revealed your true feelings doesn't mean people are going to understand you better. I know it's impossible to go through life without ever getting hurt, but I realized that I had to try my hardest to live without hurting the people around me. I found they figured that out.”

That isn't something you wish for, that's something you do.



〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.2 📝6.8 🎭7.4 💓2 🦋4 🎨7.5 🎵/🔊6.5 🔚6 ♦ 🌞4.5 ⚡3.5 😅2 😭4 😱1 😯3.5 😖1 🤔4 💤2

Shazams: OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST)

Age 16+ Edgy punk songs with sex and other adult themes. A porn star makes an appearance in a later episode. Rated R-17+

Re-📺?
This one's barely in the good-to-pass-the-time category & I may never pass this way again…. Teen girls are probably the most enthusiastic audience

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 18, 2024

slitskin

Not Recommended

Funny

*SPOILERS AHEAD*


I really don't understand the hype for this anime apart from the amazing music. The art is very mediocre. Honestly I wouldn't even call the anime average. It's just bad.

Starting out 'Punk Nana' seems interesting, a girl with certain aspirations and struggles, someone you can root for. 'Dumb Nana' is twenty years old but she acts like she's five which would be fine if she later took accountability for her actions but she doesn't. She's all about men. Cry all you want about her growing up later but she has nothing she wants to do, no dreams, no hobbies. Blast's dream is her dream ... & as for herself she doesn't have anything of her own. Honestly if the character in question was a teenager, I'd give it a pass but everytime she whines and makes a mistake and acts like she doesn't understand anything, also her friends around her just 'letting it be' because that's how Nana is - I'm reminded that this is supposed to be an adult character and it pisses me off so much.

Dumb Nana is dumb for the sake of being dumb. So much so that when in a particular scene she says 'I actually love Takumi/Nobu/someone else' it's hard to understand if this is supposed to be 'something dumb' because she's dumb and doesn't understand anything and this will build up to later on, someday in the future, when she'll grow up and be like 'I was wrong, I actually didn't love Takumi/Nobu/someone else'
OR
this is her moment of realisation that she actually loves 'said person'.
You can't really tell. All of Dumb Nana's friends treat her like a 5 year old as well and that's one of the reasons that she never really grows. The fact that a 20 year old with such a childish mindset is surviving in a city on her own with her only focus on romantic relationships is very very unrealistic. Please don't bullshit me as this being deep. She makes so many mistakes again and again and again that an adult shouldn't make so casually in the first place but that's not even the main problem! The worst part is that, all the things she does wrong are brushed off as 'her being childish' and she really doesn't have to 'pay' for anything she does wrong up until the end after she gets pregnant, when she decides to be Takumi's wife but to be fair she never had anything going for her before either, did she? Before becoming pregnant, she used to cook, act like a spoiled brat, spend all day thinking about men and OTHERS' relationships, go to a studio for SOMEONE ELSE'S band practice. She never had anything distinguished as 'her own'. It was always about either having a boyfriend or worse, someone else's thing entirely. After getting pregnant, she cooks, knits, acts like a spoiled brat, and spends all day thinking about BLAST and their dream and If Nana will be able to sing again. What about you girl? Wouldn't you want to be an artist or baker or something?

Anyhow, her mistakes are never a 'conflict' she has to overcome but something which is acceptable because she's immature. And she's twenty. She's an adult.

Also throughout most of the series, it's Dumb Nana who narrates the story and whatever she's saying is in reference to the events that just took place or are about to take place and most importantly her feelings. And I kinda like that but later on for the final few episodes the narration switches to Punk Nana and boy oh boy whatever she says during the narration is just random bs. I understand they tried to switch the perspective to the 'other main character' but again, for the sake of giving importance to the 'other main character' and not because PUNK NANA being the narrator will make a lot of sense here. I honestly thought Dumb Nana's narration was nice and they should have kept it. Because Punk Nana's narration goes like "Hey Nana, we were like lovers, I realise if I were a fish I'd swim away forever, with REN!!!!??!? what? Is this about Nana or Ren? Pick your poison girl. Honestly in the last few episodes they wanted the other main character's perspective so much that they forced it even if it doesn't make sense. Not to mention, Punk Nana also switches between Yasu and Ren so much, it's hard to tell which is the one she loves though it's not as bad as Dumb Nana.

By the end, even though none of the characters really grew, surprisingly Dumb Nana is the character I liked. All the other characters were so horrible, atleast DUMB NANA accepts her reality as it is what it is, whatever has happened has happened and I'll give that to her. On the other hand, I grew up hating Punk Nana instead. She's literally the most selfish character ever. Even in last 5 mins of the final episode, Punk Nana keeps persuading Nobu to be with Dumb Nana. Why? Dumb Nana has clearly accepted her reality and Nobu should be allowed to date other women and most importantly, isn't that what the Nana fans preach that the story is about? Reality is harsh right? Definitely not for Punk Nana! She, being a peabrain doesn't understand that and still wants Dumb Nana to be Nobu's bride. Regardless of how much of an unhealthy burden this is going to be on Nobu. I'd completely understand if she wanted them to sort out their misunderstandings and harsh feelings towards each other but that's not the case! Additionally Punk Nana and Nobu are supposed to be like childhood friends? Their dynamic is supposed to be a highlight for actual friendship in the story? But she only wants him to suffer? Only and only for the sake of herself feeling 'comfortable'! I despise this character so so much and it baffles me how much people love her. Yeah she's a cool woman who is rude and obnoxious, wears cool outfits and smokes, I'd see why little girls would be enthralled, but at the end of the day even she's not sure about what she aims for, she questions Nobu 'what is it we're fighting for if not Nana' while he's clearly uncomfortable of doing it all for Dumb Nana's sake because she's not his' anymore - like he should! So yeah, it's all a facade to make the audience think she's a 'strong independent woman' lol. At the end of the day, even she's mostly about her love for her man. But worst of all she's a selfish self-centred bitch who only cares about herself and no amount of childhood trauma justifies being such a shitty friend.

And yeah, contrary to how I felt at the beginning, I actually like Dumb Nana waaaaaay more than Punk Nana though I necessarily don't like any of them on a broader spectrum.

I can only write so much. Other reviews have addressed the other problems. Don't watch this anime. Watch Gintama instead.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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