NANA Anime 01 - First Look
Posted by Willuknight
Nana moves to Tokyo, to follow after her boyfriend Shouji, that moved there previously. On the train ride there, she meets another girl called Nana, who is also going to Tokyo and is the same age. Once Nana arrives in Tokyo, she is quickly reunited with her boyfriend and friends, and goes to stay with Shouji. In the morning Shouji goes off the collage, and Nana is supposed to go out looking for a place to stay, and a job. Instead she spends all day cleaning Shouji’s apartment and making a meal for him. Shouji tells her that this is not what she was supposed to come to Tokyo for, and tells her that she needs to find her own accomodation.
When Nana goes to look for a flat, she meets the other Nana from the train, also house browsing. Both of them want the flat that they are looking at, and it is finally the realtor that proposes the solution - they both rent the flat and become room mates.
end ep.
There’s also this weird live action segment at the end, with someone calling her self Nana and saying she’s going to be the show’s hostess.
Well thats the boring part over, as hopefully most people that are reading this are Nana fans and are already familar with the story.
Does anyone remember me gushing over the Nana Movie, and hoping the Anime adaption would be as excellent? Well sadly, the result seems to be more lackluster then what i was hoping for. There isn’t something i can specifically nail as being crap, but there’s just an overal niggle that they haven’t gotten it quite right. The movie showed me how awesome NANA could be on the screen, and it set rather high expectations that this anime just can’t meet.
In terms of story content, the anime just isn’t developed enough, and doesnt embrace the complexities and multible overtones that the manga covers. Everything seems a bit duller, and dumbed down for broardcasting. Nana (Hatchi) seems to be just a naive ganki teenage girl, showing none of the tradgedy or depression from the manga. The first opening scene, is Nana praying and obsessing over whether her boyfriend gets into college. This immediately undervalues her character as an individual.
Our 2nd Nana is just a mature goth rock singer, without showing much depth. I realise that this is only the first ep, but the manga and movie accurately portrayed these characters right from the begining.
Also with the apartment hunting, theres a lot of alusion to this one apartment being the right one, and they go straight there. In the manga there more depth to the process, and even in the movie they take the time to actually cast doubt on wether they would live together. Here it seems like “Oh here is the only avalible apartment in Japan, oh look, theres someone else here…howabout you both rent it”. I’m over simplifying, but you get the idea. There were still a few scenes that made me laugh, especially with Hatchi going gaga over the apartment and nana deciding she wanted it after all, so don’t misunderstand that the story is a total loss.
If you’ve seen Paradise Kiss (something that i only watched 2 episodes of) then you will know how developed and interesting the art was in that anime. It felt very faithful to the mangaka’s style (i haven’t read PK, but i have read NANA) and vibrant. NANA seems to have been done by another studio, which doesn’t feel as good.
It’s the same story with the voice actors. Neither Nana’s really grabbed me, as sounding like the character. The movie actresses did just an excellent job its hard to get used to someone else in the role. Nana’s voice (blast singer) sounds a lot older and deeper. Nana (Shoji’s GF) on the other hand sounds a lot younger.
With regard to the OP, you may be glad to hear me finally stop critizing this show and say that i actually enjoyed it. Theres a lot of engrish in there, but i still liked it, and it felt very “Blast”-y.
To sumarize, this anime production didn’t do anything special with the story (unlike the movie). I will probably watch more, and it is’t a total loss. It is however, not everthing it could have been. I will leave myself an out (incase the series gets uber awesome in later eps) and remind people that this IS only the first episode. Also i felt a bet better about this, after rewatching it.
Get it from Live Evil, who did an awesome job on the kareoke subs .
Categories: Blog'd, Nana, Preview.
October 24th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Ok just to let you know if you watched the movie you don’t truely know what’s going on. As far as the anime goes it is running straight along with the Manga which most animes don’t do so I personally find it very well done. Also when it comes down to it the anime’s are about the art in both the drawings and the voice actors and both of which are great. But personally I think you should know what you’re talking about as far as the story line goes, before making comments.
October 24th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
well, i’ve read all of the manga thats scanlated so far, so im guessing i do have a pretty good grasp of whats going on
This was only my first opinion of the series. Read my later reviews, and you’ll see that its improved enourmously. NANA Is now my favorite anime currently airring.
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:09 am
…ok…I haven`t seen the movie nor have I read the manga but out of 18 episodes the anime is THE best. Ever.But maybe it`s just me .
My point is that the anime so really cool and the voices are quite fit.Nana does seem the kind of gilr to have a deeper voice and be a bit more of a rocker because …she did join a band and her childhood was theorethically(sp?) inexistant.Hachi,on the other hand, is soooooooo like her voice:cheerful,optimistic and very childish.
As for the graphic it`s realy new to me because I`ve never seen that style but I like it.
I`m kinda dissapointed … I only found 29 episodes T.T … but in overall Nana is the best anime ever
January 19th, 2007 at 2:56 am
I found NANA by accident even though it was in japanese i just couldnt stop watching but then i found it subbed on youtube (thank god lol) nana is awsome and it grabbed me right from the start its got a great storyline the music is good and the voices are fab… ive seen the movie ( thanks to youtube…again) and i agree the movie has more depth than the anime and i understood the charecters better.. i havent read the manga though i dont think they sell manga in australia anyhoo great graphics i love hachiko’s charecter although shes a bit annoying at times with her constant crying.. nana is rough around the edges but she really cares this is a great anime and i cant wait for episode 37 when it comes out and i hope it comes soon
March 4th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Err… It’s genki, not ganki. If you’re going to use Japanese in your reviews, at least do it right.
April 24th, 2007 at 12:07 am
Don’t be so perdantic, Sierra. No one likes bitches.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
hmm…im form indonesia,so i can speak inglish so well,i am speak in Indonesian.
komik nana di Indonesia sangatlah jelek,kualitasnya benar-benar tidak bisa dibayangkan,
yang jadi masalah itu,indonesia sering kali memberi peraturan melarang ini dan itu,sehingga saya sulit mengerti bacaan yang ada,dan yang lebih penting lagi,cerita manga Nana menjadi diberhentikan,dari vo 1-5 kemudian berhenti total,tidak ada lanjutan lagi.benar-benar mengesalkan,aku saja lelah menunggu selama 4 tahun dan tidak pernah keluar lagi.saya benar-benar kecewa dengan penerbitan yang ada di Indonesia.
ujuping.thanks.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:05 am
youtube sucks…SUCKS…
sucks..SUCKS..
if you used other video zone
before then you shall understand^^
youtube is soOOoo last
century man…
youtube sucks!!! SUCKS!!!
1)they have 10min limit
2)they load so hell slow even in
broadband mode
3)they jam up for no **tuuuuTT** reason
4)ppl keep put chain letters in
the comments
5)the quality of youtube is like sooOO
baaa-bye
6)the small version is like a rat hole
7)large version need to load again
8)can’t download the video???!!!
summary:everyone hates youtube
unless you are the one who love
LOVE watching no meaning video,low-quality,lame &
risk having eye cancer not to mention
pressure from it
u tube is a short form for
umbilical tube, that is known as umbilical
cord too,you know,the place you are born out
from your mother which is then cut off
but before that you suck nutrients with
u tube
that is why u tube SUCKS
you see..for legends forever
true..& how they came to be
January 29th, 2008 at 2:08 am
HAHA !!! that’s so true!
i hate youtube MORE!!
January 29th, 2008 at 2:11 am
hmm..actually it’s quite true..(youtube sucks big time) i mean who wants to load eight times to watch one episode? my god! (10mins limit)!!!