Nana

[NoOneKnowS]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

If I have to be one, I'll most probably pick Naoki. That guy doesn't have a stain, as far as I can tell.

He's an Idiot. Thats a stain I guess.

But yeah; he's the most normal one out of all the characters.

Ren and Nana's issues is mostly personal about their relationship.

Takumi though stems from his childhood; hes a very complicated guy. Same w/ Shin.

Hachi is mostly about her love life and nothing else. Like Yasu.

+ all their careers as musicians (except hachi) that adds more to their problems in life.

I just wish Nana would like end in lets say; 2 volumes at least? It's getting really.......................uhm....long. o_O.

[andy92]

is this manga really good?
its sounds good but nvr got started on it

[yezhanquan]

Well, it's not bad. Yazawa sensei's designs are one selling point. But, watch the anime first and have a feel of how the characters sound. Romi-san's tough-yet-sensitive take on Osaki Nana, Akira-san's seemingly devil-may-care attitude as Shin.

[MikiMata]

What do you think will happen when Hachi finds out about

Spoiler:

Takumi's affair with Reira? Takumi has been unfaithful on a regular basis, of course, and Hachi suspects and/or knows this. But Reira is pretty much the one and only person that Hachi wanted to be "off-limits," and Takumi had assured her that this was the case. And don't get me started on Reira's behavior, throwing herself at a married man whose new wife is pregnant...

It is a major betrayal on Takumi's part, and I wouldn't be surprised if it results in a separation. Hachi has compromised a lot to be with Takumi; she dumped Shoji for cheating on her once, and now she tells herself she's satisfied being #1 among one hundred. I understand why Hachi is with Takumi, but I have lost a great deal of respect for her over this.

Upon re-reading my previous posts, I guess I overstated it when I said I didn't like the characters anymore. I don't really mind them being self-destructive, either. Shin is one of the most self-destructive of all, and after Yasu, he is my favorite character. I think my words just came from my exhaustion in following this emotional rollercoaster of a series. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel, but I know I'm hooked until the end.

So, who else thinks that Ren

Spoiler:

is dead in the future? I hope that's not true, but he is nowhere to be found in those flashforwards, and everyone looks so sad when his name is mentioned

It would be nice if Ai Yazawa gives us a semi-hopeful ending, at least, after all these characters have suffered.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by MikiMata

What do you think will happen when Hachi finds out about

Spoiler:

Takumi's affair with Reira? Takumi has been unfaithful on a regular basis, of course, and Hachi suspects and/or knows this. But Reira is pretty much the one and only person that Hachi wanted to be "off-limits," and Takumi had assured her that this was the case. And don't get me started on Reira's behavior, throwing herself at a married man whose new wife is pregnant...

It is a major betrayal on Takumi's part, and I wouldn't be surprised if it results in a separation. Hachi has compromised a lot to be with Takumi; she dumped Shoji for cheating on her once, and now she tells herself she's satisfied being #1 among one hundred. I understand why Hachi is with Takumi, but I have lost a great deal of respect for her over this.

Upon re-reading my previous posts, I guess I overstated it when I said I didn't like the characters anymore. I don't really mind them being self-destructive, either. Shin is one of the most self-destructive of all, and after Yasu, he is my favorite character. I think my words just came from my exhaustion in following this emotional rollercoaster of a series. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel, but I know I'm hooked until the end.

So, who else thinks that Ren

Spoiler:

is dead in the future? I hope that's not true, but he is nowhere to be found in those flashforwards, and everyone looks so sad when his name is mentioned

It would be nice if Ai Yazawa gives us a semi-hopeful ending, at least, after all these characters have suffered.

I understand you thoughts on Hachi for a while i lost respect for her for allowing Takumi to be unfaithful it was like she was selling herself short. But there is plenty of evidence in the present that is pointing towards a seperation and eventually a divorce, as a matter a face im 98% sure that Hachi and Takumi get divorced.

Also, if you notice when they talked on the phone a few chapters back about how Takumi thinks he found Nana Hachi was very stern with him and he backed down. Hachi is finally grown up and it took sometime to do it. I think we will see her move on her own without anyones support eventually which was always one of her biggest problems. Even Junko has been pushing her for a divorce and let us not forget in two chapters how close Nobu and Hachi were. The first was the bathtub scene and the second was the bedroom with Nobu playing the guitar with Hachi putting her head on his shoulder I took that as implying something but Ai is tricky and i might be thinking more into it.

On and Ren is not dead at one point they mentioned he was in the U.K. im not sure where he is but everyone is making references towards him. Hell everyone at first thought Nana O. was dead. I will say i hope we are coming to a conclusion soon because as much as i enjoy this series its just dragging on I want to see the end.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by andy92

is this manga really good? its sounds good but nvr got started on it

Yes, this manga is really good. An emotional rollercoaster, containing some really bad role models, and kind of hard to follow sometimes, but really good. I believe it is the most popular girls' manga of the last decade, if not of all time. In any case, the first twelve volumes sold a total of over 22 million copies.

[Irkalla]

Ah, a Nana thread!
I just love all the works of Ai, and Nana is (as for now) my fav work from her.
But if I know one thing is that this manga is going to end really sad. Probably with the death of both Nana and Ren. (like Nancy and Sid), but truth be spoken...I don't want that! I have always been a Nana-Yasu shipper so if only Ren dies, it's fine with me

[MikiMata]

Originally Posted by Zaseka

But if I know one thing is that this manga is going to end really sad. Probably with the death of both Nana and Ren. (like Nancy and Sid), but truth be spoken...I don't want that! I have always been a Nana-Yasu shipper so if only Ren dies, it's fine with me

There do seem to be a lot of conscious parallels with Sid and Nancy, I agree - but I don't think Nana will die. At least I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't!

I will be sad if Ren dies, but at the rate he's going, it seems pretty likely. And as much as I liked Ren and Nana's relationship in the beginning, it did seem to be getting rather destructive, what with

Spoiler:

all the strange "choking" stuff and Ren's talk of killing Nana

However, I will have no problem if Reira dies.

So, I would not mind if Nana ends up with Yasu -- but I can never figure out what Yasu is feeling or thinking. That's part of what makes him an intriguing character, but I have no idea what his feelings are for Nana exactly. I know he cares for her, but it's not clear in what way. Sometimes he seems to be in love with Reira.

Maybe Ai Yazawa is purposefully keeping her options open with regards to the ending?
One complaint I have about Yazawa is that the motivations and feelings of her characters seem to change out of the blue, so you don't really know where she's going until she gets there. It makes for exciting reading, but sometimes the new revelations feel contrived because there was no "build-up" or proper foundation laid. Just my impression.

[Ja-Y-Ce]

Hmmm, something that i do not understand... when they r making references that Ren is in UK.
Why cant the "Ren" that Hachi is mentioning is actually talking about the little "Ren". If i do remember correctly, she did mention that he is still playing guitar or something and yea, didn't little Ren play the guitar in the park with Reira??

If that's true, it doesn't give any clue to whether Nana's Ren is still alive or not.

Just a doubt here.

[yezhanquan]

Well, for the "future" scenes, Ren is very much alive and well, and hanging out with the rest of the Blast gang. It seems that with age, many of them grew up, most notably Shin (both mentally and physically). Nana is hinted to be in hiding. While the guys at SEARCH found her in England, they decided to leave her alone, but the photographer sent shots of her to Hachi.

[MikiMata]

I don't recall seeing Ren in any of the future scenes. The timeline in this manga can be confusing, as it isn't always clear when it shifts between the past and the present. But it seems that all those times people were talking about "Ren" in the future, they're talking about "Little Ren."

I really do think Ren dies. Hachi probably names her son after him, since Ren wanted the child to be named after a "flower" but they didn't get the chance to decide on what to name a boy. So, when her baby wasn't a girl after all, she just went with the name Ren.

Hachi also has that huge picture of Ren on her wall, which looks a lot like a memorial or commemorative photo.

Again, I hope I'm wrong. It just feels like that's where the story is going.

[yezhanquan]

Well, he's not seen. But, the guys did mention him when they're gathering for another festival. It's the one where Hachi ties the obi sash for Shin, and Nobu gives his gift doll to Satsuki.

See Chapter 42. Nobu asks for Ren. Hachi replies that he'll come before the fireworks roll. Yasu's reply nails his identity: "He's still so self-centered, as always."

[MikiMata]

So... doesn't chapter 75 come out tomorrow? I wonder what new emotional torture Ms. Yazawa has in store for us readers!

[Nervous Venus]

My cookie issue is coming in the mail soon : D

I really don't want to go another year with this story though. I'm starting to really get tired and disgusted of reira's emotional instability. I actually started to find her character likeable when she was with Shin, but these past few chapters with her throwing herself at takumi, who did manage some self restraint this time around (but lasted all of two seconds), was just weird.

I'm just hoping this will rap up sometime soon.

[MikiMata]

I agree. The plot needs to reach some sort of climax soon.

I used to like Reira, too, but now she just acts so needy and hysterical all the time. Not to mention how selfish she's being. Takumi really didn't want to get involved with her, but she basically seemed like she would fall to pieces if he didn't do something fast.

After looking at the raw for this next chapter, I don't know how soon the story is going to wrap up. There seems to be a lot of story left to cover still; this manga is so popular in Japan, too, I can see Yazawa riding the wave of success for another year or so.

[Sinestra]

Yea i dont think i can take too much more emotional instability on my part and Reira's. She has fallen so far from my good graces its not funny. In contrast Hachi has become one of my favorites at least future Hachi all grown up, shes way more stronger than when she first met Takumi even to the point where Takumi acknowledges that she might leave (Which im fairly confident is going to happen by the end) I cant wait to read the new chapter yet i can the emotional roller coaster that is Nana takes a toll and let us not forget the 2nd season of the anime is still in the works.

Has anyone seen anything resembling when Nana will end from Ai's own mouth?

[MikiMata]

I haven't heard anything about how long the series will be - but as huge a hit as this is in Japan, I can see Ai wanting to take her time wrapping it up.

Also, the story is moving very slowly, IMO. Hachi won't even have her baby for another 2 months in the story timeline, and of course, there are the 6-8 years between the past and the present to be accounted for and "filled in."

I just read the latest installment, Chapter 75. Things are not looking good for Ren at all.
And now Reira

Spoiler:

just wants to "go back to the way things were" with Takumi? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. But on the positive side, it seems like there won't be a passionate love affair between those two. They both seem to regret it, and are blaming each other for what happened.

Have I mentioned that I hate Reira?

[yezhanquan]

Chapter 75 was ok to me. Layla still has a lot to learn on controlling her emotions. If I'm not mistaken, she's not mentioned in the "future" chapters, along with Naoki.

[Nervous Venus]

Yazawa Ai hasn't really written a story this long before. I have almost all her mangas, and none of them go past 7 volumes. :/ I'm almost afraid she doesn't know how to end the story, lol.

But if you really look at the story, the flashbacks are starting to inch (and by inch, I mean crawl like a caterpillar trying to go cross country) closer to the present. I'm willing to bet a dollar it'll be another year or so

Have I mentioned I still despise Shouji?
He's probably the most unredeemable character in the whole manga.

[yezhanquan]

Well, we haven't seen him much in canon. All the best to him and Sachiko.