Nana 9
Posted: April 17, 2008 Filed under: Nana 4 Comments »So the one thing I kept hearing about this volume was that it revealed the origin of a name, and that it was silly. For some reason, I thought the name was Trapnest, but I couldn’t think of how there could be a silly origin for that name, because I could pretty much accept any explanation for it. Well, it wasn’t Trapnest, it was Reira, explaining why her parents named her that. REIRA. I must say, I don’t often “hear” names in my head when I’m reading, but I sure do hear that one now. I have been giggling about it ever since.
Even after what happened last volume, I have a new favorite moment in the series. Hachi and Nana… well, things happen, and Hachi writes Nana a note. The note comes into play about halfway through the volume, and the text isn’t revealed to the end. It made me cry, it was seriously one of the most heartbreaking things EVER. I was so sad, even though… well, it’s not really a dire situation or anything between them. Not really, anyway. Hachi is sort of cast to the background in this volume, but what happened last time affected Nana in a very serious way, and this volume makes you realize more than anything what each girl means to the other.
Other things happen, but nothing quite as major as the origin of Reira’s name and the note to Nana, along with Nana’s… reactions to the whole situation from last volume.
There’s a short story at the end which chronicles the life of Naoki, the drummer for Trapnest. Naoki is the only member of Trapnest who isn’t caught up with the members of Blast, which makes him sort of the odd man out. He’s the only one who comes to visit Hachi at the end of the volume, and he and Hachi seem to get along really well. I hope this means he’ll be appearing more frequently, because I really liked him after that, and I liked him even more after reading his bonus story. His bonus story, in addition to making him an awesome guy, goes far in explaining the backgrounds of various characters like Yasu and Takumi, and also explains how it was that Trapnest got together.
The Jun’s Place bonus section is crammed in there somewhere, and Johji shows up, which made me even happier with this volume, if that’s even possible. Apparently the end of Parakiss corresponded to this volume, which is hard to believe. What volume is Nana on in Japan again? 18? And it’s still going? Parakiss ended… let’s see, I was still in school… 2004? I guess that was only 4 years ago.
I devoured Nana in a really short time frame. I was transfixed, like Hachi, by Nana and her stylishness, drama, music, love, life. This volume marked a divide in the series for me, as the 2 Nana’s went their separate ways and lives. As Hachi moved away from Nana, I kind of felt the same thing…
I’ll keep following it though, just to watch how the series resolve the haunting appeals to Future-Nana that Hachi makes at the end of many chapters. Even at the most happiest, that thread of loss still runs through the series…
[...] Maniac Cafe. Sakura Kiss reads Kiss All the Boys at The Yaoi Review. Connie updates with reviews of vol. 9 of Nana, All Nippon Air Lines, and vol. 6 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service at Slightly Biased Manga. [...]
Well, if you think about it…That works out pretty well. It’s 2008, and 2004 is when Paradise Kiss ended. Nana started in 2000..and it took her 4 years to get to volume 9. So volume 18 would exactly be where she is if Ai Yazawa kept at that rate.
Wow. She had two successful manga go at the same time! But ParaKiss should’ve been come out more (after all, they both started in 2000 but NANA had 9 volumes and ParaKiss had 5 by 2004) unless the magazine came out bi-monthly or she was lazy. I wonder if the rumor that Ai Yazawa ended ParaKiss early so that she could focus on NANA was true? ParaKiss had a beautiful ending, but I was left with the feeling that it might’ve been a little rushed…
*laugh* Her name made me laugh out loud. But then I cried buckets with Nana’s letter. Ai Yazawa should stop making me swing from one extreme to another like that. It’s just torture.
AK: Yeah, I kind of wonder about the narration and how it sets the entire series as a flashback. I think they’ll continue to see each other after this volume (or I would assume so, since there’s at least 9 other volumes), but it does make me wonder what could possibly happen that would drive them apart with an element of finality as the narration suggests.
Miki: True, I guess it just proves she’s been keeping a steady pace with Nana. The discrepancy between volumes of Parakiss and Nana might have to do with chapter length. If I remember right, there’s about 8 or so chapters per volume of Paradise Kiss, but only 4 per volume in Nana. I do wonder if the end to Paradise Kiss was rushed. It seemed like there were a few loose ends that were wrapped up a little too abruptly, but on the other hand, I liked that it ended after they graduated from High School since it seems like a really good stopping point.