Nana 12
Posted: November 26, 2008 Filed under: Nana 6 Comments »I realized over the weekend that I’d fallen behind on this series, which is a real shame. It’s still one of the best series I’m reading right now. I know I say that a lot, and mean it every time I say it, but it’s especially true for Nana. It’s one of the most sophisticated and heart-breaking stories you can find.
Unfortunately, I don’t really like talking too much about this series for fear of spoiling it… but I can drop little hints about what I liked, I guess, without ruining too much.
We finally, finally get a bit of a happy reunion at the beginning of the volume. Not exactly as happy as I liked, since someone had to be sent away, and it was tainted by the somewhat unhappy reunion from last volume. This broke my heart a little, especially since I’m not totally convinced of the… current pairing.
This whole wedding business is confusing. I’m not really following the logic behind it other than it’s apparently what the record labels want, but why they want it… I dunno. Plus, I always worry Takumi has something horrible up his sleeve even though he’s been pretty well-behaved recently.
The weird flash-forward at the beginning was really weird. I wonder how often it happens. I kind of liked it, like it was a way of building on the narration. I hope it develops more and more and the two stories maybe… meet in the middle? That would be very awesome.
I LOVED the drama surrounding Reira’s birthday party at the end. I can tell that will blow up next volume, and no good will come of it.
As mild as all this sounds, I’m enjoying every page of it. I think the last few volumes I mentioned it read more like exposition, but that’s not so much the case here. I felt like a lot happened, and even more will happen next volume. I just realized I actually have the next two volumes, so maybe I’ll have myself a little Nana marathon. I’ve never read three volumes back-to-back before, it should be really awesome, because… well, that’s just what it is, no question.
Nana is sooooo damn good. I haven’t read 13 yet and am getting hella anxious to find out the next details. The flash-forwards are really making me tense. Where is **** and whe isn’t that missing person around?? oh god, i fear the worse.
Yeah, thinking about it more and more, I really like the flash-forwards. The fact that the conspicuous absence in this one makes me wonder… well, a lot of things, especially given the wistful and kind of sad narration. I really hope the flash-forwards are something that comes up often.
The flashforwards will increase as times go on. I do think Ai Yazawa will have them meet in the middle.
I think she’s also making us guess as to, “what will happen in the future for the flash-forwards to be this way? What are the characters alluding to in the flashforwards that will happen in the immediate future?”
It’s like its own Nana teaser. lol.
That’s really cool. Now I really do want to read the next two volumes just to see how frequent they become.
Terry Moore used to do occasional flashforwards like that in his acclaimed American indy title “Strangers in Paradise,” the long-running (but now completed) and sometimes soap operatic story of two female friends who may or may not wind up as a couple. (The feisty artist Kachoo is gay and has been in love with Francine for years, while the more timid, conventional Francine cares a lot about Kachoo, but is attracted to guys and freaked out by the thought of even making out with a girl.) But I don’t think “Nana” had even been released here yet at the time Moore started using flashforwards–in fact, I don’t think Viz had even launched “Shojo Beat” yet then–so it’s probably a coincidence.
Oh cool. Actually, “Strangers in Paradise” is something I’d been meaning to check out, but I didn’t think about how the plot may or may not be similar to Nana (I sorta only knew the vaguest bits of Strangers, but had heard it was good). It sounds like something I’d be really into. Thanks for pointing that out.