Forum - View topicREVIEW: NANA DVD Box Set 3+4
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JGonspy
Posts: 70 Location: Toronto |
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It's incredibly ironic that much like the last two reviews, I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment but reading the review itself wasn't a very enjoyable experience. As much as I enjoy the series and think it's worthy of the highest of praise, the overly ornate style distracted me. Not so much as it did in the last review, but even so, I suppose I prefer plainly written reviews.
All that being said, I echo the recommendation. There are few TV series, never mind anime, that reach the heights of artistic achievement found in NANA. Anyone would be well advised to seek it out. The only prerequisite from my experience is that the people who are touched the most know what it feels like to have their heart broken. |
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Pippin4242
Posts: 111 |
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I certainly didn't find the review to be 'ornate' - indeed, I enjoyed reading such a fluent, confident piece of writing. But then, I'm in literary academia, so I can't help but enjoy anything with a bit of structure and grace.
Anyway, it was just wonderful to see Nana getting some of the recognition it deserves. With the manga on hiatus, there's precious little notice for this gorgeous show in the West... *~Pips~* |
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ZenErik
 Posts: 392 Location: Boston |
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This is one of my favorites.
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njprogfan
 Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1225 Location: A River Named Toms |
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I have box set 1 and haven't watched it yet, but now....
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ZenErik
Posts: 392 Location: Boston |
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It's very addictive. I watched the first 3 sets in the period of maybe a week and then had to wait 1 1/2 months for set 4. Torture! |
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ayashe
 Posts: 123 |
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This is one of the most overrated series out there. I hate NANA. I hate hate hate NANA. This is the only anime I've ever seen that I actually hate. The characters are the most annoying one's I've ever encountered, shoujo Nana is a little who--, and that's basically she the only thing she ever does, and when she's not she's acting like an obsessive, crazy, and very, very stupid b. The live action movies weren't wonderful, but they were still better than this. I've never seen a series with a more sickening main character.
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luffypirate
 Posts: 3187 |
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You should check out Baki the Grappler. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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I don't know if I'd call Hachi's decision self-serving so much as completely utterly stupid. spoiler[She's basically deciding to marry a man she barely knows and who treats her like crap just because she feels that, pregnant, she has to marry the father. I can only hope that in the future (and I really need to read the manga for just this reason) that she comes to her senses and leave the bastard. I really fear the idea that this might get presented as a good thing in the end rather than the dumbest thing a woman can possibly do.]
By the end of this series, I felt rather ambivalent, because actually Nana (punk Nana) is being an idiot as well with her relationships with men. And the ending is a total cliffhanger, which left me just screaming to know what happens next... only there isn't a second season yet! It's just so frustrating. Are the girls going to get through this and learn to focus on their personal, healthy relationship with each other rather than their awful, unhealthy relationships with men? I don't know, but it really drives me up the wall how dumb they can be when it comes to romance, especially Nana who is otherwise so strong. Wow, that sounded way harsher than I intended. I really loved the series, but man, just ending where it did really made me lose the drive to buy it. I hate unresolved stories. |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Nana, or any of Ai Yazawa's stuff isn't there to set good examples to young readers. Ai Yazawa is instead giving us girls a more realistic approach to shoujo and the problems and choices young women face today. It may seem stupid to you, but I've gotten extremely used to the concept that Hachiko is faced with. I see it every time in the small town I live in from the point I was in high school well into today at the age of 24. spoiler[I get a phone call every now and then that a friend of mine or someone I went to in high school is pregnant, and they automatically marry the guy, only to divorce a year later. In logic, in this day and age, yeah, it's stupid to us single women not faced with the choice. But unless you've been put into the situation itself, you have no right to judge and second guess their choice. It's a choice a woman has to make. Do you keep the child, do you get an abortion. Do you marry the bastard that knocked you up in hopes for a traditional, good future for the child, or do you risk bringing the child up all on your own.] It's a scary choice, and as stupid as Hachiko is, I always end up seeing her represent any number of my friends over the years. This stuff made me just want to pull her into a hug and cry my eyes out with her. If these girls were perfect, making perfect choices, it'd make the manga boring. But then again there IS no perfect choice in this situation. It's just one of the many issues the girls of Nana must face that make the manga all the more real to me. Nana and Hachiko aren't just some random comic book characters. They're the girls I meet up with every day, with real issues and real choices that have to be made. |
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Lenks
Posts: 139 |
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Agreed. Wholeheartedly. A lot of the drama in this series is relatable in some way. Nothing in the series series has happened to me, but I know it to be true among my peers. The only thing I haven't en...well. I take that back. It just wasn't male prostitution. That's why I love NANA. It might include the cliches: love triangle, romance, etc., but it does them without making everything seem like it's going to be okay. It's a lot more relatable when the characters are fallible, rather than perfect--and these characters are far from perfect. I've finished the anime via Hulu, and I'm slowly reading the manga; I'm at 10 right now. I'm super psyched to see what's going to happen to Nana and co. because I'm probably only about two or three volumes away from where the anime ended, leaving me with, what? About eight volumes of new material for me? |
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CaptainAvatar
 Posts: 381 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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I loved this series with the exception of the abrubt ending. Looks like I have another series where I have to go to the manga to get the rest of the story. Hopefully we might get more animated, perhaps once the manga is completed. One can only hope.
As to Hachi's choices, they can be very frustrating as you feel she is making the wrong choices, but ultimately her character and choices are very realistic and believable in this day and age. Ultimately, the one character I would like more back-story on is Takumi - he is generally the one character I reviled the most, yet his actions give pause as to why he is doing what he does. Most would probably have expected him to spoiler[not stand by Hachi - I expected him to push her to get an abortion and sweep it all under the rug, but he didn't.] |
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Zade
Posts: 79 |
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I don't think "untwining" is a word...
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1341 |
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I saw the movies before watching this series first, and I was surprised to find out later how faithful the film adaptations really were, how they were able to capture the very essence of Nana and compress the story into standalone films right to the same ending as the Anime. I'm with everyone in saying that Hachi made wrong life choices, but I was just so absorbed in everything that I don't think much of it at the time; I guess that's what watching dramas like Nana can do sometimes. On the other hand, not all stories have to have positive role-model characters, doesn't always make for a gripping, powerful drama. It's just a story, after all.
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JGonspy
Posts: 70 Location: Toronto |
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For the record, I'm also in literary academia, and I would say that we apparently haven't different tastes as far as structure and grace go. When it comes to reviews specifically, I prefer information and maybe some light deconstruction. Colourful metaphors to me seem best preserved for creative endeavors. But more generally about the series itself and to join in a little about Hachi's decision. I think an important part of why she made her choice is that spoiler[she's in love with Takumi]. It seems simple, and perhaps foolish her to feel that way, but reason rarely appeals to emotion. You could definitely argue that she's confusing a sexual relationship with an emotional, but I can't imagine anyone getting this far and not noticing that she has a bit of a problem with that. Heck, her very first relationship in the opening of the series should tell you that much. And to anyone who has the pleasure of reading the manga to find out what happens next, I can only say it gets more interesting. The last volume, 21, before hitting the current hiatus comes out in June and I can't wait to read it! |
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ZenErik
Posts: 392 Location: Boston |
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So what if the characters make stupid decisions much of the time? That's what makes them easier to relate to and seemingly more human.
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