I have a love/hate relationship with this show. It’s a wonderful story in any of its incarnations, manga, anime or live action movie. The story, which is very slice-of-life, is interesting and the two main characters and their supporting cast are wonderful- coming across as real people you’d want to meet and become friends with. The only "problem" is that the manga writer, Ai Yazawa, is almost too good at writing about realistic relationships, especially powerful, unhealthy relationships. This is where the hate part of my relationship with this story comes in. I can’t make it through any Ai Yazawa story without breaking down into hysterical sobs, even if the story has a happy ending! And Nana is probably the "best" at tugging the heart-strings and making you feel as wretched as the poor characters. Not to mention making you over relate with the two main characters. It’s just too…real, sometimes.

The story is about two young women setting out on their own for the first time, one to follow her boyfriend and the other to pursue a music career, both heading to Tokyo. They meet on a bullet train, and due to it being stuck in snow for two hours, strike up a conversation only to find out they both share the same name, Nana. However, they have radically different personalities. One Nana is overly girly and marriage crazy and the other very rocker and aloof. They meet again in Tokyo when they fall in love with the same apartment. They decide fate must desire them to become friends and so they become roommates. At first you think the show is going to turn into an odd-couple-ish comedy because of their different personalities, but instead they get along wonderfully and become the best of friends. The show focuses on the relationships of the two women and the series of pretty brutal curveballs life throws at them.

The anime-version is wonderful as is the first movie. (Although I haven’t brought myself around to seeing the second movie yet because they replaced most of the original cast.) I am anxiously awaiting the end of the manga because it keeps hinting that Very Bad Things will happen to one of the Nanas, and it would be nice to read it all in one shot instead of bits and pieces. Going back to the anime though, the animation quality is good and stays so throughout the series. And for a show that is focused mostly on music, the soundtrack does not disappoint! It also has a graceful ending which is sometimes hard for a show to do when the manga is still ongoing. It does leave you with that premonition of Very Bad Things though! Also, if you are at a pretty low point in your life you might want to watch something more upbeat. This show isn’t a pick-you-upper! It is a good, compelling story about life though, and if you like “chick flick” shows, you should most definitely give this a try!