Nana (2005/II)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Kentarô Ôtani

Writers:

Ai Yazawa (comic)
Taeko Asano (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

A chance encounter between two girls of the same name, "Nana," triggers a series of events and relationships. |

Plot Keywords:

Girl | Manga | Based On Comic | Friendship | Rock Band

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Mika Nakashima	...	Nana Osaki
Aoi Miyazaki	...	Nana Komatsu
Hiroki Narimiya	...	Nobuo Terashima
Ken'ichi Matsuyama	...	Shin
Saeko	...	Sachiko
Yuna Ito	...	Reira Serizawa
Momosuke Mizutani	...	Naoki
Anna Nose	...	Jyunko
Takehisa Takayama	...	Kyosuke
Tomoki Maruyama	...	Yasu
Tetsuji Tamayama	...	Takumi
Ryuhei Matsuda	...	Ren Honjou
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gou Ayano
Andrew Francis	...	Takumi
Maryke Hendrikse	...	Nami
Yûta Hiraoka	...	Shoji Endo
Adrian Petriw	...	Naoki (voice: English version)
Kelly Sheridan	...	Nana Komatsu (voice: English version)
Rebecca Shoicet	...	Nana Osaki (voice: English version) (as Rebecca Shoichet)
Alex Zahara	...	Mr. Muzuki (voice)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Hong Kong:I | Taiwan:GP | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Aniplex

Trivia:

In the story, since both main characters have the same first name, to differentiate one Nana to the other, Nana Osaki affectionately called Nana Komatsu "Hachi", because she thinks Nana Komatsu behaves like a dog, faithful but sometimes annoying. This is actually a play of word. The female name "Nana" is a homonym of the Japanese word "nana" that means "seven", and while "Hachi" is a common dog name in Japan, it is also a homonym of the word "hachi" that means "eight".

Movie Connections:

Version of "Nana" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Glamorous Sky

Definitely Enjoyable...

So after hearing about the Nana mangas for a while, I finally broke down and started reading them and became immediately obsessed. Therefore, within a week of reading the mangas, I had to watch the movie.

As far as adaptation screenplays go, I thought this movie was very solid. They chose their material well, and cut out appropriately. But of course, it is difficult to be 100% satisfied with a film when you're so in love with the source material. I was disappointed with the actual story arch of the film because I felt like it barely tapped into the intensity of the Nana's relationship because they failed to really, really show the progression of the friendship, in my opinion.

I was also slightly disappointed by the music, not because the music was bad, but because it wasn't what I was expecting. Perhaps because I am an American with very little exposure to Japanese music, I was expecting Trapnest to be a lot less pop (well, I thought they might be pop in the way that Evanescence is pop) and I definitely expected Blast to be more traditional Sex Pistol, Clash, etc. style punk rock.

But regardless, I enjoyed the movie very much and would indeed recommend it to fans of the manga.