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Thu, Feb. 2nd, 2006
Nana (2005 movie)
Thu, Feb. 2nd, 2006 05:18 pmThe movie is based on the first 4 volumes of Yazawa Ai's manga Nana, which is apparently hugely popular in Japan (it's also one of my favorite series, so I am very biased). One of the things that I love the most about the series is that it's about the friendship between two very different women with the same name, and that while there is a great deal of romance involved, the manga doesn't lose sight of that core friendship (or at least what I've read of it).
In case you haven't read the manga, the story is about Oosaki Nana, a punk rock singer, and Komatsu Nana, an entirely ordinary, somewhat ditzy, girl. The two meet on the train to Tokyo (Nana K. is going there to get a job and be with her boyfriend; Nana O. is pursuing her dreams of being a punk rock star), and eventually end up being roommates.
( Adaptation details )
One of my quibbles with the movie was that it interspersed Nana O's flashbacks from vol. 1 throughout, but completely got rid of Nana K's flashbacks from the volume. It unbalanced the movie for me and didn't give Nana K any context, particularly in view of her later interactions with her boyfriend Shouji. Also, it meant that the main focus and drama of the movie was whether or not Nana O. and Ren would get back together.
While I like Nana O., my favorite part of the manga is the two Nanas, and so I dislike this weighting of the movie toward one of them. Nana K. does get development and a lengthy subplot in the movie, but I wish there were more about her need for a boyfriend and etc., which gets explored more in the manga. Without her half of vol. 1, she feels more like Nana O's friend instead of a lead character in and of herself.
( Spoilers for Nana vols. 1-4 and movie )
In case you haven't read the manga, the story is about Oosaki Nana, a punk rock singer, and Komatsu Nana, an entirely ordinary, somewhat ditzy, girl. The two meet on the train to Tokyo (Nana K. is going there to get a job and be with her boyfriend; Nana O. is pursuing her dreams of being a punk rock star), and eventually end up being roommates.
( Adaptation details )
One of my quibbles with the movie was that it interspersed Nana O's flashbacks from vol. 1 throughout, but completely got rid of Nana K's flashbacks from the volume. It unbalanced the movie for me and didn't give Nana K any context, particularly in view of her later interactions with her boyfriend Shouji. Also, it meant that the main focus and drama of the movie was whether or not Nana O. and Ren would get back together.
While I like Nana O., my favorite part of the manga is the two Nanas, and so I dislike this weighting of the movie toward one of them. Nana K. does get development and a lengthy subplot in the movie, but I wish there were more about her need for a boyfriend and etc., which gets explored more in the manga. Without her half of vol. 1, she feels more like Nana O's friend instead of a lead character in and of herself.
( Spoilers for Nana vols. 1-4 and movie )
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