Manga: Nana

Tagged with: cosplay manga nana

By Jessica Pepper

I’ve always prided myself as being one of the guys. I’ve had several of my male friends remark that they love the fact that I can sit down watch a hockey game, eat Buffalo wings and have a couple of beers. I can quote Clerks without a problem and know my superheroes’ secret identities without blinking an eye. The idea of owning a telephone booth to get changed in every day has crossed my mind more than once. I can still, to this day, remember how to finish ” Maniac Mansion”. The people at my job have also caught me humming the theme to Castlevania.

Well, alright - aside from the hockey, I’m one of the geek guys. I love the fact that I’m often the only female that gets in on the ‘guy speak’ and love it even more that I’m never defined as the ‘girlie girl’.

This goes for my anime consumption as well.

Let me put it like this, I am a strange cat.

The more bizarre, the more surreal, the more obscene, the more I love it. I literally go to my local anime guy and ask for the most screwed up $%^& that he has. I watched the first episode of Elfen Lied laughing the entire time and screaming, “That girl has head explodey!!” I’ve watched Oldboy and Ichi the Killer with a relish most women have for fancy handbags.

So then tell me, why oh why oh why…do I currently find myself addicted to a shojo manga?!

It’s happened before. I’ll admit it, I love Dramacon. Sailor Moon and Utena are some of my favorite anime programs (have you SEEN the guys in Utena??) By far and large though, these are exceptions. When your list of favorites included Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and End of Evangelion, you kind of figure that exceptions are bound to happen.

But then I found myself hooked on Nana.

From left to right: Carlos Parreno, Lisa Valesio, James Masonsong,Cheryl Apicella-LaRosa and Estephany Lopez. Photo by Jessica Pepper

I didn’t mean for it to happen. A good friend of mine passed it along to me because I had no clue what it was, even though I had photographed a bunch of Nana cosplayers at Otakon last year. So I figured I should give a thorough read before I passed any judgment about it, plus the clothing looked pretty awesome. Couldn’t hurt.

So I read it. Avidly.

She lent me two volumes at a time for the last four months and I could barely wait for my lunch break to sit in the park and read it. Is it the sappy love story between Ren and Nana? The joy of pursuing one’s dreams? The unrequited love Yasu has for Nana? The blatant and sometimes extreme sexuality of the characters?

Well that sure IS fun… but it’s not it.

It’s the reality of the love stories – the fact that not only do they not always work, but also the fact that even if you love someone, they might not love you back. The prince might not get there in time to rescue the princess because he can’t even figure out how to save himself. It’s real, it’s gritty, and love doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. Doing what’s right and what you want are two completely different things.

That’s the way it is in Nana, but that’s the way it is outside the pages as well

Scenario: Boy meets girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Boy falls in love with girl. They get in a fight. Girl ends up crying. They get back together! Music swells. And there they stand together looking out at a sunset/sunrise/ full moon/starry sky…. with the prompted ‘anime winds’ blowing their hair in dramatic fashion. Boy then says some cliche line ( “You were what I was looking for all along” and the like) and he leans in for the perfect kiss.

How many times have we read that in a manga?

The reality is that it’s never that simple, it’s never that planned and there is never, never a right answer.

For example, towards the beginning of the series, Nana Osaki is in love with Ren Henjo of Trapnest (a rival band), desperately, fervently so and has been for years even despite a long lasting breakup. By volume ten, suddenly she isn’t even sure if she wants to be there anymore. She loves him truly, but becomes confused by her own feelings for Nana and by the brotherly affection of Yasu. This becomes especially true when he defends against the paparazzi, while Ren falls back into his own habits. Even though Nana knows she loves Ren, she becomes hesitant about a future with him.

It certainly sounds true to life for me.

So there, you got me I admit it. I do have a sappy romantic side…just cause I’m a tomboy doesn’t mean I don’t have my moments too. And you’ll be able to find me sitting in a bookstore with my cup of tea as I devour the latest Nana … but maybe on my way home I’ll rent the most screwed up Japanese horror movie I can find… just to even things out.

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J.R. Pepper, is a trained Art Historian and Photographer as well as being a full time geek, tea addict and guinea pig slave. When not at work she can be found wandering through the anime conventions, working on many personal projects,schooling kids in Guitar Hero and trying to educate her non-geek boyfriend for the upcoming “ Xfiles” movie. Check out her site at www.pepperart.com or www.myspace.com/pepperart, leave a comment why don’tcha!