Nana Komatsu — the Portrait of a Strong Woman in the Anime Series “Nana”
Nana Komatsu is a girl full of dreams, looking for happiness. She is vivacious, a visionary, romantic, an idealizer, optimistic, ardent, effervescent and vigorous. She is very emotional and it can be said that she lives by her feelings, by which I mean that she always makes decisions with her heart (and this heart is always full of goodness): “Back then, the only thing I had plenty of was wishes.” “Having a dream come true and being happy… Why are they so different?”
Nana K. was a devoted romantic and love seeker since school age; she wanted to find true love and live a family life with a husband. She was very loyal, optimistic and cheerful, which made her a very positive and pleasant person.
Along with all this, it is worth mentioning that she wanted to live independently, have a household and financial independence: “I want to be a woman you can depend upon, too! I want to be a woman whom everyone strives to be”. For this goal, she was always working and was looking for jobs. Despite the fact that it was difficult to find the jobs she wanted and liked, she still tried, pushed herself, and worked in places where she was uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.
Nana Komatsu’s nickname Hachi, which Nana Osaki coined, is not just the name of a cute dog and not only the number eight in Japanese. This nickname is named because of Nana Komatsu’s “loving and faithful” personality, which would also avoid the possibility of confusion between the two Nanas. Hachi/Hachikō is known to many from the famous movie Hachi: A Dog’s Tale or Hachikō Monogatari. The dog Hachikō was faithful and loyal to his guardian. Even after his death, Hachikō did not move from the place where he was waiting for his guardian to return from work, he was always waiting for him until he died himself, waiting nine years. At the end of the series, just like that, at their apartment 707, Nana Komatsu is still waiting for Osaki, like Hachikō did. This parallel in the series is very beautiful and sad at the same time. It is also worth noting that these films (“Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” and “Hachikō Monogatari”) are based on real life.
Komatsu is often compared to Nana Osaki, who precisely represents a really strong female character. Nana O. is responsible, has control over her life, is confident, respects herself, has a clear future plan, always makes decisions with her brain, and in short, she is the role model of the series, and the characters themselves describe her exactly like that. This is very acceptable and adequate, because that is what Nana Osaki deserves! Lots of applause and appreciation. Besides, she is a rockstar-- a very cool, talented and accomplished rockstar; she really deserves a round of applause!
I presented Nana O. as an example because people often try to belittle Hachi by comparing them.
The reason for disliking or even hating on Nana Komatsu, among many other things, is misogyny, which unfortunately still exists in our society. Hachi, who is an emotional and kind person, receives the same scorn as real-life women do. I’m not saying that kindness and love always end in hatred from people, but in our society, it often happens that way and we can’t ignore it. It also happens because of the fact that a part of people still thinks that emotionality and sensitivity are boring, weak, and most importantly (where misogyny precisely intersects), these characteristics are “feminine”. Because of this, misogynists try to belittle, humiliate and consider them as a sign of weakness; they try to to strengthen and spread the view: “feminine=weak.”
In fact, Nana Komatsu is a strong person exactly as a consequence of these qualities. Yes, she is ruled by feelings and emotions, but this does not prevent her from being serious and thoughtful. At the age of 20, when life puts you in front of a very serious dilemma and you face it relentlessly and firmly, that means that you are strong, and Nana Komatsu, who faced an unplanned pregnancy at the age of 20, is said to be strong. Despite the fear and all the pressures that society and those around put on her, it is difficult to keep calm and approach the issue seriously. But Hachi was able to do it and did everything with mature, thoughtful and prudent steps.
The point of interest here is not whether Hachi made the right decision when she decided to have a baby or not. It’s not a matter for anyone else to judge. Nana Komatsu’s attitude and the condition she maintained at this time is just as commendable. The rest should not even be discussed by the audience. Women make different decisions, women are different, but there is one thing in common and that is freedom of choice. Most importantly, Nana Komatsu had this freedom, and what she did after that is only her business and no one else’s. Judging her because of why she decided to have a child at the age of 20 with a man she didn’t love is the wrong attitude.
This is a complex example of the difficult situation women have to live in today’s society. When Hachi decided to give birth to a child, the audience was at risk of having a negative attitude towards her, although in case of an abortion, she would likely receive the same attitude. That is why it is not correct to consider her decision in a moral, judgmental and critical way.
Hachi, according to all this, is a strong character in the series. She may be different from the ideas we have about strong people. However, we must remember that these perceptions are sometimes shaped by sexism and misogyny. Accordingly, if we don’t think about this character stereotypically, we will realize that all these heightened feelings, a lot of emotions, great ability to love, sincerity, openness, care and other qualities make this character not weak, but stronger.
