Nana Osaki- A Rockstar Who Finds Herself and Love
Ai Yazawa’s Nana is an outstanding anime of Japanese shojo. It tells the story of two women, Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu, who at first glance have ordinary and unremarkable lives. In this article, we will review the character of Nana Osaki and see what a special and strong female character Yazawa has created.
Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki are perceived by many as a feminine and a non-feminine woman. This is not correct. On the contrary, Nana O., like Nana K., displays a strong feminine energy and attitude throughout the series. Osaki is a sensitive, emotional, gentle, and beautiful woman, and at the same time strong, independent, and determined. These strong feminine characteristics make her more feminine than, as they say, a non-feminine woman. Feminine energy should not be confused with weakness because it is also a force, a power, and a capacity which is very well seen in the character of Nana Osaki.
Let’s start from the beginning: As soon as Nana Osaki appears, with the punk style of the 2000s, we get to know her character in a moment. We realize that she has a close relationship with the punk community and its attributes. For example, Vivienne Westwood’s armour ring, which Nana Komatsu noticed momentarily on the train and is often worn by Osaki in the future, is precisely what indicates the punk style of Nana O.; even her clothes are clearly a part of this subculture. The mentioned ring is not only important because of Vivienne and punk, but it also has an indirect, symbolic meaning — it is a protective shield that keeps Nana Osaki safe from the evil of the outside world.
Nana Osaki is a dominant personality both in friendship and in romantic relationships. Let’s remember for example the relationship with Ren, where she always said that she didn’t want to be defined by him. It means that she didn’t want her relationship with Ren to be the reason why she would be successful. Osaki was the leader of this relationship and not only there, but she also wanted friends to be able to rely on her, too.
Her attitude towards Hachi (Nana K.) shows how much she strives to dominate her friends. This can be perceived as excessive selfishness, but it is not so. In fact, it is only a small selfishness that sometimes appears in people when there is great love, although this is also individual and does not characterize all people. However, Nana Osaki’s slight selfishness doesn’t really stop her personality from being good, as it doesn’t devolve into control, violence, or possessiveness. Therefore, I believe that it stems from her unique and dominant character. It is acceptable, especially in the case of female characters, because even to this day, women sometimes remain only passive and sensitive in the eyes of people which is not true at all, and I think the disappearance of these stereotypes is important for women because I believe breaking these stereotypes will decrease violence to some extent.
In Osaki’s character, the most noticeable behaviors are her ambition and independence. At the age of 20, she has clearly defined what she wants in life — she has goals and a plan for these goals, and most importantly, she tries to do it all by herself, without anyone’s help. And so it happens, and we can see that Nana really achieves her goals.
With all this, Osaki indeed becomes a feminist icon, and I especially want to point this out because Ai Yazawa’s Nana O. is a big and shining star among the misogynistic and sexist anime culture.
Nana’s path of self-clarification and self-realization through art leads to the creation of the best version of herself and rebirth. This reminds the viewer of the youth of many women — the years when a woman has to go through these paths… love, friendships, relationships, careers, financial problems, self-awareness, and many other things. What we’ve seen with Nana Osaki is arguably the best depiction of the female experience. Ai Yazawa’s true brilliance, intelligence, and strong perceptions are felt in every episode, which makes the viewer charmed and addicted. Finding the ideal version of yourself and at the same time looking for love is the life that is reality for many people and this is the life that Nana describes; that’s what we love so much about this anime.
Thank you Ai Yazawa!
The following text is written by a writer who has decided to anonymously participate in the creation of this article.
Nana Osaki is a guarded and ambitious young woman with a strong will and a rough past. She is the vocalist for a punk band called Black Stones and she desires fame and recognition more than anything else. She is 20 years old and has decided to take the next step in her musical career and move to Tokyo so that she can sign a label and make it big. With no real parental figure in her life, Nana was left in the care of her strict grandmother, who created restrictions so that Nana could not become a “temptress” like her mother. In Nana’s rebellious streak, she gets kicked out of high school based on false allegations and joins a band with Ren Honjo, Yasushi Takagi, and her friend Nobu. Her vocal talent is highly apparent and as she gets more gigs with the band Black Stones, her fans are confident that with the right coaching and progress, she can make it big. She falls in love with the guitarist, Ren, and starts dating him and living with him when she is 18. Ren wears a lock on his necklace, the key belonging to Nana. This necklace is an accurate representation of how attached the two are to each other, despite their differences and their on-again off-again dynamic. Ren moves to Tokyo after being asked to a famous band and a year later, Nana decides to start the Black Stones again in Tokyo with a new guitarist.
She knows what she wants out of life (to be a rock star) and has a fairly healthy, normal relationship with Ren. She’s tough and cool on the surface, thanks to a hard-knock childhood, but she’s still a little vulnerable and now she’s torn between pursuing her dream and finding happiness through success or pursuing her relationship with Ren and maybe trying to find happiness in a family. It’s a tough choice for anyone to make, but luckily she has an awesome support team in the form of her bandmates and even a few of her fans. Nana O. is just such a compelling and real person, and she is by and large my favorite character of the story. That’s not something you can say for every shojo manga, and it’s that same vivid character writing which distinguishes Nana even at this early stage.
Nana Osaki has it worse than Nana Komatsu. Even though they have both suffered, Nana Komatsu always has her best friend and a loving family, while Nana Osaki has felt alone for most of her life. Never knowing her father, abandoned by her mother, and losing her grandmother, Nana had no one to connect with, bare her soul or even hug — until she met Ren.
However, just when she got used to the idea of depending on someone other than herself, Ren abandons her. Of course, Nana knows she can choose to go with him, but to her, however, that would mean becoming a housewife and putting her dreams aside — something she could never do. Nevertheless, both Nanas are incredible young women who persevere despite their hardships. Yazawa’s realistic portrayal of timeless matters and human characters with touching backgrounds are what make Nana so powerful.
Unlike Nana Komatsu, Nana Osaki never had a warm family life. Nana’s mother left her in the care of her grandmother to be with another man when she was only four years old. Her grandmother was a strict and harsh woman, never supporting her emotionally or financially. She never allowed Nana to wear pink and red clothes because she believed that those “girlish” colors were meant to seduce men. While Nana was in high school, she was falsely accused of prostitution and got expelled. She didn’t fight the charges because she didn’t have the power, and thought of it as an opportunity to work and make some money.
After her grandmother passes, the first thing Nana does is buy herself a red dress. Wearing the dress, she goes to a punk concert with her friend Nobu, where she meets Ren — the love of her life. Soon, they start a band called Black Stones (or Blast) with dreams of making it big. A year later, Ren tells Nana that he plans to move to Tokyo because he has been offered to play guitar for a popular band known as Trapnest.
If I were asked the dreaded and ever-frustrating question of naming my favorite anime series, the name of Nana would very likely pop into my head. Bear that recommendation in mind next time you have a chance to see it, and I hope that you find it to be satisfying. It was certainly worth the long time I spent watching it, and having finished it now, it is not a show I will be able to replace.
