Nana

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.

I saw this on an AA flight back from Japan and have to say it was a pretty enjoyable flick, so much so that I'll request netflix to carry it if/when it comes out on DVD so I can watch it with my wife.

It behooves me to add a bit of context, unlike quite a few of the people here, I've never read the manga, so for me this was a standalone movie with no preconceptions of what the characters should look/act like. I thought they were reasonably developed, interesting characters with good amount of depth.

My only real issue (as is frequently the case) is the manner in which they subtitled this movie. It's hard for me to ignore the subtitles if they're there, and worse, when they are poorly done then I spend an irritating amount of time interrupting myself mentally, thinking "Wait a second, that is not at all what (s)he said". This may just be my problem but it's definitely irritating. At the same time, they were not so drastically different that they significantly changed the feeling of the whole movie, which is frequently a complaint heard about English language movies with Japanese subtitles.

Nana may suffer from being a condensed version of an expansive Manga universe, but it also knows exactly how much time to spend on individual plots strands. Nana is a coming of age, female friendship film that handles immature and young emotions with absolute maturity. The most impressive aspect was creating a relationship between one of the protagonists boyfriends and another girl. It easily could have made him a villain, but instead took an unbiased look at how the relationship came to be. Luckily, for a film focused on bands, the music is relatively good. Nakashima and Miyazaki both inhabit their roles well and build up a believable friendship. Highly enjoyable, even if it doesn't quite feel complete.

You can rest assured that this is one of the best media adaptations I've seen, and it's the best Manga <> Live Action Movie conversion i have ever witnessed.

All of the main cast looks as if they have come to life direct from the manga, and they feel real and vibrantly true. About the only negative i could say is that Shin doesn't look young enough (mainly because he's too tall, his style however is perfect and natural). About the only character that didn't jive with me was Nobu, but apart from that everything is perfect - from Yasu to the members of Trapnest, to Sachiko to Juu-chan, all perfect, living as naturally as real life.

Full credit has to go to the stylists and costume designers, who took NANA's unique and wild style of clothing and made it a living breathing stunning showcase you want to reach out and touch.

With regard to the story, i have nothing but praise for the authentic adaptation and brilliant pacing of the story. The movie basically covers from where Nana (Hachi) got on the train to go to Tokyo and it ends just after the concert, when Trapnest came over to Nanaes's (plural possessive of Nana) apartment. The ending is one that feels right, and wraps up nicely the threads throughout the movie. It leaves open the possibility of a sequel and most importantly, doesn't change the source material.

For all of you out there who have never read Nana you'll be pleased that for the movie, NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF NANA IS NECESSARY. So you can go and watch it right now.

I've already mentioned how closely the movie follows the source material, and it is a joy to behold the manga come to life and acted out for this 2 hour movie. I have a very short attention span but for NANA i was on the edge of my seat.

With the NANA manga featuring detailed themes of music and bands, a question is how well real life was able to bring to life the exultation of the songs. I wasn't that wowed by the first BLAST track, but the ending was definitely nice to listen too. In particular Trapnest sounded awesome.

I could write on and on singing my praises for this movie,So what are you waiting for, watch it!!!!!!

As far as manga animations go Nana is a success and, despite my rule against sequels, I am going to watch Nana 2 next.

Two girls who could not be any different find companionship, friendship and enduring love. Differences are ignored and left by the roadside as the two come together and stand shoulder-to-shoulder. It is cool and fun. The music is handled well, as well as the emotional turbulence. The music is billed as punk, but is real just pop rock.

The girls are so cute and thin. It is great to see slim and healthy girls not being hated on by other girls. it is sad, but true. I guess Japan is a different story. Still, one has nice hair and the other one has a masculine short bob.

One last thing: if you rent an apartment on the seventh floor and there are no elevators you are clearly telling your parents 'do not visit.' lol