Nana

Nana, in my opinion, is the best slice of life anime there is. The story is incredibly realistic and you can actually see yourself in some of the characters. Not to mention the impeccable songs the anime produced. For sure a must watch and one of those animes i will always hold close to my heart.

Nana is the best anime in its genre. Nothing will ever top the emotion poured into this show, and did I mention that it has the most beautiful soundtrack? I still listen to all the songs six years later.

This anime tore into me deep. I related so greatly to the characters, I felt almost as if the things they experienced, were also happening to me. Particularly, the relationship between the two protagonists, left me shocked. There were so many moments that were poignant and sorrowful and others that were pronounced and light. While watching, I couldn't help but wince as characters made bad decisions, but I also understood them and saw myself making them as well. I will say I am saddened by the long hiatus from the manga and show as the creator Ai Yazawa is ill. I do hope that they animate the panels from the manga that haven't been animated yet, because there is quite a big event towards the last published release. A criticism that can be seen within the show however is that it does lean into queer-baiting, while maintaining and show based around hetero relationships and the friendship between two women. Whether or not this is for sure queer-baiting is yet to be seen since again the show hasn't been completed.

When most people watch anime, they want the typical action adventure underdog shonen plotline. If your like most guys and only like the mainstream stuff then this isn't your cup of tea. No. Nana is the cup of coffee I need every morning. This show is an emotional rollercoaster. As the first few episodes will give you more into the characters background and later on it gets more and more intriguing. I'll admit it was painful to watch because it was so realistic. Yes, you might get annoyed with hachiko for being dependent and clingy but I'll admit I do know girls that are like that. Nobody's perfect. We all have flaws. What do most of us in our 20s do? Smoke, drink, breakups. Nana does perfect that. There aren't much anime like Nana. Thats because most romantic dramas get adopted to live action series because its more suited to real life or it just stays as manga series only.

To everyone telling the ending wasn't good: This isn't even an ending, it's just the mid part of the anime. This show needs a season 2 to answer many questions of audience.

Now to enjoy this show thoroughly, you must read manga so you will understand what ending is going to lead to(coz manga was halted halfway due to writer's health issues). Only some chapters feel missing in manga and many things seem to be sorted out. Go watch this anime, read manga and you will have experienced one of the most mature and realistic show.