NANA
2006
Original language: Japanese
- animation
- drama
The story
Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu meet while traveling to Tokyo in pursuit of their respective dreams, and decide to be roommates. Although drastically different people, the two become very close and together they find out if their biggest dreams have room for their best friend.
What it’s like
Warm, grounded and bittersweet, with a rock-club haze running underneath: the 2006 anime leans on soft pastel interiors of cramped Tokyo apartments, the grey-blue wash of late trains, and the bright, sweaty glow of small live venues where amps hum and the crowd roars at the edges of the frame. Its hand-drawn lines are clean and expressive, with long held shots on faces during quiet conversations and sudden kinetic cuts when a band hits the stage. The soundtrack is the emotional engine: punk and alt-rock guitar pulses against wistful piano and melancholy ballads, so a scene can shift from gritty energy to aching stillness within a few seconds. Pacing is unhurried and episodic, built around everyday routines like shared meals, laundry, and rehearsals, then broken by heavier turns. The mood is cozy melancholy with a bruised, romantic edge, and the arcs follow two young women testing loyalty, love and ambition as their lives pull in different directions. Intensity is moderate: there are mature themes, relationship infidelity, substance use, and emotional cruelty, with some sexual content and brief, unsettling moments of violence, but little gore. It suits a rainy weekend, a late-night binge, or anyone who wants a melancholy coming-of-age story with real music.
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