Nana Review: Ai Yazawa’s Heartbreaking Punk-Rock Masterpiece
A full review of Nana by Ai Yazawa — the punk-rock josei epic about two young women, fame, and love that remains one of the most beloved manga ever, even unfinished.
By Web Admin
Some manga you enjoy. A handful of them get under your skin and stay there for years. Nana is firmly in the second group. Written and drawn by Ai Yazawa and serialized in Shueisha’s Cookie magazine from 2000, this josei landmark follows two twenty-year-old women who happen to share a name and, by chance, an apartment in Tokyo. It is glamorous, funny, achingly sad, and — because of the author’s health — heartbreakingly unfinished. This is our full Nana review: what it is, who it is for, why it still hurts, and which edition to buy.
What is Nana?
Nana is a josei (adult women’s) manga by Ai Yazawa, the creator of Paradise Kiss. Shueisha published 21 volumes in Japan before the series went on hiatus in 2009, and Viz Media released all 21 in English. The premise is simple: two women both named Nana meet on a snowy train to Tokyo and later become roommates. Nana Komatsu — nicknamed “Hachi” — is a warm, boy-crazy dreamer chasing love. Nana Osaki is a fierce, guarded punk vocalist chasing stardom with her band, Blast. The book is about how those two very different lives collide and change each other.
At roughly US$10–13 per volume and about 200 pages each, it is a substantial read — well over 4,000 pages across the run — and one of the best-selling shojo/josei titles of its era, reportedly moving many millions of copies in Japan.
The two Nanas: a study in contrast
The genius of the book is its two leads. Nana Osaki is all sharp edges: a Vivienne-Westwood-clad vocalist who left a small town and a band behind to make it in Tokyo. Hachi is soft and impulsive, forever falling in love and forever apologizing for it. Yazawa refuses to make either one the “correct” way to be a woman. Osaki’s independence costs her intimacy; Hachi’s openness costs her self-respect. Their friendship — fierce, codependent, tender — is the real love story of the series, more than any of the romances around it.
The story: fame, love, and the cost of both
What starts as a charming roommate comedy slowly darkens into something far more ambitious. Blast’s rise toward fame runs headlong into a rival band, Trapnest, whose members are tangled up in both Nanas’ pasts. As success arrives, so do the tabloids, the industry pressure, the pregnancies, the betrayals, and the compromises. Yazawa is unsparing about what celebrity does to young people and to the friendships that were supposed to be unbreakable. The narration is framed from a melancholy future point looking back, so a quiet dread hangs over even the happiest chapters.
Thematically, the book quietly braids several threads together, and it treats each with unusual patience and nuance:
- Female friendship — the beating heart of the book, portrayed with rare honesty.
- Ambition vs. intimacy — can you chase a dream and keep the people you love?
- Fame and the media — a sharp, prescient look at celebrity and privacy.
- Codependency and self-worth — love that heals and love that harms.
The art and the fashion
Yazawa trained in fashion design, and it shows on every page. Nana is one of the best-dressed comics ever made — Vivienne Westwood, punk tartan, cigarettes, strawberry apartments — and the styling is not decoration, it is characterization. Osaki’s look armors her; Hachi’s shifting wardrobe tracks who she is trying to be. The linework is elegant and confident, the paneling cinematic, and the quiet nine-panel domestic scenes carry as much weight as any concert splash.
It is worth stressing how much emotional information Yazawa packs into small gestures. A borrowed jacket, a shared cigarette on a balcony, the way the two Nanas sit on opposite ends of a couch — these tiny compositions do the heavy lifting that lesser dramas hand to shouted monologues. That restraint is why the big moments, when they finally arrive, land like a punch to the chest. Music runs through all of it too: the manga is soaked in real punk and pop influences, and the emotional rhythm of Blast’s rise gives the series a genuine soundtrack in your head as you read.
Content warning: this is grown-up manga
Set your expectations. Nana is a mature title dealing frankly with sex, smoking, drinking, abortion, self-destructive relationships, mental-health struggles, and the emotional fallout of all of it. None of it is gratuitous — Yazawa treats these subjects with unusual maturity — but this is a book for adult readers, not a gentle all-ages romance. If you want something lighter, that is a good thing to know going in.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Two of the richest, most human leads in all of manga
- Gorgeous fashion-forward art from a designer’s eye
- Treats adult themes with real honesty and warmth
- Endlessly re-readable; a genuine comfort-and-heartbreak classic
Cons
- Unfinished — on indefinite hiatus since 2009
- Heavy, sometimes bleak subject matter
- Not for readers wanting a tidy, resolved ending
The elephant in the room: it is unfinished
You deserve to know this before you start. Ai Yazawa fell seriously ill in 2009 and the series has been on hiatus ever since, ending on volume 21 without a conclusion. Fans have waited more than a decade. It is a real loss, and some readers understandably will not begin a story that may never end. Our honest take: the 21 volumes that exist are so rich, and the emotional journey so complete in feeling if not in plot, that it remains overwhelmingly worth reading — you just go in with eyes open. If an ambiguous, open ending would ruin it for you, this is your warning.
How Nana compares to other essential manga
If you are deciding where Nana fits among the adult and slice-of-life greats, here is a quick orientation.
| Title | Best for | Volumes | Approx. price/vol | Finished? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nana | Adult drama and friendship | 21 (hiatus) | ~US$11 | No |
| Solanin | Post-grad melancholy | 1 (complete) | ~US$18 | Yes |
| Paradise Kiss | Fashion and first love | 5 | ~US$15 | Yes |
For more in this vein, browse our picks for the best shojo manga and the best romance manga, or read our companion Solanin review for another bittersweet slice of young adulthood.
Which edition should you buy?
Viz has kept Nana in print in single volumes. There is no deluxe omnibus in English, so the choice is really about how you want to start.
| Edition | Collects | Approx. price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 paperback | Opening chapters | ~US$11 | Trying it out |
| Individual volumes 1–21 | The full run | ~US$11 each | Committed readers |
| Digital volumes | Any volume | ~US$7 | Cheapest way to binge |
The verdict
Nana is one of the finest character studies the medium has produced, and the fact that it is unfinished does not diminish how much it gives you. It is funny, stylish, and quietly devastating, and its portrait of two women trying to build lives on their own terms has aged beautifully. If you can make peace with an open ending, start it now — it earns a permanent spot near the top of our best slice-of-life manga shortlist and in the wider manga hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nana finished?
No. The manga has been on indefinite hiatus since 2009 due to Ai Yazawa’s health, ending at 21 volumes without a conclusion. Read it knowing the story is open-ended.
Is Nana appropriate for teenagers?
It is a josei title written for adults, dealing with sex, smoking, and difficult relationships. Older teens who handle mature drama will get a lot from it, but it is not an all-ages read.
How many volumes of Nana are there?
There are 21 collected volumes, all available in English from Viz Media. No further volumes have been released since the hiatus.
Where should I start with Ai Yazawa?
Nana is her masterwork, but her completed five-volume Paradise Kiss is a great, self-contained introduction to her style if you want a finished story first.
Keep exploring with our roundup of the best manga of all time, or a lighter pick from our best-loved romances.
