Comments on: *Nana Books 12-14 — Recommended

By: Shojo Beat in September: Rasetsu 2, Love*Com 14, Sand Chronicles 6, High School Debut 11 » Manga Worth Reading

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:54:51 +0000

[...] Nana Book 18 — the most mature and involving of the lot, the story of a rock chick and her best friend looking for love and satisfaction [...]

By: Best of 2008 » Comics Worth Reading

Best of 2008 » Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:30:12 +0000

[...] Yazawa’s addictive manga series had six volumes, 8-13, released in English in 2008. It’s a briliant blend of character development — as [...]

By: Claudia

Claudia — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:23:36 +0000

Well, Nana, certainly is the manga that tops my Favourites list. (I do happen to read scanlated versions, however I don´t think that Ai Yazawa is going to suffer much from it since I buy it in 3 languages (English, Spanish and Japanese)I know Im pretty obsessed by it, but I can´t resist it. When I walk into a Borders store and see Nana on the shelf i have to get it. When I walk into a Vid (not Viz) store and see it displayed i also have to buy it. When I go to the Asian neighborhood in LA and i see it being sold I also buy it.
The aesthetic beauty that is demonstrated by Ai Yazawa really comes to its peak with this manga. Her previous stories like Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai and Gokinjou Monagatari, and Parakiss are all very beautiful but they are sometimes lacking in line definition and can sometimes appear to be old school shoujo style drawings,well Parakiss not so much but still there is something missing, that Ai Yazawa has finally pinned down and applied to Nana. The storyline is also very mature and there are so many things happening that you can´t get bored. As opposed to her other stories, the supporting characters of the story also get their time in the limelight and they each get to grow while you watch them each reach maturity.
This manga is classy, interesting and ever so beautiful. It is not easily constricted into one category but transcends them with the superb handling of both art and story.

By: Tomorrow’s Comics Today: A Very Late Previews » Comics Worth Reading

Tomorrow’s Comics Today: A Very Late Previews » Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:41:27 +0000

[...] what am I buying? Manga. All my favorites seem to come out in the same month: Nana, High School Debut, Sand Chronicles, Oishinbo, Black Jack, Parasyte… good [...]

By: Best Manga of 2008 » Comics Worth Reading

Best Manga of 2008 » Comics Worth Reading — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:31:35 +0000

[...] easily. Brilliant stuff, with books 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 out this [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:13:08 +0000

What interesting background, thank you! I hadn’t thought at all about the “good wife” aspect.

By: Velma

Velma — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:50:22 +0000

Ah, to miss Rivkah, I would like to point out that what Johanna says about baths being cultural is absolutely true. Although I agree with your statement, as a person who is Japanese, I can personally tell you that baths are a cultural thing, from onzen to hot springs, to domestic households, where even though it’s very traditional, it is still expected that when a man comes home from work, his wife will have a hot bath waiting for him, even if she is a worker too.

I think that Ms. Yazawa is taking that cultural aspect, and making it more modern and sexy for a younger reader, all while still enforcing a traditional value.

If you see Hachiko-Nana, she is very obsessed with romance, and she wants to be a wife. she would be the kind of wife that had the bath ready for her husband when he came home from work, but the difference being she might join him.

I guess it might be hard to do, but one cannot separate the Japanese aspect from manga by using American cultural aspects. They’re quite variant!

Aha, and please, although I know it sounds horribly sexist, and has even declined in the years (although not by much, understand that it isn’t a bad thing at all that a woman would feel more “wife-like” while in a tub with her lover, in Japan.

And even though the Nanas are their own people, the reader can see that they secretly long for the same goal – marriage and love.

The bath is a cultural thing that enforces that desire, and a lot of little girls can relate to.

By: MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Best-of lists and back-issue woes

MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Best-of lists and back-issue woes — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:28:11 +0000

[...] Souls and The Dawn of Love at Boys Next Door. Johanna Draper Carlson gives her stamp of approval to vols. 12-14 of Nana. Michelle Smith reviews vol. 1 of Papillon at Manga Recon. Deb Aoki gets a chuckle out of vol. 1 of [...]

By: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Dec. 8, 2008: Betty Page

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:25:47 +0000

[...] [Review] Nana Vols. 12-14 Link: Johanna Draper Carlson [...]

By: Rivkah

Rivkah — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:34:29 +0000

“On a completely different note, I love the way couples take baths together to have serious discussions. I’m sure part of it’s cultural, but it seems so warm and comfortable and intimate and potentially sexual (but not necessarily so).”

LOL. I don’t think it’s cultural, but more that Yazawa is picking up that many of us are at our most relaxed and off guard when we’re in the bath or shower. My SO and I usually have the best discussions when I’m taking a bath. He sits on the toilet since there DEFINITELY isn’t enough space for two, but there’s something about sitting alone in the warm water that makes me crave conversation and find it easy to be forthright.

There was a study recently that warm drinks can actually make people react more positively to and comfortably with one another (which is why if you’re looking for someone to “warm up” to you, you should invite them for hot cocoa, tea, or coffee, not cold beer), and I’m sure the same works with baths!

It made me laugh, though, when you pointed this out. I’d noticed but never noted it in the books against my own life or the reasoning behind it before.