NANA

[Ryllharu]

I'm a big fan of the manga. Live-evil has released the first eps. I was looking forward to this, but I'd like to see what other groups pick this up, since it will be a very popular series in Japan. If you liked Suzuka or KgNE I can almost guarantee you will like this title. Great characters and a great plot.

Nana eps 1 (live-evil)

Somewhat more detailed description: (From ANN): On board the train to Tokyo to meet her boyfriend Shoji, Nana Komatsu ("Hachi") happened to sit beside Nana Osaki who was traveling to Tokyo to fulfill her dreams of becoming a musician. The vocalist for her punk band "Blast", Nana aims for a major debut for "Blast" in Tokyo where her boyfriend, Ren, is the guitarist for a popular band "Trapnest". Sharing the same name "Nana", both girls quickly form a bond of friendship. Their paths cross again when they encounter each other while searching for accomodation in Tokyo. Eventually they decide to live together in the same unit and this further strengthens their bondage as the two "Nana(s)" go through their love lives and career.

[Board of Command]

The first episode was decent. From the way Brown Nana (other one is Black Nana) was narrating and talking about Black Nana, it feels like something tragic happens to Black Nana later, like maybe she loses her memory. The overall tone of the first episode foreshadows something like this. I think I'll follow this series.

[Ryllharu]

it feels like something tragic happens to Black Nana later, like maybe she loses her memory.

Memory loss is incredibly cliche, and though I read the manga, it seems far from completion, so I don't know for sure. I certainly hope its not something like that. I do get the same vibe though.

NANA is more about relationships and careers, as the descriptions suggest. I won't say any more about it so everyone who's not familiar with it can enjoy it.

NOTE: If you started by watching the series, DO NOT watch the movie. It compresses a sizable chunk of the plot into two hours and does not deliver the storyline as well as the anime appears to be doing. Watch the movie after a certain point if you really want to see it. (Can't say when without saying what happens). It's a decent movie, but not great.

[Munsu]

To prevent spoilers, the movie will now be discussed in this thread:

http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?t=13077

Use this thread for anime only!

[2:25]

I just finished watching this and it's pretty good. I like the art style.

it feels like something tragic happens to Black Nana later

I got this feeling too. I kept wondering why she was narrating in the past tense. Do any one have some info on the manga?

[Everon]

Was stumbling around loooking for new animes. Didn't realize that the manga turned into a full fledged 50 episodes!

This post is kind of old, but I'll reply to that question anyways - Nana is reminiscing about the times that she had with her friends. I'd rather not ruin anything, but if you stick with this you'll get a very enriching experience.

I'm definately liking the voice actors/actresses lined up for this anyhow. A lot of known talent at least.

[Everon]

double post

[Lucifus]

I just watched em, Seem pretty good. I'll keep wit it for now. =P

Edit: Hmm...After seeing ep two...I decided to leave this one alone. Its just not me.xD

[Munsu]

Wondering if any of you is still watching this, and if so can recommend me a group to leech from. At the moment from what I see, the only groups doing it are IY-F-Oki and Ureshii, so between those two, who has the best releases in your opinion?

[Ryllharu]

I'm still following the series, I'm a fan of the manga, so I can't really help it.

Anyway, it really comes down to personal preference. I like the IY-F-Oki release and I liked some of IY-F's previous work, so I had been sticking with them. There are just as many people who swear by Ureshii. I was initially not very fond of their work, but they've gotten better.

I'm not an expert, but people say that since the IY-F-Oki translator doesn't speak english well, that the translations are garbage. However, they also say that the translation flows a lot better than Ureshii's, which I can attest to and agree with.

Try them both, see which one you like better, since up to this point it's really been a matter of personal preference. I've been watching whoever releases first but I'm thinking of switching over to Ureshii because their work on another project has been impressing me lately.

[Munsu]

Thanks, I had started to download the Ureshii version anyways. I haven't been very fond of IY-F's previous works, that's the only reason I took Ureshii. Also, the people from Ureshii come from a DVDrip group, so I suspect that at least their encoding would be good.

By the way, what series is Ureshii doing that has impressed you?

[Ryllharu]

Good Witch of the West (Nishi no Yoki Majo). Near as I can tell, it's a fairly difficult series to translate from all the odd names and weird terminology. They did a good job on it. I think I watched their version of Ar-Tonelico as well.

[seanos]

I'm going with KazenoKoeFansubs
Tried Ureshii and wasn't too keen on them (forget the reason why now).
Fairly pleased with KnKF - although they are only upto episode 10.
Translation by KnKF seems to be an par (or at least close enough) to Live-Evil - noticed one or two irrating things, but nothing that would irritate me to the extent as to stop watching (also quite possible it is an accurate translation and the character herself is irritating...).

[seanos]

Although this may count as 'double posting', think time period should absolve from the offence

I'm curious if anyone is still watching this series?
I stopped shortly after the above post (mainly due to KnKF's lack of releases), however with a couple days off work decided to pull down the IY-FOki releases.

Story progressed pretty much like the rest of the series, then once it got into the 20s, took a fairly dark turn (or a few to say the least), must say this series has me impressed.
It was compared to Suzuka earlier on (first post if I recall), which at the time I would agree with, but I think latterly the series has taken a darker, more mature turn of events.

Though after getting through 18 odd episodes, now am left at a cliffhanger, would be nearly willing to watch RAWS heh.

I suppose the purpose of my post would be to inform anyone who stopped watching due to boredom, or lack of progression in the series, that it does take-off (albeit rather slowly) and secondly curious if others still watching (since thread seems to have faded/died)

[Board of Command]

At episode 32 right now I would say it is VERY interesting.

[Ryllharu]

A lot of Ai Yazawa's work (Gokinjo Monogatari, ParaKiss, Tenshi Nanka ja Nai, NANA) is darker as shoujo goes, and deals with considerably more mature themes and events than the standard.

NANA is no exception, as anyone who's stuck with it knows.

Eps 32 is quite interesting indeed because we get a glimpse into what makes Nana (non-Hachi Nana) tick. She has one very odd possessive quirk about her. Ren's lock, keeping Hachi in her "garden," and a few others here and there. All of these are Nana's methods of keeping those she cares about very close to her. She needs them more than they need to be around her. She wants their acceptance, their happiness, and most importantly, she wants them as a "family". During and after the phone call to Takumi, this all comes out.

If you stuck with NANA, you're in for a treat, the series gets even better from here. NANA delves deep into the characters that populate it.

[seanos]

Cheers for mentioning some other anime by Yazawa, will go in search of them now...

It seems to have gone full circle with extremes - started out on character having head in clouds and seeming to be close to a mental case, and later as progresses see the characters percieved as 'normal' (or close enough to it) early on, turn out to be even more mentally damaged. While doing all this, it still manages to throw in light-hearted humour.

At this point, I'm just waiting for some bombshell to drop about Yasu, which I'd expect to be quite large, since he is probably still the most 'normal'/good character, cheers for the initial recommendation Ryl

[orion4096]

Is anyone else patiently awaiting subbed episodes of the rest of this show?

[Board of Command]

I am. It's slow but it's worth it.

[seanos]

Just in case someone didn't notice, Ureshii are now releasing Nana also (seemingly at a reasonably fast pace too).
They have done Episode 37 & Episode 38

Subbing quality is decent (Nothing has irritated me yet, and I haven't noticed any typos/mistakes at least).
Hopefull will get to see the last leg of this series at a good pace now!