NANA is titled for the shared name of two young women who meet when they both move to Tokyo, and become room-mates and best friends. They couldn't be more different -- one is candid, idealistic and ruled by her turbulent love life, the other is enigmatic, independent and the singer in a punk band -- but together they make an for an intense, strong partnership which is more endearing and compelling than any of the romantic relationships in the story. To avoid confusion, one Nana is nicknamed "Hachi" by the other, for her affectionate yet attention-seeking personality, Hachiko being the name of a famous dog in Japan.

The first volume serves as a prologue and introduction to the characters, telling the story of how each of the two protagonists chose to leave their small hometowns to move to Tokyo. The first half of the book tells Hachi's back story, the second half, Nana's. With two separate stories and two years worth of backstory to tell, there are a lot of characters and relationships to introduce, but the strong personalities of the characters make the story very readable and engaging. It is in volume 2, however, that the real magic of NANA begins, when the two girls meet on the train to Tokyo and later become room-mates. For the next few of volumes it's Hachi's love life that takes centre stage, but in volume 5 Nana's past becomes a central theme and provides some of the most emotional scenes of the manga so far.

NANA is funny, romantic, heart-breaking, enthralling -- every thing a girl could want from a manga. Though often classed as shojo (for girls), I would say NANA is more josei (for women), centering around young women and their real life troubles of sex, work, and independence. As with her previous works, Ai Yazawa shows she has a creative eye for fashion -- Nana always looks effortlessly cool and Hachi looks great in any style. Music is another strong theme in this manga. Nana's biggest passion is for singing, even at the cost of her love life, and the characters of both her band and their rival band play an important part in the story.

The anime adaptation -- consisting of 47 episodes -- is very faithful to the manga, almost a picture for picture word for word representation which on the whole works very well, but it lacks the immediate excitement of the manga. The first episode covers the two Nanas meeting on the train, and then each girl has two episodes of backstory from the first volume of the manga, before episode six which is simply a retelling of their meeting (apparently to please Ai Yazawa who hasn't happy with the first episode). This makes for a very slow start to the story that could put many people off. To someone who hasn't read the manga and who is getting bored with all the backstory, I would recommend skipping to episode 7 to get a true idea of what NANA is really like and then returning to the backstory later, when you have an interest in the characters. It really is worth the effort of getting into, and if you can't get hold of the manga then this is a very good alternative as it really does do it justice once it gets going. One thing that gives the anime an advantage over the manga, is that you can actually hear the music. The songs used really suit the characters and bands and really bring some of the scenes to life.

NANA was also adapted as a live-action movie. Whilst the actresses playing the lead roles and the music is very good, it really lacks the emotion of the manga. Hachi's stories feel rushed, and she doesn't even get any flashbacks, whilst Nana's story is dragged out and becomes the focus of the movie. If you've read the first five volumes of the manga (or seen the first 21 episodes of the anime) then the movie is enjoyable despite its shortcomings, but if you're new to NANA then the manga or anime will be a much more rewarding experience.