NANA
I’ve got to Episode 27. I was enjoying it from episode 7-19. The Shoji and Sachiko subplot I found to be compelling actually. The way they showed Hachi and Shoji growing apart was also done well imo but was essentially dropped after the diner incident. I wish Nana as a whole was more about the two Nana’s having misadventures together like Hachi being broke for the first time was a good watch. The music element of this series holds stuff like that back.
When the anime is about Hachi’s idol worship of BLAST and TRAPNEST it can be downright hilarious and kind of sad. The stand alone scenes with just TRAPNEST can be hit or miss.
When ‘cool Nana’ jumps up on the table and starts singing and Hachi looks at her like her mind is blown is some of the funniest shit ever. That happened a few times and I burst out laughing. Personally the music and the bands I don’t care for, but they roll with an aesthetic which is up the alley for the Japanese. The character design is great. The Takumi stuff, and Hachi being unsure of herself is grating. I still like the scenes with Yasu and Kyosuke/Junko.
I am not the target audience if you go back and read the last 20 pages of reviews, but it has me coming back to it despite me liking and disliking aspects of Nana. I will update my review once I’m done.
Edit: The episodes around Hachi discovering her pregnancy was good. It was hard to accept the complacency of Hachi but it made sense for her to go the route of financial security. Although I stopped viewing her and other Nana as protagonists as they made things dramatic. Takumi and Ren are kind of f'd up guys though. Episodes hit you with real moments but there was a lot of soap opera in the 2nd half of this series. The musical performances started giving AI generated filler vibes. It likely wasn't AI of course. I stopped being engaged in the progression of the two bands it felt quite robotic after awhile. Not an anime I will visit again. However the way this anime carries it self considering I would have been 11 years old when this aired is impressive. Expert understanding of interpersonal relationships. Bittersweet.