“Nana 2” is the sequel to the live action adaptation of the anime series called “Nana.” Like its prequel, Nana 2 is also live action. However, it looks as if the sequel was a bit less appealing than its predecessor. In a sense, the movie continues to cover the turn of events covered in both the Japanese anime series and the manga chapters. However, it tends to follow the manga more as it’s grounded in reality and a bit more personal. Characters introduced in the first movie or in the earlier episodes of the series play a much bigger role in Nana 2.
Nana 2 immediately starts out at a certain point in the manga and anime as Nana Komatsu is seeing both Nobu Terashima the guitar player for Black Stones (the band reformed by Nana Osaki in Nana) and the bassist and leader of TRAPNEST Takumi Ichinose. There is really no solid plotline in the movie as there weren’t any in either the anime or the manga. Like the prequel, Nana 2 is very much a slice of life film detailing the lives of both Nanas. Both Nanas still retain their personalities from the previous film. At this moment, the Black Stones have started to become more famous and Nana Osaki has reconciled with her ex-boyfriend the bassist of TRAPNEST Ren Honjo.
Their apartment still remains the same which is apartment 707. Like the movie prequel, anime series, and manga chapters, the apartment an important part as it serves as a nexus of what’s going on. Nana also means seven in Japanese which looks to be a pun. Nana Osaki still intends on bringing her band into stardom while Nana Komatsu aka “Hachi” still tries to find romance. They still have the same personalities with Nana Osaki being calm, collected, and focus on her band and career. At the same time, Hachi is still bubbly and scatterbrained as ever.
Nana 2 tends to cover the latter half of the anime series. While Hachi is dating both people, she ends up pregnant. While Hachi still has feelings for Nobu, it’s revealed that the child belongs to Takumi. It’s a pretty sad part as Hachi wants to be with Nobu. But due to a sense of duty and obligation as a result of his childhood, Takumi marries Hachi. Nana 2 continues to show the struggles of both Nanas. But there are many things in the manga which is still ongoing that isn’t covered in Nana 2 such as a fan club, other characters, and so forth.
The two Nanas try to get by life in their own ways while keeping their friendship together. In the case of Nana Osaki, she has the band along with her relationship with Ren. In the case of Nana Komatsu/Hachi, she’s dealing with the fact she’s pregnant and the child isn’t by the person she loves. While the story deals with both Nanas, Nana 2 tends to put more focus on sub-stories regarding members of both Black Stones and TRAPNEST.
It explores the sexual relationship between TRAPNEST’s lead singer Reira “Layla” Serizawa and Black Stone’s bassist Shinichi Okazaki. Nana 2 explores all sorts of situations the Nanas and the various members of Black Stones have not fathomed getting into. The relationship between Reira and Shin as he is underage plays a prime example. It shows how all sorts of scandals can hurt especially this one as it could kill Reira’s career.
Japanese & Korean-American pop star Yuna Ito reprises her role as Reira. Japanese pop-singer Mika Nakashima reprises her role as Nana Osaki in Nana 2. Tetsuji Tamayama, Hongo Kanata, and Hirotaki Narimiya respectively reprise their roles as Takumi Ichinose, Shin Okazaki, and Nobu Terashima. However actress Aoi Miyazaki does not reprise her role as Nana Komatsu and Ryuhei Matsuda does not reprise his role as Ren Honjo.
Instead actress Yui Ichikawa takes on the role of Nana Komatsu and Nobuo Kyou takes on the role of Ren Honjo.
The film is all right as I preferred the first live-action movie. Still, Nana 2 serves as a good continuation of the story in the anime and the manga. It was well received in North America during the December 2006 premier in New York City. However, it received a lot of bad press than good back in Japan where the movie originated from. Still, the story of Nana doesn’t end with Nana 2. The anime series itself has ended as it shares the same ending with Nana 2.
Like the first movie, Mika Nakashima and Yuna Ito released songs under their names “Nana starring Mika Nakashima” and “Reira starring Yuna Ito.” The manga itself is ongoing. It’s not known if there will be a new season of the Nana anime series. A lot more has taken place in the manga as it has no ends yet. Due to the poor reception of Nana 2 in Japan, it’s highly unlikely that a Nana 3 could be produced and released.
The songs under Mika Nakashima and Yuna Ito didn’t have that much luck. Mika Nakashima’s song “The End” ranked number 2 at the Oricon charts. Yuna Ito’s song “Truth” ranked number 10 on the same charge. Their songs weren’t record setting. Still, Nana 2 has an interesting soundtrack.
It’s a movie to check out if you have watched the series and read the manga.
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