Sentai Filmworks earlier this year brought out a new edition for NANA on Blu-ray working from the remastered materials out of Japan. with the home video release out there it also got some new distribution, which I missed when it was initially announced. The series began streaming recently on Hulu (and accidentally listed as by Viz Media instead of Sentai) with it available in bilingual form to check out. And it’s definitely one that we recommend getting invested in for a long and enjoyable binge.
Check out our review of the series.
Originally airing in 2006, the TV series was directed by Morio Asaka based on the series composition by Tomoko Konparu. Based on the original manga by Ai Yazawa, Kunihiko Hamada handled the character designs and served as the chief animation director. Madhouse animated the series.
The manga from Ai Yazawa was serialized in Cookie magazine from 2000 to 2009 where it finished at twenty-one volumes. Viz Media released the manga in English and also brought out the two live-action films.
The Japanese cast includes KAORI. as Nana “Hachi” Komatsu, Romi Park as Nana Osaki, Akira Ishida as Shinichi “Shin” Okazaki, Anna Tsuchiya as Nana Osaki (singing voice), Anri Katsu as Naoki Fujieda, Aya Hirano as Reira Serizawa, Fumihiko Tachiki as Ginpei, Hidenobu Kiuchi as Ren Honjo, Hiroki Takahashi as Shoji Endo, Junichi Suwabe as Kyosuke Takakura, Megumi Kojima as Sachiko Kawamura, Mika Kanai as Misato Uehara, OLIVIA as Reira Serizawa (singing voice), Takako Honda as Junko Saotome, Tomokazu Seki as Nobuo “Nobu” Terashima, Toshiyuki Morikawa as Takumi Ichinose, and Yoshihisa Kawahara as Yasushi “Yasu” Takagi.
The English dub saw James Corrigall handling the voice direction at The Ocean Group with a cast that includes Kelly Sheridan as Nana K., Rebecca Shoichet as Nana O., Adrian Petriw as Naoki Fujieda, Andrew Francis as Takumi Ichinose, Ashleigh Ball as Reira Serizawa, Brian Drummond as Yasushi “Yasu” Takagi, David A. Kaye as Shinichi “Shin” Okazaki, Jeremy From as Shoji Endo, Matthew Erickson as Nobuo “Nobu” Terashima, Michael Adamthwaite as Kyosuke Takakura, Nicole Bouma as Misato Uehara, Richard Ian Cox as Ginpei, Saffron Henderson as Junko Saotome, and Samuel Vincent as Ren Honjo.
Plot concept: Two twenty-somethings seemingly share nothing in common apart from their first name, but a chance meeting on a train bound for Tokyo sets Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki on a collision course with destiny. Nana Komatsu, a love-at-first-sight dreamer, aims to find enduring happiness in the big city. Nana Osaki, neo-punk rock vocalist, pursues her burning ambitions of musical stardom and worldwide fame. As their fates increasingly intertwine, they each chase their dreams — until the harsh realities of life in big city Tokyo threaten to tear everything apart.
Series trailer:
