After seeing Garten and Kawaii’s reviews of this movie, I became curious enough to check it out. Now, I know pretty much nothing about the manga, although I have seen a little bit of the art and heard a little bit of the rabid fandom. And this movie made a convert out of me.
There’s always the danger of cheese when you see live-action adaptations, but I thought they did a superb job in the movie. Naturally, the movie rides heavily on the two female leads Nana “Hachi” Komatsu (Aoi Miyazaki) and Nana Osaki (Mika Nakashima). Not only did the pull off their individual characters, they crafted a completely believable deep friendship. I was watching the movie and wishing they were my friends, too! Ok, I am pathetic.
The storytelling worked well enough, and I am cutting the writers slack for needing to cover so much material in under 2 hours. In spite of some details getting glossed over (such as Nana’s red dress), I think they did a fine job of weaving an independent story without resorting to too many flashbacks. I can’t speak to the casting calls, but most of the actors did fine by me. The male characters often seemed a bit stiff, but I had no problems with Ren. Hachi was also excellent, although I was getting strange Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On vibes… Not that I’ve seen that movie or own the DVD or anything >__<. As for Nana, I thought she was the best actor in the movie, and she even did all her singing parts without making me cringe once. Which brings me to my next point.
One of the most fabulous things about animating or live-actioning a manga series in the inclusion of sound. And just like in Beck, a story about music really comes alive when it actually has, well, music. However, unlike Beck, I didn’t have to feel guilty about liking the songs in the Nana movie, mostly because they kept the engrish under control. In fact, the Trapnest vocalist was completely fluent in English (which, as I understand, was an excellent choice for Reira). I guess when you get a budget, these are the sort of impressive things you can do.
Anyway, to wrap up, the movie’s very good, and very easy to get into. With great music and convincing lead actors, I think that the movie was a success. I hear rumblings that there is an anime series and/or another movie in the works, and if so I definitely plan to check them out.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 5/5
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6 Comments
“Anyway, to wrap up, the movie’s very good, and very easy to get into.”
Yay! One please.
Yay, I’m so glad that you enjoyed watching the movie! I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I wasn’t comparing it to the manga. I felt that it was a pretty good adaptation, though.
Really, really recommend the manga if you can get them. I think the other thing that is missing from the movie was the humour of the manga. I hope the anime will carry that over though. Hachi in the movie is less annoying and definitely not as promiscuous as the one in the manga.
Not sure about a sequel movie but the anime is coming out this upcoming season.
very good movie, now i’m looking forward to the anime a lot!
Just finished watching it. Was in my hdd for some time. Very good, quality stuff. The story is touching, but with the right amount of ketchup, no more, no less.Best scene to me was when Nana comes back to Nana-Hachi house after passing the night with Ren. The acting was not earthshaking, but well done.