NANA ep.4

April 26, 2006 | 7 Comments

This episode basically concludes Hachi's part of the story while showing the first half of Oosaki Nana's past. Unfortunately, the transition from one girl's story to the other one is not that smooth. All that the anime used to indicate the two stories is just a simple black screen that stays for 2-5 seconds. I find this to be rather abrupt and would have preferred it if they had included a scene where Nana and Hachi are talking to one another. Having said that, I realised now why they left the last few minutes of Hachi's story in this episode. In comparison to Hachi's story, the majority of Nana's story mostly involves conversation with her and Ren and doesn't require as much animation. In fact, they had to pad out this episode with a rock concert by Nana and her band to ensure that they the end of the episode by the time the first half of Nana's story ends. This time around, however, they chose a right spot to end the story.

Continuing from last week's episode, Komatsu Nana/Hachi eventually met again with Shouji after looking around for him in the city. She immediately goes for a hug but Shouji actually makes fun of her crying face so she became upset again. Later on, in their room, Shouji mentioned that he's tired having to run around the city. This caused anger on Hachi's side who told the guy that he was the one who ditched her. This immediately caused the situation between the two to become cold again. Hachi wondered why they are being cruel to each other. She felt that she should be nice to the guy she likes. Much to Hachi's surprise, Shouji told her that the truth is, he wants to take her to Tokyo but he's not working yet. So if Hachi were to starve, there's nothing much he could do. As a man, Shouji found this hard to accept. Upon hearing this, Hachi came with the idea of staying behind for one more year and working hard to earn money before joining Shouji one year later.

Shouji agreed with the plan and suddenly told her that now that they're getting along again, he thought they can do 'it'. Hachi was surprised to hear this and wasn't prepared. Shouji told her it's okay if she doesn't want to but Hachi told her that maybe she'd do it if he tells her that he loves her. This is because no one has ever said it to her before. When Shouji hesitated, Hachi decided to make them some tea but was surprised when she got hugged by him. She then realised that Shouji's heart told her that he loves her. Because of this the two ended up making love with one another. A few months later, Hachi ended up having long-distance relationship with Shouji while working at the video rental shop where the guy she used to have a crush on work as a manager. She, however, no longer has a crush on the guy and even found him annoying. Hachi is depressed about her job but became cheerful again when she got phone call from Shouji in Tokyo.

Oosaki Nana then remembers her past. Back then she had just finished a rock concert with her band, Blast, when all of a sudden she's mobbed by her fans. One particular fan, Misato, decided to give her a Vivienne Westwood jacket because last week was actually Nana's 18th birthday. Nana was surprised to see this and decides to give Misato a kiss on the lips. This, of course, caused the other fans to be jealous. Nana and her band then went to local Izakaya to celebrate the night. One of the band members, a blond hair guy called Nobu, believed that the majority of the people who came to their concert that night were their fans and became excited because of it. Yasu, the one with the bald head, however, thought that the girls were scary because they all dressed up like Nana. Nana's boyfriend, Ren, on the other hand, felt sorry for the girl who gave Nana the present because he believes she's probabably getting bashed by other fans due to jealousy.

Nana naughtily tells Ren that she's supposed her kiss will cost the girl a bit more, prompting Ren to call her 'Devil'. Nobu seemed to be in celebrating mood and decides to order another beer but Nana reminded the boy that he has graduation tomorrow. Upon hearing this, Yasu mentioned that she wants to see Nana in her uniform. Nobu, however, warned the other guy that Nana was scary in her high school year. In retaliation, Nana accused Nobu of stalking her. Nobu, not wanting to be outdone, told her that was because she looked so lonely and in a need of a friend. After dinner, the group split up and went back to their respective home. Since Nobu was drunk, however, Yasu had no choice but take him home. He, however, reminded Ren that he has something to tell Nana since he'll tell the same thing to Nobu. Inside a train, Nana proclaimed her love for live concert. This prompted Ren to ask her if it's better than having sex with a guy.

Upon hearing this, Nana smiled and told Ren that depends on the guy himself. After getting out of the train station, the couple brave the cold blizzard using only a scarf that Ren's fan has knitted for him. They then returned to their apartment and have conversation together while inside the bath. Ren asked Nana if she remembers the first time they met. It was apparently in the same blizzard-filled night like this one 2 years and 3 months ago. Nana is surprised when Ren told her that he remembers that she was wearing a red dress that back then. Ren, however, told her that his first meeting with her was memorable because she wasn't smiling at all so Ren was annoyed by her. This apparently continued even later when Nobu introduced her to Ren backstage. Nana then told a story to Ren how back then she had to quit school so she can work and earn money. This is because her grandmother never gave her any to buy anything like her friends' parent.

Nana then told Ren that her mother left her when she was only four years old. Her grandmother believes that Nana's mother is the kind of girl who'll leave her daughter just to be with another man. This is the reason why Nana's grandma never let her wearing red or pink because she thinks the colour is meant to seduce men. Despite this, Nana can't helped herself from wanting that kind of dress. Because of this, after her grandma died, Nana decided to buy herself a red dress with the money she had saved from work. She remember being excited about wearing it to the show because Nobu said he'll introduce her to a cool dude. According to Nobu, the guy is actually her upper-classman from his high school day. Nobu tells Nana that despite his womanising ways, Ren is actually a lot more together than most people that he knows. Nana, on the other hand, wasn't that impressed by the knowledge that Ren was bragging about being abandoned in a harbour warehouse district.

If anything, Nana actually thought that Ren sounded kind of stupid. However, spark clearly flewed between the two at the concert and back then Nana believed that her feelings back then wasn't exactly love or desire. It was more jealousy and a sense of need. The scene then return to a shot of Ren and Nana having sex in their apartment. Nana told herself that she still feels insecure every now and then. Because she feels that everyday with Ren seems unreachable. Later on that night, Nana mentioned to Ren that she wanted to move to a bigger place for their concert. Nana was suddenly reminded about what Yasu said and asked Ren what he was supposed to tell her. Nana then told Ren that she's actually taking pills because she doesn't want to get pregnant right now. Ren doesn't seem to mind with the idea because he's saved money so having 1-2 kids is not a bad idea for him. He then grab Nana and kissed her before telling her that he's going to Tokyo. So he told her she can do whatever she wanted to do.

Impression:

Hachi's story concludes in a rather satisfying manner although I have to wonder sometimes if Shouji really did love her or was just looking for a quick way to have sex with Hachi. But the fact that he maintained a long distance relationship with Hachi is probably a proof that he's serious about it. The interesting part of this episode, however, belongs to Oosaki Nana's story. Everything from the rock concert down to her small talk with Ren is filled with little nuances that was somehow missing in Hachi's part of the story. And unlike Hachi and Shouji, I do get the impression that Ren and Nana really did love each other but decide to part ways because they know that their career is important to them. This is why that last scene with Ren informing Nana of his intention to go to Tokyo feels more powerful to me. There are simply more things at stake regardless which path this couple decide to take. I can't help but wonder, however, why Ren and Nana didn't even consider the possibility of a long-distance relationship like Shouji and Hachi did.

© memento 2003