NANA ep.9

May 31, 2006 | 16 Comments

For some reason this episode feels a lot more interesting than the ones before it for me. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that this is the episode that deals with the topic of finding a career instead of about the girls' love life, which as interesting as it was, a little bit difficult to relate. In fact, the general feel of the story leans heavily towards slice-of-life type until the last few minutes of the episode. This is probably the second time in a week a series decide to take this approach. Animation-wise, the quality is as consistent and good as always. A more notable element is the soundtrack that accompanies this episode. Some of the background music feature here help to create the mood of everyday life that the episode wants to project. Last but not least, as I pointed out yesterday in the previous entry, this series seems to have been given a tentative 50 episodes:

http://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/ntv-animation.pdf

The episode begins with Hachi saying how there is a tatoo of Ren's flower on Nana's arm but back then, she didn't know the meaning of said tattoo. Hachi is then awaken by sunlight and panics upon seeing the clock near her bedside. She immediately goes to the living room and asks Nana why the other girl didn't wake her up. It appears that Hachi needs to be at work by 11AM and now she's going to be late on her first day. Nana is amused by this and tells Hachi that the truth is, it's only 7AM now. She thinks that Hachi can leave the apartment around 10 and still arrive in time. Hachi is surprised to hear this and upon checking her mobile phone, realises that the clock near her bedside is not working. After calming down, Hachi realises that Nana has eaten all of the Jackson Hole burger that she bought for her flatmate. Since Hachi is hungry and has a lot of time before she has to go to work, she and Nana decides to go looking for a cafe.

Since there isn't a cafe that is open yet, the two decide to stop at a bakery to purchase some breads and eat them near a riverside. While relaxing on the grassy area, Hachi remembers that someone from the gas company is supposed to come to their apartment today. Since Nana will be home, she offers to wait for the guy and to sign in for any packages that Hachi's parents sent for their daughter. Upon hearing this, Hachi apologises to Nana for bothering her but Nana doesn't seem to mind since she has a lot of free time. This worries Hachi a little bit so she asks Nana if she's not going to look for jobs. Nana, however, tells Hachi that she can find a job anytime. Nana's casual attitude about her future plan makes Hachi wonder if life really is as easy as Nana seems to think. While working in her new job, however, Hachi realises that she's not doing better than Nana since she just bought some clothes even though she hasn't got paid yet.

Hachi's thought gets put aside when Junko come to visit her. It appears that Junko has heard from Shouji that Hachi works in this store and decided to take a look of the place herself. Hachi is relieved upon hearing that Shouji actually went to her and Kyousuke's place last night becauase she thought he actually went to Sachiko's. Not surprisingly, Junko becomes annoyed upon finding out the truth about 'Sachiko'. Junko, however, is even more horrified when she sees how flirtatious Hachi is towards Mizukoshi-san, the store owner. Mizukoshi then points out to Hachi that the reason her clock didn't work is because she didn't put a battery in it! Upon finding out about this, Junko can't help but looking exasperated at Hachi's idiocy. Mizukoshi then tells Hachi that she can go to lunch with Junko now if she wants to because he'll watch the store in the meantime. As a result, Hachi and Junko end up going to Jackson Hole to have some burgers.

While inside the restaurant, Junko points out to Hachi that her 'sickness' is coming back. Junko admits that she was wondering how Hachi could have gotten a job so quickly. But now that she has seen how young the manager is, she understands. She, however, asks Hachi not to make Shouji worried because when he got drunk the night before, he was complaining about her. Hachi immediately thinks that Shouji doesn't like her but Junko tries to explain that she thinks Shouji simply worries about Hachi. Junko believes that it's rare to find a guy who cares about a girl like him so she tells Hachi not to ruin this one. Later on, Hachi becomes worried about her relationship with Shouji that she ends up thinking about it while at work. When it's time to close the shop so Mizukoshi asks Hachi if she wants to get something to eat with him. Hachi almost agree to come until she remembers what Junko said about not ruining her relationship with Shouji.

Because of this, she apologises to Mizukoshi and tells the guy that she actually has another appointment today. Later on, however, Hachi feels bad about this but she tries to justify it by saying that she already has Shouji. In order to make herself feel better, she decides to give Shouji a phone call but he seems to have switched his mobile off. Hachi immediately realises that just because the two of them now live in the same city, it doesn't mean that they can go out whenever they want to. She now regrets the fact that she didn't spend overnight at Shouji yesterday. Hachi also realises that soon Shouji will be busy with study and work while she herself has a job to attend to. That means they may not get to see each other that often. Hachi is disappointed about this because she thought things will fall into place once she moved to Tokyo. Hachi tries to convince herself that things do come together but despite this, she feels that something is still missing.

Hachi therefore wonders what she really wants in life. She always thought that it's life with Shouji, cute clothes, and a stylish apartment. She thinks all of these are important but something is still missing. When Hachi returns to the apartment, she is surprised to see Nana with hammer and nails on her hands. Nana tells Hachi that she's making table. Hachi is surprised to hear this and even more so when Nana points out that she's made a stew and later on will make some salad. Nana has also put Hachi's items in her room and forward the signed papers to the real estate agent. So Hachi now has her own key to the apartment. While taking a bath, Hachi thinks how good things have happened to her ever since she moved to Tokyo. Although on a reflection, she feels that good things have happened ever since she moved in with Nana. She finds it amazing how even though they're both have different interest and character, they seem to be are quite similar to each other.

After Hachi gets out of the bathroom, she's surprised to see the way the table holding up real well. She thinks Nana is a great carpenter and wonder if she'll be looking for this kind of job. While Nana doesn't mind doing such job, she points out that if she does it everyday, there's a likelihood she'll injure her fingers and won't be able to play her guitar. This makes Hachi wonders if Nana is a pro guitarist. Nana simply laughs at this and tells Hachi that she's not a pro guitarist. In fact, while she was in the band, she's the lead singer. Hachi is even more impressed upon hearing this but Nana tells Hachi to keep her praise until she hears Nana singing. Hachi immediately develops girl-crush on Nana and thinks that she really wants to see Nana singing. She believes that she'll become Nana number one fan. While the two girls are having dinner, Hachi decides to ask Nana about the tattoo on her left arm. Nana tells Hachi that the tattoo is of Ren's flower.

Their conversation, however, is interrupted by a knock on the door. Nana is surprised upon seeing the visitor, who's none other than Nobu. Nobu immediately gets to sit down on the living room and enjoy the stew. He praises Hachi's cooking but Hachi points out that it's actually Nana's cooking. Nobu immediately revokes his praise and this results in him being kicked out by Nana. Nobu tries to tell Nana that he ran away from home but Nana orders him to return home since he has better future in his hometown. Nobu, however, tells Nana that playing guitar with Nana is what makes him happy. Hachi tries to persuade Nana to allow Nobu to at least stay one night. However, it's not until Yasu persuades Nana to recruit Nobu as her band member and to listen to Nobu's tape that Nana agrees to let him stay. Because of this, Nana climbs onto the table and delivers her first live performance in Tokyo to Hachi. As Nana sings "ROSE" to Hachi, Hachi remarks that she'll never forget that night. The song had no words so Nana made it up as she sings it.

Impression:

The thing that interest me the most about this episode is Hachi's line when she walks alone from work at night. Even though everything seems to fall into place, she feels that there's something missing in her life. I suspect that this is because she actually came to Tokyo without any idea what she actually wants to do apart from seeing Shouji again. In contrast, Nana seems to have a good handle on everything even though she doesn't have a job or a boyfriend at the moment. In other words, Nana has lots of skills which can probably ensure her survival in Tokyo even if she can't get a job as a lead singer. Now that Nobu has arrived in the city, however, it seems Nana will return to her profession as a singer. The live performance inside the apartment was amazing and since I think Rose is a better song than Glamourous Sky, the scene felt a lot more powerful here than in the live action version. Because of this scene, however, "ROSE" played on top of an almost static image of Yasu's cigar becomes the ending theme for this episode.

© memento 2003