Nana Volume 4, by Ai Yazawa

In the manga Nana Volume 4, by Ai Yazawa, Nana Komatsu is tangled with all sorts of boyfriend mischief. On top of that, her sweet dreams of a blissful Tokyo life is crumbling as her job slips away. Confused with it all, Nana finds herself spending more and more quality time with her best friend forever Nana Osaki. As Nana spends more time getting to know the people of the band “Blackstone” she finds out about former the bassist Ren (currently the bassist of Trapnest) who also happens to be the lover of Nana Osaki’s life. This gives the perfect opportunity to distract Nana Komatsu’s worries and be the ultimate cupid to glue together Nana Osaki back to her other half Ren.

Nana Komatsu faces a significant turning point, among the many more to come, as ties breaks with Shoji. During this part many of us can see ourselves and the emotions that we encounter when we face a hurtful break in some sort of relationship. The reader becomes more engaging with the character of Nana Komatsu as they see a part of themselves in her and especially when she tries to have new adventures to erase away the pain of Shoji. I myself felt very emotionally connected to cupid Nana Komatsu who humorously takes on a new challenge to reunite Nana Osaki to Ren Honjo as a way to refresh her thoughts and push Nana Osaki to a happy ending.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 11

Glendale Central Library