Manga Monday: Nana Vol. 20

  Manga Mondays is a meme hosted by Alison at Alison Can Read where bloggers can share their passion for reading mangas. It's a great place to get new manga titles to try and to meet new bloggers. At the moment, I've got sucked into the world of Nana where music is the back drop and fuels the characters' passions and where love and heartbreak go hand in hand.

Description (from Goodreads): Ren's drug use is spiraling out of control and he doesn't want to drag Trapnest down with him. Neither Takumi nor Reira are willing to let Ren quit the band, and both do their best to give him the time he needs to get it together. But Ren isn't sure this is something he can handle on his own. Will he turn to Nana for help, or will their strained relationship make him try to face his demons alone?

Review: Though volume 20 might be one of the shortest volumes of Nana, but it packed a powerful punch that left me reeling and in tears. It's hard to believe that the story of two girls with the same name has taken place for a year. Do you know the saying, "When it rains, it pours?" Yeah, well it's pouring buckets and buckets in the world of Nana. Blast has had to break up and Nana O. begins to pick up the pieces and start her solo career. This time Trapnest is imploding from within: Takumi crosses the his boundaries with his relationship with Reira in the hopes of containing the damage, while Ren attempts to leave band as he knows his drug use has gotten out of control.
    Yazawa has some of the most beautiful artwork in this volume. The tone of the volume is colored in quiet, dark strokes. There are several panels that are wordless yet the character's body language speaks loudly. There are a few comic intervals than usual and the "look" from the characters clothes, dialogue is suitably oppressive and tense. She really does do an amazing job of keeping it all visually consistent.
   One of the reasons why I love this manga despite its melodrama, soap opera plot line is the way in which its multi-stranded plot jumps back and forth in time. The stories and the character's internal conflicts in their essence is very realistic. Besides the main story line and the inevitable character "back-stories," there are also sections of the story that are set an unspecified number of years in the future, and indeed, much of the continuing dramatic tensions revolves around what happened to Nana Osaki and the rest in-between. We are told that the Nanas have separated and the fiery, strong-willed Nana O. that we have come to love has irrevocably changed. In this volume we now understand what tragedy occurred and how its magnitude is felt with all the characters.
  Another reason why I love this manga is the growing character development for all of the characters. The chapters from the future suggest that characters, particularly Takumi who I find is most striking, have changed. It is as if to suggest that the most single event in this book was a wake-up call for all of the characters. Needless to say, this volume ends with the single event which is likely to begin the ripples which will bring this series racing toward its climax. I don't know how the characters will deal with the present situation and move forward.

Rating: 5 stars

Words of Caution: There are mature themes and depiction of drug use. Recommended for mature teens and adults only.

If you like this book try: We Were There by Yuuki Obata, Nana Vol 21 by Ai Yazawa, Honey and Clover by Chica Umino, Tramps Like Us by Yayoi Ogawa