NANA, a Japanese manga series by Ai Yazawa, has been popularized for its depictions of relationships and early adulthood, grasping topics of love, ambition, and more. Each character introduced throughout both the manga and anime series possesses their own personhood, distinct from any other character. This helps to build up the stories revolving around central relationships found in the manga and anime series, most notably between Nana and Hachi. 

The two characters met by chance, both on a journey to Tokyo, after turning twenty years old, for entirely different reasons. They share a bond while stuck on the train together before eventually separating, seemingly for good, as they were not able to exchange any contact information. Fate intervenes again when the two run into each other while apartment hunting and decide to rent an apartment together, despite only knowing each other for an evening. 

Since their introduction to each other, and in the series, Nana and Hachi are thought to be polar opposites. Nana, who has a goth-punk style, and possesses a more blunt, sarcastic personality, compared to light and bubbly Hachi, who is perceived to be naive and childish, don’t seem to be the pair that would get along. Yet, they develop an incredibly deep emotional bond, incorporating each other into their lives in meaningful ways. 

NANA is thought of as having a queer subtext, with the two characters, Nana and Hachi, having the relationship they do; sharing a bed together, bathing together, and even kissing each other.  Although these instances exist in the manga and anime series, Yazawa, to this day, has never explicitly said if the relationship between Nana and Hachi is romantic. However, it goes without saying that Nana and Hachi’s relationship is incredibly meaningful in that they demonstrate a deep emotional connection that goes beyond the average relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic. Their relationship is up to anyone’s interpretation, and each perspective offers valuable nuance to the characters and how their relationship develops throughout the series. 

A key part of NANA is that all these characters are young adults, navigating the troubles that come with adult responsibilities, whether it be professional or personal. They each navigate their own ambitions, or work to discover them, throughout their daily lives in the ways that they deem fit. It’s through the decisions and repercussions we see throughout NANA that we understand how ambiguous life can be, straying away from the black and white mindsets we might’ve had growing up. 

Now onto the relationship between Nana and Hachi, which is so incredibly profound in its depiction of two people with so different yet similar struggles, coming to depend on each other through difficult times and seek each other out to celebrate the high points in their respective lives. To start, the fate or destiny aspect of their relationship provides us with a “soulmate” type of narrative, in that these two are meant to cross paths and are meant to share this critical point in their lives with each other. Them both being named Nana helps to further this narrative, potentially symbolizing how these two are meant to be together or “one” in some way.

This new chapter that they were turning in their own lives, they are now turning together, especially as Hachi becomes more involved in Nana’s professional and personal life, cheering on Nana’s band Blast, and befriending all of Nana’s friends. They both feel similarly for each other, without much imbalance between the two: they each want to be in the other’s presence and expect each other to be there during times of importance. 

Both Nana and Hachi were there for each other, whether it was Hachi supporting Nana in her endeavours, or Nana defending Hachi when she couldn’t do it herself. They would teach other things about life and living, often heard in their “Hey Nana” or “Hey Hachi” monologues throughout the series. 

While it is clear that both characters approach the relationship with their own individual flaws, it does not take away from the fact that they each possess a love for the other that they cherish and want to preserve. This is symbolized through their purchase of two strawberry glasses, which are an integral part to the story later on (spoilers ahead!). Both Nana and Hachi struggle with codependency in their own respect, with Hachi’s reliance on people due to her naivety and Nana’s possessiveness and drive to keep Hachi within her own “backyard”. 

We see the downfall, or breakdown, of Nana and Hachi’s relationship as they each begin to experience turmoil in their life that they start internalizing and keeping from each other. Nana begins feeling insecurities attached to her own romantic relationship and revelations of her own traumas, while Hachi experiences intensifying conflict within her romantic relationship with Takumi (we hate Takumi). This culminates when Hachi and Takumi sit down with Nana to discuss Hachi’s pregnancy and their plans moving forward. Takumi eventually takes Hachi to another room, leaving Nana to digest the newfound information by herself. She eventually slams the table, and in doing so, leads one of the strawberry glasses to roll off and break despite her attempt to stop it. 

This is a critical point in the story. These two strawberry glasses, which are representative of Nana and Hachi themselves, have now been separated–shattered, really–with no going back. So, when Nana decides to willingly break the other glass, she is essentially “keeping them together”. And this is representative of Nana and Hachi in that they have always been a set–when they were going strong and navigating their lives with a ready and healthy outlook and now also when they begin to experience an incredibly low point in their lives–they are together. 

Despite the absence of Nana at the end of the story, in both the manga and anime series, Hachi promises Nana, in her final monologue, the summer that she had always longed for, saying that she’ll always be waiting (for Nana) no matter the length of time, much like her namesake “Hachiko”.  

Although Yazawa never completed the story of NANA, and has left it in the last chapter published way back in 2009, many have drawn their own conclusions, while others appreciate the open-endedness of the story, feeling that it reflects real life. One thing for certain is that the story leaves an impact on any who reads or watches it, echoing the realities of our daily lives and relationships.