Love triumphs the human soul in ways we can’t fathom, and how we can contain it also remains unexplained. Whether love in a romantic or friendly fashion, it has always been one of the most sought themes in stories in every medium imaginable. We are used to the romantic form of love with many tropes and literary devices, but now we’ve grown to appreciate romance's “realistic” types. I am referring to a romance that tries to portray the reality we live in rather than what we hope it will be. Nana can speak for itself as one anime to be an achievement of perfecting that level of story.

Nana starts as your typical best friend story with opposite personalities; the bubbly, kind of dumb, girly-girl and the no-nonsense rocker girl that meet each other by coincidence. What’s oddly alluring about how these two play off their relationship is that it doesn’t seem forced at all. They don’t just start as best friends. They’re mere acquaintances who learn about how each other lives out through their work and family. It becomes a hilarious tirade between both characters in typical Josei fashion that we grow to enjoy. Not just between the two heroines but also between the other characters and their unique personalities. That break makes you wish that the show was longer, so we could have more moments like them, even with its 50 episodes running time.

But with comedy comes heartbreak, and Nana comes into it with full throttle. The tragic relationship between Nana Osaki, the rocker, and Ren will admittedly cause some tears to form. This is how well it pulls in the romantic aura through narration and expository dialogue, which pulls you into how they were once a happy couple. Then there’s Nana Komatsu, the childish one, and the problems of how she guides her life with being the girlfriend of Takumi and Nobu. While some aspects of the drama were a bit rushed, it serves a definite purpose on how Nana matures from a ditzy woman into a responsible one to takes care of the people she loves, especially Nana Osaki. It develops Nana Komatsu quite nicely, and also Nana Osaki and how their relationship develops through whatever twist and turn it makes you go through.

The supporting roles that pop up in Nana it’s a mixed bag. There are great ones, but others are just not as strong. This issue all comes into perspective because some are given more development than those who seem not to be bothered. Some are even given a more significant presence in previous episodes but barely get any more screen-time for us to be fully invested in the entire cast. But what does make up for this is how every single one of the characters legitimately feels like real human beings. Not just how relatable they are in terms of their problems and personalities but also by the lack of cliches they could’ve easily used to lessen the impact of the cast.

If you’ve watched, or read for that matter, any shoujo anime, Nana’s art should be familiar territory for you. They do very well with the various comedic expressions on the characters’ faces that are always charming to watch. It seems jarring at first to see characters as really tall and skinny human beings, but that does give every character a lovely physical uniqueness. Even though there are instances of animation not being that fluid, especially with the dreadful concert scenes where it repeats animations repeatedly, the art style will still spark some charm in anyone with an open mind.

It's all about music with a show centered around music. Oh yeah, there was. In all seriousness, the music aspect of the show narrative-wise is not too shabby, both in how it sounds and how it fits seamlessly with the romantic story. The songs are your typical post-punk rock music with some beautiful guitar chords, and drum fills that may sound like your generic J-Rock song. Singing is where high praise is needed for the music and how Olivia Lufkin’s voice resonates perfectly with the somber, heartbreaking tone of the show.

Music can levitate us into a better state of mind when we have been through a difficult life. That’s the central theme that’s the focal point to Nana. Nana and her band members' reasoning for wanting to form a band in the first place was to express themselves in a way outside of the cultural norm. Ai Yazawa has a knack for showcasing the characters' passion for what they do and trying to meet the end goal of being a successful band. But what makes it brilliant is how there is no bullshit to how she writes the outcome. There’s no end to it all; it’s just a realistic scenario that we are most likely to meet when trying to reach our hopes and dreams. Not that there is some hopeless end to Nana, but it’s an excellent middle ground between success and failure that feels hopeless but hopeful at the same time.

What manifests out of it all is a beautiful amalgamation of romantic comedy, music, and slice of life that sums up Nana in a great nutshell. Funny, sad, inspiring, and empathetic to its core, Nana has more going for it than your generic shoujo anime. It’s one where there is so much to be had in it than just typical romance that you’d find elsewhere. Even if you can’t relate to people in love, being in a band, or experiencing breakups, Nana knows how people connect individually through friendships. And that is something we can all relate to.

Grade: A-