NANA, VOL. 9
VIZ MEDIA
MANGAKA: Ai Yazawa
TRANSLATION: Tomo Matsumoto
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Allison Wolfe
ISBN: 978-1-4215-1745-2; paperback; (March 4, 2008)
280pp, B&W, $8.99 U.S.
Rated “M” for “Mature”
Nana is a shojo manga from writer-artist Ai Yazawa. It was originally published in Japan in the shojo manga magazine, Cookie, from 2000 to 2009. It has been collected in 21 tankobon (graphic novel) volumes, but the series is not complete. VIZ Media published an English language edition of Nana, first serializing the series in its former magazine, Shojo Beat. VIZ also published English editions of the tankobon volumes from 2005 to 2010 under its “Shojo Beat” imprint.
Beginning October 21, 2025, VIZ Media will publish new editions of its Nana graphic novels. It starts with Nana 25th Anniversary, Vol. 1.
Nana is a tale of two young women named “Nana.” Nana “Hachi” Komatsu moves to Tokyo to start her life over and leave her unpredictable former love life behind. Nana Osaki moves to the big city to work on her goal of being a rock star. Chance unites them, and together they navigate a world of fashion, gossip, music, sex, and all-night parties.
As Nana, Vol. 9 opens, Takumi has claimed Nana “Hachi’s” unborn baby as his own, and wants to marry her, leaving Hachi’s boyfriend, Nobu, out in the cold. Takumi movies Hachi out of the apartment she shares with Nana Osaki. Now, everyone and everything is thrown into chaos as two bands try to take that next step in their musical destinies.
THE LOWDOWN: If the American television network, The CW’s target audience is women 18 to 34, this demographic group, whether they read comics or not, would just love this ensemble drama. Relentlessly character driven and rich in strong individual personalities, Nana is the kind of reading experience for people who enjoy fictional characters acting like real people. The melodrama, the soap opera theatrics, and the love and friendship will keep the reader turning the pages just like a good thriller will have an action junkie tearing through a book.
In Nana Graphic Novel Volume 9, there is realistic character drawings and superb illustrations of sets, backgrounds, and environments. Thus, it is easy to see why Nana is supposed to be the all-time best-selling shojo in the world. It is a straight drama that speaks to a broad audience.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of VIZ Media's “Shojo Beat” titles and of music-themed shojo manga will love Nana.
A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
NANA VOLUME 9 is available at Amazon.
https://www.viz.com/
https://x.com/VIZMedia
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