Manga Reading: Nana Volume 3 🍓

“Nee Nana, do you still think you have nowhere to go back? That table and those chairs are still there... near the window... just as they were then..” 

I'm finally going to go through Nana volume 3! It took me a while to finish this one because a lot has happened lately and I just couldn't get to do it. I recently started volume 4 and haven't opened the 5th one. I believe volume 6 is already out too.

This one is an orange volume, it has both Nanas walking down the stairs of the building where they live. Love these covers guys! It's as if they were telling a story too. Plus, I reaaaally like Hachi's outfit. ♡ 

We have a short summary of the story so far so we can remember what has happened in the previous volumes. It is also divided in 4 chapters, from 5 to 8. 

Let's dive into it!

Chapter 5 continues where we left, after Nana and Nobu's small concert for Hachi at the apartment, since it was late, some of the neighbors complained about the noise. We see Hachi apologizing to them while they say how nothing good comes out of apartment 707. After that we see Nana taking a bath, Hachi goes in the bathroom to tell her there has been a murder in their apartment, which was something she imagined. Nana kicks her out of the bathroom. Hachi is scared just by thinking about it and starts talking to Nobu and asks him to stay over the night, that way he can use her room and she can sleep with Nana. They also have a short conversations about how the band used to be like and how they didn't have a bass player anymore. In the end, Nobu stays. Then we move on to a scene where Nana is trying to sleep but Hachi is still very excited because of the concert and keeps thinking about the band. It is kinda cute cuz Nana gets annoyed.

The next day Hachi makes a poster announcing a band is looking for a drummer and a bass player, she includes a funny drawing of Nana and Nobu and leaves it outside Sabrina, the store where she works and The Jackson Hole, where she later meets Shouji for lunch. Hachi keeps talking about Nana and the band and Shouji seems to be annoyed because she's constantly talking about it and spending more time with Nana than with him. They seem to start having small arguements everytime they meet, which makes Hachi feel like a selfish, bad girlfriend. After lunch, back at Sabrina, someone asks Hachi for information about the band. This someone is my pretty boy Shin-chan! (Okazaki Shinichi, he's a 15 year old rebel guy who ends up becoming *spoiler alert* Balst's bass player. He's a very troubled and lonely kid but very mature for his age.) I love him so much, I was reaaaally looking forward to seeing him. Hachi is actually surprised of how fast someone was interested interested in auditioning. That night when Shouji is at work, his boss introduces him to his new coworker, Sachiko. (I hate this girl...) He gets a little nervous because Sachiko is the name of the girl Hachi uses to say he's cheating on her.

My pretty boy, Shin-chan

At the same time, Nana and Nobu are kinda "interviewing" Shin, who lied about his age saying he was 18 when he's only 15. Nana tells him she need to hear him play to see if he's good enough to join the band so, he gets a studio where the can play together. Everything works perfectly fine when they play together but Nana suddenly stops the song ans asks Shin who's the bass player he admires the most, to which he says it's Honjo Ren (Nana's ex). Nana tells him it's easy to sing with the way he plays and gives him just one condition to join the band; to be better than Ren. So, Shin is officially part of Blast!! Hachi is super excited and wants some recognition from Nana cuz she was the one who found Shin, in a way. Nana "thanks" her giving her a peck on the lips. Guess that's Nana being Nana. (At least according to Nobu). 

Moving on, we have Sachiko leaving work, which happents to be at the same time Shouji does. So they are walking to the same station but, Sachiko doesn't realize it's him who's walking behing him and thinks someone is following her. He decides to talk to her so he doesn't look like a creepy stalker and they end up walking and taking the subway together. They kinda bond on their way home. 🙄

Chapter 6. We start this chapter with Hachi realizing that after a month living in Tokyo, she's broke. And that's becasue since she moved to the apartment, she started buying furniture for her room and, even tho she's working, the things she buys are charged in her paychecks each pay day~ Nana reminds her she is supposed to pay for half of the expenses and she has to continue doing it or, she'll have to leave. Hachi runs to Jun-chan and Kyosuke to ask for help (money). At some point Kyosuke is willing to lend her some money but Jun-chan stops him and ends up giving Hachi a big bag of rice to make it until the end of the month. When Hachi is at work, she's trying to think of ways she can make it until her next pay day when suddenly, her boss asks her if she wants to go have dinner with him after work. Of course she accepts, it's free food! But, at the same time, she feels a little guilty because of Shouji.

Speaking of Shouji, we move on to a scene where Kyosuke sees him with Sachiko at school, he greets them and while Sachiko leaves to get some drinks, he starts asking him about his relationship with her. He suspects something is going on between them and tells Jun-chan.

Then we see Nana in the rehearsing studio, playing the drums by herself, my pretty boy Shin-chan arrives wearing Nobu's clothes because he spent the night at his place. They have a shor conversation about hos Shin should go home every now and then or his parents will be worried, to which he responds that it won't happen. In a way, he was expecting Nana to scold him or something but she was pretty chill about it. This surprises him in a way. But, she lets him know she understands her situation, knowing some parents just don't care.

After that, we have Hachi and Mizukoshi-san enjoying their dinner at what seems to be a type of izakaya. They are talking about Shin, his age and how they still need to find a drummer for Blast. When they finish, Mizukoshi-san tells Hachi he invited her because he had something to tell her. She gets all nervous thinking he's gonna confess his love or something but... he actually tells her he's thinking about closing the store. That'd mean, she would lose her job. 

While they are discussing that, Shouji and Sachiko are running to the stations after work, as usual. Sachiko decides to wear this horrible kind of sandals(?) and one falls off as they are running upstairs like a cheap version of Cinderella. Shouji notices this and decides to wait for her so, they both miss the last train. She tells him she did it on purpose. Suddenly, Hachi call Shouji crying, asking for help. We see Shouji and Sachiko taking a cab together and when they arrive to Sachiko´s house, he tries to pay and she rejects it because "she doesn't let guys with girlfriends pay for her things". Yeah, right. 🙄 And she leaves crying~ When Shouji arrives to his apartment, Hachi is there, they start talking about money but he doesn't have much cuz he just bought a computer for school so, he can't help her.

The next day, when Nana and Hachi go out, Hachi notices there are ¥300,000. She's excited and thinks it's from her former boss but, when Nana checks it, they realize it's was fom Hachi's mom. This made her feel relieved and wants to invite Nana to eat something good to celebrate. She still wonders why her mom sent her that money if she didn't know anything about the store closing. Nana asks her if she's gonna call her mom and kinda mocks her saying she'll start crying as soon as she hears her mom's voice. Hachi tells Nana that is normal to miss home, and asks her if she doesn't miss hers to which she says she doesn't have a home... but! as soon as they arrive to their apartment, Yasu is waiting at the door, Nana gets close to him and starts crying. He's officially moving to Tokyo to be a part of Blast again. (and to be with Nana, of course ♡)  This chapter closes with a nice pic of Nobu, Shin, Nana, Hachi and Yasu enjoying dinner at the apartment.

Chapter 7. This chapter starts with Hachi on the phone with her mom, she called to thank her for the money, her mom tells her the reason she sent that money was for her wedding with Shouji. Guess knowing Hachi, her mom thought they'd get married right away. Here we can see Hachi's mom and her younger sister, Nami. Nana kinda laughs at Hachi cuz she's a little drunk and, they were not expecting the money to be for that. At some point, Hachi thought her mom would ask her to go back home. Yasu returns, Nana welcomes him with a peck, which surprises Hachi, she's not sure what kind of relationship they actually have. Yasu takes Nana to her room and helps Hachi with the dishes before leaving. While they're at it, she can't help to think she' could marry a guy like him, hehe. Once Yasu leaves, Hachi goes to bed and continues wondering about the Nana-Yasu relationship and then about her relationship with Shouji and the money for the wedding. The next day we see a very hungover Nana surprised to see Hachi ready to go to a job interview for an editorial. Even tho it is basically doing small tasks, she's excited and hopes to be able to share some ideas for the magazine one day. Before she leaves, Nana asks her if she wants to go see the band rehearse now that Yasu is there, Hachi agrees. 

Natsuko & Nami, Hachi's mom and younger sister.

We move on to Jun-chan at school, she finds Shouji and a friend and decides to greet them. The friend leaves them and she pretty much starts asking Shouji about Sachiko. Shouji gets all nervous, of course. At the same time, Sachiko asks Shouji's friend if he's seen Shouji, they start talking and for some reason he ends up asking her out but, she rejects him. Jun-chan tells Shouji he has to do something about his situation cuz he's not only going to hurt Hachi, but he's also hurting Sachiko. After that, Jun-chan leaves and Sachiko approaches him after secretly listening to his conversation with Jun-chan. She tells him she heard what they were talking about and after she returning a book he lent her, he runs away cuz he doesn't know how to act around her anymore. He has lunch at Jackson's Hole, where he's constantly thinking about his situation and what to do. While he's there, Hachi joins Blast to see their first rehearsal as a 4 memeber band. 

I guess Shouji goes to work after lunch cuz we see Sachiko changing to leave work, this time she decides to wear sneakers cuz she "watns to respect" the fact that Shouji has a girlfriend and want to run to take the last train on time. They meet outside the restaurant (I don't remember if I mentioned that Shouji works in a restaurant~) and Shouji tries to explain things to Sachiko but he doesn't really know what to say since they were "just friends" so, he just says "I'm sorry" And she starts crying saying it was all her fault because she tried something even knowing he had a girlfriend. She also says she doesn't want to lose the friendship they have and promise not to interfere in his relationship. Nana and Hachi are going home from the rehearsal, talking about Hachi's future job and random stuff. And, we close this chapter with Shouji and Sachiko in his apartment (it could be hers, idk), where they finally decide to sleep together. 

Chapter 8 starts with Shouji waking up to a message from Hachi where she's telling him she has a new job and a lot to tell him. He meets up with Kyosuke and asks him if he has ever cheated on a girlfriend. Of course he says no, cuz he doesnt want to lose Jun-chan but this also makes him suspicious of Shouji and Sachiko. Later Shouji and Hachi have lunch together, she pretty much tells him about her new job and this woman she doesn't like there. As usual, they end up arguing and he just leaves anfter walking her home, which makes it hard for her to try to make things up with him.

The next day we see Hachi at work, we meet Sakagami-san, the woman she was complaining about, and her boss, who looks like a pervy, pld, creepy guy. Most of her coworkers are older men anyway. When she arrives home, Nana seems to be in a very good mood. She tells Hachi that a space was opened and Blast will have the chance to be part of a concert on May 05th. Everyone is excited.

At the same time, Shouji and Sachiko are together, having dinner and talking about some things happening at work on May 05th, children's day, which happens to be Sachiko's birthday. Hachi calls him and he tries to ignore it but Sachiko tells him if he continues ignoring her, she'll suspect something~ I mean, really girl? He picks up the phone and Hachi tells him about the concert and how she'd like to go with him but he rejects her invitation saying he will have a lot of work that day because of children's day. But he's lying, he actually wants to spend that day with Sachiko...

Then we see Jun-chan painting and Kyosuke admiring her. ♡ He tells her some sweet things but she's not the romantic type, hehe. They he ends up telling her about Shouji and Sachiko and how he thinks Shouji is already in love with her. They both spend some time thinking how things could be once Hachi finds out. Jun-chan calls her right away to see how she's doing. Hachi invites them to the concert and also tells her she thinks Shouji is acting a little weird.

That night Nana, Hachi and Shin decide to go to the restaurant where Shouji is working. Hachi is excited but Shouji is nervous cuz he doesn't want Sachiko and Hachi to meet so, he hides in the bathroom. Sachiko notices Hachi and drops a tray she's carrying, breaking everything on it and cutting her finger. Hachi goes to help her right away, not knowing who she is. Sachiko leaves the place crying all dramatic and asks Shouji to end whatever their having because his girlfriend is a nice person and it's not fair for her. At the same time, Nana, Hachi and Shin are eating inside, talking about Shin and how they are both worried about him not having a place to leave. This makes him tell them he is not worried because he sometimes sleeps in random women houses who also give him some money. Of course they are shocked, specially considering he's only 15 years old. Suddenly Shouji comes to their table and asks Hachi if she'll be busy later that night cuz they need to talk...

And there is where this volume ends. We have some Junko's room as usual. There were some things i really enjoyed about this volume, like seeing my beautiful boy Shin-chan and Nana together with Yasu again. But, I strongly hate Sachiko and Shouji. I remember I was heartbroken the first time I saw this in the anime, as I rewatched I didn't suffer that much and i was over them but, I can't stand the girl! Plus Shouji is not as charming as he was at the beginning. I don't want to make this post longer so I'll stop here for now. I'm already reading volume 4 so, I hope to finish it soon.

Thanks if you read til the end~ I'll see you next time.

Previous Manga posts:

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 2 🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 1 🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 2 🍓

“Nee Nana, do you remember the first time we met? I beleive in things like fate. So I think it was fate.” 

It's time to go through Nana volume 2! And honestly, it's been exciting to read this manga and go through the story all over again. I feel like once I started buying it (which started with this one cuz it took me a while to find the 1st one) I just couldn't stop! I'm actually reading them faster than I thought I would.

This time it is a pink volume. The cover shows both Nanas in front of the oh-so-famous window in their apartment sharing some tea or coffee. Love it. When you remove the sleeve thingy, we have the same pic in a pink version.

This volume is divided in 4 chapters, each of them have a nice illustration at the beginning and one of the famous quotes we used to hear at the beginning and end of each episode. ♡

I like how it has a short summary at the beginning to remember what happened on the previous volume. 

We are going to start calling Komatsu Nana, "Hachi" so everything is less confusing~

Chapter 1 starts when Hachi receives a message from Shouji telling her he got into university which is her sign to move to Tokyo and be with him and her friends. We see her super excited, quitting her job and packing her things. It's so funny how she just left without having a real plan or a place to live, leaving a note behind so her family can send her her things. 

We later see her getting on the train that will take her to Tokyo and, where both Nanas will meet for the first time. Train is full and the only possible place for her to sit is next to Nana, where she has her guitar. Hachi goes there to sit when the train suddenly stops and she falls over Nana. They end up sitting together and since they will have to wait for a few hours because of a snow storm, they start talking and that's when they realize they both share names, age and are moving to Tokyo. Of course Hachi is impressed by Nana and how cool and beautiful she is but, she ends up talking about herself and doesn't really ask much about her. Once they arrive to Tokyo, Shouji is waiting for Hachi so they both take different paths without saying goodbye. This is where we stop seeing Nana for a while. 

Hachi gets reunited with her friends and is all happy to be there. Jun-chan and Kyosuke take them to Shouji's apartment, where she will stay. Shouji has a part time job so of course he goes to work on the next day. While he's working Hachi goes all housewife mode and cleans his place, cooks for him, etc. expecting to make him happy when he returns but, he doesn't seem to be impressed and wants her to find a job and a place asap. Which I get, yeah but... she had just arrived! He could've been a little more thoughtful!! (>3<)

After Shouji's reaction, Hachi is determined to find her own place and goes check some the next day. They end up offering her a cheap apartment in an old, european style building; Apartment 707. She pretty much loves it and is ready to rent the place when she realizes someone else was already there, ready to rent it too...

Chapter 2, Hachi realizes it is Nana who also wants to rent the apartment and after a little chat, they decide to rent it together to share the expenses. This is defo one of my favorite scenes in the anime and it was cool to read it too. THE FEELS!

Later that day Hachi shares the news with Jun-chan and Shouji, who now asks her to stay with him...🙄 Next day is moving day for both Nanas. Hachi goes with her friends and boyfriend, while Nana is there with perfect-guy Yasu, who has been her close friend a for a long, long time. He's a lawyer and would do pretty much anything for her ♡. They introduce each other and hope things go well for the Nanas now that they will start living together. 

Wow, this chapter went by fast, I feel it was shorter than the previous one.

Chapter 3 continues in the apartment 707, none of the Nanas have any furniture or basic things cuz they are supposed to be shipped from their hometowns so, they decide to go out and buy some basics. Part of their shopping are the very famous strawberry glasses🍓from the ¥100 store that will be a very important part of their story. Also, here is when Nana calls her Hachiko for the first time saying "she is like a loyal puppy"

They also visit this antique store called Sabrina, where they buy a few appliances and furniture. Hachi has a crush on the store owner and applies to work there. As they continue visiting other stores, Hachi finds Trapnest's new album Trigger and buys it. She's very happy cuz they are her favorite group, this makes Nana a little nostalgic because of Ren. She doesn't say anything to her tho, they continue chatting about the band memebers, music tastes and even how Ren and Sid Vicious have similarities.

 That night Nana stays home, waiting for their furniture and appliances to be delieverd while Hachi goes out to meet Shouji. And even tho Shouji wants Hachi to spend the night with him, she leaves because she doesn't want to leave Nana alone. She even buys a Jackson Hole burger for her. When she arrives home, she finds Nana sleeping on the floor, next to the Trapnest album she bought earlier that day.

Chapter 4 starts with Hachi's first day of work. She wakes up worried thinking she's late just to realize her clock wasn't working. Since it's still early, both Nanas decide to go out and buy something to eat cuz, they don't have any food. After that Hachi goes to work where jun-chan pays her a visit. She immediately realized Hachi has a crush on her boss and scolds her. This leaves Hachi feeling uneasy and questioning if she's been a good gf to Shouji. She even declines a dinner invitation from her boss at the end of the day.

When she goes home, she finds Nana finishing a table and two benches she was working on so they could have a place to eat and also save some money. She is so handy! She even made dinner.

When they are having dinner, Hachi asks Nana about the Ren flower tattoo she has but doesn't make a connection between the tat and Ren. Later that night Nobu susrprises Nana. he decides to travel to Tokyo with the excuse of bringing Nana's things and tells her he pretty much ran away from home and wants to stay in Tokyo with her. Nana seems to be upset at the beginning until Nobu shows her a new song he wrote and thoguht it'd be perfect for Nana to read. This is when Nana sings for Hachi for the first time, at the same time Nobu is sharing the song to Yasu through his phone, which kinda feels like a key moment for the Balst reunion.

And that'd be the end of chapter 4. We also have 4 pages of Junko's room.

And that is that for the manga... OMG guys, the feels! I feel like I liked this volume more than the previous one cuz I just love to see everyone together. Specially Nana and Hachi. Yes, I like the part when we get to know both girls' stories cuz it helps to understand them a lot more but, it is more fun when they start living together. 

I'm glad I watched the anime before the manga cuz the music is super important here so, I can make the connection when Nana is singing to Nobu's song. I'm such a Nana fangirl, she is just SO beautiful, talented and cool. Also, as I grew older, I started loving Yasu's relationship with Nana. He would've been perfect for her and I'm sure she would've been very happy. In this chapter we also have a sneek peak into Nobu's life when Nana mentions he's privileged, his family is very rich but he doesn't want that kind of life. The relationship between Nana and Hachi was really funny during this time, they have completely opposite personalities. That is part of what I love about their friendship.

In this volume I didn't see anything different or extra from the anime. At least not that I remember. It felt like a nice, fun volume. 

I'm not sure when I'll be back with the next volume but, I can't wait! I haven't finished it tho. There are other characters I just can't wait to see!!

See you next time~!!♡

Previous Nana MAnga post:

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 1 🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 1 🍓

 Back in July I started reading Nana, some of you already know I am a big fan of the anime, it's one of my favs. I've rewatched it so many times and everytime I do, I think I see and feel things differently. I wrote a blog post about the anime many years ago where I included pics, general info about the movies and music. But now I want to start this kind of "series" where I talk about the manga as I read it. I'm not sure how often it'll be posting tho, It'll depend on when I buy the new volumes and, when I have the time to read them.

Nana is currently published by Panini, luckily, there are a few in my city I can go check every now and then. But this manga sells super fast! As I'm typing this, Volume 1 was sold out everywhere!! It took me forever to find it but, here we are!

This post will be similar to Love Hina's, not 100% a review or a good summary, it's more like me trying to go through the manga, some opinions and thoughts every now and then. Plus, we all know it'll be all over the place... it's just the way it is. It'll be fun cuz, even tho I've watched it too many times now, there might be things I don't remember or see differently now and, also things that were not shown in the anime.

Before we start, I do have to mention the cover cuz, all the Nana illustrations are beautiful! We have Osaki Nana reading the newspaper in the famous dining room of the apartment 707. Most details are in dark purple and when you remove the sleeve thingy, we have the same pic as the cover but, all in purple. This volume came with a bookmark as most Panini manga. The first volume is the only one that has it tho, I know because I have other volumes now too.

In this volume we'll get to know the story behind the main characters, Komatsu Nana and Osaki Nana. The first to introduce her story is Komatsu Nana, if you read my old Nana post, you'll have a little more info about them. She lived with her family in a small town in Japan and, she's the middle child of three sisters. First we see her with Asano-san, a guy I totally forgot about. He is the first love interest we meet. He's an older guy who happens to be married but is also dating her. He pretty much breaks up with her and tells her he's moving to Tokyo because of work. Honestly, I never liked or disliked this guy, of course what he was doing was wrong, but he was never mean to Nana.

Komatsu Nana

Asano-san

Then we move on to Nana's graduation, she's crying in the bathroom with Jun-chan (Junko). This is the first time we see her. Despite what people say about her, I like her cuz she's straight forward and doesn't give/tell Nana everything she wants. Fun fact I saw here is Jun-chan talking about getting a perm, I didn't remember that so I guess her curly hair was never natural! 😱 I mean, I remember seeing her with straight hair in the anime but I thought it was a style she was trying back then. Then we have a flashback of the many guys Nana fell for, they were random guys she never really got to know, she just liked the way they looked. It also showed how she even tried to change her style according to them and how she started liking some things because of them. This leads to how she met Asano-san in the movie theater by accident and how their relationship started. She feel in love despite knowing he was married. It was a sad relationship where she didn't know much about him, they met a couple of times a month in a love hotel and she wasn't sure the little information she had was even real. In the end she relaizes breaking up was the best for her.

After graduation she gets a haircut to have a fresh start and decides to follow Jun-chan in arts school even tho she's not good at it, hoping to find love. That's where she meets Shouji, Jun-chan's old friend from junior high. I used to really like Shouji, cuz yeah, he's cute. But he's a character I really dislike now... We'll talk about this later in the series~ He also introduces them to his friend Kyousuke, who is very hot (and nice). They all become friends and Jun-chan and Kyousuke fall for each other almost right away. I swear they are the cutest and funniest couple ever. Shouji and Nana show interest for the other too and Jun-chan encourages them to be together. They had such a cute friendship! 

Kyosuke and Jun-chan

Shouji

During summer the 4 of the decide to go on a trip to the beach where Nana and Shouji end up sharing a room and Nana kinda admits that she loves Shouji but wants to see him only as her "precious male friend". In this trip, they find out Jun-chan is planning to go to Tokyo to study arts and Kyousuke will go with her,  and the Shouji says he also wants to go. This breaks Nana's heart but in the end, she decides she will go too. 

They all go to Tokyo to apply for schools but Nana doesn't get in. She doesn't want to go back alone because she thinks she will be lonely without her friends but she doesn't really have a plan either. So she has an arguement with Shouji in which he pretty much tells her she's needy and leaves her alone in the street. She doesn't know how to return to the hotel and she randomly bumps into Asano-san. They have dinner together and chat for a bit, then he helps her return to the hotel. This meeting gives closure to Nana in a way and makes her realize she's really in love with Shouji. On the other hand, when Shouji returns to the hotel without Nana, Jun-chan and Kyousuke scold him for leving her like that and make him admit his feeling for her. They all start looking for her, when Nana is close to the hotel she meets Shouji and they both apologize, they return to the hotel where they have to share a room again. They start talking about the future and how she really wants to move to Tokyo. Shouji explains why he's worried about her staying with him, specially since they are both unemployed. So Nana decides that she will go back home and start working to make enough money for a year and move to Tokyo in a year, when Shouji enters University. 

That night Nana sleeps with Shouji for the first time and they become a couple. She returns to Tokyo and starts working at a movie rental place to make enough money while having a long distance relationship with Shouji. 

And that is the end of Komatsu Nana's part. This Nana is one of my favorites and the one I identify with the most. I know she has a lot of flaws and issues but, who doesn't? In this story, most, if not all characters have very deep and sad backgrounds. I think this is why I love the story so much, they are relatable and real, not everything is perfect and happy. 

It is kinda sad how Nana can be such a cheerful girl and feel so lonely at the same time. I feel I understand her in a way cuz, I was there once. Dating people just to fill emptiness and feel like someone is taking care of you, being so attached and dependent on people that you feel left behind when you can no longer keep up with them. It is just so real! I also used to believe in courses. I lived mine too and it lasted for a long, long time. Haha. But I also love her loyalty to the ones she loves, her happy spirit and how caring she can be. She's a little clueless and lost in life but it is part of what makes her a good character. Plus, I love her fashion!!!

I do have to mention though, Shouji was my first husbando in the story but then I changed him. He is good looking and sweet but I'll end up hating him in a few volumes. I liked many guys in this show guys. I just realize I also like Kyousuke!!!! Mostly because I love him with Jun-chan. ♡

Let's to move on to my woman crush, Osaki Nana...

Her chapter starts with a short self introduction. Nana has a sad story. She didn't meet her dad and her mom abandoned her when she was very young, leaving her with her grandma, who took care of her. When she died, Nana was pretty much on her own.

Then we have a Blast concert, Blast is a band Nana had with her friend Yasu, Nobu and boyfriend at the time, Ren. Even tho they were not big, they were very popular in their hometown. After the concert they are all greeted by fans who shower them with gifts and compliments. This is the first time we see Misato-chan, who is a big Blast and Nana fan. Later, they all go to have a drink and celebrate another successful concert, they split and go separate ways: Nobu with Yasu and, Nana with Ren. Before they leave, Yasu asks Ren to talk to Nana and he will take care of Nobu, none of them have an idea of what is going on.

Nana and Ren walk to their house even tho they are freezing cuz it's a snowy night. Ren finds a handmade skarf as a part of the gifts he received and they share it as they continue walking. They look all happy and cute! I have to say tho, I'm not the biggest Ren fan, but I fotgot how happy they were. They made it look as if they had a healthy, happy relationship.

Nana and Ren

Nobu and Yasu

When they arrive to their apartment(?) they take a bath together and Nana starts remembering the first time they met when Nobu invited her at a concert Ren had with his previous band and how she left school around that time and started working at her grandma's Restaurant/store (I'm not sure cuz at the beginning they say restaurant and then she just calls it "store", oh well) cuz she wanted money and her grandma never gave her any. She also talks about how her grandma never let her wear girly clothes with bright, "girly" colors like pink and red because that'd make guys pay too much attention to her. That was why, the first thing she did when her grandma died, and to cheer her up a little was to buy a red dress. (same dress she wore when she met Ren for the first time). Nevertheless, she was thankful for everything her grandma did to raise and take care of her.

She also explains that, even tho she wasn't really interested in meeting Ren at first, she fell for him as soon as she saw him on stage. They both share a bit of a similar background cuz Ren was also abandoned as a child. For Nana, living with Ren is like a dream that makes her feel anxious every now and then. After the bath, they go to bedand Nana starts talking about how she wants to sing in a bigger place with a bigger audience, then Ren mentions something about having children but she says that she would rather sing than having to raise children and then she asks him about the thing that Yasu asked him to tell her which was that he decided to go to Tokyo. It was something like: "live your life the way you want, I'm going to Tokyo". Of course, Nana was shocked.

Then we see Yasu telling Nobu the same thing. Nobu couldn't believe it, he was worried about the band and, of course, about Nana. Yasu tells him that the old band they used to play against in contests moved to Tokyo and they needed a guitarist so they decided to call Ren and since they were becoming big and were about to have a debut, he agreed to become a part of the band. This band is, Trapnest. Nobu was on denial and even tho Yasu seemed to be pretty chill about it, he said that if Nana decided to go to Tokyo, he'd quit music. 

After that we ahve a flashback of when Yasu, Ren and Nobu were talking about finding a singer for their band and how Ren wanted it to be a woman cuz he was sick of working with "dirty musicians". At that time they were all students and Nana was they new, akward girl in the class but, she was friends with Nobu. So, when the guys were having this conversation, Nana arrived to Nobu's house to return a CD and, she meets Ren again, this time he's the one falling for her. So they decide Nana should be the new singer.

The next day Nobu goes visit Nana at work cuz he's worried about her. He ven tells her that he is willing to follow her to Tokyo if she decides to go but Nana says she's not going. And even tho Ren taught her to play the guitar and gave her her passion for music, she didn't want to follow him cuz she wasn't singing for him, she was doing it for her. I really liked it cuz she said her life was not just "sleeping with Ren" and that she wanted to become a stronger person and a successful singer on her own. So she wanted to save some money and one day, move to Tokyo. She also asked Nobu if he could wait for her so they could go together. I thought that was kinda cute.

We see another flashback where Nana explains how she started dating Ren around Christmas and started living together almost right away but she also mentions how she felt like he did so much for her but, she didn't do much for him. That she could just follow him to Tokyo and become the mother of his kids but, it wasn't what she wanted.

When that flashback ends, they show the day Ren leaves to Tokyo, Nobu, Yasu and Nana are there to say goodbye, of course Nana is really sad and cries but, she moves on with her life and continues making music. In a picture we see a new guitarist I don't remember seeing before.

After almost 2 years of ending the relationship, Nana has enough money to go to Tokyo and follow her dream. She says she only needs her guitar and cigarettes...

That is the end of volume one. I feel like Osaki Nana's part was shorter than Komatsu Nana, maybe because the scenes were longer? Idk. Maybe it's just me. I'm a big Osaki Nana fan, she's so cool and strong. And I like how she's so willing to make her dreams come true and do what makes her happy instead of trying to please others. At the same time I feel like hugging her cuz she went through so much. 💔 Like I mentioned before, I'm not a big Ren fan, guess we'll get to that later in the story. I always wanted Yaso to be with Nana~ oh well.

At the end of the manga, we have the forst part of Junko's room that is like a "behind the scenes" random couple of pages that show Jun-chan, Kyousuke, Shouji and Komatsu Nana in this type of bar owned by Jun-chan.

I think this volume is pretty close, if not the same, as the anime. Before I officially end this post, Nana is on Netflix now! I'm excited and I know I'll watch it again. For the 1000000th time, hehe.

I'm sorry, I keep making these manga posts super long, I just can't help it!!!

See you in the next one~! ♡

Manga Reading: Love Hina Vol. 1

For some reason, I've been into reading manga lately, specially after I started buying Nana. But I also have other older manga that I wanted to read again like Love Hina. I have all the volumes and thought it'd be fun to go through them and share with y'all. Plus, I asked you guys on IG and most of you said yes to it so, here we are.

Last year I wrote a very general post about Love Hina, and gave some details on the manga edition I have, which is pretty old. I'll have that post linked here in case you wanna check it out and that way, we won't have to explain all that again in here cuz I have a feeling this will be a long post. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out tho, it might be a bit of a read-through kind of thing(?) with random comments and opinions. Not really a summary or a review. Sorry in advance if it gets a little all over the place.

These manga are so old, the pages are turning yellowish, haha. They are also very thin so I think I'll finish them faster than I thought. I will try to read at least one volume each month so we make space for other stories too.

Ok! Volume 1 has the main girls on the cover having a picnic in front of the Hinata Inn. I love this type of illustrations that look like a picture the characters could have. If that makes any sense. It is divided in 2 chapters called "Hinata"

For those who don't know the characters: Top left we have Mitsune, the one with the boken is Motoko, the girls with short, dark hair is Shinobu, Naru in the middle and the blonde, tanned girl is Kaolla.

First page shows a flashback from Keitaro's childhood. He's happily playing with a girl (who he likes to think as his first love) but, suddenly this girl moves away and before she leaves they make a promise to meet again in Tokyo University. This promise is important in the story.

Urashima Keitaro

Hinata 1 "Welcome to Hinagta inn" 

It starts with a short introduction of the main male character, Urashima Keitaro who's 19 years old, single and, according to him, the only contact he's had with a girl was back when he was a boy and made that promise. He tried applying for university twice but failed badly so, he decides to leave home and travel to Tokyo to visit his grandma who is the owner of the Hinata Inn. 

He doesn't find anyone when he enters the Inn so, he waits in his grandma's room. While he is waiting, he talks (more like complains) a little more about his life so we can get to know him more. I totally forgot he collected purikura! Which I find funny for some reason. But he is always alone in his pics~ Oh well.

So suddenly, he thinks it'd be a great idea to go to the hot springs of the Inn because, why not, right? I mean, who does that!!?? Anyway, when he is relaxing in the hot springs, he hears someone getting in and realizes it is a girl, Narusegawa Naru (one of the main characters). She's not wearing her glasses so she can't really see who's there with her. This manga has a lot of fan service and we'll have a lot of panties and boob grabbing, lol. So yeah, Naru starts talking about how her boobs got bigger and she even mentions something about a massage~ Idk who she thought she was talking to but, she gets all touchy touchy and realises she's with a guy. She puts on her glasses and starts screaming, asking for help. The way she refers to him is so funny to me, it always has been. She keeps calling him someone who's mentally depraved or a perv. That'll be the story of Keitaro's life from now on. 

He runs out of the hot springs naked, and as he leaves the place he runs into the other girls, Mitsune, Kaolla, Shinobu and Motoko, who are chasing after him cuz well, there is a perv in the Hinata Inn. Thing was, he didn't know the Inn was no longer an Inn, it was a dorm for women. I swear this guys has the worst luck ever.  At some point he tries to explain he's there to see his grandma but they don't believe him until his aunt Haruka shows up to save him.

Haruka explains him that his grandma decided to travel the world to find love and she is in charge of the place now. Keitaro has no place to go cuz his idea was to stay at the Inn to figure his life out but none of the girls want him to stay. His aunt mentions something about him going to Tokyo University which makes the girls believe he's actually a uni student and even tho he tries to explain his real situation, they don't listen and let him stay even if some of the girls are not too happy about it.

Haruka

In this story all of the girls will fall for Keitaro at some point, and the first one to try something is Mitsune. Konno Mitsune, aka "kitsune", is a 19 year old who loves to party and drink alcohol. As far as I remember she doesn't really study or work and she was one of the first girls to move to the Hinata Inn. She's also Naru's best friend. So, while Keitaro is resting in her grandma's room, Mitsune goes there and tries to flirt with him telling him how much she wants a uni student as a boyfriend cuz, she is an opportunistic woman and he is just... weak. (-_-) All of the sudden, when they are in an awkward situation caused by her, the rest of the girls walk into the room and see them. Mitsune blames Keitaro for what's happening and, they call him a perv again.

Most of this chapter, Naru looked so mad at Keitaro. I guess it's because of the way they met. After Mitsune's incident, we see Naru trying to show Keitaro the place but, again, he can't escape from situations tha make him look like a perv so she ends up following him around the place to make sure he doesn't "harm" anyone. 

I'm going to talk about Naru a little, cus we didn't give her a proper introduction and she is my favorite character. Narusagawa Naru is basically the main female character here, she's a 17 year old student who is super dedicated to her studies and sees guys as an unnecessary distraction. She is very smart and caring but also has a very short temper and can be very aggresive when she's angry. (just ask Keitaro, haha).

As they walk around the Inn they find Shinobu (Maehara Shinobu), who is a sweet middle school student who had a (real) crush on Keitaro when she met him. She wanted him to help her with her studies cuz she wasn't good at it and felt like she could never go to a good school cuz she wasn't "smart enough" so, he helps her with some exercises and she gives him cookies as a way to thank her. He compliments her cookies and she gets all shy and cute. When he's trying to cheer her up, he lies about how working hard got him into Tokyo University and this gives Shinobu the motivation to believe in herself. He just made his lie worse.

That night he tries to solve some of the exercises from the univerity's admission test and even tho he spends the whole night working, he can't solve them. When he complains about it and talks to himself about not being a uni students, Naru hears him without him noticing.

The next day Naru sees that some of the girls are happy now that Keitaro is there and decides to go talk to him and tell him she knows about his lie. They start talking nicely but then they fight and when the other girls hear them, they go see what's going on. Accidentally, Keitaro grabs Naru's boob, she punches him, they all scream and fight. But, while they are fighting, Kaolla (who is another middle school foreign exchange student and good friends of Shinobu) finds a card that says Keitaro is not a uni student yet.

They all get super upset, specially Shinobu (Well, I think she was more like disappointed) so, they decide to kick him out of the Inn. He apologizes and leaves, thinking of an excuse to tell his parents once he goes back home. On his way to the station, he finds this old purikura booth and decides to take a pic before he leaves as a memory of his time there. He even chooses a Hinata onsen sticker to frame his pic. Naru followed  him there and gets in the booth without him noticing. It is his first purikura pic with someone. (I think it was kinda cute).

He shows Naru his purikura collection and while they are talking about keitaro's plan, Haruka finds them and gives Keitaro some papers, telling him that his grandma basically gave him the inn as a gift which makes him the new manager of the place.

Hinata 1 "The new dorm manager"

Of course the girls were not happy with this, but there's not much they can do since he is the owner now. In a way, Keitaro feels relieved and motivated cuz he won't have to go back home and starts fantasizing on how his relationship with girls could be now that he'll be living there... (¬-¬)

Some of the girls come up with a plan to make him want to quit and leave, giving him all these crazy, exhausting tasks but, he didn't give up. I kinda felt bad for him. 

When he's finally done, he goes to his room to relax and notices a big hole on his ceiling and decides to take a look, when he does he sees Naru changing clothes and he receives punch #3. She's furious with him and now wants to take part of the girls' plan to make him quit. She's intense tho. They won't even give him a proper meal. 

In the end we see the girls enjoying a bath in the hot springs and Keitaro doing the same but in a small tub, eating instant ramen. They can't see each other but he can listen to everything they say. This is how he finds out they are doing everything they can for him to leave. 

And this is the end of the first volume.

OMG you guys this is way longer than I thought! I really enjoyed reading this and remembering so many things! It's been years since the last time I saw the anime so, I forgot many things. It's funny cuz I remember their voices so everything they say and do is funnier. When I first watched the anime, I didn't like Keitaro much but now I did feel bad for him a couple of times. He's still a perv loser tho. 

I think I'm gonna end this post here. if you read til the end, THANK YOU! Hehehe. 

See you next time~!!

Manga Reading: Love Hina

 Not long ago, I was walking through the Liverpool book section and I noticed they had a cool, new version of the Love Hina manga. It's been a long time since I saw something Love Hina related. That reminded me that I actually have the complete manga and... I actually read the 28 volumes!

I don't talk about Love Hina much anymore, but it's an anime I really like. Of course I watched the anime series and movies before actually reading the manga. As some of you may already know, I'm not the best reader but many years ago, a good friend of mine back then (who was my crush at that time) gave me the collection before leaving to study abroad so, of course I had to read it. 

This manga was published by VID Editorial, which I believe had many other manga. I also have a couple of Oh! My Goddess manga by the same editorial. I don't know if it exists anymore tho.

Love Hina is a 1998 harem, romantic comedy by Ken Akamatsu that covers some real life situations, love and relationships along with some fan service. The main character is Urashima Keitaro, who is a 20 year old who's trying to get into university but keeps failing at it. So he moves to his grandma's inn which happens to be a girls dorm now and he ends up being the manager of the place. It's here where he will meet his 5 roommates: Naru, Mitsune, Motoko, Kaolla and Shinobu. Who have very different personalities and interests.

Keitaro made a love promise when he was very young and longs for the day where he'll finally meet up with the girl he made that promise with.

We basically see how this characters interact, fall in love and hit Keitaro way too many times. Hehe.

Then again, my synopsis are never good.

The anime is pretty fun, I'm not the biggest fan of the movies but I still enjoyed them. The manga tho, I really, really liked it. I liked it enough to finish reading it. It gave me a longer story and many things I didn't get to see in the anime. Somehow it also made me change the way I felt about some of the characters, especially Keitaro. I also got to see how the characters grew and how they did beyond their school days. 

I found this manga really easy to read and enjoy, especially because the volumes were not super thick. I remember I used to carry one in my bag to read it whenever I had the chance. I don't know, I might read it again when I get the chance.

But yeah, if you haven't watched or read Love Hina, I recommend you to do it even if it's a bit old now. Sometimes I wish I wasn't too lazy to read cuz, I see why people love to read manga along with the anime they are watching. I just feel like I can't commit!!! Hehehe.