Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Nana – episode 15

July 24, 2006 on 7:26 pm | In Nana | 4 Comments

I realised something terrible while watching this episode: I am Jun/Kyosuke. I have been known to be cruel to depressed people in order to help them.
When I say “people” I mean “one person”, but still.

As for the episode: lots of fourth wall breaking and a bit too much retrospection.

Kyosuke and Jun run into Shouji at Jackson Hole and make several comments pertaining to their surprise that a character so despised by the viewers would come back. Kyosuke then goes on to say that he hopes that Hachi doesn’t commit suicide, which would lead to the end of the series.

BLAST’s live goes off well, and there Hachi meets Misato. Hachi becomes the queen of jealousy as a result, despite having earlier expressed happiness at the fact that she doesn’t have any “weird feelings” for Nana.

Jun and Kyosuke were hilarious, largely because they don’t get any of their own stories and are forced to react to whatever is happening with Hachi and/or Shouji. Jun’s imagination of Hachi’s suicide was amazingly funny, with the “sayonara angel” appearing not once but twice.
When it became clear that Hachi didn’t want to commit suicide, it’s almost as if the couple wanted her to stay depressed because she’s far too genki for their deadpan natures.

I was worried about the live, but word of mouth worked well and the OP pretty much reanimated itself on the stage. The club was too smokey to appear good on screen, but the lack of clarity was for a deliberate setting of mood.

To meet Misato was another one of the show’s pleasures, as I cast my mind far into the past and remembered her face. Nana has one die hard fan, and Hachi is going to begrudge her that? Hachi is obviously far too dependent, as she can’t imagine a life without Nana. In all ways but sex (which can only be a little ways away!), Nana has taken the place of a boyfriend in Hachi’s life. Clearly this is not what Nana wants.

I didn’t like how much of this episode was spent on Hachi doing nothing and thinking about her situation, but it was totally understandable that she would do such a thing. I just am not a fan of plots based on irrationality. It’s sad to see Nana so wounded as a result.

Another mostly good episode of Nana that shows the series may suffer slightly under the weight of Hachi’s silliness. Hachi shouldn’t jeopardise the happiness she is experiencing with these people.

I’m surprised that Shizue Nana has something new to pimp with each episode.
AND it was absolutely hilarious that Hachi thought that Nana would be a top!