Ai Yazawa End-of-Book Notes 1-21
So at the end of every volume of NANA, Ai Yazawa has a brief paragraph about the manga or just some introspection about her life. They give great insight into the series and I think only a few are found on the scans of NANA online, so I thought I’d share them all!
The creator, Ai Yazawa, told us, “I created this story so that it could be enjoyed as a stand-alone and, at the same time, have a complete ending that could be connected to an ongoing series. I hope you’ll look forward to the future of the two Nanas!”
A note from Ai Yazawa: “I had thought that if the two Nanas met each other, they would probably be constantly fighting, but they seem oddly friendly. What’s up with that?! It’s one of me (not so) seven wonders (ha-ha).”
Since childhood, the artists I’ve looked up to haven’t been writers and illustrators, but mostly musicians. Music provides me the most emotional effect and excitement. If there was no music, I don’t think my creative juices would boil. Music is that important to my life.
I realized one day that there are hit songs with the same names as the main female characters, NANA, JUNKO, and SACHIKO (the kanji for JUNKO is different, though). It’s not that big a deal, but I sometimes just hum the melodies longingly.
In the initial drafts, Nana’s band was a rockabilly band like the Stray Cats. But due to various circumstances, I didn’t keep it that way. But if they were rockabilly, Ren, Nobu and Shin would have had pompadours. And Yasu too?
When I was a child, I used to take piano lessons. Even after I stopped taking lessons, I bought sheet music I liked and continued playing. I’ve had my hands full for several years now, but one of these days I’d like to learn how to play jazz piano, which I’ve wanted to do for years now.
I had an opportunity to interview a group of professional musicians. I showered them with questions, but they answered willingly, and it was very helpful. I was having problems balancing the fictional world of manga-like simplicity and gorgeousness with a sense of reality. But I realized again that what’s important is the humanity of the characters.
When I was in high school, there was a cool girl in my class who was a lone wolf. I was really into a foreign New Romantic-type band then, and when she asked me one day, “Do you want to go to their concert together?” I was overwhelmed. My heart fluttered more than when I was with my boyfriend (☺). Have you had a Hachiko experience like that? - Ai Yazawa
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