i have made this blog out of want for a place to post some “cleaned-up” ramblings of whatever interests me
mostly anime/manga, will also share some thoughts on manhwa. books as well!
what i’d like is your engagement! i love debating with others and sharing opinions. if you disagree with me on something, don’t be shy! let me know. my ask box will be open always :)
i’m not the best at writing essays. this blog is a way for me to practice
(i would have liked to draw this out but i can’t even manage a stick figure. so here i am describing instead)
Nana— Cat-Demon. Abandoned by her own kind when she was just a little imp, she strives to claim souls and tie them to her as her own. In her previous life, her ex-lover Ren was the first to break from one of her contracts. Since then, she’s come to Tokyo to amass a great collection of souls through fame. Her singing ability is now her greatest tool to eradicate her loneliness. Those who listen to her voice immediately become enamoured, and consequently bound to her. This is Nana’s plan coming together at long last…. But, out of the blue, a rival band emerges. On the big screen Nana catches sight of Ren’s serene expression for the first time in a century. He’s here, just out of reach, basking in the love that should be hers—and now she wants to seize him for herself again, no matter what it takes.
Hachi— Hachi is a princess of the Fairy Kingdom. Fairies are tricksters that thrive in meddling with the romances of humans— memory-loss spells to erase a decade-long union, jealousy-stirring to inspire hatred…. Some fairies even take the form of a beautiful human to drive a wedge between couples. Tired of the ruthless customs of her people, she takes on the name “Hachi” to throw aside the miserable luck fairies thrust upon humans— “Nana” is an incredibly unlucky number, she thinks. Hachi arrives at Tokyo for a fresh start, hoping to erase her previous identity. There she meets a cat-demon who happens to share her old name! Hachi is fascinated by Nana’s courage to embrace bad luck. Of course, there’s nothing more ominous than having nine lives…. But the two become fast friends anyway and rent an apartment together in the city’s centre. Hachi’s new life is going well enough— until she catches the eye of one Demon Lord— the same she’s kept wary of all these years….
Nobu— Nobu isn’t anything special. He’s a lowly human hailing from a long line of trained Slayers, but he’s never been particularly talented with a sword and the idea of inheriting the family business has only ever made him want to run away. So one day he does just that and comes to, you guessed it, Tokyo. Back at home, his parents used to frown upon his friendships with demons and enemy entities, but here in Tokyo he can strike up a conversation with whoever he pleases and to hell with danger, he hasn’t picked up a stake in ages. He meets up with his old pal Nana, who still occasionally “jokes” about stealing his soul (she’s always had a fun sense of humour) and they start up their old band again, the Black Stones. He knows they’re going to be big. Their biggest (and currently only) fan, Hachi, seems to think so too. She’s the prettiest fairy he’s ever met, too.
Shin— Shin is the tragic type. He died young after a long battle with illness, and was revived by the cunning vampiress Ryoko. For decades he’s depended on Ryoko for fresh blood and never thinks too hard about where she gets it from. In return, he carries out certain jobs for her: he lures mortals to their doom, guards her territory and engages in turf wars with other vampires, and more…. He’ll do anything for her, because he’s got no one else. He’s happy for as long as he needs her. But when he makes his first kill on his own and drains his victim dry he wonders if he needs Ryoko. Isn’t he bound for bigger and better things? So he heads for Tokyo, because everyone and their mother thinks it’s the place to be, and spots an advertisement for a bassist position in a new band. The Black Stones are hesitant to take him on at first, but he sticks around and they don’t have the heart to boot him. He’s pretty decent with the bass, anyway. Shin is thinking that he’s ready to forget Ryoko for good until he meets the lead singer of their rival band. …. Layla? Is that what she’s called?
Yasu— Yasu is the zombie everyone depends on. He’s weirdly intelligent for an undead creature, has had every strand of hair melted from his rotting scalp, and no one’s ever caught him munching on brains, but there’s something about him that instantly commands respect. He doesn’t seem particularly ambitious, though he’s got a part-time stint as a defence lawyer for convicted demons going on. He tends to just go with the flow. No one’s ever particularly interested in hearing his opinions, unless they’re venting to him about some crisis going on in their lives. He feels particularly tied to Nana in this regard…. Of course, it’s probably her magic at work. But he pities her. He joins her band as the drummer and doesn’t think much of it. He refuses to.
Reira— Reira is the object of Nana’s intense jealousy. She’s a siren with the most powerful voice in the business. But her singing doesn’t cause the devastation the legends warn of— she gives people hope. She gives people peace. Trapnest isn’t the hit that it is just by pure coincidence, after all. Reira has used her voice all her life to make others happy, and the love she receives is effortless; Nana would like to kill her. But there’s one love that Reira can’t have, no matter how hard she tries. The Demon Lord’s cold heart must be far too frigid to move, she despairs. The torture of her unrequited love is almost too much to bear. A young vampire named Shin is charmed by her, and for a while his attention is a soothing balm. But even he seems distant. Reira, the beloved, is so very close to dying of loneliness….
Ren— Ren was found alone as a shivering cub outside an old warehouse. He’s escaped each and every orphanage he’s been dumped in and has lived wild and free for as long as he can remember. He hates to be tied down by anything. The other werewolves won’t claim him as one of their own. Without a pack and a means of cure for his lycanthropy, Ren decides to throw it all away and focus only on music. He loves his guitar, and it’s the one thing he’ll commit to. His talent doesn’t occur to him until half the town is lining up to see BLAST play. To call Nana his girlfriend isn’t enough. She’s more than that. Not quite his soulmate, but someone he can’t quite cut off if he tried. There’s something distinctly suffocating about their love. His werewolf blood loathes how trapped he feels. Worse yet, he doesn’t want to leave her. Nana wants to domesticate him, as though he’s her puppy-dog. It’s hell. It’s heaven. He departs for Tokyo one snowy night to fill in Trapnest’s guitarist position. The Demon Lord accepts his true self least of all. Ren consumes drugs that suppress his urges and avoids the night as much as he can. But it’s agony. And he wants to see Nana so badly.
Takumi— Of course, he’s the Demon Lord. He’s ruled the roost for so long his sense of order works as a kind of twisted truth. Trapnest is a mere extension of his power. Music has been a weapon for demons since the beginning of time. What draws in mortals better than the sweet sound of music? Wanting to keep up with the times, he’s opted for rock lately, and the mortals of the new century sell out every album they put out. He doesn’t exactly care about humans, though; the women bore him and their flighty clinginess is annoying to deal with once they’ve gotten over their awe of his royal status. But the deep emotions he inspires in others are mere displays of his will. And things are almost too perfect— until Takumi notices the cracks in between his control. The harmony he’s thought he created is only a mass entrapment of demons sick of the empty pleasures the human world provides them. He thinks Reira’s singing power should be enough to hold his world together— but she’s too desperate for his love to function properly anymore. Reira’s charm is ebbing, and Trapnest sales are falling…. Takumi thinks fast. He crosses paths with a fairy defected from home and realises the potential of her magic. By keeping Hachi close, Takumi can study exactly what moves the fickle hearts of humans. Hachi oddly seems to be the one that respects his will the most though, and that somewhat flatters him.
Naoki— For a shape-shifter, Naoki’s pretty nondescript. He brags about his great lion and ox forms, but upon demonstration Naoki makes himself a laughingstock by only being able to turn into a mouse. But there’s an endearing quality to his failures, and so he makes a suitable mascot of sorts for Trapnest. The others complain about his food-stealing and nesting a little too often, though. Naoki is a loyal follower of the Demon Lord and has followed him to Tokyo as his most obedient familiar. His pitiful power doesn’t earn him much status, however. He’s frequently kept out of the loop on what goes on around him, though he likes to think that, with his small rodent body, he’s more observant than the others realise.
When avid shojosei readers consider what it is exactly that makes Takumi such a despicable character, his maltreatment of Nana ‘Hachi’ Komatsu tends to come to mind. Those used to the loyal, single-track mindset of the average manga love interest are appalled to discover Takumi’s deceptive nature. Lies come naturally to Takumi; he does not mind who he treads on if he gets to step up to where he wants to be. Readers pity Nana and root for her freedom. But there’s more to things than the standard portrayal of abuse, I think. I’d like to briefly ramble about their dynamic. This may or may not be coherent. Here goes.
Some will have no trouble calling Nana naive, and Takumi is amongst them. Their first ‘meeting’ is one of convenience. Takumi’s looking for a fun pastime, Nana gets to be with her celebrity crush and distract herself from her loneliness. Takumi takes advantage of Nana’s ‘freshness’— most who encounter the lovable Hachi see her as pure and somewhat dim. Nana is a pup loyal to her masters, and her masters often refuse to consider the possibility of sharing her. Nana clings to others and doesn’t let go; her presence is taken for granted by them and accepted as a fixture in their lives. Though a one-night stand is all Takumi is interested in, and though he promptly forgets about her as soon as he drives out of the hotel, when he is reminded of Nana’s existence his first instinct is to go see her right away. Nana is like a belonging of his that he’s discarded long ago— he thought he didn't need it anymore, but now that it’s in front of him he may as well take it again. It’s his, isn’t it? And Nana doesn’t refute his advances. Maybe it’s because her own reasons for being with him are selfish too. She wants to fill in the void of her loneliness. She wants to be held and given attention and Takumi is offering to do those things.
Nana is aware that he’s not good person; she knows his words are petty and his attention is fleeting. But Nana doesn’t want to think about the future. She wants to think about the now. She’s an act first, think later kind of girl, and it’s that mindset that causes her half the trouble in her life. Nana wants the present feelings and experiences that make her happy and bubbly— this is not to call her a hedonist, but there’s something she’s constantly searching for, something she believes will make her feel whole. She thinks it’s the drug-like sensation of love. Nana has gone through crush after crush until she lands herself with an affair with an older, married man (Takashi Asano) and her distant boyfriend Shoji. What both of these earlier romances have in common is that they serve to fulfill Nana’s desperate fantasies. She craves intimacy. She does her best to believe wholeheartedly that what she and Takashi have is honest— she spots his wedding ring, but ignores it. She’s a highschooler here, but there’s a mature understanding of just how harmful their affair is. But again, she ignores it because she so badly wants to erase anything that weighs down the high she gets from someone else’s attention.
Nana dances on the border between reality and delusion. She’s aware of both, but neglects one in favour of the other. She wants to believe that Takashi Asano is his real name. She does not want to believe that her first time was his taking advantage of her. When she crosses paths with him again in Tokyo, there isn’t a trace of resentment. Somehow, it seems that she’s still a little obsessed with him. Shoji is who Nana at first considers to be a fresh start. She wants to have him as a friend and nothing more. But ideas of a fulfilling relationship consume her, and she hopes she’ll find one in him. Things, of course, do not last. Shoji cheats and Nana is crushed— but what exactly was it that Nana was heartbroken about? Shoji complains that Nana didn’t seem to care about him. Nana rushes of to room with a girl she’s just met, Nana flirts with the owner of the furniture store, and her friend Jun is a closer confidant. Maybe what Nana wanted in Shoji was not fidelity, but his unconditional affection. She doesn’t want to take things slow and build up the groundwork for a lasting relationship. She just wants to cash in immediately for that love she craves. Shoji couldn’t measure up, so she doesn’t want him anymore.
When Takumi comes into the picture Nana has given up the pretences. In her mind, she reminds herself repeatedly of the truth; he doesn’t love her. But Nana also tells herself later that she doesn’t really mind if she’s not his number one— she just needs to be some kind of priority. She chooses Takumi because he was the only one who stuck by her when she discovered she’s pregnant. When it seems as though her closest friends want nothing to do with her, it’s Takumi holding her hand and providing solutions. This isn’t exactly the unconditional affection Nana had in mind, but it’s the closest she’s gotten to it. Not even Nobu, who she dates before she makes things official with Takumi, measures up to this ideal. Nana feels like it’s often her doing the pampering in her and Nobu’s relationship. She doesn’t hate it, but his lack of assertiveness isn’t what she wants. She wants her dreams enabled. Takumi gets them a fancy apartment and lets her decorate it however she likes. She gets to name the baby and he accepts her suggestions pretty quickly. Nana is satisfied with this. She’s getting spoiled like she always wanted to be. Maybe this is the fulfillment of her childhood dream of marriage.
But of course, Takumi is in fact the worst of her boyfriends, and his command of any situation is a clear indication of his manipulative tendencies. He is a serial cheater, he is a liar, he dismisses Nana’s protests during intimacy multiple times, he doesn’t seem to have it in him to tie himself down to one person. As a teenager, he was notorious for his string of girlfriends, many dumped and abandoned the moment they tried to hold onto him.
A girlfriend winds up pregnant; she wants an abortion, he goes along with it. But he’s not happy that she’s decided without him. It’s not like he wanted the baby but if anyone’s making the big choices it ought to be him, no? This lack of power bothers him. Perhaps that’s why he’s quick to claim Nana’s baby even without being sure if the baby’s really his. It’s hard to believe that he did this out of the goodness of his heart. Takumi considers himself a responsible man, but even this noble virtue is twisted by his desire for control. To him, it’s whatever he says that goes.
The only thing that’s changed since Takumi’s teenagehood is that his want of keeping people close has strengthened. When normally he would have palmed off Nana with abortion clinic fees, he finds himself offering to marry her. It’s Nana’s loyalty that makes him want to keep her. She lets him think of what to do. He tells her to move out and she does. He suggests marriage and she agrees. She listens to him and lets him take charge. Her readiness to stick by him suits him.
This is a call-back to their one-night stand— it’s all about what’s convenient for the two of them. They are both selfish individuals. It’s all about what they want in a relationship. Nana wants to be taken care of, Takumi wants to take care of someone. The concern is that Takumi wants to own Nana, and Nana has never expressed a want to be owned— but their life together is enough for the time being. Nana is very aware of Takumi’s cheating, and doesn’t really think very highly of him anyway. It’s enough that he gives her what she considers to be enough. What Takumi likes is the home Nana has built for him; coming from a broken family, he has always somewhat desired a place to come back to, a place to relax and be himself. Without happy familial bonds, he wants to feel needed. And Nana needs him.
Now, to answer the title of this post: just how toxic are Takumi and Nana? Throughout this post, I have avoided directly addressing the issues that make their relationship as well as the character of Takumi so deeply despised by the NANA community. Yes, Takumi commits sexual assault and is a serial cheater, but I think even without those incriminating actions there is still something insincere about them. That’s what I wanted to focus on— the conditional, transactional nature of their relationship. Both Takumi and Nana consider only their own needs; they do not tend to worry much about each other at all. If Nana thinks about Takumi while he’s away on tour or band business, it’s usually only to entertain the suspicion of his infidelity. If Takumi says he misses her, it’s probably only because he actually “misses (her) boobs,” as Ren teases.
Takumi and Nana are no lovers. They are certainly not soulmates. They are simplicity and convenience, and that’s where the toxicity lies. The hallmark romances of the shojosei genre are ones that idealise lovesick devotion and forever-togetherness— Takumi and Nana defy those traits in a manner that draws readers in at the same time it repulses. But the toxicity is in line with Ai Yazawa’s theme of realism in her manga. She wants to portray the concept of a harmonious yet unhealthy relationship. Two people can get along while being bad for each other (of course, Takumi is the one that’s bad for Nana rather than vice versa). And that’s what makes them so incredibly fascinating to me!
