It’s June 1st and that means I start promoting NANA Week!
NANA Week happens from July 1st to July 7th.
NANA Week is a week for celebrating and posting all things NANA, but as always all of Ai Yazawa’s works are encouraged to be posted about as well!
All are welcome to join in and post anything you want - art, fanfic, AMV, cosplay, photography... Anything is welcome! Even just posts rambling about what you love about the series.
Additional information
Rules
My ask box is always open to anyone that has any.
And remember - the best away to make sure everyone learns about it is to reblog and tell your friends about it. And follow me to make sure you don’t miss a single submission come July!
Optional Prompts are beneath the readmore
2020 Prompts:
Day 1: lookbook / Anarchy in the UK (Sex Pistols)
Day 2: make up / Search Magazine
Day 3: lock and key / Do You Want To (Franz Ferdinand)
Hm, unfortunately it seems like Ai Yazawa is still suffering from bad health even now. Her first popular series, Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, was receiving a re-print with new covers this year (2019) and it seems that the new volumes of 4 & 5 were delayed due to her health. You can read more about it [here]
Ai Yazawa herself commented on the delay saying:
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting! The supportive voice from everyone is always encouraging to me. Thank you very much."
Please remember that even though we are all fans of Yazawa’s work and many of us would like to see NANA continue, Yazawa must do what is best for her health and has been doing so for the last 10 years.
So let’s continue to be patient and continue to support Yazawa and her health from afar. <3
How do you feel about Ai Yazawa finally coming back, but only to work on a remake of tenshi nanka ja nai?
I’m ecstatic that Yazawa is working on anything, especially to hear she’s working on past works. I think it’s great.
I do think you’re mistaken - she’s not remaking the entire series... Just making some new illustrations for the covers in her updated art style, since Tennai was one of her first popular series and had an older art style. It’s not the first time Tennai got an updated cover - Tennai was originally published in 1991-1994 in 8 volumes. In 2000, the series was republished in 4 volumes in Yazawa’s more current “NANA”-like art style. In 2008, it was republished with new covers AGAIN and it was in 6 volumes.
My greatest hope right now is that because Tennai is getting republished, it opens the opportunity that it can be officially translated in other countries. Tennai is my favorite completed Yazawa work so I’ve been dying for English copies. Therefore I HIGHLY recommend anyone else interested in Tennai being offically translated in your country to request it from likely publishers!
But honestly, even if Yazawa were to return to another one of her works that isn’t NANA (or a new work entirely) I’d be happy with that too. I enjoy Yazawa’s work and while I’d be crushed with the knowledge that Yazawa doesn’t intend to work on NANA ever again... As a creator I’d understand. I’d rather continue reading her works because she’s a damn good story teller.
It’s totally understandable if you or anyone else is disappointed by this development though, so don’t feel bad if you feel that way! I don’t, but that’s just me. I hope I answered your question adequately. ^^
You know, I haven’t quite gotten around to rereading Tennai in a while (And therefore haven’t written any meta) but I can promise the day I do, the first post I make will be about Midori and Mamirin’s friendship. You can really see how the importance of friendship between women has been present in Yazawa’s since then - and in all her series up to NANA where the core of the series is truly about two women’s friendship.
Regardless, I always thought this panel was so beautiful so I couldn’t help but do something for it right now. The netting over her hair is just so beautiful!!
More than that is the fact that Mamirin has been searching for this necklace and wondering about it’s whereabouts more than even Midori. Even when Mamirin enlists their other friends for help in looking for the necklace, it’s fitting that Mamirin is the one that finds it first. She gives the necklace back to Midori with a serene smile, but in the moments after finding the necklace she bursts into tears wondering if Midori will be happy. Midori says that she’s so happy when she finally gets the necklace Mamirin is just so relieved to hear that. Akira is still missing, but Mamirin is there to continue helping her friend and to return what feels like a missing part of Midori who felt like she lost herself when she lost her angel wings.