Enjoyed Ai Yazawa's Nana, Watch Nana and Nana 2 on Viki

If you're a fan of Ai Yazawa's Nana and have watched the entire series and/or have read the original manga to where it ended, when Yazawa went on hiatus, you want to know about the two live-action film adaptations. I recently published a piece on how the anime series, which runs for 50 episodes (47 main episodes and 3 recap episodes), can be streamed on HIDIVE (not counting the HIDIVE extension for Amazon Video) or Hulu.

https://steemit.com/anime/@aeonxtrigger/check-out-ai-yazawa-s-nana-on-hidive-or-hulu

The two live-action films are currently streaming on the Viki platform.

While I enjoyed the anime more, the live-action films are still worth watching.

The first film, which is titled Nana, was released in 2005. Japanese pop singer Mika Nakashima stars as Nana Osaki (Nana O.) and Aoi Miyazaki stars as Nana Komatsu (Nana K.) aka “Hachi.” The film's story is similar to how the anime and manga tell the story but cuts off at “Apartment 707,” shortly after Nana O. is reunited with her boyfriend, Ren Honjo (played by Ryuhei Matsuda), the guitarist for Trapnest, the band that is the rival to Nana O's BLAST.

The film ends when Nana K answers the knock on the door and sees that it is her idol, Takumi Ichinose (played by Tetsuji Tamayama), the bassist and leader of Trapnest.

Nakashima did all of the vocals for the songs performed in the film as Nana O with “Glamorous Sky” being the most popular song in the film.

Nana 2, which came out in 2006, picks up sometime after the end of Nana, where Hachi starts getting involved with Takumi.

While the anime and manga focus equally on Nana O and Hachi, Nana 2 pays more attention to Hachi as her love life threatens the success of BLAST and Trapnest. The friendship between the two Nanas is threatened as they gradually drift apart with Nana O focusing on her own success (as she doesn't want to live in Ren's shadow) and Hachi getting more involved with Takumi (especially when she becomes pregnant with his child).

There are cast changes for Nana 2, too.

Aoi Miyazaki didn't return to reprise her role as Hachi, which the role was given to Yui Ichikawa.

The role of Ren was recast and given to Nobuo Kyo.

The role of Shinichi Okazaki, the bassist who replaces Ren for BLAST, was recast and given to Kanata Hongo.

The notable song for Nana 2, performed by Nakashima, is “Hitoiro,” which BLAST plays in a surprise performance in the film.

While I preferred the first film over the second film, I enjoyed both films. It gave me that temporary fix after finishing the anime. If you feel yourself wanting more after watching all 50 episodes of the anime, then watch these two films.