Jun 18 2009
NANA, Volume 17
NANA, Vol. 17
By Ai Yazawa
Published by Viz Media
“But now I just want one thing… the courage to face things once more.”
This volume begins in the future timeline, with Hachi meeting Shin at apartment 707 during the Christmas season where she discovers an envelope left in the mailbox containing photos of Nana singing in a faraway club. The scene is unexpectedly moving and it put tears in my eyes right from the beginning of the volume which never truly disappeared. Though much of this book focuses on the storyline begun in in the volume sixteen regarding Nana’s biological mother and the related Search exposé, what this volume really does is bring Nana and Hachi back together–something guaranteed to fill my heart with joy. Having been manipulated by the Search reporter into confronting Nana’s mother (though this confrontation is ultimately fruitless), Hachi first spends some time hiding out at her parents’ house in shame, but once the story finally hits she runs straight to Nana’s side, much to everyone’s relief. This volume also takes a surprisingly frank look at Mai’s past, including how she became “Misato Uehara,” and delves more deeply into the complicated relationships between the members of Trapnest, focusing on Reira in particular.