Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Nana – episode 8

May 29, 2006 on 10:37 pm | In Nana | 3 Comments

I’m here, waiting for youuuuu

You know what’s great? Vindication. I’d say that I felt that during this entire episode of Nana, but I’d be lying as I was spending too much of my time trying to stifle my laughter. Nana was my pick for favourite of the season way back when and, were Ouran High School Host Club so effing awesome it would win hands down. Actually, now that I’ve thought on this issue more, maybe Nana wins after all.

Pink and Black Nana go out to buy things for their new apartment, and on their adventures Black Nana christens Pink Nana “Hachi”, short for “Hachiko”.

Henceforth I shall refer to Black and Pink Nana as Nana and Hachi respectively. The time is right to affect this change!

The first instinct for the naming of Hachi comes from it being the number eight, while Nana means seven. Yet this is not the case! Hachiko is the most famous of Japanese dogs, who would wait for his master at the train station each day after work. One day, Hachiko’s master died, yet Hachiko returned each day to wait. This continued until Hachiko’s death eleven years later. As a testament to Hachiko’s loyalty, many Japanese train stations bear statues in the dog’s honour.
This is quite similar to Sontoku Ninomiya’s presence in many Japanese schools (I covered that topic in my Haunted Junction write ups).

Anyway, that diversion aside, the name springs not from the system of numeracy (although that cannot be discounted) but from Hachi’s perceived friendliness and obedience. It’s kind of cruel for Nana to say that she’s fine with Hachi’s temperament because “I wanted a pet anyway”, but she didn’t mean any harm by it.

The relationship of the girls is easy going because one must remember that Nana is a girl who looks like she might be scary but is, in fact, quite nice. She’s cynical, but who isn’t? (Hachi, that’s who …) Nana found herself through love, wanting to cling to life and throw away any thoughts of suicide. Her suggestion to Ren: “Would you die with me?” was not a real Sid and Nancy proposition, because she can’t see the world in such a fatalistic hue.
As we’ve gleaned from the flashback episodes (which, now that we’re in the story proper, I appreciate), Nana wants to create her own identity free of dependence to optimise her happiness. She found love, and it changed her, but now she’s going to the next stage.

Obviously she’s not over him, as we can tell in the music store, but she doesn’t have to be. Clearly Ren has an investment in her as well. Naturally it would be bigger in Tokyo than in Nana’s hometown, and the immensity of Trapnest’s release was quite a shock to her system. Hachi has good things to say, though, and Nana might just be able to swallow her pride.

On a strict Hachi front, the girl is damned hilarious, I tell you! She secured a job at Sabrina, a second hand furniture shop giving you all the greatest hits of the fifties, sixties and seventies … and instantly fell in love with its owner, Mizukoshi-san. When Nana made fun of her about it while Hachi was on the phone to Shouji, Hachi was heard to remark “Don’t say that! He’s going to get ideas!”
He’s going to get ideas, Ms. Inventor of Sachiko? I couldn’t stop the laughter right there. You crazy wound up girl!

However! If Shouji wants sex with Nana every night and insists that she come back home to him … why exactly did he have her move out? I know she wanted to strike for independence, but he actively encouraged that. Now he’s realised how convenient it can be to see your long term girlfriend every day. That sly, sly dog.

Wow, Nana is allowing me to remember my intense Japanese culture training regimen. Back when I didn’t have any anime to watch, I would read about the culture from whence it sprang. Congratulations, Nana: you transcend greatness.