NANA The Anime: Latest
Dec. 2nd, 2006 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteOkay, so I've finished watching up to episode 29 (the most current release) of NANA: The Anime, and I'm planning on going to the NANA 2 roadshow on the 9th when it comes out... probably at Uchihara/Jusco, just because I haven't been there before. I don't know how confident I'd be going on my own, but I theoretically COULD go with Christine, Erica, and Jaclyn again (even if that seems to be asking for trouble). Anyway, based on everything I've seen so far, and what I've heard (spoilers for the manga and the upcoming movie), I've decided to post some thoughts... NANA is actually a very good story, all things considered, and I can really relate to Hachiko (which is kind of weird...). Primarily, it seems to be a story about relationships, so there's a lot of my thoughts on that in here.
For starters, there was the whole Sachiko x Shouji x Nana triangle. Nana (Hachiko) created "virtual Sachiko" out of her own fears, but I couldn't really blame her for that. I think it's probably normal for girls to fear that when their guy isn't spending time with them (either because he can't, or just because he mysteriously "isn't" anymore) to think that he might meet another girl who is cuter, nicer, better in bed, whatever. A lot of people fear being "replaced" or being left alone. Nana's definitely one of them. She really needs attention-- yes, a bit like a dog. She's far from being the kind of heroine that you ALWAYS enjoy cheering for, because, this being her story, she makes a LOT of mistakes. Sometimes you wanna strangle her. But it's hard to be mad at Nana for the whole Shouji thing.
For one, the fault lies with Sachiko, because as she said, she knew full-well that Shouji had a girlfriend, and yet "she couldn't help" but like him. Bullshit. The best way to wean yourself off liking a guy is to throw yourself into something else. Even if you work with the guy, if you put distance between him and yourself in your mind, he will stop being so prominent. Sachiko should have done that, but not only did she not even bother, she did things ON PURPOSE in the hopes that somehow, some way, she would score with Shouji. She got her wish (through tears and manipulation, even if it was unintentional), but then she met Nana, and realized that she was doing a VERY kind girl a great disservice. She should have stuck to her guns, but both Nanas ended up seeing Shouji (ass that he is) trying to stop her from leaving, and what with Shouji's so-called "confession" ("She's my girlfriend."), it sort of sealed the deal.
I do say the majority of the fault lies with Shouji, because while at first he did the right thing by encouraging Nana to seek her own ambitions and come to Tokyo when SHE was ready, making her think that they were really in a relationship for the entire YEAR that they were apart is a bit of a stretch. I don't know, maybe some people can do long-distance relationships, but I don't think Shouji and Nana really had one. I find it very strange that Shouji DIDN'T hook up with any other girls during that period... then again, if he had, maybe Junko and Kyosuke would have given him an earful. In any case, he and Nana hooked up for the wrong reasons, anyway. It also started with lust, as did Nana's relationship with Asano (and later, Takumi, but we'll get to him), and that, to me, is always an indicator of a break. I find him more at fault for not trying harder with Nana, despite all his talk of ending up with her in the grave, and resisting Sachiko's "girlish charm," especially after both Kyosuke and Junko confronted him over it.
But... Nana is at fault too, because she's so needy and selfish. She doesn't realize she's being selfish, and never tries to make time for Shouji in her schedule. I think part of it was that unlike Shouji, she'd never really been on her own, and she was doing her damndest to impress Nana O., whom she admired, and perhaps even started to love. And she didn't realize that flirting with other guys means that she wasn't caring as much as you should about her so-called boyfriend. Both Nana O. and Junko pointed this out to her, but Nana didn't listen.
Next up, Nana x Takumi. Some people are actually rooting for these two, citing various things that have happened in the manga thus far. I don't know about the anime, but I haven't seen past episode 29. I've heard that up to episode 36's been released, but I don't know why that would be the case; no fansub group is THAT slow with such a popular series.
In any case, I know that they hook up after the Trapnest live back in Nana's hometown. At the time when Takumi surprised Nana by calling her (and actually going to the effort of getting her number from Ren... not to knock on Ren, but he knows Takumi pretty well, and when Takumi asked Ren for Hachiko-Nana's number, he should have been suspicious, and at least told Nana O. about Takumi asking. Then Nana O. might have made more of an effort to dissuade Nana away from Takumi), Nana was really depressed after losing her job. Like Sakagami, I thought Nana deserved it, because she didn't really want to be there... and who would, as a gopher? The environment wasn't good for her, but she kept getting distracted from finding a better job, or from doing a decent job WHILE she was there. Her demonstrator job seemed good for her, but it's not permanent enough or reliable enough to pay well. (It's almost like Shin's gigs on the side, except he gets a lot more money than Nana --especially from certain someones-- and lust is actually a pretty reliable motivator when it comes to landing money in his line of work)
I don't know what Nana expected from Takumi, especially since she remembered Nana O. saying he was a womanizer... but as many people later realized, she was extremely lonely. Nana O. didn't seem to be paying attention to her, Nana felt inferior compared to other people (a self-esteem issue; you can't blame those other people as if they "made" Nana feel that way), and nothing seemed to be going her way. But what should have been a one-night stand turned into something much more devious and twisted.
Truthfully, I didn't see Nobu's affections for Nana AT ALL until the after-party of Trapnest's final live, I did notice that Takumi didn't even remember Nana's name. That makes me think that he goes through women without much of a care. He claims that it's the reverse-- they're the ones that remember how busy he is, how difficult his job really is, and they pretend not to know him when he DOES finally contact them. But the fact is, unless you walk into a relationship with both parties aware that it's not typical (i.e. not frequent contact, none of the foreplay or pleasantries), that it's all about the sex, they're going to expect more. They expected contact, they expected love, they expected SOMETHING. But Takumi didn't even let them know his phone number. I can't blame those other women for wanting to pretend they'd never had anything to do with Takumi. Nana had no idea what she was getting into when she slept with him, and had no idea she would eventually wish the same thing all those other women did. She was extremely lonely, and Takumi was willing to give her the sort of attention she needed-- that feeling that someone WANTED her. What Nana didn't understand was that it was just like Asano (and Shouji, to a degree), where it was about need... of the sexual kind. Unlike Ren and Nana O's inexplicable "need," Nana and Takumi's "love" was all sex-based. She started thinking of him as her boyfriend, but he wasn't anything of the sort. He just left her his phone number (which surprised me), but other than that, nothing. By leaving "the ball in her court," he was expecting her to keep wishing and hoping and longing for him, without any intention of GIVING BACK to Nana, which she not only needed as a person, but as a woman.
Personally, I think Nana did the right thing by breaking it off with Takumi. She knew full well that by seeing him in person, she would just end up lusting after him again. After all, she saw Takumi as a celebrity, as above and beyond her reach-- and she was doing something dangerous, secretive, and tantalizing every time she was with Takumi. She probably expected someone to rip him out of her arms, and she'd be hurt and eventually move on, in the hopes of finding someone really better, really meant for her. She didn't want people to find out about Takumi, which indicates she didn't feel the same kind of "love" for him that she had for Asano and Shouji. If anything, Nana's relationship with Asano was the closest you could get to her fling with Takumi-- she knew it was wrong, and she knew it would never lead anywhere, but that didn't stop her from doing it, because hope (even a slim one) can be a pretty powerful motivator. The problem was that Takumi was surprisingly MORE accessible than Asano.
Takumi's an idiot for not realizing Nana was breaking up with him over the phone. He's probably had plenty of women yell at him, but I don't think they necessarily broke it off with him, especially the younger ones (though episode 29 had be wondering if Takumi and Nana O. ever had anything going on; I don't know why Nana O. would want revenge on Takumi if not for Takumi hurting Nana). It's good that Nana blocked unidentified callers though, but bad that Ren even suggested that Takumi consider thinking about starting a family with Nana, if he's so afraid that it might happen (if he's so "delicate"). Ah, damn foreshadowing.
Nobu and Nana seems perfect and sweet. So of course it's not going to work out, but not because something happens between them, or because either one of them falls out of love with each other, or in love with someone else.
Nope, it's pregnancy. Nana finds out she's pregnant, but even though she's slept with Takumi only ONCE more than she did with Nobu (the first night, the night after the Blast live, and the night he just randomly appeared, when she was walking with Nobu), she thinks the father must be Takumi. Maybe she actually calculated out the timing or something? I don't think that's even possible very early on, but who knows. And supposedly she tells Takumi, he proposes to her (probably out of necessity, and wanting to avoid scandal within Trapnest), she accepts. Not because she loves Takumi, but because she knows:
(1) Nobu is on the fast track to becoming an incredible songwriter and guitarist-- if Blast debuts with a major label, he can't have something lie fatherhood "holding him back." (I can actually relate to this, because I had similar thoughts about Scott.)
(2) Nobu could never support her as things are (despite being the heir to a ryokan; he wants to make it big as a musician, not as an inn-owner), even if Blast made it big quickly. (Partly because in order for Blast to make it big, he couldn't be with her all the time, and she couldn't stand the loneliness) Again, I can agree with this... if only because for the first time, Nana is showing her true selfLESSness-- she realizes that being pregnant isn't all about her, and that there is now a new life to be concerned about. She can hardly take care of herself, so when faced with the prospect of being pregnant and alone most of the time, or pregnant and well-cared for, she chooses well-cared for, even if there's no love (or trust) with Takumi.
(3) For a time, she DID genuinely care for Takumi. It was for the wrong reasons, and she did a damn good job of not reminding herself of him once she HAD broken it off and found happiness with Nobu, but with circumstances as they were, it's probably a good excuse for her to accept Takumi's proposal-- "if I cared for him once, maybe somehow I can care for him again. Maybe this child will be the thing that brings us together." She wants that fairy-tale kind of love, but she can't get it in ANY reality, and that's a tough fact to swallow.
Now, for the people that want to see a softer side to Takumi... yeah, maybe there is one, but we haven't really seen ANY redeeming qualities to him yet. Why should we believe that he hates losing control, and that "since Nana" he hasn't been with a bunch of other women? Why should we ever believe anything he says to ANYONE? Takumi LIKES being in control, and that might also mean being manipulative so it suits or benefits him. And then he pulls the pity act and says he has bad luck with women-- we'll it's because he's an ass, and no woman in her right mind would stay committed to him! I hope Nana doesn't either, frankly. It's already fact that Takumi does horrible things to her and cheats on her, so I wouldn't blame Nana for cheating on him (with Nobu, of course). Though, that would probably make them both sad, because Nana chastised Asano for cheating on his wife, and she knows -after what happened with Shouji and Sachiko-- that being cheated ON is not very fun. But then, Takumi's doing it all the time without a care for her feelings, and Nana's probably well-aware that Takumi has no real "love" for her, and even if some supposedly developed due to their child (again, assuming it's even really his), it wouldn't be the kind of love she'd want or need.
But I don't think Nobu would like it, either. But if he really, truly stuck to his guns and was committed to making Nana happy, then he would stick with Blast, make it big, BECOME A BETTER PERSON THAN TAKUMI EVER COULD BE, and sweep Nana and her child away. If you can't tell by now, I'm a Nobu x Hachi 'shipper all the way. I honestly think that they would be good for each other, and that with him, Nana's making some pretty big realizations about herself, and how she should change FOR HERSELF. She sees in Nobu all the places where she went wrong with her previous relationships, and why she doesn't want to do all those things again.
Well, since Hachi-Nana is the main character, I focused mainly on her, but there are plenty of other entanglements to enjoy in NANA:
* Nana O. x Yasu - There's totally something going on there, even if it's one-sided.
* Yasu x Reira - Yasu explained that it may have started for the wrong reasons (he wanted to one-up Takumi, the same way Nobu did for Hachi-Nana), but it did last for 2 years. His feelings about music and such changed in 2 years though, and he's matured a lot.
* Nana O. x Ren - If it's not the crux of the story, it's certainly important. In the movie, their relationship seemed to outweigh any of Hachi-Nana's relationship issues. But with both of them being important members of separate bands (perhaps even "rival" bands), I can see where tension would arise. Supposedly Nana goes missing in later issues of the manga, and I'd probably be inclined to agree with those that if she did, it would be because something happened with both Hachi-Nana (i.e. she had to move out to be with Takumi) *AND* Ren. But Ren seems like a pretty intelligent, controlled guy-- I honestly don't think he would cheat on Nana. So perhaps it has something to do with Yasu *AND* Ren? (In Ch. 58 of the manga, which I downloaded randomly and on a whim, Ren confronts Nana about all the things that have not gone "her" way that would supposedly satisfy her-- i.e. Hachi aborting her baby, Yasu staying single and always being by Nana's side, and Ren quitting Trapnest to stay with her. When he leaves the house that day, Nana thinks "it's the end," even though Ren asks her to buy Jump for him. It's also very clear that Ren wants a family, but Nana does not-- for whatever reason (maybe moreso after seeing what happened with Takumi and Hachi). In a possible flash-forward, we see a disguised Nana singing at a pub in the UK somewhere. You can just barely make out the Ren tattoo, and the engagement ring she's wearing (from Ren?), but the detective or whoever that was looking for her pretended he hadn't found her, and left her alone.)
* Shin x Reira - Shin seems to have become pretty damn jaded when it comes to love, but you can see that he finds Reira more important than the other girls he's whored himself out for. And Reira seems to have become pretty taken with the "pretty little boy" that Shin is. Maybe she realizes there's something inherently wrong with their relationship, and breaks it off before she gets in too deep, and expects more out of Shin than she knows he could ever give.
For starters, there was the whole Sachiko x Shouji x Nana triangle. Nana (Hachiko) created "virtual Sachiko" out of her own fears, but I couldn't really blame her for that. I think it's probably normal for girls to fear that when their guy isn't spending time with them (either because he can't, or just because he mysteriously "isn't" anymore) to think that he might meet another girl who is cuter, nicer, better in bed, whatever. A lot of people fear being "replaced" or being left alone. Nana's definitely one of them. She really needs attention-- yes, a bit like a dog. She's far from being the kind of heroine that you ALWAYS enjoy cheering for, because, this being her story, she makes a LOT of mistakes. Sometimes you wanna strangle her. But it's hard to be mad at Nana for the whole Shouji thing.
For one, the fault lies with Sachiko, because as she said, she knew full-well that Shouji had a girlfriend, and yet "she couldn't help" but like him. Bullshit. The best way to wean yourself off liking a guy is to throw yourself into something else. Even if you work with the guy, if you put distance between him and yourself in your mind, he will stop being so prominent. Sachiko should have done that, but not only did she not even bother, she did things ON PURPOSE in the hopes that somehow, some way, she would score with Shouji. She got her wish (through tears and manipulation, even if it was unintentional), but then she met Nana, and realized that she was doing a VERY kind girl a great disservice. She should have stuck to her guns, but both Nanas ended up seeing Shouji (ass that he is) trying to stop her from leaving, and what with Shouji's so-called "confession" ("She's my girlfriend."), it sort of sealed the deal.
I do say the majority of the fault lies with Shouji, because while at first he did the right thing by encouraging Nana to seek her own ambitions and come to Tokyo when SHE was ready, making her think that they were really in a relationship for the entire YEAR that they were apart is a bit of a stretch. I don't know, maybe some people can do long-distance relationships, but I don't think Shouji and Nana really had one. I find it very strange that Shouji DIDN'T hook up with any other girls during that period... then again, if he had, maybe Junko and Kyosuke would have given him an earful. In any case, he and Nana hooked up for the wrong reasons, anyway. It also started with lust, as did Nana's relationship with Asano (and later, Takumi, but we'll get to him), and that, to me, is always an indicator of a break. I find him more at fault for not trying harder with Nana, despite all his talk of ending up with her in the grave, and resisting Sachiko's "girlish charm," especially after both Kyosuke and Junko confronted him over it.
But... Nana is at fault too, because she's so needy and selfish. She doesn't realize she's being selfish, and never tries to make time for Shouji in her schedule. I think part of it was that unlike Shouji, she'd never really been on her own, and she was doing her damndest to impress Nana O., whom she admired, and perhaps even started to love. And she didn't realize that flirting with other guys means that she wasn't caring as much as you should about her so-called boyfriend. Both Nana O. and Junko pointed this out to her, but Nana didn't listen.
Next up, Nana x Takumi. Some people are actually rooting for these two, citing various things that have happened in the manga thus far. I don't know about the anime, but I haven't seen past episode 29. I've heard that up to episode 36's been released, but I don't know why that would be the case; no fansub group is THAT slow with such a popular series.
In any case, I know that they hook up after the Trapnest live back in Nana's hometown. At the time when Takumi surprised Nana by calling her (and actually going to the effort of getting her number from Ren... not to knock on Ren, but he knows Takumi pretty well, and when Takumi asked Ren for Hachiko-Nana's number, he should have been suspicious, and at least told Nana O. about Takumi asking. Then Nana O. might have made more of an effort to dissuade Nana away from Takumi), Nana was really depressed after losing her job. Like Sakagami, I thought Nana deserved it, because she didn't really want to be there... and who would, as a gopher? The environment wasn't good for her, but she kept getting distracted from finding a better job, or from doing a decent job WHILE she was there. Her demonstrator job seemed good for her, but it's not permanent enough or reliable enough to pay well. (It's almost like Shin's gigs on the side, except he gets a lot more money than Nana --especially from certain someones-- and lust is actually a pretty reliable motivator when it comes to landing money in his line of work)
I don't know what Nana expected from Takumi, especially since she remembered Nana O. saying he was a womanizer... but as many people later realized, she was extremely lonely. Nana O. didn't seem to be paying attention to her, Nana felt inferior compared to other people (a self-esteem issue; you can't blame those other people as if they "made" Nana feel that way), and nothing seemed to be going her way. But what should have been a one-night stand turned into something much more devious and twisted.
Truthfully, I didn't see Nobu's affections for Nana AT ALL until the after-party of Trapnest's final live, I did notice that Takumi didn't even remember Nana's name. That makes me think that he goes through women without much of a care. He claims that it's the reverse-- they're the ones that remember how busy he is, how difficult his job really is, and they pretend not to know him when he DOES finally contact them. But the fact is, unless you walk into a relationship with both parties aware that it's not typical (i.e. not frequent contact, none of the foreplay or pleasantries), that it's all about the sex, they're going to expect more. They expected contact, they expected love, they expected SOMETHING. But Takumi didn't even let them know his phone number. I can't blame those other women for wanting to pretend they'd never had anything to do with Takumi. Nana had no idea what she was getting into when she slept with him, and had no idea she would eventually wish the same thing all those other women did. She was extremely lonely, and Takumi was willing to give her the sort of attention she needed-- that feeling that someone WANTED her. What Nana didn't understand was that it was just like Asano (and Shouji, to a degree), where it was about need... of the sexual kind. Unlike Ren and Nana O's inexplicable "need," Nana and Takumi's "love" was all sex-based. She started thinking of him as her boyfriend, but he wasn't anything of the sort. He just left her his phone number (which surprised me), but other than that, nothing. By leaving "the ball in her court," he was expecting her to keep wishing and hoping and longing for him, without any intention of GIVING BACK to Nana, which she not only needed as a person, but as a woman.
Personally, I think Nana did the right thing by breaking it off with Takumi. She knew full well that by seeing him in person, she would just end up lusting after him again. After all, she saw Takumi as a celebrity, as above and beyond her reach-- and she was doing something dangerous, secretive, and tantalizing every time she was with Takumi. She probably expected someone to rip him out of her arms, and she'd be hurt and eventually move on, in the hopes of finding someone really better, really meant for her. She didn't want people to find out about Takumi, which indicates she didn't feel the same kind of "love" for him that she had for Asano and Shouji. If anything, Nana's relationship with Asano was the closest you could get to her fling with Takumi-- she knew it was wrong, and she knew it would never lead anywhere, but that didn't stop her from doing it, because hope (even a slim one) can be a pretty powerful motivator. The problem was that Takumi was surprisingly MORE accessible than Asano.
Takumi's an idiot for not realizing Nana was breaking up with him over the phone. He's probably had plenty of women yell at him, but I don't think they necessarily broke it off with him, especially the younger ones (though episode 29 had be wondering if Takumi and Nana O. ever had anything going on; I don't know why Nana O. would want revenge on Takumi if not for Takumi hurting Nana). It's good that Nana blocked unidentified callers though, but bad that Ren even suggested that Takumi consider thinking about starting a family with Nana, if he's so afraid that it might happen (if he's so "delicate"). Ah, damn foreshadowing.
Nobu and Nana seems perfect and sweet. So of course it's not going to work out, but not because something happens between them, or because either one of them falls out of love with each other, or in love with someone else.
Nope, it's pregnancy. Nana finds out she's pregnant, but even though she's slept with Takumi only ONCE more than she did with Nobu (the first night, the night after the Blast live, and the night he just randomly appeared, when she was walking with Nobu), she thinks the father must be Takumi. Maybe she actually calculated out the timing or something? I don't think that's even possible very early on, but who knows. And supposedly she tells Takumi, he proposes to her (probably out of necessity, and wanting to avoid scandal within Trapnest), she accepts. Not because she loves Takumi, but because she knows:
(1) Nobu is on the fast track to becoming an incredible songwriter and guitarist-- if Blast debuts with a major label, he can't have something lie fatherhood "holding him back." (I can actually relate to this, because I had similar thoughts about Scott.)
(2) Nobu could never support her as things are (despite being the heir to a ryokan; he wants to make it big as a musician, not as an inn-owner), even if Blast made it big quickly. (Partly because in order for Blast to make it big, he couldn't be with her all the time, and she couldn't stand the loneliness) Again, I can agree with this... if only because for the first time, Nana is showing her true selfLESSness-- she realizes that being pregnant isn't all about her, and that there is now a new life to be concerned about. She can hardly take care of herself, so when faced with the prospect of being pregnant and alone most of the time, or pregnant and well-cared for, she chooses well-cared for, even if there's no love (or trust) with Takumi.
(3) For a time, she DID genuinely care for Takumi. It was for the wrong reasons, and she did a damn good job of not reminding herself of him once she HAD broken it off and found happiness with Nobu, but with circumstances as they were, it's probably a good excuse for her to accept Takumi's proposal-- "if I cared for him once, maybe somehow I can care for him again. Maybe this child will be the thing that brings us together." She wants that fairy-tale kind of love, but she can't get it in ANY reality, and that's a tough fact to swallow.
Now, for the people that want to see a softer side to Takumi... yeah, maybe there is one, but we haven't really seen ANY redeeming qualities to him yet. Why should we believe that he hates losing control, and that "since Nana" he hasn't been with a bunch of other women? Why should we ever believe anything he says to ANYONE? Takumi LIKES being in control, and that might also mean being manipulative so it suits or benefits him. And then he pulls the pity act and says he has bad luck with women-- we'll it's because he's an ass, and no woman in her right mind would stay committed to him! I hope Nana doesn't either, frankly. It's already fact that Takumi does horrible things to her and cheats on her, so I wouldn't blame Nana for cheating on him (with Nobu, of course). Though, that would probably make them both sad, because Nana chastised Asano for cheating on his wife, and she knows -after what happened with Shouji and Sachiko-- that being cheated ON is not very fun. But then, Takumi's doing it all the time without a care for her feelings, and Nana's probably well-aware that Takumi has no real "love" for her, and even if some supposedly developed due to their child (again, assuming it's even really his), it wouldn't be the kind of love she'd want or need.
But I don't think Nobu would like it, either. But if he really, truly stuck to his guns and was committed to making Nana happy, then he would stick with Blast, make it big, BECOME A BETTER PERSON THAN TAKUMI EVER COULD BE, and sweep Nana and her child away. If you can't tell by now, I'm a Nobu x Hachi 'shipper all the way. I honestly think that they would be good for each other, and that with him, Nana's making some pretty big realizations about herself, and how she should change FOR HERSELF. She sees in Nobu all the places where she went wrong with her previous relationships, and why she doesn't want to do all those things again.
Well, since Hachi-Nana is the main character, I focused mainly on her, but there are plenty of other entanglements to enjoy in NANA:
* Nana O. x Yasu - There's totally something going on there, even if it's one-sided.
* Yasu x Reira - Yasu explained that it may have started for the wrong reasons (he wanted to one-up Takumi, the same way Nobu did for Hachi-Nana), but it did last for 2 years. His feelings about music and such changed in 2 years though, and he's matured a lot.
* Nana O. x Ren - If it's not the crux of the story, it's certainly important. In the movie, their relationship seemed to outweigh any of Hachi-Nana's relationship issues. But with both of them being important members of separate bands (perhaps even "rival" bands), I can see where tension would arise. Supposedly Nana goes missing in later issues of the manga, and I'd probably be inclined to agree with those that if she did, it would be because something happened with both Hachi-Nana (i.e. she had to move out to be with Takumi) *AND* Ren. But Ren seems like a pretty intelligent, controlled guy-- I honestly don't think he would cheat on Nana. So perhaps it has something to do with Yasu *AND* Ren? (In Ch. 58 of the manga, which I downloaded randomly and on a whim, Ren confronts Nana about all the things that have not gone "her" way that would supposedly satisfy her-- i.e. Hachi aborting her baby, Yasu staying single and always being by Nana's side, and Ren quitting Trapnest to stay with her. When he leaves the house that day, Nana thinks "it's the end," even though Ren asks her to buy Jump for him. It's also very clear that Ren wants a family, but Nana does not-- for whatever reason (maybe moreso after seeing what happened with Takumi and Hachi). In a possible flash-forward, we see a disguised Nana singing at a pub in the UK somewhere. You can just barely make out the Ren tattoo, and the engagement ring she's wearing (from Ren?), but the detective or whoever that was looking for her pretended he hadn't found her, and left her alone.)
* Shin x Reira - Shin seems to have become pretty damn jaded when it comes to love, but you can see that he finds Reira more important than the other girls he's whored himself out for. And Reira seems to have become pretty taken with the "pretty little boy" that Shin is. Maybe she realizes there's something inherently wrong with their relationship, and breaks it off before she gets in too deep, and expects more out of Shin than she knows he could ever give.
