Television series

Nana

Name: Nana
Genre: Drama, Anime, Romance
Released: 2006
Cast: KAORI., Romi Park, Tomokazu Seki, Yoshihisa Kawahara, Takako Honda

Other titles called Nana: the 1926 film, the 1985 film, the 2005 film.

Coming-of-age

Two women named Nana—one chasing rock stardom, one chasing love—become roommates in Tokyo and discover how friendship can reshape your dreams. It's tender and funny, with gorgeous character work that feels genuine even in anime form. For anyone who's felt caught between ambition and connection.

TVMaze rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like friendship stories where two very different people irritate and then steady each other, and you enjoy a romance that treats love as messy, expensive and rarely convenient.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting or a tidy resolution; this one lingers on everyday small moments and can feel slow and talky between its bigger emotional swings.

What it asks of you: Forty-seven episodes of roughly twenty-five minutes each, so it is a long commitment, and it asks you to sit with melancholy as readily as with the lighter, funnier beats.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Fruits Basket2019

A soft-hearted ensemble drama about misfits finding family. Like Nana, it balances comedy and real emotional stakes, and builds deep investment in characters who feel like people you know.

But The 2019 remake spans three seasons to tell its full story. If you want something you can finish in a weekend, this isn't it.

Carole & Tuesday2019

Two musicians from different worlds meet on Mars and chase their dream together. It has Nana's heart—the yearning, the friendship, the belief that art matters—with a sci-fi shimmer and gorgeous animation.

But Fifty episodes across two seasons. The pacing meanders sometimes, and the sci-fi setting won't appeal if you wanted something grounded.

Honey and Clover2005

A group of art students navigate love, ambition, and growing up. Warm, funny, and utterly sincere about the ache of wanting things—fame, connection, to matter—without easy answers.

But The tone is deliberately gentle and meandering. If you need plot momentum, this will feel slow.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Nana

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Perfect Blue1998

Both explore what ambition costs you, and both suggest that fame might be a kind of possession rather than an achievement.

A J-pop idol's grasp on reality splinters as fame demands she become someone she isn't. It's the fever dream version of Nana Osaki's ambition—what happens when you chase recognition and lose yourself in the process. Psychologically precise and visually stunning.

But It's a dense, deliberately disorienting psychological thriller. The reality shifts are intentionally confusing; if you need narrative clarity, you'll struggle.

Garden State2004

A directionless young man returns home and meets someone who changes everything. It captures that exact feeling of being at a crossroads with someone who makes the uncertainty feel less lonely.

But It's distinctly mid-2000s indie in its sensibility. The self-consciousness might feel dated if you're not in the mood for it.

Blue Valentine2010

A portrait of how love and dreams collide in an ordinary life. It has Nana's emotional intelligence about what happens when your ambitions don't fit with someone else's, without being sentimental about it.

But It's devastating and stays that way. No redemptive arc, no restoration. If you need hope baked in, this will sit badly.

Paradise Kiss2005

A timid girl gets swept into the world of fashion design and finds confidence and love. Similar premise and era to Nana, with gorgeous visual style and the same indie-drama sensibility.

But The art design is deliberately stylised rather than naturalistic. Some find it beautiful; others find it distracting.

Skip and Loafer2023

A high-achieving girl meets a delinquent boy in Tokyo and they become each other's anchors. Warm, funny, and genuinely about how friendship remakes you—the same engine as Nana.

But It's considerably gentler and more optimistic. If you want darker edges, you won't find them here.

Shoplifters2018

Both argue that family is built through small choices and daily care, not circumstance or grand gesture. Both are about people choosing each other.

A found family of strangers builds something real together through crisis and small kindnesses. It shares Nana's belief that the people you choose matter more than the ones you're born to, with a gentle, observational style that finds grace in ordinary moments.

But It's a quiet, slow film about poverty and crime told with dignity rather than drama. The pacing is deliberate; plot is secondary to mood and feeling.