Nana 2 is the sequel to the Japanese movie Nana, an adaptation of the manga by Ai Yazawa, directed by Kentarô Ôtani. Production for the movie began in mid-September and only one and a half month shootings finished the movie in time for the December 9, 2006 release.
Plot
Taking place shortly after the end of the
first film,
Nana 2 focuses more on Komatsu Nana (Hachi/
Hachiko) and her love life. Romance develops between Hachi and TRAPNEST's bassist Takumi as well as with the Black Stones' guitarist Nobu. Meanwhile, Nana works hard for her band while trying to find happiness. Both girls struggle through life, and try to keep their friendship from falling apart. More information on the story at
Nana.
Main cast
Nana Komatsu (小松奈々 Komatsu Nana): Yui Ichikawa
Nana Osaki (大崎ナナ Ōsaki Nana): Mika Nakashima
Ren Honjo (本城蓮 Honjō Ren): Nobuo Kyō
Takumi Ichinose (一ノ瀬巧 Ichinose Takumi): Tetsuji Tamayama
Shinichi Okazaki (岡崎真一 Okazaki Shin'ichi) a.k.a. Shin: Kanata Hongo
Nobuo Terashima (寺島伸夫 Terashima Nobuo)): Hiroki Narimiya
Reira Serizawa (芹澤レイラ Serizawa Reira): Yuna Ito
Casting issues
There were several casting issues in the production of
Nana 2.
Aoi Miyazaki had declined to reprise the role of Komatsu Nana. She was replaced with actress
Yui Ichikawa.
Ryuhei Matsuda had declined to play the role of Ren and was replaced with
Nobuo Kyō. Also,
Ken'ichi Matsuyama, who portrayed Shinichi Okazaki, had been replaced by
Hongo Kanata.
Theatrical release
Even though both theme songs were released ahead (
Hitoiro of NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA on November 29, 2006 and
Truth of REIRA starring YUNA ITO on December 6, 2006), the movie could only hit the #4 spot on the Movie Charts, from its release December 9, 2006 onward, and overall had very weak and low ratings. Many fans claimed that the exchange of main cast members led to the disappointing statistics.
On December 18, NANA2 made its international debut in New York, USA. New York - Tokyo brought the main actresses Mika Nakashima and Yui Ichikawa to the limited seated IFC Cinema. The movie was well received by fans.
Theme songs
Nana 2 once again featured the two artists
Mika Nakashima and
Yuna Ito, releasing songs under the names Nana starring Mika Nakashima and Reira starring Yuna Ito, respectively.
Nana, starring Mika Nakashima's new single "Hitoiro" featured Takuro of Glay as composer and Nana author Yazawa Ai as the lyricist again. It did not do as well as its predecessor "Glamorous Sky," peaking at only #5 on the Oricon charts. Two weeks after the release of the single, however, Nana starring Mika Nakashima released her first and last album, The End, which managed to rank at #2 on the Oricon charts.
Reira, starring Yuna Ito's "Truth" had no more luck than Nakashima's new single, ranking in only at the tenth place on the Oricon charts. The music video of the single was filmed in Scotland and used as scenes of the film. Neither of the singles were as record-setting as their predecessors.
External links
Official Web site (Japanese)
NANA fan site (English)
Dreamy&Hopeful; Life in Tokyo: NANA 2 (Italian)
Category:2006 films
Category:Shōjo manga
Category:Viz Media manga
Category:Japanese films
Category:2000s romantic comedy films
Category:Japanese-language films
Category:Films based on manga
Category:Films set in Japan
