This article is about the wife of Takumi Ichinose. For other uses, see Nana (disambiguation). |
- "Surrounded by mountains my home town is neither big nor little. It isn't a big city or a tiny village way out in the country. There was nothing that really sold the town for tourism. I was the middle of three daughters. Left to my own devices by parents who were neither rich nor poor I grew up quickly. I was just about to graduate from an average, local all-girl high school."
- —Nana's description about her upbringing[src]
Nana Ichinose (
Biography[]
Early life[]
Nana K. was born the middle child of Goro Komatsu and Natsuko Komatsu on November 30, 1980 in a small town in Japan. She begun attending an all girl school in April 1996. There she met her best friend, Junko Saotome, and her first crush, Mr. Okamoto. They joined the art club together, and Nana K. gained an interest in art.
Nana K. confessed her feelings to her next crush, the video store clerk Nakamura, who coldly rejected her. Nothing came of her next two crushes, Mr. Kawasaki and Yoshida.
During the summer of her third year, Nana K. met Takashi Asano at a movie theater. She had nearly passed out from not eating for a diet, and he helped her stand. She instantly attracted to him and told him where she worked. Two weeks later, he was waiting for her outside her workplace. They began an affair together, which lasted a few months. He ended the relationship after he receives his job transfer to Tokyo. She was devastated by the break-up, having truly believed that they were in love.
Nana K. graduated from high school shortly after in March 1999.
Art school[]
Later life[]
Nana K. came to Tokyo, looking to find her boyfriend. Unlike Nana O, Nana K. came from a large and happy household, though her childish outlook prevented her from living on her own initially. Her chance encounter with Osaki began a friendship which changes Komatsu's life forever. She is introduced to Nana O's band, Black Stones, and their members (initially Nobuo Terashima and Yasushi Takagi). She later even helped "Blast" to find their bassist by drawing a poster to advertise the vacancy and posting it at the Jackson Hole. Much to her surprise, she also discovered that the members of Blast were friends with the members of Trapnest, a popular rock band of which she is a very big fan. After learning of Nana O's breakup with Ren Honjo, Nana O's helped the two to reconnect after realizing that they were still very much in love with each other. Nana O soon begins to call Nana K. "Hachi" - a shortened version of Hachiko because she always tries to be kind and faithful to her friends, like the dog from the Hachikō legend. (Hachi means eight in Japanese, and the kanji for seven can be pronounced as 'nana'. This also clears up confusion between the two Nanas. A running gag in the series is for Nana K to suddenly sprout a pair of dog-like ears and a tail whenever she is very happy.
Nana K.'s first serious relationship was with Shoji Endo, whom she met at the art school through her high school friend Junko. Shoji's acceptance into art university was Nana K.'s reason for moving to Tokyo, since her life before was centered on happiness through love. Shoji and Nana dated until he found her demands tiring and he cheated on her with Sachiko Kawamura, a restaurant co-worker. After the confrontation of his infidelity, he chose to stay with Sachiko because she stood up for him when Nana O, threatened to beat him up for his unfaithfulness to Nana K. Although they have some lingering feelings for each other (as seen from their meeting at Jackson Hole after Nana K,'s engagement with Takumi Ichinose), Nana K. and Shoji are already in serious relationships and promise not to see one another again, since they must move forward from their past.
Through Nana O. connection with Ren from Trapnest, Nana K, was able to meet Takumi Ichinose in person. From their initial sexual encounter, Nana K. began an unstable relationship with Takumi to fill her loneliness. She was fully aware as well that someone like her could never seriously date him, but she was content in knowing that she was one of many lovers. She saw Takumi fairly little, and he did not call or text while he was on tour, but she remained hopeful that they still would maintain a secret relationship. Meanwhile, Nobu, a member of the "Blast", has fallen in love with her, but he is unable to "compete" with Takumi. When Nobu made his feelings known, she decided she wanted to be with him and rather impulsively broke off her relationship with Takumi over the phone. She overcame some selfishness and realized that Nobu is the first man she would like to spoil with love. She and Nobuo are compatible because they have similar pure, innocent personalities and are quite loyal friends. However, she discovered that she was pregnant (revealed in chapters 25 and 26), and although she loves Nobuo, she realizes that Takumi would be in a better position to care for her and her unborn child because she knows that the only way Nobu would be able to care for it would be to give up playing with Blast and return to his family's inn. She doesn't want him to give up his dream, plus she wants Blast to become famous and popular more than anything for Nana O's sake.
Though the paternity of Nana K.'s unborn child seemed uncertain, it can be concluded that it’s Takumi’s since Nobuo was always careful and wore a condom to prevent pregnancy while Takumi did not, which could be linked to his desire to make her his alone. Moreover, when she learned about her pregnancy, Takumi’s words of annoyance on the possibility of her getting pregnant ran through her mind which shows her certainty that the child she’s carrying is his. Despite her anger, she clinged to his calm attitude towards her pregnancy, and she is given strength through his rare kindness at that time. Because of her pregnancy, they got married (initially in name only, for they delayed their wedding because of Nana O.'s engagement to Ren). Throughout the series, Nana K.'s married name has became Nana Ichinose and as the time passes, she realized that she had come to care for Takumi. His compliments on her cooking when they first met encourages her to improve her cooking even more and take cooking classes. She made breakfast for him everyday and drew a funny face on it with ketchup, usually stating her mood to him. They both seem to have a mundane married relationship, with quarrels and making up due to her forgiving nature and his forgetful nonchalant nature. She hopes that she will be able to live happily in the future, although in the future sequences of NANA she lives in Japan while he lives in London, England. Presently, he frequently cheats on her (first with a soap-opera actress and later with Reira). They rarely stay together and Nana K. senses his infidelity, but dismisses it with excuses such as his work. Junko is shown once trying to convince Nana K, to ask for divorce, but Nana K. refuses, stating that there are "many reasons why not to do that".
With the reporters of SEARCH (a paparazzi magazine) snapping photos of Ren and Reira together alone, Takumi decided to do some manipulating by revealing his relationship with Nana K. to SEARCH, who decided to run that news instead and the couple formally married. However, because of Nana K.'s ties with Nana O., a SEARCH paparazzi was able to manipulate Nana K. to find information on Nana O.'s birth mother by showing her pictures of the woman in Osaka and threatening to print the article. Nana K. travels to Osaka to discover the truth for herself, but she is unable to retrieve any information from Nana O.'s birth mother. SEARCH gives Nana K. a choice between releasing the article about Nana O.'s mother or a photo of Shin - an underaged member of the "Blast" - with Ryoko, a Reira lookalike. Nana K. did not know the woman in the photo was not Reira, so she believed they were going to reveal Shin and Reira's relationship to the public. At the end, SEARCH releases the article on Nana O.'s birth mother because Nana K. wanted to protect Shin since she had developed a maternal relationship with him. Takumi sometimes acts as a foster guardian to Shin because of his marriage with Nana K., who insisted that they must take care of Shin because he lacks parental figures in his life.
In future sequences, Nana K. is already a mother to a daughter named Satsuki Ichinose and a son named Ren Ichinose. Satsuki is a six-year-old child and Ren is her brother (since she refers to him as "Onii-chan," meaning older brother in Japanese which can also be used for older twin brother). Satsuki is a name that Ren Honjo had chosen for Nana's baby. If the child ended up being a boy, Nana K. was unsure what to name him, since she desired to name her child after a flower, like Ren (one of the few suitable flower names Nana K. can think of for a boy). However, Ren's death makes it seem likely that her baby was named after Ren in his honor while her second child, a girl this time, got the name as chosen by Ren. Although their family life is undoubtedly unstable and separated (Komatsu and Satsuki in Japan and Takumi and Ren in London), Hachi is still willing to stay married and Satsuki wishes her family to be together. Takumi and Naoki also have a conversation about how it must be difficult on their children to have their family separated, and that Ren (who was staying with Takumi in England) should not stay in a foreign country but go back to Japan. Nobuo also shows concern for Ren's staying with Takumi in England and not attending the fireworks with Satsuki. Nana K. acknowledges that although Satsuki wishes her family (Takumi, her, Hachiko, and Ren) to live together as a whole family, she will be unable to fulfill that wish as she cannot settle with Takumi unless she finds Nana O., who went missing after the scandal and Ren's death, and helps "Blasts" assemble again.
Physical appearance[]
Nana K. is a slender and beautiful young woman who was often described as an innocent-looking person. She has a small face and an arced, bell-shaped brow, along with firm rounded cheekbones, a softly curved jawline descending to a thin neck; her skin tone one could describe it as a milkly apricot or nearly a natural beige. She had smooth collarbone-length, very straight, flat ironed hair that are typically a bronzed peach brown tone, but which comes with a color gradient approximating a pastel rose brown or rather a blush light brown shade; yet a times nearing a rosewood soft brown, based on the gradation of lights. She normally wears her hair on her left side part with a few medium layers and face framing ones, together with curtain bangs hanging over her face, bringing forth a slight wispy shag while still being a razor cut. She usually styles the tips of her hair, lightening and reducing the hair volume on the tips, moreover giving less bulk to the locks especially in the back. She does have doe-like eyes that are a slight bit wide apart, bestowing on her a dewy, dainty visage; her eyes are chestnut brown in the anime whereas cocoa brown in color in the manga. She features a small nasal bridge and nostrils with a tapering, slightly upwardly tilted tip. Furthermore she has a narrow mouth and pulpy, bow-shaped lips. Nana has both of her ears pierced. She is fond of traditionally feminine styles.
Personality and traits[]
Nana K. is a cheerful, naïve, and somewhat childish person. She gradually matured and became less self-centered after going through several difficult life events that changed her future forever. Despite that, she continues to cling to anyone who offers the slightest bit of affection and support. She has extreme attachment issues, very much comparable to a puppy, as many characters have stated out loud. She is codependent and relies on other people for validation. Whenever she is lost, she looks outward rather than inward, showing up on Nana O., Junko and Kyosuke's doorsteps on many late nights, looking for advice.
Nana K.'s happiness is greatly connected with her self expression and freedom. She feels cramped and depressed in a job where she has to conform. Instead, she would rather work in an active job where she gets to wear whatever "hip clothes" she wants. Part of the reason she loves working for the "Blasts" as their publisher admin is because they allow her to be creative. That being said, she typically conforms to societal norms and plays the part of the "traditional woman" in most of her relationships. The one exception is when she was dating Nobu; instead of relying on him, she allowed him to rely on her.
Oftentimes, Nana K. is prone to jumping to conclusions or assuming things about people. This, combined with her hopeless romantic attitude, results in some difficult situations. For example, she assumes her boss is confessing his love to her, when in reality, he is about to lay her off from her job.
Etymology[]
- The name Nana means ''nara'' (奈) (name of a place in Japan). The (々) symbol is a special character used in written Japanese to indicate the repetition of the same kanji character. Nana also means ''seven'' (7) in Japanese.
- Nana's surname Komatsu means ''small'' (小) (ko) and ''pine tree'' (松) (matsu). Ichinose means "one" (一) (ichi) and "swift current, rapids" (瀬) (se).
Behind the scenes[]
Character notes
- Nana is one of the titular characters of Nana, along with Nana Osaki. She debuts in the first prologue chapter.
Portrayals
- Aoi Miyazaki portrays Nana in the first film, Nana (2005). She is replaced by Yui Ichikawa in the sequel.
- In the 2006 anime, Nana is voiced by Kaori.
Appearances[]
Nana (manga) |
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References[]
See also[]
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