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Nana Osaki (大崎 ナナŌsaki Nana) is one of the titular characters in the NANA series. She is the lead vocalist of the initially underground punk band, the Black Stones, who moved to Tokyo in order to pursue her dreams about becoming a famous singer.

Physical appearance[]

Nana Osaki is a slender young woman with chin-length black hair that hangs on either side, dark brown eyes (green eyes in the PS2 game) and a pink/red lotus flower tattoo (she argues with Nana Komatsu. that it's a ren flower) on her upper left arm. Her nails are long and shapely, usually painted dark red; in the past she painted them black. Osaki paints her toenails red as well. Her typical makeup is red lipstick, black mascara, and purple eyeshadow. Komatsu comments in chapter 1 that when they first met, she noticed Osaki had enviably long lashes and she has five piercings in her left ear, three in her right. She also has a bellybutton piercing.

Numerous characters have stated Osaki as beautiful, including Kyosuke Takakura. Nobuo Terashima even admits he initially fell for Osaki until they became friends.

Personality and traits[]

Nana may look like a tough Goth-punk rocker, but she has a kind heart and is a devoted friend. Abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandmother, Nana was expelled from high school after she was falsely accused of prostitution. Despite these hardships, Nana "polishes the shards of her dreams" and is determined to be successful as the lead vocalist of Blast. She is now engaged to Ren Honjo (Nana's first love), although she also has lingering, ambiguous feelings for Yasushi Takagi. Despite insisting that she wants to be independent - even being compared to "a stray cat, full of pride" by Nana Komatsu - Nana often turns to Yasu for help.

Nana's favorite things never change. Her favorite designer is Vivienne Westwood, and her favorite band is the Sex Pistols. She smokes Seven Stars and drinks Asahi Super Dry beer. She likes coffee with milk and strawberry cake. Nana K. notes Nana O.'s favorite things never changed. Her favorite flower is the ren (lotus). She also has the ability to cook, but prepares all her food with too much salt, which only Ren seems to enjoy. Nana has a sarcastic attitude and a blunt sense of humor; she jokingly calls herself a sadist.

Nana is also cautious and wise about sex as she never thinks of having sex with Ren unless she's on birth control.

Biography[]

Nana was born in Meguro City, Tokyo. She is the illegitimate daughter of Misuzu Osaki (later Uehara), who left Nana in the care of her grandmother when she was four years old. Nana has not seen her mother since, and has thus forgotten what she looks like. Miyuki Osaki (Nana's grandmother), was very strict as she forbade Nana from wearing pink and red clothing because she did not want Nana to "tempt" men and become like her mother.

Nana has a rebellious streak. In high school, she is friendless and intimidating, rarely speaking to other students. This changes when she met Nobuo Terashima, who lent her his CDs and introduced her to punk bands like The Sex Pistols. Nobu breaks through her icy exterior and learns that Nana is actually a caring person.

When falsely accused of prostitution and expelled, Nana doesn't fight the charges. She later regrets her decision, stating that the incident may have led to her grandmother's fatal illness. However, as a gift to herself, Nana buys herself a red dress. Nana wears the red dress to a punk concert with Nobu, where she first lays eyes on Ren Honjo. Nana is instantly captivated by Ren, and accepts his offer to join the band he's starting with Nobu and their friend named Yasushi Takagi. (Nobu later remarks that he introduced them because Ren seemed like the only one who could relate to her, but that Nana saved Ren just as much as he saved Nana.)

As the lead singer of the band Black Stones (BLAST), Nana gains a rabid following of fans in her hometown. She projected a "cool" image, sporting her Vivienne Westwood silver armor ring and a lotus tattoo on her arm. She also moved in with Ren, and the two shared an intense relationship until Ren revealed he had been offered a huge deal to play guitar for Trapnest in Tokyo. Although Ren and Nana still loved each other, they agreed that a long distance relationship was pointless. Nana proudly refused to abandon her own musical career to follow Ren. (Yasu reveals that Ren continued paying for the apartment he shared with Nana, despite Nana claiming she had insisted on paying it herself.)

Determined to "polish the shards of her dreams" and become a singer, Nana later moved to Tokyo and re-formed BLAST with Nobu, Yasu, and their new bassist, Shinichi Okazaki. She also befriended a sweet but scatterbrained young woman named Nana Komatsu who moves to Tokyo with big dreams (just like Nana O.). After a fateful encounter on a delayed train to Tokyo, the two Nanas reunite at an open house for an apartment overlooking a river. Eager to save on rent, the two agree to share the apartment (707 - "Nana" being Japanese for seven) and grow close despite their differing personalities. To avoid confusion, Nana gives Nana K. the nickname "Hachi" (which mean "eight"), which was adopted by their mutual friends. Nana becomes fiercely protective of Hachi, going so far as to physically threaten Hachi's philandering boyfriend, Shoji. However, Nana is possessive of Hachi, and feels jealous when anyone appears to be taking "her" Hachi away. At one point, Nana tells Nobu that she wants to be successful so she can "give Hachiko free run of [her] kingdom," asking Nobu to keep Hachi by his side so she'll never leave.

Hachi helps reunite Nana with Ren by inviting Nana to a Trapnest concert back in her hometown. At first Nana turns down the invite, but eventually she gives in. For the first time in two years, Nana sees Ren in person. Ren sees Nana and, though he didn't visibly react, he is so nervous that he flubs a few chords during the show. Unable to resist Ren, Nana sneaks into his hotel and rekindles their romance later that night. Nana thanks Hachi by introducing her to Trapnest's bassist, Takumi, whom Hachi idolizes. Yet Takumi's blunt personality and womanizing ways instill doubts in Nana's mind. She is surprised - perhaps even remorseful - when they started seeing each other more often.

It soon becomes apparent that during the two years they were separated, Ren and Nana grew apart. When they used to live together, Ren and Nana often shared secrets and discussed their dreams; now, Nana doesn't confide as much in Ren. Whenever she faces a problem, she instead turns to Yasu, who rushes to help - he even co-signed her lease. Yasu has remained an unending source of strength and a pillar of support for her over the years, whereas Ren (like the mother who abandoned her) left her behind to pursue his own dreams. It is hinted that Nana may have never forgiven Ren for leaving.

BLAST scores a record deal at Gaia Records and is quickly thrust into the spotlight. Nana has trouble coping with the paparazzi, especially when tabloids run stories about Ren's possible affairs and probe into the life of her long-absent mother. Although Ren convinces Nana to move in, their relationship is volatile and Nana wonders if it will last; she never gives up her room at apartment 707, and sometimes goes back to take a break from Ren. Nana feels Hachi slippijng away when she has moves in with her now-husband, Takumi, who is extremely controlling. When the two Nanas finally reconnect at Reira's birthday, Nana compares Hachi marrying Takumi to becoming "the wife of an underworld leader." Nana sees Trapnest as the enemy who takes everything away from her - Ren abandoned her for Trapnest, and she feels Hachi always chooses Takumi over her.

Later in the series, it's revealed that Nana's mother is alive when her whereabouts are exposed by Search magazine, which previously exposed Ren and Nana's relationship to the public. We learn that Nana's mother actually maintained a fairly normal life and had another child named Misato Uehara. The Misato that BLAST knew was really a Mai Tsuzuki, who used Misato's name to feel like Nana's real little sister. Mai was the granddaughter of a man who was a lover of Nana's grandmother, and subsequently reading her grandfather's diary became a fan of BLAST and Nana. The real Misato bears an incredible likeness to Nana; when she finds out that her mother abandoned Nana, she is shocked and runs away.

When Shin is arrested with Ryouko, who was in possession of marijuana, BLAST is forced to cancel their first tour. Nana asks Ren to play in Shin's place, but because of his cocaine addiction and Nana's disloyalty to Shin, he refuses and Nana feels betrayed. When pressed by Reira, Ren admits that he also refused because he is "sick of catering to her," hinting that Nana's possessiveness is smothering him. With Shin's arrest leaving BLAST on hiatus, Gaia offers Nana her own solo deal. Nana is distraught about betraying BLAST's other members by going solo, but Yasu encourages her to pursue her dreams. Later, Ren goes to retrieve Reira to try and reunite Trapnest before meeting Nana for her birthday. After being tailed by the paparazzi and, assuming he was coming down and suffering from stress-induced hallucinations, he mistakes a black cat for Nana and crashes head-on into a building.

On March 5 2002 - Nana's 21st birthday - Nana is holding interviews in Osaka to prepare for the release of her first single when Yasu arrives. Breaking down, he tells Nana that Ren has died. Nana does not react at first, claiming that she has work in the morning, until Yasu tells her that this is her "last chance to say goodbye to Ren." She flashes back to the day when Ren left her for Tokyo and realizes she will never see him again, and breaks down sobbing. Nana returns to their hometown for Ren's funeral, near catatonic and unable to stand; Yasu carries her into the funeral home. After the procession, Ren's manager brings Nana a birthday present from Ren. Nana says nothing and lays down on the couch. The present remains unopened.

In chapter 81, Nana is still grappling with the aftermath of Ren's death and her panic attacks grow worse. Hachi rushes to help Nana by giving her mouth to mouth, swearing that she will protect Nana in Ren's absence. In chapter 82, other characters are seen kneeling at Ren's altar and speaking to his picture, but Nana can't bring herself to 'talk' to Ren. In the last chapter, we see that Nana has started wearing Ren's engagement ring again.

However her panic disorder continued to worsen overtime and Nana has cut contact with everyone and has fled to England, with Nana K. and the others searching for her. She continues to sing as a solo now and has grown out her hair and dyed it blond. She still wears Ren’s engagement ring.

Relationships[]

Ren Honjo[]

At an unknown point, Nana fell in love with the basist of her band, Black Stones, Ren Honjo. The two are unwaveringly loyal to one another, and are deep into their relationship, even to the point that they've discussed the possibility of having kids, even though Nana still uses birth control.

Behind the scenes[]

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Boys Over Flowers Wiki has 134 images related to Nana Osaki.

Appearances[]

Manga

Other

Anime

Trivia[]

  • The name Nana means "seven" (七).
  • Nana's surname Osaki means "big" (大) (o) and "cape, peninsula" (崎) (saki).
    • It can also mean "cherry blossom" (桜) or "thread" (緒) (o) and "blossom" (咲) (saki).
  • Nana is 162 cm (5'3") and 43 kg (94.8 lbs).
  • Nana is considered one of the most famous and influential female characters in shoujo. In particular, it is quite common to see characters inspired by Nana Osaki in manga or LN written by female authors. Or even games, for example, her appearance was inspired by the creators of the character Ulrich von Hutten in the mobile game Azur Lane. One of the characters in Golden Time is so similar to her in personality and appearance that fans often joke that Nana had a cameo in this show.

References[]

  1. Nana Mobile Book
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