Manga I love ... Nana

I learned a new word when I looked up the wiki for Nana. As opposed to shojo, "Josei" manga is written for women from their late teens to adults. "LadyComi" is also for adult women but usually contains erotic content (who knew?). The josei nature of Nana may be why it really affected me. At a time when I was reading shojo after shojo after shojo, I found Nana and it was unique and refreshing.  

Nana is written by Ai Yazawa. It follows two different women who share the same name. They meet as they are both moving to Tokyo to pursue their dreams. One wants make it big with her band Black Stones, and the other ... well, I'm not sure. She works in a furniture store and gets dumped by her cheating, long-time boyfriend. I can't say too much more other than your emotions will be all over the place. It was adapted into an anime and even inspired two live-action movies in Japan.

Talk about heart crushing! It's been at least 5 years since I read/watched it, and just thinking about it causes a ball of frustration to form in my stomach. You did this to me Ai Yazawa! I'll admit, I went through a little "phase" when I was reading this manga. I downloaded all the music from the anime (look for the album "Nana Best" which features Japanese artists Olivia and Anna Tsuchiya performing songs inspired by bands from the anime) and even dressed up like an 80's rocker for Halloween. That is one photo I refuse to share. But I came out of it okay. I'm totally normal now. :) Totally.

From Youtube, Nana opening 1:
 

 Olivia inspired by Reira of Trapnest:

Nana is supposed to be ongoing, but the author was hospitalized in 2010 and has yet to publish another volume. I'm not expecting a happy ending. Happy endings are boring, anyway. 

Jess

 
“The longer we live, the more weight we carry in our hearts.”
- Ai Yawaza

Screw you resistance

Hellooo ...

So it turns out I haven't blogged anything in 3 years. Three freaking years! Why did I stop? In a nutshell: resistance in the form of serious personal events. But its a new year, and I'm ready to start again. So screw you resistance.

I almost gave up on my book. I've been trying to do my own content edit for the last three years, and it was not easy. I went months at a time without touching it, but on December 27th I was possessed by a muse in the form of crushing guilt. I pulled out the last two chapters that have been haunting me, and started working. Then I magically thought of a new ending. Then I was done. And then I decided to read through my blogs from 3 years ago, and realized I have more nonsense to share.

Something else I did: I finished The Gunslinger, the first book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Two years ago, my cousin sent me a book by King called On Writing. Its non-fiction for aspiring writers and is full of good advice, but is also about his life, from his childhood to his first big break as an author to more recently, when he had a life-changing accident. I read it quickly and took it to heart, promptly removing 99% of the adverbs from my writing. Since then, I've been reading some of his books out of professional curiosity. I started by purchasing a collection of stories called Night Shift. Then I read Salem's Lot. Then last year I read It, which was awesome and horrifying and really effing long. And sorry, but I just didn't get the sex. WTF, seriously. Anyway, then I bought the first four books of the Dark Tower series.

According to King, the series was inspired in equal parts by Robert Browning’s poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western classics. For me, in both theme and imagery (although I haven't gotten that far yet), The Gunslinger is reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft's stories. A bad-ass gunslinger named Roland crosses a desert in a parallel universe in pursuit of the Man in Black. Add religious hypocrites, "muties," a mysterious dark tower and King's requisite gruesomeness and you've got a great read. I'm looking forward to the next six books in the series considered his greatest work.

 More to come ...

Jess 

Allie,
Your want to know about Death. I left him a word. The word is NINETEEN. If you say it to him his mind will be opened. He will tell you what lies beyond. He will tell you what he saw.
The word is NINETEEN.
Knowing will drive you mad.
But sooner or later you will ask.
You won't be able to help yourself.
Have a nice day! :)
Walter O'Dim
P.S. The word is NINETEEN. You will try to forget but sooner or later it will come out of your mouth like vomit.
NINETEEN

- Stephen King, The Gunslinger