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Nana was originally a manga created by Ai Yazawa and it was adapted into an anime series, directed by Morio Asaka and animated by the studio Madhouse. The first and third openings and third ending songs are sung by Anna Tsuchiya for the band Black Stones and Olivia sings the second opening and first and second endings for the band Trapnest as Reira Serizawa.
The plot focuses on two girls with the same name (NANA) and age, who coincidentally meet on a train trip to Tokyo. They soon find themselves living with each other under the same roof because of an even bigger coincidence. Though they share the same name and age, they differ in just about everything else. Osaki Nana is a punk singer looking to make a successful band in Tokyo while Hachi (Komatsu Nana, later on called Hachi by Nana for being so naïve and resembling a dog), wants to have the ideal life of a regular woman, have a great job, get married, have kids, grandsons and die together with her beloved one. Even so, through hard experiences in love and life, a strong friendship is born between them, as both Nanas grow through their hardships and struggle to win the odds.
This one TV series is one of my all-time favorite because it’s so intelligent. The story aligns the really dramatic sequences with extremely funny moments. Above all it’s really mature and is not a story that can be found often in Japanese animations. In addition, the character design is simply amazing, really realistic and their emotions are so natural and drawn so modestly.