NANA 7 by Ai Yazawa: A

Still too good to spoil, even fractionally.

From the back cover:
Hachi was happy to be Blast’s biggest cheerleader, but now that the band is taking off, she’s discovering that there are hordes of fans eager to take her place. At the same time, her involvement with Trapnest hottie Takumi is turning into a romantic entanglement she hadn’t expected. When a chance for another kind of happiness presents itself, will Hachi be strong enough to face the difficult choices that result?

Review:
Ai Yazawa excels at hitting the emotional high notes, no doubt, and I love how the plot turns in this volume. But even more, I appreciate the small moments that are included. For example, after Nobu and Hachi have talked some about their feelings, there’s a prolonged scene of awkwardness between them where they wonder what’s going on, where they’re going to go from here, what the other person is thinking. I think many mangaka would skip over that period of uncertainty, but Yazawa handles it perfectly.

On the surface, this would seem to be a happy volume. Hachi finally (ineptly) ditches Takumi, with whom there was no potential of love, and begins a relationship with Nobu. She seems to’ve learned from the Shoji experience and is willing to really give of herself rather than merely expect and accept adoration. Those two are ideally suited and I am happy to see them paired up, but I’m worried, because Takumi doesn’t realize it’s really over and I have a feeling he’s going to be making trouble.

Underneath, though, things are rather sad. Hachi says, towards the beginning, “I didn’t want to make you all mine. I just wanted you to need me, Nana.” And at the end, we learn that Nana does. She nudged Nobu and Hachi together all with the purpose of keeping Hachi in her life. The tragic part is that Hachi doesn’t know and would be oh so happy if she did. I’ve really liked the last few volumes and their focus on Hachi, but now I want to see what’s up with Nana and her possessiveness issues. A couple of her bandmates talk about it, so maybe that means it’s going to be dealt with further later on.

About the only complaint I could make is that there’s no translation note to explain why the band is referred to as Blast in the text but as Black Stones at the venue or on a celebratory cake Hachi bakes. There might’ve been one in the first volume, but it’d be good to have a reminder.

Lastly, I still love the retrospective narration but it’s another cause for concern. There are a couple of quotes that hint of ominous things to come, like

The feelings I professed that night remain unfaded in my heart. Just don’t ever forget the shining dreams we had back then.

and

So I’m still calling your name…no matter how much it hurts… until you answer me.

Holy crap, what’s gonna happen?! I haven’t been this worried or happy or scared for a set of characters in a long time, and I’m really loving it. NANA is a bloody masterpiece.