Nana is one of my favorite manga of all time, and I’m so happy it’s getting an anniversary release! This version is gorgeous, the artwork crisp, preserving all of the wonderful details that made me fall in love with the Nanas 20 years ago. Revisiting this series made me so nostalgic, and I can’t wait to recommend the series to a new generation of readers at my library!

i love, love, LOVE this series and was so excited to see that a 25th anniversary edition was being released. Ai Yazawa's illustrations are gorgeous, especially her character and fashion design, and she has created one of my favorite fictional casts of all time. It was a pleasure to experience these first few chapters combined in one volume, I felt it made the story flow much more naturally this way. I will admit i was hoping to maybe see some more bonus content featured in this special edition so that was a little disappointing, but I will continue to hold out hope for volume two. All in all a wonderful collection item that any fan of Nana is sure to enjoy!

I'm a huge Nana fan and was very excited to receive this edition of the first volume, so let me start by giving a big thanks to Netgalley and Viz Media for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Two girls named Nana meet on a train that gets stuck during a snowstorm, and then later on when they want the same apartment. But before that, we get some backstory to get to know each, this is where this volume starts us. I went and compared a lot of the pages to my reprints of the original translation Viz did of this, and really couldn't find differences. I think the special edition features of this will be more visible in a physical edition of this rather than a digital, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my re-read of this. The choice of art for the cover of the special edition is gorgeous as well.
Definitely would recommend this to any shoujo/josei fans who haven't read it, it's a staple for a reason!

The manga that launched a thousand Vivienne Westwood Armour Rings and Rocking Horse Shoes, and defined a whole aesthetic for a generation returns. Coming back to it now was pure nostalgia, every page steeped in the style, attitude, and emotional pull that made it unforgettable the first time around.

The story begins with two women named Nana meeting on a train to Tokyo. Nana Komatsu is a wide-eyed romantic chasing love, while Nana Osaki is a fiercely independent punk singer chasing her dreams. Through alternating perspectives, Yazawa sets the stage for one of the most compelling explorations of friendship, ambition, and heartbreak in modern manga.

What stands out in this opening volume is Yazawa’s eye for detail—not just in fashion, music, and subculture, but in the emotional rhythms of young adulthood. The characters feel real enough to step off the page, and their world is so vividly drawn that you can almost hear the music and smell the cigarette smoke drifting through the panels.

Even after all these years, Nana remains as stylish, heartfelt, and utterly absorbing as ever. Volume 1 is the perfect reminder of why this series became a cultural phenomenon, and why its impact still lingers.

Even knowing where the story eventually goes, this first volume still feels electric with possibility. It’s stylish, heartfelt, and endlessly re-readable—a true classic that has lost none of its charm or impact. Would love to see it finished one day.

I'd never read Nana before despite having heard of it for years! It took me longer to get into than I expected, but I think part of that is the nostalgia factor; high school/college me would've been way more into this series. I was also more invested in one Nana than the other at first, but once they eventually meet I found each of their stories more engaging while waiting to see how their relationship unfolds. I was also surprised because it seems that this anniversary edition collects multiple volumes and is not just the first single volume, so it's a bit heftier of a book with that all combined. While this introduction didn't strike as much of a cord as I had hoped I do see a lot of potential to get invested in the main characters.