SHICHININ NO NANA: 7 OF 7
How many anime chicks does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Review by: M.H. "I think I'm a clone now" Torringjan
Length: 25 episodes, 1 omake
Genre: High school romance, magical girl
Watched: entire series
Have you ever wondered what you'd say to yourself if you saw yourself standing by the side of the road, but you weren't you? Okay, that was confusing. Let me start over. I have little chance to read manga these days, since it's so expensive and long. I haven't even had a chance to finish reading Ranma 1/2, which I started about six years ago now (not that the last 10 volumes are any different from the first 12, but that's beside the point). A while back, a friend of mine lent me the first volume of this manga, and I read it through, pretty interested at the premise. Since I haven't had a chance to read any more, I thought that the anime series would be a nice (free) version of the manga. This turned out to be a decent choice on my part. I've since then had chance to finish the manga and will insert comparative notes where appropriate for those who care.
Plot summary: Nana Suzuki is a middle school student who wants to confess her love to Yuichi Kamichika, the class dream boy. Valentine's day rolls around, and she decides to bake a chocolate cake for him to use as her confession (because we all know that the best way to get to a man's pants is through his stomach). When the time comes to bake the cake, she needs to use the microwave. She discovers that it's in use by her crazy inventor grandfather, containing a mysterious glowing crystal. Upon opening the door (which is the most obvious thing to do when one lives with a crazy inventor; touch the experiments!) , the crystal explodes, and the swirling colors surround her. She disappears in a flash and reappears under the giant cherry tree at the edge of town (enter obligatory sakura petals), only there are seven of her. Her only hope with Yuichi is to get into the same high school, but can she really get through exam hell with six others of her causing trouble around the house and town?
Artwork: The style of this is mostly kawaii, with abundant colors and a nice contrast between the colors used. My thanks goes out to the makers of the series for using different colors to represent the different Nanas, since that would have become difficult aside from their obvious differences in facial expressions and slight differences in hairdo. The backgrounds are nicely rendered, and fairly detailed, although they don't blend as well with the foreground as could be hoped for at times. The character designs are fairly generic, although that can be forgiven considering it's a series about seven of the same girl wandering around. In all, it was a passable effort.
Music: As usual, this is where series fall short. The music itself wasn't all that bad, matching the mood fairly well, but the variety is sorely lacking. It could fill up a CD, but I don't know if anybody would really want to rush out to buy that CD. The opening track is an upbeat, bouncy track that seems like it was actually made for the series, and not for radio (a rarity in anime). It's catchy, and now I have to go listen to Summers in the Sun to get it the hell out of my head. The closing track is a slower piece set to an image of the Nanas sleeping peacefully. Considering the mostly episodic nature of the series, it works all right, but isn't something I'd want to put on my winamp list.
Characters: As opposed to a series that just has a lot of characters, this series gets kind of complicated because it's got a lot of the same character. Nana is the stereotypical shy, reserved school-girl type (hello, lolicon fetishists everywhere!) whose only purpose in life at the moment is to get into the same school as the boy that she likes. That's simple enough until you factor in the other six Nanas. She splits into a hot-tempered personality, a smart personality, a crybaby, a cheery personality (originally a mean personality), a lazy personality, and a strange personality (originally the sexy personality, probably softened because she is, in fact, thirteen). They get given different names to differentiate between them, which removes some of the complication (or does it add some?). Hot-tempered is Nanappe, smart is Nanasama, crybaby is Nanarin, happy is Nanachi, lazy is Nanakko, and strange is Nanapon. These each tend to represent the extremes of the different facets of Nana's personality, although at times, some of them tend to show additional depth. Hitomi Onodera is Nana's best friend, who knows Nana well enough to be able to tell the seven personalities apart without them saying anything. She sees Nana's hard work during the year and uses it as a motivation for her own work. She also trusts and sticks with Nana through all the hard times. Yuichi Kamichika is the resident dense jerk who can't seem to make the connection between Nana's fawning and the faintest inkling of the remotest possibility of Nana having a crush on him. He is the best student in the class and trying to get into the best high school in the city for reasons not at all foreign to Nana. Nana is afraid to reveal her secret to anyone, including him, because she's afraid that they'll think she's a freak (although why *any* guy in his right mind would turn down *seven* copies of a girl he liked, I have no idea). In all, the characters aren't all that revolutionary, nor are their interactions anything new. But they do evolve nicely over the course of the series, developing themselves nicely from the start to the end and becoming more mature as the plot develops.
Plot: This really isn't all that special, either, fairly typical for the school-romance-with-magical-twist genre. The idea of multiple versions of a person running around has been done before, as well, so no points for originality there, either. Not even because of the sheer quantity. So, although they don't gain any points for originality, they don't lose points, either, because they carry out the plot well. The writing and plot aren't all that bad, and the comedy isn't that bad either, especially considering they didn't stoop to cheap fanservice in order to get the jokes. Not that I'm against fanservice, but there are better ways to get laughs. I just kept watching because of the cute factor, which is probably the most alluring appeal, if you like cute. If you don't, then you probably could afford to pass this series over. A major downside to the writing of this series, though, is that they made six or seven Nanas talk in unison frequently, which kind of gets old after a while. It's a time-saving issue and stresses that they really are the same person, but really, guys, have pity on our ears. The manga has a much more gag-oriented plot, since it takes the route of making Nana's seven personalities public knowledge, which sometimes gets more laughs, but I'm a fan of sappy, emotional crap, so I personally preferred how they handled the anime better. in that respect. However, the manga also didn't have the whole super-power-Sailor-Moon thing going on, save a single chapter, which was greatly appreciated. In all, it's pick your poison.
CHICKS!!! Well, they have quantity, give them that. However, considering that quantity is about five years away from being legal, it kind of dims the appeal. Also due to the age thing, the fanservice quotient of the series is kind of low. As for personality, Nana is the kind of girl who will probably still be the same personality by that time, so if you're willing to wait that long, then you've got seven versions to choose from, with each different personality for whatever kind you prefer! However, there is a bit of a hitch in that they all have a crush on the same guy. Get him out of the way and one, two, or all of them could be yours! Just remember, since they're all the same person, it's technically not polygamy! And by the way, this is as good of a section as any to mention my formal protest of the removal of Sexy Nana in favor of Strange Nana. Show the otaku some love!
Overall: Although there was very little all that impressive about this series, I did find it to be an enjoyable watch. If you get a chance to download it from anywhere, go ahead and take it, since it'll be worth it, but I don't know how willing I'd personally be to pay for it. ADV's got it out in one of those friendly bargain packs, so the price isn't that bad, but free is always better. Alternatively, you could check out the manga, which is only three volumes. In all, it's a cute little piece of romance fluff, so go for it if you like that sort of thing.
In a Nutshell:
+ Developing characters
+ All right comedy
+ All right art and music
+/- Cute series
- Not very original
Final score: 7.5/10
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