I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so excited for a bank holiday this weekend! I have a fun day planned with one of my best friends over the bank holiday and I’m so READY for it! I’ve officially broken up for the long weekend now and wanted to spend the start of it writing about a brand I purchased a Nana item from recently. Those who know me, or have been around my blog or social media a long time (Twitter/Instagram) will know how much I LOVE Nana.
Ocean In Space is an independent artist/store I’ve known about for quite a while now but she especially came to my attention at the start of July when people were sharing a post on Instagram, which was a Nana print she’d designed. I was in awe of it and KNEW I had to buy! I’ve always wanted a Nana print to pop in a frame and hang in the bedroom/office, but I’ve never managed to find one I liked and was able to ship to the UK… Until now. 😛
I got it through Ocean In Space’s Patreon as it was an exclusive for backers for the month of July. I backed as soon as I could and towards the end of July my print arrived. Since then I’ve been DYING to share it with you guys.
I don’t know what it is… But I feel like through COVID a lot more people have discovered and fallen in love with Nana! I’ve seen it spoken about and plenty of fan art and fan made merchandise being shared and brought out on Instagram. I’m not complaining on bit. Nana was one of the first anime and manga series I watched and read and I’m still heartbroken neither of them are completed.
Get yourselves a hot drink (or an Asahi beer like Nana Osaki :P) now because this post is going to be a good and long one, especially for Nana fans. 😛
Nana is a manga series that ran between 2000-2009 before it went on an indefinite hiatus and is by Ai Yazawa. Yazawa both wrote and illustrated the manga series of Nana, I’m unsure about the anime. The reason for the hiatus is said to be due to Yazawa suffering health problems.
Nana is about two women of the same name (Nana, obviously) who meet whilst stuck on a train that is heading to Tokyo. Nana Komatsu is moving to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend and friends, whereas Nana Osaki is moving to Tokyo to kick start her career as a singer in a punk rock band. The two Nana’s lose each other after departing the train, but are joined together again when they both view the same apartment. As the apartment is meant for more than one person to live in, they decided to share it together and become roommates.
The series goes on to show how their friendship blossoms, as well as their relationships and how they impact each others lives. It’s an amazing series and I recommend it to everyone I talk to about manga and anime. Be warned though, it has heavy adult themes, some which have been discussed in a lot more detail lately. I won’t go into them too much, you can soon Google.
Now I’ve spoken about what Nana is about, I want to talk about Ocean In Space and the beautiful print.
Below is taken from Ocean In Space’s website:
Ocean In Space began in 2015 after I decided to make a t-shirt for myself. After an overwhelming amount of positive feedback online, I decided to start making them for other people as well! Ocean In Space was born from my love for all things bright, colourful, and happy. My #1 goal is to make people feel happy when they see my work. And what’s better when you can wear it!!
As soon as you venture onto Ocean In Space’s website it is incredibly colourful and you even get to see the artist behind the piece(s) you’re buying too, which I really like!
Via Patreon the print cost me £15.50, which included shipping too. I could have paid an extra £4.00 to sign up for the sticker club too, but I have way too many stickers as it is, so I left it… Which I semi regret.
The print came with a special thank you letter, as well as a image of Nana Osaki drawn as a cat (it’s a joke in the series) which I’ll show. It was really lovely to read Ocean In Space’s thoughts about Nana:
I’m super happy NANA won this month because it finally made me bite the bullet and watch the series.
The print itself is stunning and I honestly cannot get enough of how perfect it is. Of course, I’ll be talking about it in more detail. 😛
The print reminds me of the 00’s due to the bright colours and the stickers (they remind me of Lisa Frank too), which I love considering when the manga first came out.
Both Nana’s can be seen in a carefree and fun embrace, almost like a selfie sort of pose in a way. Nana Komatsu is the one with the long red hair, dressed in sweet clothing, whilst Nana Osaki is the one with purple short hair, the punk rocker clothing and of course an Asahi beer in hand! I love all of the details added onto both of the girls, but especially Nana Osaki. She loves Vivienne Westwood and has clothing and jewellery from the fashion designer, including the armour ring (something I’ve always wanted because of Nana).
I have one critique of this print, just one. I would have loved to see Nana Osaki’s lotus flower tattoo on her left arm instead of the tartan armband. This tattoo is (in my opinion anyway) a big part of Nana as it’s actually to symbolise her love of Ren. Nana Osaki argues with Nana Komatsu at some point of how it’s a ren flower, so…
Aside from this, the print is beautiful and I do really love it. You know me guys, I like to be honest here. 🙂
There is even a print of a “rough” sketch of the print as Ocean In Space was working on it, which I think is such a nice touch, especially with stating it was part of the July 2021 Patreon rewards too. You can also watch the process of this print over on Ocean In Space’s Instagram, which I’ll post a link to at the bottom of the post.
Overall I absolutely adore this print and cannot wait to get a frame for it so I can hang it up somewhere in the house. I’m undecided as of yet, but I’m thinking in the office about my desk so I can look at it whenever I need to feel inspired or a pick me up.
As mentioned, I’ll pop the links for Ocean In Space below!
So there we have it, a review of the Nana print that I bought from Ocean In Space’s Patreon page! What do you guys think of this beautiful print? Are you fans of Nana too and managed to snag one of your own? Will you be checking Nana out after me talking about it? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!
Until next time guys, have a lovely evening, as well as an amazing bank holiday!
There Might Be Coffee 