Ocean In Space Nana Patreon Exclusive Print – Review

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!

Store

Patreon

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

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!

May Wish List ‘21

It’s another month and another wish list! I said this last week on my monthly favourites post, but bloody hell 2021 really is flying by! I can’t believe we’re already into May, a week into May at that! I’m quite excited for what May brings, including some better weather as at the moment the weather has been vile, who agrees with me? This being said, I’ve really needed some rain as my water butt is empty and my flowers need water. 😛

I’ve treated myself to quite a few things in May so far, including some goodies from Japan and more. For the rest of the month I’ll be on a spending ban, as I need to start saving up money ready for a new fence to be done! I’m aiming for that to be done by the end of May at the latest!

This post feels like it’s full of a lot of the same stuff, or at least similar, so I do apologise for that. A lot of the stuff I have on my wish list isn’t items I felt the need to write about this month OR I’ve written about them previously.

I’m really after some cute items lately, a lot of which are from America… Hence a lot of monies. 😦

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this months wish list!

• Zambicandy Nana Print (link)

I discovered Zambicandy recently through artist Girthy Boba Straw on Instagram and as a massive fan of Nana, both the manga and anime I have fallen in love with both Girthy Boba Straw’s and Zambicandy’s designs. This print is one I really want in my home above my new desk. The relationship between the two Nana’s is beautiful and although they’re different in their interests, their love lives and goals in life are somewhat similar. I just love them both and this print is perfect, especially with them dressed in their animal forms too!

• Pandora Disney Lady Charm (link)

As regular readers will know, I LOVE Lady and the Tramp. It’s my favourite Disney film and has been since I was old enough to watch it. I just love Lady and Tramp and how they bring the best out in one another. I already own one Pandora charm of Lady and The tramp as well as the Chamilia’s charms of Lady and Tramp too. So, whilst I don’t really need more… I’ll always add more charms to my bracelet! I think I’m going to treat myself to this charm in June when I’m paid. 🙂

• Zambicandy Nana Enamel Pin (link)

Zambicandy again but this time it’s a Nana enamel pin! As an enamel pin collector, when I saw this adorable enamel pin of both Nana’s snuggling together under a floral blanket, I fell in love. I’d love to add this to my collection but I’ll be honest, the shipping pries from Zambicandy are shockingly high for the UK! I know this isn’t the sellers fault, but it sucks nonetheless as a UK shopper. $25.50 is more than all three items together in this post so… I’ll be having a big think about this.

• Blushsprout Animal Crossing Cookie Enamel Pin (link)

I LOVE Blushsprout’s designs. They’re so chibi and cute and designs I really do want to own. I at one point last year backed the froggie ita bag on Kickstarter that had been created, but due to saving monies I ended up cancelling the pledge, which I semi regret… That being said, I LOVE their Animal Crossing enamel pins and would love to own as many of the dog villager designs as possible! Cookie of course is at the top of the list followed by Walker, Lucky, Goldie, Genji and Vesta. As I’ve recently signed up for Blushsprout’s Patreon, not only will I be getting the Lady and the Tramp II Angel enamel pin, but I’ll also use the discount code I get to grab some of the Animal Crossing enamel pins too!

• Razer x Sanrio Keyboard and Mouse

These are both some major items that I REALLY want to snag soon! These are the Razer x Sanrio keyboard and mouse set that are exclusive to China. I toyed with getting them last year when they first came out, but as I didn’t have a desk at the time, there wasn’t much point. However, now I do have my desk I really would like to get them! I’d definitely like a good mouse for my work laptop and personal and the keyboard would be amazing to use instead of my laptop keyboard on both my work and personal laptops. It would just be cool to get something cute and of a brand name that I know I can trust and love! I’ve asked YY Kawaii if she’s able to get hold of these which she is, so I’m hopeful I can get hold of these sooner rather than later.

• Zambicandy Nana Sticker (link)

Finally we have one more Zambicandy item to talk about, which is a sticker. Again, this is of both the Nana’s from the manga and anime of the same name. Honestly, I can’t get enough of Nana merch! It’s not something I knew there was much of until the start of this year. I really love this design and out of the three it’s definitely my favourite. I love how both the Nana’s are dressed up in their animal forms, but I especially love the chibi style of them too. I think as and when I go to make an order from Zambicandy I may need to order two of these stickers so I can keep one “nice” and use the other. Does anyone else do this with stickers, or is it just me? 😛

So there we have it guys, my monthly wish list! This one was very samey, especially with all the Nana designs mentioned too, which I apologise for.

What do you guys have on your wish lists for the month? Are there any items on my list that you like or own? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and have a great weekend!

Currently #8

Wow it’s been a whole seven months since I last wrote a currently list! Well no time like the present and I have a long time to catch up with to be honest! I still can’t believe how long it’s been since I last wrote a currently, I guess it just goes to show how busy I’ve been.

Watching – I’ve been watching all sorts of stuff recently but for some reason throughout November and December me and Dane were watching LOADS of anime! I love anime so much and at times I go months without watching it, only to come back to it and realise how much I miss it. We’ve been watching various different anime’s at the moment but a couple in general that we’ve been watching are Penguindrum and Your Lie in April.

When I was first talking to Dane I was making my way through Penguindrum (known in Japan as Mawaru Penguindrum) and it’s a very strange anime, but one I will never forget as it does leave an impact on you due to the story line. I had told Dane about it before and for years he wanted to watch it but it was always expensive to buy. However when we were at Comic Con in November (you can read about what fun we had here) we found the anime for £20, which was a bargain! We haven’t actually finished watching it together yet BUT we’ve watched most of it and I forgot how weird and funny the show can be. To quickly explain what it’s about…

With their parents gone, twin brothers Kanba and Shouma live alone with their beloved little sister Himari, whose poor health cannot decline any further. On the day Himari is given permission to temporarily leave the hospital, her brothers take her out to the aquarium to celebrate, where the family’s supposed fate is brought forth with her sudden collapse. However, when Himari is inexplicably revived by a penguin hat from the aquarium’s souvenir shop, the hand of fate continues to tick faithfully forward. With her miraculous recovery, though, comes a cost: there is a new entity within her body, whose condition for keeping her fate at bay sends the boys on a wild goose chase for the mysterious “Penguin Drum.” In their search, the boys will have to follow the threads of fate leading from their own shocking past and into the lives of other wishmakers vying for the Penguin Drum, all hoping to land upon their chosen destiny. (Taken from My Anime List)

I decided to attach a funny video of the penguins in the show, as they’re probably the best part of the anime. 😀

Another anime I mentioned that we’ve been watching is Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso in Japanese) which I am yet to finish watching. It’s currently on Netflix but for my birthday Dane bought me the first Blu Ray (you can read about that here) which I loved so much! My favourite anime is Nana because of how romantic and beautifully realistic and powerful the story line is, BUT this is definitely one that could have overrode Nana as I love the story line so damn much! I recently guessed how it ends, which I’m gutted about. I’ll pop a little synopsis for this anime as well, even though I’m sure the trailer above will do it justice!

Music accompanies the path of the human metronome, the prodigious pianist Kousei Arima. But after the passing of his mother, Saki Arima, Kousei falls into a downward spiral, rendering him unable to hear the sound of his own piano. Two years later, Kousei still avoids the piano, leaving behind his admirers and rivals, and lives a colorless life alongside his friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari. However, everything changes when he meets a beautiful violinist, Kaori Miyazono, who stirs up his world and sets him on a journey to face music again. Based on the manga series of the same name, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso approaches the story of Kousei’s recovery as he discovers that music is more than playing each note perfectly, and a single melody can bring in the fresh spring air of April. (Taken from My Anime List)

Reading – I’ve been reading quite a lot of manga lately! Reading books isn’t really something I do anymore… Which is a shocker considering I love writing. I actually blame my masters to be honest. I read so much shit during my course (is that too much to admit? :P) that I think I’ve read enough to last me a while.

Image taken from weheartit.com

ANYWAY… I finally finished reading Nana and I felt so numb and deflated at the end of it because of writer and artist of the manga hasn’t finished it yet. I want to know how it ends so I won’t be able to find out until she returns from her hiatus. I thought I was going to cry as I came close to finishing the manga due to what happens and what I’ve already said, but I was okay. I’ll just have some hope that someday soon I’ll be able to know what has happened to certain characters.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Dane and his parents bought me quite a lot of manga for Christmas and my birthday so I have loads to keep me occupied for a while. Before Christmas however Dane gave me the first volume of Your Lie in April which I loved reading! Since then I’ve been gifted some more and bought all of them, so now I have the whole collection! I intend to spend the next couple of weeks reading the series as I want to know what happens.

As well as that I was gifted some other manga books too which I intend to get through after Your Lie in April.

Listening – I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned it on my blog recently but I went to see The Pretty Reckless live nearly two weeks ago and I can safely say I had an amazing time and definitely had some post gig blues a few days later. Dane went with me and it was our first gig together, which was also really lovely. I’d seen The Pretty Reckless support Evanescence back in 2011 and I loved the show so much. I had heard The Pretty Reckless’ stuff before but had never thought much about it until that gig. From then on I fell in love and they’re one of my favourite bands now. Their new album came out in October so since then I’ve been listening to the album loads, especially recently after seeing them play. One of my favourite songs from the new album is “Take Me Down” which was the first single they released from the album. As well as that I also love the first song on the album “The Walls Are Closing In / Hangman”.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Eating – Since the start of the New Year I’ve changed my diet so much! Both me and Dane realised that since moving into the house we’ve not exactly been eating as well as we could or should so we said we would change the way we eat and what we eat. I’ve been making a lot of stuff myself, including chips and let me tell you, my own chips are the best! I’d prefer to make my own than go to the chippy for example. I’ll be popping my recipe up on my blog in February as they’re too nice not to share. As well as that I’ve baked a couple of times since my birthday including gingerbread men (and foxes!) as well as a red velvet cake loaf.

Wearing – I’m not going to lie when I admit I’ve been living in my lounge wear the majority of the year so far. I bought myself a new pair of Victoria Secret PINK boyfriend pants, which I picked up in the sale. They were meant to be £29.00 but the sticker on them said £21.00 so I got them cheaper than I should have! WOOP! As well as that I have been wearing my Ohayou Clothing Eevee varsity jacket loads since Dane gave it me for Christmas. At The Pretty Reckless gig I bought one of their t-shirts before the show and picked up a raglan tee. I love these and would love to get more! This new addition to my wardrobe is one I’ve worn quite a lot already as it’s just so comfortable and I often team it up with my PINK pants, which are a dusky rose pink by the way. 😛

Wanting – I’m trying to be all spending ban at the moment and as hard as I try I do keep seeing things I want. ARGH! But right now the one thing I REALLY REALLY WANT is tickets to go and see Evanescence in June. They’ve released another date which isn’t yet sold out and sadly due to lack of funds I can’t afford to go, BUT I’m going to see what I can do. I want me and Dane to go to London for a few days for the show, to have a look around London and just enjoy ourselves. We’ve had a very busy seven months since we got the  keys to our house and I think we deserve a break and something to look forward to. Sadly we can’t afford to go aboard on holiday right now, so why not just go somewhere for a couple of days? I’ll see what I can do. Maybe make it a surprise. 🙂

SO I finally have a currently list since when me and Dane first got the keys for the house. Those seven months have flown by and I can’t believe we’ve been in the house that long already.

What’s on your currently list right now? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.