Sentai Filmworks licenses Nana Anime for HD Release

Ai Yazawa’s Nana manga was adapted into an anime that aired between April 2006 and March 2007. Sentai Filmworks has acquired the 47-episode show, and this licensing means the original format will be converted into high-definition. Sentai will also be releasing this newly-HD show on selected digital outlets, followed by an HD home release later.

The premise of the series:

Two twenty-somethings seemingly share nothing in common apart from their first name, but a chance meeting on a train bound for Tokyo sets Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki on a collision course with destiny. Nana Komatsu, a love-at-first-sight dreamer, aims to find enduring happiness in the big city. Nana Osaki, neo punk rock vocalist, pursues her burning ambitions of musical stardom and worldwide fame. As their fates increasingly intertwine, they each chase their dreams — until the harsh realities of life in big city Tokyo threaten to tear everything apart.

The early 2000s show was directed by Chihayafuru and Cardcaptor Sakuradirector Morio Asaka, and was the work of studio Madhouse, known for Death Note, Parasyte, andNo Game No Life.Romi Park, who has played roles like Edward Elric and Temari in Fullmetal Alchemist: BrotherhoodandNaruto, is the voice actor behind punk-rocker Nana Osaki. The cheerful Nana Komatsu is voiced by KAORI (who was voiced Haruka in severalPokémon movies).

The series composition by Tomoko Konparu (Blue Spring Ride, Sunday Without God, Glass Mask) and music by Tomoki Hasegawa (Mysterious Girlfriend X, D.N.Angel, Sayonara, Zetsubo Sensei).

Ai Yazawa’s manga began serialisation in 2000, and has sold more than 40 million copies since. It went on indefinite hiatus in 2009 after Yazawa fell ill, and there has been no new updates on the status of the manga on her part. It has 21 tankōbon volumes—a collection of all the chapters except for the final four, which were only individually published in its Cookie magazine.

Two live-action films were released in 2005 and 2006 as well.