Manga like NANA

also known as Nana

What is Nana about?

Status: Releasing

Nana Komatsu is a young woman who's endured an unending string of boyfriend problems. Moving to Tokyo, she's hoping to take control of her life and put all those messy misadventures behind her. She's looking for love and she's hoping to find it in the big city.

Nana Osaki, on the other hand, is cool, confident and focused. She swaggers into town and proceeds to kick down the doors to Tokyo's underground punk scene. She's got a dream and won't give up until she becomes Japan's No. 1 rock'n'roll superstar.

This is the story of two 20-year-old women who share the same name. Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, they somehow meet and become best friends. The world of Nana is a world exploding with sex, music, fashion, gossip and all-night parties.



Note: Winner of the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2002.

Tags: Band , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Shoujo , Tragedy , Time Skip , Philosophy , Pregnancy , Found Family , Bisexual , LGBTQ+ Themes , Netorare , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Rock Music , Achronological Order , Urban , Cheating , Age Gap , Nudity , Drugs , Bar
Where to read?

Here is a list of Manga similar to NANA

Paradise Kiss

Paradise Kiss

Also known as Paradise Kiss.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Yukari wants nothing more than to make her parents happy by studying hard and getting into a good college. One afternoon, however, she is kidnapped by a group of self-styled fashionistas calling themselves "Paradise Kiss." Yukari suddenly finds herself flung into the roller-coaster life of the fashion world, guided by George, art-snob extraordinaire. In a glamorous makeover of body, mind and soul, she is turned from a hapless bookworm into her friends 22 own exclusive clothing model.



Tags: Josei , Coming of Age , Fashion , Female Protagonist , School , Heterosexual , LGBTQ+ Themes , Meta , Bisexual , Ensemble Cast , Love Triangle , Transgender , Time Skip , Unrequited Love , Nudity , Boys' Love ,
Where to read?
BECK

BECK

Also known as BECK.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

For the first 14 years of his life, Yukio Tanaka has been one heck of a boring guy. He has no hobbies, a weak taste in music, and only a small vestige of a personality. He yearns for an exciting life, but his shy, and somewhat neurotic personality make him his own worst enemy. Little does he know that his life will be forever changed when he meets Ryusuke Minami, a wild and unpredictable 16 year-old fresh from America, who happens to be in a rock-and-roll band named after his Frankenstein-like patched dog—Beck.



Tags: Band , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Rock Music , Primarily Male Cast , Shounen , Foreign , Heterosexual , Work , Female Protagonist , Crime , Love Triangle , Bullying , School , Mafia , Guns , Swimming , Martial Arts
Given

Given

Also known as Given.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.



Tags: Boys' Love , Band , Rehabilitation , LGBTQ+ Themes , Primarily Male Cast , Musical Theater , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Bisexual , School , Suicide , Love Triangle , Urban , Unrequited Love , Kuudere , Tsundere
Where to read?
Neighborhood Story

Gokinjo Monogatari

Also known as Neighborhood Story.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Welcome to Happy Berry! No, this isn’t a fruit stand, but the label dreamed up by aspiring fashion designer Mikako Koda. In her quest to make a name for herself in the fashion world, Mikako enters Yazawa Arts Academy, a prestigious art school, alongside her strictly platonic childhood friend Tsutomu. But there's one problem—Tsutomu's uncanny resemblance to a rock star skyrockets him to popularity and leads him to date the prettiest girl in school. Now Mikako can’t help but wonder if what she feels is jealousy.

Tags: Shoujo , Fashion , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Meta , Urban , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , School , School Club , Primarily Teen Cast
Mars

MARS

Also known as Mars.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Romance , Thriller

Kira, a shy high school student, lives only for her art. Rei, an arrogant, rebellious and violent playboy, wears his delinquency like a badge of honor. They are exact opposites in every way, but when Kira sees Rei kissing a statue of Mars, she overcomes her fears and asks him to model for her. And, to everyone's surprise, Rei agrees.



Tags: Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Shoujo , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Motorcycles , Drawing , Suicide , Delinquents , Twins , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Amnesia , Yandere , LGBTQ+ Themes
Solanin

Solanin

Also known as Solanin.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Slice of Life

College graduates struggle to cope with the real world. Music offers refuge in this modern manga with an American attitude. Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Shigeo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn't pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she's just not cut out to be a part of the real world.



Notes:
The chapter count contains an epilogue published in October 2017 as part of the new Japanese volumes edition release.
It was nominated for the 2009 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Japan.
It was nominated for the 2009 Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material.

Tags: Coming of Age , Band , Seinen , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Found Family , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Family Life , College , Urban , Rock Music , Office Lady , Nudity
Full Moon

Full Moon wo Sagashite

Also known as Full Moon.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mahou Shoujo , Music , Romance , Supernatural

Young Mitsuki loves singing and dreams of becoming a pop star. Unfortunately, a malignant tumor in her throat prevents her from pursuing her passion. However, her life turns around when two surprisingly fun-loving harbingers of death appear to grant Mitsuki a temporary reprieve from her illness and give her singing career a magical push start.



Chapter count contains the oneshot Ginyuu Meika (2nd volume); also includes all interlude and 4-koma chapters of the retail volumes.

Tags: Shoujo , Idol , Magic , Love Triangle , Female Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Found Family , Angels , Coming of Age , Denpa , Suicide , Philosophy , Tragedy , Afterlife , Heterosexual , Henshin , Kemonomimi , Nekomimi , Gods , Youkai , Mythology , Urban Fantasy , Age Gap , Urban
Last Quarter

Kagen no Tsuki

Also known as Last Quarter.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Romance , Supernatural

Mizuki is a girl who wants to run away from her life. As she smiles at everything sad that happens to her, her soul becomes heavier day by day. Her escape door is Adam, an English singer. But is he really real, or is everything they've been through just a dream? Adam sees his dead Japanese girlfriend in Mizuki, but strangely, nobody, apart from a girl who met her at the gates of heaven, can see Mizuki. This is a story that takes place somewhere between dream and reality.



Tags: Shoujo , Afterlife , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Reincarnation , Tragedy , Amnesia , Ghost , Suicide , Urban Fantasy , Love Triangle , Age Gap
Sand Chronicles

Sunadokei

Also known as Sand Chronicles.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

After her parents get divorced, Ann Uekusa and her mother move from Tokyo to rural Shimane. Accustomed to the anonymity of city living, Ann can't get used to the almost overbearing kindness of the people in her mother's hometown. But when personal tragedy strikes, Ann discovers how much she needs that kindness.



Note: Won the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award for shoujo manga in 2005 and was adapted into a movie in 2008.

Included bonus episodes: Canary, ~Thirty Years Ago~ Summer Vacation, The Present, Time Capsule Part One, Time Capsule Part Two, Sand Chronicles: Bonus Story: Summer, Age 19.

Tags: Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Coming of Age , Rural , Tragedy , Suicide , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Time Skip , Unrequited Love
The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All

Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta

Also known as The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Music , Romance

Fashionable and upbeat high schooler Aya falls head over heels for an employee at a local CD shop. He's got an air of mystery about him, great style, and an impeccable music taste. Little does she know—this supposedly male employee is actually her female classmate Mitsuki! Mitsuki generally keeps to herself, but since her seat is right next to Aya's, she can't help but be extremely aware of the other's crush. Revealing the truth is out of the question for Mitsuki—but perhaps getting closer to Aya wouldn't be so bad...



Tags: Female Protagonist , Yuri , LGBTQ+ Themes , Rock Music , Tomboy , Josei , Primarily Teen Cast , Gyaru , Primarily Female Cast , Work , School , Fashion , Iyashikei , 4-koma

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