Viz Pictures has announced the DVD release of the live action film Nana 2 on July 29th.  Nana 2 is the sequel to the highly successful live action film Nana, which was based on popular shojo manga created by Ai Yazawa (Paradise Kiss) that has sold over 22 million volumes in Japan and which has been a regular on ICv2’s Top 50 Manga Properties list here in the States where the Nana manga is published by Viz Media.

Like Viz Pictures other releases such as The Taste of Tea, Ping Pong, and Honey & Clover, the two Nana films are character studies that illuminate very interesting aspects of modern Japanese culture.  The Nana movies contrast two very different young women named Nana—Nana “Hachi” Komatsu, a likeable and bubbly, if somewhat conventional middle class girl and Nana Osaki, an ambitious leather-clad rocker whose tough exterior disguises a sensitive and caring soul.

Aoi Miyazaki who portrayed “Hachi” in the first film was replaced by Yui Ichikawa in Nana 2, but J-Pop icon Mika Nakashima returns as Nana Osaki, and like the first film, Nana 2 is a real treat for J-Pop fans.  Once again Ai Yazawa wrote the lyrics for the key song, “Hitoiro,” which reached number 5 on Japanese pop charts.