NANA

Takumi Ichinose


As realistic as it can get I believe Ai Yazawa made Takumi Ichinose every bit of a man. The other day I read one forum how much they hate Takumi and the other forum begs to differ. I had been in two different camps Im afraid, but the longer I read NANA the more I believe I began to understand the mangaka"s reason for creating Takumi Ichinose. She did say that once in a while women do love the bad boy.And actually in real life somebody did tell me that even the bad ones do get loved.
Thinking about Takumi makes my heart ache.
There are periods that I felt I wanted to kill the guy and then there are times that I fall inlove with his decisiveness and strenght.
In my opinion to fully understand NANA is not to particularyly love or hate the characters....but rather accept them. Takumi Ichinose....(though some might disagree with me)....do exist in this world. More than sweet Nobu Im afraid. And Im not being cynical. I have met Takumi or I might say a little of him here and there in my previous relationships. He is a full representation of the hot bloodied Alpha male. The one that most women dream of having but just realistically hard to attain and always with a price.
I think most readers initialy loved him because he is obviously gorgeous , super cool, oozing with sex appeal, precise, talented and rich. But I think his popularity started to decline when the mangaka started to write (and continue to potray him ) a side of him that wost women fear and dont want to confront.
"Infidelity".

Takumi Ichinose is what I call a "damaged prince" in NANA. On initial read, any reader would fall inlove with Takumi. He personafied a man of beauty and stability. And yes you might consider him for the next few chapters to be the ideal and fantastic great boyfriend ...............but hey Ai Yazawa just had to deliver what I would call a fantastic punch line on Takumis Ichinose character. Reality bites my dear ladies. The perfect crystal do have a crack if you actually turn it around in a different light.

Of course, I wouldnt be a hypocrite .... I was actually broken hearted that Takumi Ichinose didnt turn out to be the Prince Charming I wanted him to be. I was horrified that he was having a complex on and off relationship with his sister (non related I know). And he treated Hachi as the story goes more like a property of business rather than a wife. I had the impression that he loved her because he loved Hatchi loving him.
As you read on more of NANA it never gets any better. Takumi ...though responsible and strong as a husband, he is selfish and weak as a man.
Of course I wanted him to end up with hopeless Hachi. Of course I wanted the happy ever after. And I wanted at one point to put a curse on Reira"s lovely bitchy head.
But hey ...... in reality life doesnt work that way. MEN were not born perfect. And so do we.
So dry your eyes ladies. I got over the hearbreak after a hundred wailings, unreasonable anger against the mangaka and a dozen of caffein induced coffee...while contemplating that its as close as realistic as it can get when it comes to the male species.
Ahhhh. men
Cant kill them. Cant live without them.