NANA – 08

Summary:
Both Nanas move into their new apartment, but neither have much unpacking to do. Oosaki Nana has only her guitar and her bag, having not brought most of her stuff. Yasu offers to bring it for her, since he’s going back to their hometown. As for her old room, Nana doesn’t feel like she owns the place and tells Yasu to ask that person (Ren). Since the two Nanas are going out to do some shopping, Yasu decides that it’s time for him to leave too. He tells Nana that she should call him if anything happens because he’ll come over at any time. Komatsu Nana thought that Yasu was the other Nana’s boyfriend, but Oosaki Nana says that he’s more like a big brother. Komatsu Nana asks the other Nana if she has a boyfriend, but the other Nana notices a 100-yen store and goes inside without answering.
Inside, Komatsu Nana picks out a pair of strawberry glasses, but Oosaki Nana doesn’t look like she approves. Since Komatsu Nana only wants to buy stuff that they both like, she decides not to get the glasses. Oosaki Nana says that she actually likes strawberries, so Komatsu Nana decides to get them. Oosaki Nana compares Komatsu Nana to an obedient dog and gives her the name “Hachi”. They leave that store and then come to a vintage furniture store called Sabrina. Hachi starts flirting with the store owner Mizukoshi, and ends up buying her furniture needs there. He offers to deliver the stuff they just bought later that day, but happens to mention that he’s a bit short-handed since his employee quit. Since she happens to be looking for a job, Hachi immediately tries and succeeds at getting herself hired.
At the department store, Nana comments on how Hachi really is good at the love at first sight thing. Hachi asks Nana what type of guy she likes and then what entertainer she likes. Nana’s response is Sid Vicious of the Pistols (aka. the Sex Pistols). Arriving on the seventh floor for bedding, Hachi points out that they can’t both wear their shoes inside and lay the futons on the floor. The two thus return to Mizukoshi’s store for some beds. On the way home, Hachi gets a call from Shouji. He asks her out to eat at Jackson’s, so she agrees. Nana teases her by mentioning Mizukoshi into the phone, so a panicked Hachi tells Shouji that he’s the old man from the furniture store. The two girls walk a little further when Hachi notices a nearby CD shop.
Inside the store, Nana’s eyes widen as she hears the song playing above her and sees the giant poster on the wall featuring Ren and the rest of Trapnest. She’s so shocked that she drops her lighter. A huge fan, Hachi had come looking for a specific Trapnest’s new album release. Nana notices that the Ren on the poster is still wearing the padlock necklace that he used to. Hachi receives a poster with her CD purchase that she plans to put in her room. She mentions how she likes Takumi and Naoki, though she’s most impressed with the vocalist Reira. Nana notices that Hachi didn’t mention Ren, but Hachi says that Ren keeps to himself and is a bit scary. However, she does notice that Ren looks like Sid Vicious of the Pistols.
That night, Hachi gets ready to go have dinner with Shouji. Feeling bad for leaving, Hachi asks Nana if she has any dates or a boyfriend. When the answers to both of those are no, Hachi assumes that Nana is in love with Yasu. Hachi warns Nana that if she’s too stubborn, happiness will run away. After Hachi leaves, Nana wanders into Hachi’s room and notices the Trapnest CD. She remembers locking the padlock chain around Rin’s neck and how he had promised to die with her when she died. She had told him that she had always been alone and didn’t want to be lonely ever again. However, the current Nana is just that, sitting alone in the shadows of her empty apartment.
After finishing dinner at the Jackson Hole with Shouji, Hachi decides to bring Nana back a hamburger. Shouji wants to her to go home with him so they can fool around, but Hachi doesn’t want to leave Nana alone in their new apartment. She rushes home in a taxi and runs upstairs to their apartment. Opening the door, Nana finds that their new furniture had arrived, but Nana is sleeping on the floor, listening to Trapnest’s album. Hachi thinks to herself that Nana is like a stray cat, proud and free. But she bears a wound that won’t heal. Hachi thinks that her thoughtless self felt that Nana was so cool without knowing how much pain Nana was in.

What a difference a high quality raw makes. Extra large screencaps this time just to show you how much better the show looks in high resolution, especially compared to the previous weeks. This is how good I wish every show looks.
Anyway, this episode finally introduces the name Hachi. You’ll notice the first couple of paragraphs are a bit cumbersome to read because I have to keep differentiating the Nanas with their last name. Fortunately, now that problem is solved thanks to Nana. The name Hachi is a bit of a pun. In Japanese, nana means seven and hachi means eight. But in addition, the reason Nana gave that name is because Hachi reminded her of an obedient dog, much like the famed dog by the same name (See the Wikipedia entry).
I really like how they portrayed the scene where Nana sees the poster of Ren. You can really tell how painful it was for her. This episode in general does a good job making you feel how lonely Nana is without Ren. But now, she’s at least got Hachi with her.