NANA - Chapter 83

When I first laid eyes upon this cover art, I was temporarily whisked away into a fantasy world where Nobu and Hachi would miraculously have a change of heart and fall madly in love with one another all over again, living happily ever after in their own Paradise. However, this is not your typical unrealistic shoujo fantasy, but the real deal when it comes to the unrelenting portrayals of reality and the barriers that we all must face in our lifetimes.

It was painful seeing Nobu holding onto Hachi for dear life, knowing that absolutely nothing would result from his embrace. How does one possibly cope with the reality that the love of your life will never be within your reach? Especially when there’s nothing that you can do to change or improve the situation any. No matter how hard you try swimming up to the surface, the undertow will find its way to keep you down and immobilized. Nobu admitting that he still likes her, or rather, still in love with her, makes it such a realistic story, and such a tragic one at that. Both of them are victims of their own circumstances, and there’s no one to blame since it is what it is and impossible to change or alter the past. I even feel slightly bad for Yuri, since she never asked to be a part of any of this. I don’t care for her character all that much and it wouldn’t even bother me if she were no longer in his life, but what annoys me is the fact that Nobu’s been using her merely as a cheap replacement. It’s so cruel to do that to anyone, and it isn’t right. If fate were to kick in and work in his favor, Yuri would be old news and dropped like a hot potato. He tries to be noble by telling Hachi not to ruin his peace with his girlfriend…but both of them know that he doesn’t really want to be with her (Yuri, that is). His heart has always remained open for Hachi and Hachi only, and that will most likely never change.

It’s also taken her this long to realize that Takumi isn’t ever going to be the type of man that she’s been hoping for all of her life. Despite his marriage to her, it’s always been based on obligation and responsibility from the get go rather than any love for her. She just never wanted to acknowledge or accept it for what it was because that would mean that she was living a lie. Lust is so different from love, although it can be confusing…especially when the person you want most in this world only sees you as a sexual conquest and nothing more. But it’s better than being reduced to nothing at all. The consequences of this are absolutely devastating. But in Hachi’s case, Takumi doesn’t think of her purely as a sexual partner of course. I don’t know what he truly thinks of her other than someone he has to deal with out of obligation, but it isn’t as a life partner or someone as a reliable source of comfort during her worst days, as we’ve seen plenty of times throughout the series. He does the minimal amount that a responsible husband would fulfill, but not anything derived from his heart. Reira, on the other hand, is a different category altogether, since he tries to protect her at all costs. It’s sad how we place people into different categories based on how we feel about them. Essentially, it’s a no-win situation for all of them. I love the fact that Mz. Yazawa never makes it easy on her readers to digest the painful realities of the characters’ lives. Absolutely nobody is spared from tragedy, regret, or heartbreak. Chapter 83 presents the illusions of hope; that love doesn’t always prevail when it comes to matters of the heart…as well as the fact that no matter how hard you try, some things in life just never seem to pan out the way it should or the way we’d want it to. Perhaps it’s the rule of fate that prevents us from getting everything we desire, or maybe some things…just aren’t meant to be.