Search - Nanaka 6/17, Vol. 3: Nanaka vs. Nanaka! on DVD

SAY GOODBYE TO NANAKA 6

Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 09/24/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Time is winding down for the 6 year-old Nanaka as her true self is trying assert her dominance after being in hibernation for most of the show. Most of the comedy and drama in these four episodes is caused by the kid version or the young adult Nanaka starting something but then lapsing into her alternate personality before the task can be completed. For example, Nanaka 6 votes to perform a Magical Domiko play for the school festival and is made writer and director too. That's ok, because Nanaka 17 steps in at that point, but right before the performance, Nanaka 6 comes back and forgets all her lines, etc. Yes, the show is pretty much a one-trick pony, but the sweetness of Nanaka 6, the strong caring of Nenji, and the bashful crush of Amemiya makes all these characters interesting in their own way, even if no new anime conventions are invented. It's the thread of caring for Nanaka that makes this show shine on these last episodes. Also, things get a little hairier when Nenji and even Nanaka's father must decide which Nanaka they care about more, 6 or 17? And what will happen to 6's consciousness? Will she realize she is going to die, mentally I mean? The impending disapperance of Nanaka 6 gives this last volume an emotional weight that the other installments lacked. Volume 3 also includes an episode that was never aired on Japanese TV in which Amemiya and Nenji go out on a date, (at least that's what Amemiya would like to think of it), but of course Nanaka ends up everywhere they do!

For all the cliches involved in this anime, it did a good job in making itself at least enjoyable. The 3 volumes of Nanaka 6/17 have been pretty inconsistent in terms of quality veering from ok to bad to excellent with this last installment. One of the things that helped me out on Volume 3 was the ejection of the annoying little kid Kuriko whose affection for the much older Nenji always seemed a tad disturbing. And her voice, my lord, it would have caused convulsions in a dolphin! Ok show."