Nana is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It was serialized in the monthly shōjo manga magazine Cookie from May 2000 to May 2009 before going on hiatus. The series centers on Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu, two women who move to Tokyo at the age of 20, with the story focused on Nana O.'s pursuit for fame and Nana K.'s pursuit for romance, all while struggling to maintain their friendship.
Cover of the first tankōbon volume, featuring Nana Osaki
Shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with shōnen manga, seinen manga, and josei manga, one of the primary editorial categories of manga. Shōjo manga is traditionally published in dedicated manga magazines, which often specialize in a particular readership age range or narrative genre.
Shelves of collected volumes of shōjo manga under the Margaret Comics imprint at a bookstore in Tokyo in 2004
Actress Hideko Takamine, portraying an archetypal shōjo wearing a sailor fuku in the 1939 film Hana Tsumi Nikki [ja]
Cover of the first issue of Shōjo-kai, 1902
A four-panel manga from the November 1910 issue of Shōjo (artist unknown). Note the henohenomoheji in the final panel.