I'm no expert at Japanese high school girls / young ladies (feels weird writing it like that), but from what I understand, characters in NANA are realistic. That is not to say that most real people are like them, but rather that there really are girls like Nana and Nana.
Most of this volume tells the story of Nana (KAORI) and Shouji's beginning. KAORI is such a perfect fit for the role of this funky Nana, I can almost imagine KAORI being like Nana when she was younger. By the way KAORI's _first_ solo single is coming out in October. She's sang a lot of songs over the years for this and that games and anime, but this one is to be her first CD release under her own name. It's still associated with a game (ARIA), but apparently, the release path is different. Either way, this is a big deal for her. She said so herself when she was featured as a guest on the internet radio, "ARIA the Station Due" a while back. You can find the album at amazon.co.jp by searching for "BLUE BLUE WAVE." Feel free to support her (wink wink). I already pre-ordered mine.
Last half or so of the episode 4 deals with the other Nana (Paku Romi). I assume the story will continue on episode 5.
This is really a shoujo anime, so I'm probably not getting the most out of it, but I consider it an educational purchase. What am I learning from this? Of course, about young Japanese ladies. What else? No really, I'm half serious. It's a part of Japanese culture I rarely get to see.
She sure knows how to please her fans, especially the ones that give her expensive presents.
