NANA Season 1, vol. 3 and NANA Season 1, vol. 4 hit the iTunes Store today, in all their dubbed glory. While it's great to watch the subtitled episodes on VIZ Anime, it's also awesome to hear the dub. The English-language voice actors put their hearts and souls into their characters, so you can really hear their emotions play out.

In NANA Season 1, vol. 3:
Nana K, is happily involved with Takumi from Trapnest, though she doesn't fully trust him. Nana O. graciously stays away from the apartment for a while, and both Nanas feel the loneliness of their separation. Then in the midst of Blast preparing to sign their first record deal, Nobu makes a surprise confession to Nana K. Now she must make a difficult choice, and someone's heart is bound to be broken.

In NANA Season 1, vol. 4:
As if Blast's debut wasn't causing enough stress, Takumi and Nana K.'s announcement sends everyone reeling, but none more than Nana O. and Reira. While Reira turns to Shin for comfort, Nana O. is drawn to Yasu and his calm understanding, leaving her questioning her relationship with Ren. Nana K. meanwhile is happily nesting in her new home, but her continued estrangement from Nana O. weighs heavily on her heart.

(The NANA anime is rated M for Mature. Please check the VIZ Media Ratings page for more information.)

We launched another update of the vizanime.com site over this past weekend, with improvements in user comment displays, and a new poll function. Stay tuned because we're going to have fun with this new poll system over the next few months. And if you haven't caught up with the One Piece anime, our most recent addition to the site, now's the perfect time as episodes 1-114 are now up, and we continue with the current Impel Down storyline with episode 448 this week. This month also brings some exciting series into the fold, so stay tuned for those as well...

If you've been enjoying the Honey and Clover, Honey and Clover II and Nana anime, take a short break and head on over to shojobeat.com, where we give you the lowdown on Shojo Beat manga and anime.

This month, read the free preview of Cactus's Secret. Prickly Miku Yamada has a serious crush on her classmate Kyohei, but he's far too oblivious to pick up on her signals. How will Miku find her way out of such a thorny situation? And if you like the preview, Cactus's Secret volume 1 is in stores now!

And are you in the mood for a gender-bending romp with a group of uber-wealthy prep-schoolers that happen to be in a Host Club? Then kick back with the complete Ouran High School Host Club anime series, all packaged up and pretty in a DVD box set. The series is out on Blu-ray Disc too. Read more about it on shojobeat.com.

Have you checked out Nana, Season 1, Vol. 2 at the iTunes Store? In these 12 dubbed episodes, the storyline gets a lot deeper, and the characters show more of their complicated personalities.

BLAST plays its first official show in Tokyo, and the band gets to know its number 1 fan. Nana O. gets a romantic blast from the past. Nana K. goes back to her hometown, but her Tokyo life gives the old homestead a new twist. Plus, you'll hear some great music from BLAST and TRAPNEST.

What's Hachi so jealous of? Will Nana O. and Ren get back together? Will Nana K. ever find love again? And what are Ren and Yasu scheming about? Buy the whole season to find the answers, and you'll get a special bonus episode free to boot.
 

February has been a busy month for the Nana anime. We've added more subtitled episodes here on VIZ Anime, and Nana: Uncut Box Set, Vol. 3 is available at store.viz.com and other DVD retailers nationwide. I want to talk in particular about the DVD box sets, because there's a lot more to them than you might know.

When I heard VIZ Media was releasing DVD box sets of the Nana anime, I quickly volunteered to be the DVD animation production associate for the project. I love the Nana manga, and the anime adaptation features songs by Anna Tsuchiya and Olivia and background music by Tomoki Hasegawa. I was excited to try to bring all that to a DVD product.

The approvals coordinator and designers did a really great job capturing the spirit of the series in the package design. They used the style and colors from the Nana anime, incorporating elements from the mid-century-influenced Nana Komatsu (aka Hachi) and the punk-rock Nana Osaki. Side by side, all four box sets look good displayed on your shelf.

In Every Box Set
Packed in every box set, you will find these goodies. There are two audio tracks — the original Japanese and English — as well as subtitles that are directly translated from the Japanese. You'll get "clean" versions (without the rolling text credits on top) of the opening and endings of each episode. And you'll get a line art gallery, which are reference drawings used in animation production to ensure the animators keep characters and objects looking consistent.

The DVD series also feature special bonus episodes every 12th episode that recap the previous 11 episodes. These take place in a bar called Junko’s Place, run by Hachi's best friend Junko. Right now these special episodes are available only if you buy a DVD box set or a Season Set on iTunes.

Plus Something Special…
We also added unique extras, specific to each box set. Box set 1 contains an exclusive interview with Morio Asaka, the director of the Nana anime, at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con International. Specially marked units of box set 1 come with a NANA guitar pick, which has a nice heavy gauge that has helped me become a better guitar player. Box set 2 has a special version of one of the songs.

Box set 3 contains three clean versions of the ending credits. There's the "Regular" edition, the "Storyboard" edition that shows a storyboarded version of the ending credits, and the "Multi" edition that shows the two other versions in a picture-in-picture format. I like this third version the best since you can study how the credits were taken from storyboard to screen.

Box set 4, due out in April 2010, contains an animated video from the original Japanese DVDs for Anna Tsuchiya's song "Lucy." This nicely animated music video features a different style of animation than in the anime itself. We were extra excited to acquire this video for you.

The Nana DVD box sets are really very special. Everyone on the Nana DVD team loves the manga and anime, and we put our hearts into making the best product possible. We hope that new and existing Nana fans will collect them all.

(Note: The Nana anime is rated M for Mature, as is the Nana manga volumes 8 to present. They are meant for mature audiences ages 18 and up.)