Nana to Kaoru is a series that takes the mature theme of S&M, and masterfully applies it to the relationship between two childhood friends.

[9] : Art

The artwork of Nana to Kaoru is a selling point of the series. One of the main characters (Nana), certainly is drawn with all womanly charm in-tact, and is the subject of a majority of the series ecchi scenes. One thing that makes this artwork really stand out to me is the great use of shading. Due to the focus on a lot of equipment used in S&M, backgrounds are made I believe purposefully plain so that things remain coherent, given that many of the artistically busy scenes are also dialogue heavy. The well-done shading makes the panels feel full (but not cluttered), despite being simple.

[8] : Character

The characters in Nana to Kaoru are well developed. The motivations for their actions are clear with good build-up, and add to the romantic feeling embedded in the mature themed scenes. One of the downfalls to the characters of Nana to Kaoru is that they fit very generic models; Nana is the "idol school girl," while Kaoru is the average "loser-kun." Their back-stories are also not exceptionally special or original (as revealed thus far), and they even have the generic "childhood friend" aspect to their relationship. Despite these cliche frames to them, you may be surprised to see that I still award the overall character aspect of the series an "8." The main reason for this is because the interaction between these characters is so unique and well done, with amazing attention and approach to the different levels of tension, embarrassment, excitement, lust, anticipation, and thoughtfulness, that it really brings out the talents of the author / artist in ways not many other series I've experienced have.

[8] : Story

The setting for the series is a combination of more cliches from high school to the apartments where the children are almost always alone. Setting aside, the other aspects to the story are pretty special. The arrangement of the inner-dialogue does a great job at conveying the thought process' of two totally different mindsets in the same scene. It masterfully works the S&M theme of the manga into the story in a very informative way, really explaining the author's viewpoints on S&M, or at least the viewpoints he's decided to use for his work. Aspects that I often find left out of series dealing with S&M are incorporated very well (for example, where does one acquire the props, how are they prepared, what's the stopping-experience like, what kind of up-keep do the items need?).

[8] : Overall

If you're interested in a series that can give you an informative aspect to the mature S&M theme, giving insight to both the S and M mindset, while still providing you with a high school microcosm feel, full of romance and well drawn plot relevant fan-service, all while keeping your heart pounding, then it's only a matter of time before Nana to Kaoru creeps its way into being in your rotation.