Synopsis and Features: Nodame Cantabile
のだめ カンタビレ - Nodame Cantabile
Released 2006
11 hour-long episodes
2 'Specials'
2 Movies
Important - WATCH IN ORDER: the series, the Specials, the Movies. They all follow on from each other.
Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese-language live action drama, based on a manga of the same name by Tomoko Ninomiya. The main story follows 3rd year piano student, 野田恵 (Noda Megumi), and her classmates as they navigate the beautiful and brutal depths of classical music. The two main characters, Nodame, and Chiaki Shinichi (also a piano student), are like oil and water. Their relationship develops slowly, and is a joy to watch, and as their music matures, so does their understanding of themselves and each other.
Main Characters:
Nodame
Nodame, a piano student, has her heart set on becoming a Kindergarden teacher upon graduation from music college. However, an unplanned piano lesson with her senpai (upperclassman) who is also - coincidentally - her next door neighbour, causes her to reconsider her options and to 'face the music head-on'. Nodame's apartment is hideously messy. She often has the gas/electricity cut from her apartment because she hadn't paid the bills, and pleades with her next door neighbour to let her use his bath. Her exact words in Japanese elude me, but it goes something like 'You wouldn't understand this itchiness, and this feeling of dispair....'. Played by Ueno Juni, Nodame provides excellent comic relief in her scenes with the uptight and unforgiving Chiaki.
Chiaki Shinichi
The son of a famous pianist, Chiaki-kun spent his childhood in Europe attending concerts of great orchestras. Having to live with his mother after his parents divorced, the young Chiaki had to fly back to Japan and, when the plane had to make an emergency landing, he developed a (almost comical!) fear of flying. Coupled with a fear of drowning, Chiaki has been stuck in Japan for ten years - unable to study abroad as many of his classmates have done, and growing increasingly disenchanted with music. Although enrolled in the piano department, Chiaki aspires to be a conductor, and spends all his free time studying orchestral scores. Played by Tamaki Hiroshi (an actor whose cheek bones could slice steel as if it were butter) the development of Chiaki's character is slow, but by the end you'll be moved by emotion shown by this steely perfectionist.
Mine Ryuutaro
'The rock freak from the Violin department', Mine-kun is a 3rd year student who initally shuns classical music because it is too constrictive. Scenes with the electric violin are both entertaining and ear-splitting, and his father, who runs the local chinese restaurant, speaks with an excellent, if at times incomprehensible, accent. Played by an unrecognisable Eita (he bleached his hair for the part), Mine is loyal and kind, and one of the more inherently likable characters.
Othe characters include:
Miki Kiyora - violinist and concert master, Kiyora is talented and ambitious. However, the pressure of always being the best gets to her later in the series. Who will offer her a shoulder to cry on?
Okuyama Masumi - timpanist, gay, and with a gravity-defying afro, Masumi-chan provides much of the comic relief. He is secretly in love with 'Chiaki-sama' (i.e. Lord/Prince Chiaki) but has been too shy to ever talk to him.
Franz Strezemann - this guy has to be seen to be believed. That's all I'm saying. ^_^
Ok, so this was my first live-action drama and I LOVE it. Even now, on my 4th viewing of the season, the jokes are still funny and the music is still epic. The music is what sets this drama apart from all the TV I've seen before and since. The pieces Nodame works so hard to play according to the score, and the understanding Chiaki has of the orchestra is inspiring. It's a bit like how, a few years back, NCIS and CSI made forensic science seem absurdly cool, and (here in South Australia anyway) there was a massive spike in applications for forensic science in Uni. That's how Nodame Cantabile made me feel - I actually wanted to go out and buy a beautiful Yamaha piano and enroll in music at Adelaide Uni. Yes, I know it's just a dream, but at least the series introduces you to a world of music that can very easily be perceived as cold and elitist.
Favourite part: In the Special where Nodame plays Mozart's Variations of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I did not know such absurdly epicly awesome music existed! ^_^
Opinions, comments, questions are all welcome. You can find heaps of info about this series on the net, but it is definitely best just to sit down and watch the first episode and see if it is to your taste ^_^ Well, it is now in the wee hours of the morning for me, so I will say adieu and oyasumi!
Love
~Sophie