Nodame Cantabile Paris 07

Summary:

Rui awakens in Nodame's trash-filled room after getting drunk the previous night and is alarmed by the voice from under the kotatsu. Shinichi has his first rehearsal, centring on the Sorcerer's Apprentice, with the Marlet Orchestra but soon experiences friction with the concert master who had also dampened the initial excitement of some of the orchestra members at the arrival of Roland's Black Prince. Rui forgets about her apartment hunt and ends up dragging Nodame around Paris shopping and sightseeing. While at a public foundation, Nodame falls into the fountain pond while trying to recover a French shota's nice boat.

The Marlet's rehearsal comes to an abrupt end when the professional orchestra's time is up and they are evicted from their practice venue by a bunch of tut tut lolis. Nonetheless Shinichi is comforted when Nodame rallies the apartment block gang to watch his debut and Roland brings in an extra reinforcement; at least there are some in Paris who still believe in him. However Theo forgot to arrange for an additional triangle and celesta players and experiences the threat of Shinichi's wrath. Nodame is mobilized but when she is surprised by Rui at the door, Theo misunderstands that Rui is the celesta replacement player. Everyone, even grumpy old concertmaster Simon is pleased with Rui's visit - she had played there four years ago when she was 16 but even Rui's praise for Shinichi as Stresemann's disciple is not enough to sway Simon. The performance is a disaster for all sorts of reasons- the skill levels are too disparate, a third of the still insufficient members are new replacements, they haven't had enough practice and the Sorcerer's Apprentice is still merely an apprentice who cannot control the magic. Nonetheless, reminded by the laughter amid the tepid applause of the S Orchestra, Shinichi is determined to climb to the top.

Reaction:

It's great how the series, despite its effort to showcase the glamour and drama of classical music, doesn't shy away from pointing to the desperate state of many orchestras epitomised by the time out called on Marlet by the children's ballet troupe and the awful performance. I also appreciate how Shinichi couldn't turn things around in time as that would be a stretch too far; also I like how every time Shinichi achieves something, it seems that he has to start from scratch all over again. And yet with his talent, experience, support and luck, I feel that I can look forward to seeing him overcome it all.

Rui continues to fascinate me. She clearly wants to be free of her mother's domination and yet her first instinct, upon waking up from her stupor in an unfamiliar place, was to call out for her mom. I was also touched by her delight at returning to the Marlet and her gratitude to Simon, another side of her showing another side of him. All the while the title chara continues to watch from the sidelines even if she did give Shinichi a much needed emotional boost halfway through.

Related posts:

1. Nodame Cantabile Paris 06
2. Nodame Cantabile Paris 08
3. Nodame Cantabile Paris Review