hontou ni » Nodame Cantabile

Nodame Cantabile The Movie I

Zyl — Sun, 16 May 2010 05:36:25 +0000

Take that, Eric Sherman!

Note dump on the other thing I watched on the plane:

Felt more like a TV movie than a theatrical release - assumes that you know the characters and the context.
First half, Shinichi arc: trials and tribulations of Marlet; Hiroshi Tamaki much too thin but very good on arrogance, angst, stickler, casual cruelty to Nodame - needed more HIIIIIIIIII though.
Second half, Nodame arc - distress after Shinichi's Bach playing-conducting; Juri Ueno captured Nodame's goofy charm and her moody moping really well.
Have not seen the live action; vs. anime, the movie plays up Nodame's fantasies in very visual and spectacular way e.g. happiness after being asked by Shinichi to play the celesta for the Bolero performance; her Dragonballesque confrontation with Jean's Japanese gf; in general, the acting feels much more campy and hammed up than the anime with blatant wigs (Stresseman, Theo), exaggerated expressions and poses.
Live action changes to anime - Shinichi trained for Bach performance under Nina Lutz rather than Stresseman; the issue of Stresseman's diminishing hearing is raised much earlier; Tanya collapsing due to Nodame curry after completing Yasunori's Marlet audition accompaniment (follows the manga?); really cheesed off by the omission of Katherine's "recently" addition at the end of her protest that her father practices really hard - diminishes the impact - humour due to the child's honesty and putting the effect Shinichi has had on Marlet's old guard beyond a shadow of doubt.
Surprise: Tanya - wouldn't second-date her but every time she does her tsundere thing with Yasunori, very much like to bend her over something and do her quite roughly from behind.
Enjoyed every Simon segment in its gruff and grumpy glory especially the audition alliance with Shinichi.

tbc

but very good on arrogance, stickler, casual cruelty

needs more HIIIIIIIIII

Nodame Cantabile Finale

Zyl — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:47:55 +0000

By the power of old age and treachery, I will defeat the young ones!!

I was pretty disappointed with the manga's ending and so, despite retroblogging the first season and Paris-hen, held off on episode blogging for Finale. I did watch it though to see if the anime would change my mind about the manga's conclusion. It hasn't.

I left a comment over at Rabbit Poets:

But I’m still more than a little cheesed off since it’s not even the beginning of the end, just the end of the beginning for their story and it’s disappointing to see things left off without at least some of kind of dramatic finale or, at least, some tying in back to the beginning i.e. playing piano in the room full of trash.

I have since learnt that there is a one volume sequel entitled Nodame Cantabile Encore - Opera-hen. Reading just the first (and so far only available) scanlated chapter has reinforced my feeling about how the story has ended at the end of the beginning. I understand that it's often counter-productive to prolong a story after a certain point and especially if the mangaka wants to stop - her heart won't be in it thereafter. But Opera-hen shows that this story is very alive, kicking and screaming to be told. *goes off to scream WRRRYYYYYYY and other such stuffs*

Surprisingly I've come to like the Tanya and Yasunori pairing a lot. Despite their disastrous first meeting, they've helped each other become better musicians and better people.

But it feels sooo right

Yasunori x Tanya even manage to steal Nodame's limelight when they visit their old college in Japan (with a mention about the above subtitle line too). I had such a good laugh from the excellent buildup and then takedown. Certainly I would love to see Opera-hen animated.

Nodame Cantabile Paris Review

Zyl — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:18:09 +0000

Gah, it's done! At the start, I was apprehensive because of the high blogging attrition rate for this series. IIRC common complaints were that the original material was butchered, the pacing was rushed/spotty and that the plot development was aimless. Having been amply forewarned, I somehow managed to overcome the first obstacle by not reading the manga, skipped lightly over the second by marathoning the show in a whole day sitting (rewatching it a second time at leisure to make the episodic blogging) and then reading the manga all the way to its most current scanlated chapter to drill through the heavens of the last big barrier.

Characters

I was initially worried about Shinichi and Nodame's relationship seemed to have been reset but it became clear to me that they were clearer closer though not as close as either would like; Nodame not getting any named confirmation of their romantic status and the latter still frustrated with not being able to understand why she plays so haphazardly despite her monstrous talent. They did have their tender moments but as this phase was still very much a transitional one, we couldn't get enough satisfaction and settlement which comes only very late in the manga. While I'm glad Frank faded out, I grew to like Tanya much more than I had ever hoped, especially given the terrible impression she left from the first episode.

Story

In retrospect, the anime did cut out quite a bit of manga material though butchering is a tad too strong a condemnation. Though watching it week by week could have produced a very different view. Likewise a close comparison with the manga which I latterly used to 'fill in the blanks' rather than see as a standard that the anime had to adhere to (difficult given the constraints of that medium). It meandered somewhat but it was working towards an aim, building on the first season and building up for the next. The episode structure conveyed the trials, tribulations and eventual triumphs of Nodame and Shinichi as indivudals (golden couple is still way off):

Ep 1 - Arrival in Paris, culture shock and new friends.
Ep 2 - The conducting competition and Jean as a rival for Shinichi
Ep 3 - The return of Stresemann and NxS separation
Ep 4 - Nodame gets over her funk, exerts some independence from Shinichi
Ep 5 - Hints of Shinichi's troubled relationship with his father, NxS first big fight and makeup
Ep 6 - Rui arrives as a rival and Other for Nodame, Shinichi learns that the Marlet is in bad shape
Ep 7 - The Marlet is in really bad shape and the mid-tier professional classic world too
Ep 8 - Rui departs, Shinichi excavates history, Auclair's Eureka moment on how to Nodame
Ep 9 - Nodame's rapprochement with Mozart, the beginning of Yasunori x Tanya
Ep 10 - Success of Nodame's recital
Ep 11 - Success of Shinichi's Marlet revival step one

Look and Feel

Much complaining (e.g. by Garten) about the lack of animation of the orchestra playing in the first season. But apparently the new tech was found wanting too - be careful what you wish for is apparently the morale of the story; I am always LOL at how those cried for more Mashiro in the Mai HiME sequel were aghast at the version of Mashiro that was duly lavished plenty of screentime in Otome. LOLOLOLOL *wipes away tears of LOL* Personally I was fine with season one's style of close-ups and stills - my imagination still works after all.

Kawasumi Ayako continues to shine as Nodame, happily it was less via Nodame vocabulary and more via a wider emotional and professional range. I'm always partial to Shizuka Itou so it was probably my fandom that allowed me to pass over Tanya's many faults as a character and hold on until the backstory and motivational engine was conveyed to engage me via sympathy and empathy gears.

Judgment:

Not a strong sequel but the great first season was a tough act to follow. It might have worked better if the series could have been made in a single shot (e.g. the masterfully planned and executed 75 episodes of Hikaru no Go). Still it managed to get the job and even stood up alright to rewatching (though sometimes fandom can fortify one to re-endure even the most unspeakable horrors).

Zyl's Rating: 3/5