Paprika (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
partypaprika) wrote2007-01-04 03:45 am
partypaprika) wrote2007-01-04 03:45 am
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Long ramblings on the amazingness of Nodame Cantabile
Starting off the New Year on a good foot, I just finished Nodame Cantabile, and it's instantly become one of my favorites. Nodame Cantabile follows the adventures of Noda Megumi (Nodame), a talented but sloppy (and crazy) pianist, and Chiaki Shinichi, an arrogant and cold pianist who dreams of becoming a conductor. Their relationship causes both of them to become better musicans and people as they interact with a variety of eccentric musicans from their school.
A brief rundown of some of the many characters:
Nodame (played by the really cute Ueno Juri): Nodame is the textbook definition of eccentric. She rarely takes showers or baths (generally only when forced by Chiaki), has difficulty making basic food, and never cleans her room. She lives next door to Chiaki and is madly in love with him, often referring to herself as his girlfriend or future wife.
Chiaki (Tamaki Hiroshi): Chiaki is arrogant, cold, and slightly bitter. On a return flight from Prague when Chiaki was younger, his plane had to make an emergency landing, and since then has been unable to get on a plane. He also has a fear of boats, making it impossible for him to leave Japan. As Chiaki comes to know Nodame he opens up and becomes a better conductor in the process. Aside from Nodame, most everyone at the music school has some time of crush on him.
Mine Ryutaro (Eita)- I'll admit that I'm predisposed to love this character because I love Eita, but Mine is hilarious. He plays the rock violin and prides himself on not following convention. He instantly bonds with Nodame and believes himself to be Chiaki's best friend. He has plenty of enthusiasm and no qualms about saying whatever is on his mind.
Okuyama Masumi (Koide Keisuke)- Masumi-chan worships the ground that Chiaki walks on. He will do anything to protect *his* Chiaki from any abuse, especially at the hands of Nodame, whom he considers to be perverted. Masumi is one of the more outrageous characters. He has a huge afro and an interesting mustache thing going on. He plays the timpani.
There are a couple other main characters: Miki Kiyora (played by Mizukawa Asami), a violinist and often the concert master, Saku Sakura ( played by Saeko), who plays Contrabass, and Tagaya Saiko (played by Uehera Misa), Chiaki's ex-girlfriend and a vocalist.
The show starts with Chiaki remembering his days in Prague. His father, a famous musician, had no time for Chiaki. Instead, Chiaki finds a father figure in one of the famous conductors, Vieira. However, ten years later, Chiaki is unable to return to Europe to be with his mentor because of his phobias. He's also hit a rough patch at school. Chiaki and his teacher, Eto, get into a fight which results in Eto dropping Chiaki as a student. When Chiaki wallows in self pity, he's informed by his ex-girlfriend that he's officially become a loser. He can't even make it back to his apartment. Instead, Nodame finds him slumped over near her apartment. She takes him back to her apartment for the night. When he wakes up in her dirty and disgusting apartment, Chiaki is horrified and tries to avoid Nodame completely. Unfortunately for him, Nodame clings to him despite the best of Chiaki's efforts. Thus begins their complicated, tumultous relationship.
Chiaki and Nodame also take on different responsiblitlies as the show progresses. Chiaki decides to follow his dream of conducting, while Nodame eventually comes to realize her true passion for music. (She also very much wants to be a kindergarden teacher.) Their mentors are very...interesting as well. Franz Stressemen, a famous conductor, spends more time doing Gokuons then actually conducting. He very much perfers the company of women, to the point of getting angry at Chiaki when girls like Chiaki better. Eto is also reduced to trapping Nodame using figurines of her favorite animated characters.
This show delighted me to no end. It was adapted from a manga and the production staff did a great job in translating the manga-like actions and objects into a live action show. The facial expressions often are exaggerated, but it fits right into the craziness of the characters. Whenever Chiaki was in danger of being molested, it was Masumi to the rescue. These cute little hearts would also appear whenever Nodame gazed adoringly at Chiaki. In general, Nodame was in her own world, and everything else outside of it just didn't register. Her goals were slighly different than slightly more normal characters (she composed a fart exercise for kindergardeners complete with exercise movements), but that's what made the show so enjoyable.
There were a lot of moments where I couldn't help laughing hysterically at over the top characters, but there were also a lot of cute or serious moments. I was definitely impressed iwht
I highly recommend this drama. It's not a super serious one, but a show that's fun to watch and very enjoyable. Also, there's amazing music in every episode for any classical music lovers!
Nodame flying after being smacked! She makes this "gayaboo!" kind of sound!
not very pretty...but one of Nodame's food creations.
Mine! So cute!
Masumi-chan
Nodame in action!
oh so pretty!
A brief rundown of some of the many characters:
Nodame (played by the really cute Ueno Juri): Nodame is the textbook definition of eccentric. She rarely takes showers or baths (generally only when forced by Chiaki), has difficulty making basic food, and never cleans her room. She lives next door to Chiaki and is madly in love with him, often referring to herself as his girlfriend or future wife.
Chiaki (Tamaki Hiroshi): Chiaki is arrogant, cold, and slightly bitter. On a return flight from Prague when Chiaki was younger, his plane had to make an emergency landing, and since then has been unable to get on a plane. He also has a fear of boats, making it impossible for him to leave Japan. As Chiaki comes to know Nodame he opens up and becomes a better conductor in the process. Aside from Nodame, most everyone at the music school has some time of crush on him.
Mine Ryutaro (Eita)- I'll admit that I'm predisposed to love this character because I love Eita, but Mine is hilarious. He plays the rock violin and prides himself on not following convention. He instantly bonds with Nodame and believes himself to be Chiaki's best friend. He has plenty of enthusiasm and no qualms about saying whatever is on his mind.
Okuyama Masumi (Koide Keisuke)- Masumi-chan worships the ground that Chiaki walks on. He will do anything to protect *his* Chiaki from any abuse, especially at the hands of Nodame, whom he considers to be perverted. Masumi is one of the more outrageous characters. He has a huge afro and an interesting mustache thing going on. He plays the timpani.
There are a couple other main characters: Miki Kiyora (played by Mizukawa Asami), a violinist and often the concert master, Saku Sakura ( played by Saeko), who plays Contrabass, and Tagaya Saiko (played by Uehera Misa), Chiaki's ex-girlfriend and a vocalist.
The show starts with Chiaki remembering his days in Prague. His father, a famous musician, had no time for Chiaki. Instead, Chiaki finds a father figure in one of the famous conductors, Vieira. However, ten years later, Chiaki is unable to return to Europe to be with his mentor because of his phobias. He's also hit a rough patch at school. Chiaki and his teacher, Eto, get into a fight which results in Eto dropping Chiaki as a student. When Chiaki wallows in self pity, he's informed by his ex-girlfriend that he's officially become a loser. He can't even make it back to his apartment. Instead, Nodame finds him slumped over near her apartment. She takes him back to her apartment for the night. When he wakes up in her dirty and disgusting apartment, Chiaki is horrified and tries to avoid Nodame completely. Unfortunately for him, Nodame clings to him despite the best of Chiaki's efforts. Thus begins their complicated, tumultous relationship.
Chiaki and Nodame also take on different responsiblitlies as the show progresses. Chiaki decides to follow his dream of conducting, while Nodame eventually comes to realize her true passion for music. (She also very much wants to be a kindergarden teacher.) Their mentors are very...interesting as well. Franz Stressemen, a famous conductor, spends more time doing Gokuons then actually conducting. He very much perfers the company of women, to the point of getting angry at Chiaki when girls like Chiaki better. Eto is also reduced to trapping Nodame using figurines of her favorite animated characters.
This show delighted me to no end. It was adapted from a manga and the production staff did a great job in translating the manga-like actions and objects into a live action show. The facial expressions often are exaggerated, but it fits right into the craziness of the characters. Whenever Chiaki was in danger of being molested, it was Masumi to the rescue. These cute little hearts would also appear whenever Nodame gazed adoringly at Chiaki. In general, Nodame was in her own world, and everything else outside of it just didn't register. Her goals were slighly different than slightly more normal characters (she composed a fart exercise for kindergardeners complete with exercise movements), but that's what made the show so enjoyable.
There were a lot of moments where I couldn't help laughing hysterically at over the top characters, but there were also a lot of cute or serious moments. I was definitely impressed iwht
I highly recommend this drama. It's not a super serious one, but a show that's fun to watch and very enjoyable. Also, there's amazing music in every episode for any classical music lovers!
Nodame flying after being smacked! She makes this "gayaboo!" kind of sound!
not very pretty...but one of Nodame's food creations.
Mine! So cute!
Masumi-chan
Nodame in action!
oh so pretty!