Anime: Nodame Cantabile

If Nodame wasn't in the show I would have loved it however her character was annoying and I either wanted to shoot her or shoot myself. If I ever meet someone with such a character in real life, that's exactly what would happen. I can't stand Nodame. The rest of the show was good, even close to excellent. The music was wonderful, the art was good, and the rest of the characters were funny and held certain interests. Nodame killed all hope of me ever enjoying this show.
The themes of the individual episodes are very repetitive. Pacing is like watching water boil while the paint dries. Humour is ok, but hits you repeatedly over the head with a very obvious, familiar hammer. Animation consists of a lot of panning over stills and simple, abstract backgrounds. However, the male lead is intriguing, ambitious and flawed. The setting is also quite romantic and exotic to the average viewer. The show could at least have been enjoyable if not for its most fatal fault -- a female lead who is stereotypically brainless, romance-obsessed, unambitious, strident, and one-dimensional.

It all just got very boring, very fast.

"Let's go have some fun by playing some music."

I've seen my fair share of music anime, but this is the first time the musical genre has been my first love: classical music.

STORY - "Work hard and you'll achieve your dream!" It's a very cliche and often-used storyline, right? Well, yes. Yes, it is, but that hardly means that the subsequent series has to be old and tiresome. I've said before that the best stories take something that's been done a thousand times already and somehow manage to tell it in a way that's better and more interesting. In a genre dominated by high school drama, Nodame Cantabile steps it up and uses college students, something I'd love to see happen more often. The storytelling happens in a mostly slice-of-life format, but it doesn't shy away from progressing significantly in time -- weeks pass, months pass, whole seasons and school years pass, and it's great to be able to follow the characters for these longer periods of time, especially since it emphasizes the fact that change and progress take both hard work and time.

Nodame Cantabile is very focused for a slice-of-life series in that almost all of the characters are very serious and motivated by their goals; there are notably few subplots that veer away from the main points. I think this can make it a bit more attractive to people that are generally bored by a wandering plotline, but it's pretty easy to get engaged in this series regardless. Reading summaries for Nodame Cantabile can only bring skepticism and doubt considering the frequency of the main plot, but watching it? I was charmed by episode one.

CHARACTER - Without a doubt, most of Nodame Cantabile's appeal is in its characters. Though it feels a little odd to use the adjective on him, Shinichi Chiaki is definitely gar: all the girls want him, and all the guys want to be him (actually, wait, some of the guys want him too). This most likely includes the members of the audience! He's a genius at what he does and furiously motivated; everywhere he goes, people throw themselves at his feet and do everything in their power to push him forward. You're compelled to cheer for him every step of the way. It's funny sometimes how that much charisma can make it through the screen, but it's there, and it's because despite Chiaki's exceeding excellence at everything, he remains a very accessible character. His weaknesses are just as glaring and significant as his strengths, and they're what balance him out. It's easy to imagine yourself in Chiaki's shoes.

Nodame, strangely enough, is very much the same. She's crazy, quirky, wild, and questionable, but once again, she's very human. Her antics are never so over-the-top that they're utterly unbelievable, and her hopes and dreams are notably muddled alongside her classmates' -- something a lot of people can also relate to. The differences between Nodame and Chiaki made them perfect foils, and it was really fun watching all the drama and interaction between the two. Despite the frequency of Nodame's claims on Chiaki, I really felt like this was one of the least forced-feeling romances I've ever seen. At no point did their relationship feel cheap, contrived, or overly convenient. Because so much time passes during the series, the relationship felt like it progressed at a much more natural place; it was great (and adorable).

All of the support characters are nice in their own way, and I don't think there was a single one I disliked. One of the reasons I loved that this series features college-aged students is the fact that they can all drink, smoke, and have sex and it isn't shocking or scandalous! It also added a nice bit of insight into the lives of Japanese college students and their hilarious nightlifes (clubs, arcades, and karaoke!) when they aren't busy studying.

ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - Nodame Cantabile has a pretty damn simple and generic art style, but in that simplicity, it's hard to find anything to pick at. The only thing that stands out for me in the character design is that many characters look like they're perpetually blushing, which is a little confusing at times -- once I got used to it though, it really wasn't that big of a deal.

The most obvious critique of the animation in this series comes from the numerous still-frames used in the dozens of playing and concert montages. As an anime about music, there's obviously a lot of music-playing involved. Especially in scenes involving entire orchestras, the animation is minimal to none -- nine out of ten times you see a flute, a clarinet, an oboe, a french horn, or a cello, the players' arms and fingers aren't moving. The ratio is slightly improved for violin, and the piano gets the most attention with moving fingers maybe 40% of the time. It's understandable though; after all, animating individual fingers playing instruments with many keys is incredibly difficult, especially for the piano, when they make a huge effort to animate the actual notes that are being played.

Aside from piano, where we're sometimes lucky enough to get ten to twenty measures of music at a time, most instruments are only shown being played for seconds at a time, and it's often CG. This makes the rendering of the instrument perfectly accurate and shiny (especially the clarinets and oboes), and I loved catching those sniplets of action in between the panning shots. There are a lot of still shots, but I do think what they do show us is worth it. There is one concert near the beginning of the series that's about half an episode's worth of still montages, but that's the worst of it -- as the series progresses, there's gradually more and more actual playing. :3

MUSIC - Ah, classical music! And of such a nice variety too! I was happy to see that the selection of music in Nodame Cantabile represented more than just the select few scores and piano pieces known by the general public. Most of the composers are still familiar, but there are also lesser-known names such as Debussy, Ravel and Sarasate. Unfortunately, as much as I do love classical music, I don't have a trained enough ear to be able to tell whether or not the music played in the series was tailored specifically for it -- for example, when characters supposedly play a piece poorly, I really can't tell. When characters supposedly improvise and don't play exactly what the piece dictates, I can't tell.

I would think that a vast majority of the pieces would be professionally recorded pieces borrowed for the series though, and that they're all free of glaring errors. (I just can't imagine that they'd budget the money required to hire an entire orchestra to mess up.) Still, at least some of the piano solos (the Moja Moja Suite? The improvised piano version of some made-up show?) had to have been recorded for the show. Overall, all of the music is very pleasing to listen to and well-performed. Maybe you don't be moved to tears like the characters are, but if you're even a mild fan of classical music, you'll be fine. :)

VOICE ACTING - Seki Tomokazu and Ayako Kawasumi both do a great job with their leads. As both characters go through a full range of emotions, their voices had to match up appropriately, and they did! Especially for a character like Nodame, who habitually puts up one front while fostering other thoughts and feelings inside, it was really important that she have a good voice. The rest of the characters all had pretty nice voices as well, though no others really stood out to me as being particularly notable.

OVERALL - As a longtime fan of classical music, an amateur pianist, and a former clarinetist, Nodame Cantabile was both inspiring and nostalgic. It made me want to play more piano, and it made me really miss playing the school band or orchestra. It was educational, giving insight into the world and careers of classical musicians, and it was touching, allowing for a window in the lives of some very believable characters. It was hilarious and very silly at times, but I don't think it ever crossed the line into over-the-top territory. Even for those who aren't huge, huge fans of classical music, I think this series has enough merit to warrant a taste, and for those who are fans, you definitely don't want to miss this series. I already can't wait to move onto the sequel. :3

Note: This review applies to both Nodame Cantabile and its Paris Chapter. One is based on A-Keep fansubs, while the other is based on BSS group's work. Both possess magnificent quality and professional translation. Recommended.



Originally written as manga by Ninomiya Tomoko (Tensai Family Company) and directed by Kasai Kenichi (Honey & Clover) Nodame Cantabile is an interesting, mildly original show, portraying the love affair of two polar-opposite musical geniuses - a constructive and hard working conductor Chiaki and a completely random and wacky pianist Nodame. Due to a twist of fate both of them end up walking the same path, together. Various challenges of conducting a flat out worst orchestra ever, or winning piano competitions are what make our characters mature and reach adulthood, all while pursuing their dreams to stand on the top of the music world.

If you are familiar with Kasai Kenichi's other work, Honey & Clover, you will feel right at home in Nodame Cantabile, as his directing abilities are felt very strong in both shows. Though I found Honey & Clover superior, probably because of a stronger original scenario, Nodame Cantabile is also a pretty good anime. It as well, basically, tells a story of university students reaching the pinnacle of their youth. Romantic dreams and cruel reality clashes are delivered by often sarcastic humor, which works real well all the time. Unfortunately having watched Honey & Clover in the past made me all too familiar with the philosophy of Kasai Kenichi, hence I didn't enjoy it as much here, as I did in his prior anime.

Animation 6/10

Animation done by J.C. Staff (Honey & Clover, Tsukihime) is a mixed bag. For starters, backgrounds are artsy. Some city or nature sceneries are as if taken from a painting or a picture book. Though not exactly necessary in a slice of life show, they do great things at creating just the right mood for the show. Add the very well balanced-color palette, good lighting effects, awesome architecture and detailed mass scenes, and you will get a damn great visual feast.

Unfortunately, what can be said about backgrounds, can't be said about character designs. The first problem I found with everyone was their obviously over-sized heads, which at times would make overall stature of the character distorted. Also, the lack of facial details and hairstyles make everyone look really similar to each other, so you will face a lot of situations were you will mix up random guys with the side cast. Even the two main characters don't stand out from the bunch. Chiaki is always described as very handsome, but at times he looked barely different from the guys described as ugly. Nodame's design doesn't possess much charm either. At times I did almost think that she might look cute, but her over-sized head would turn those thoughts off in a few seconds.

On the other hand, whenever a mass orchestra scene would pop out and the camera would actually concentrate on the musicians' fingers, rather than their heads, then the animation does shine. Fingers look slender and very human like, while their movements are fast and realistic, without a grain of choppiness. I really commend the staff of Nodame Cantabile for making orchestra scenes look magnificent from both artsy and technical stand points. When not in orchestra, movement of characters is usually realistic, though there are a few cases where it would get choppy. Hair doesn't flow in the wind as graciously as you would like it either.

Finally, I but have to mention the awesome direction of Kasai Kenichi, who did wonders in Honey & Clover, and so does wonders in here. Great symbolic backgrounds, usually in funny situations, reflect the mood of the character in center perfectly (like many little suns spinning around behind their backs). The clever use of character faces and placement during comedy scenes also took a big part in me liking this show, as you always have those great close-ups to Chiaki's face when he's dumbfounded, or when you think that the funny part is already over, you suddenly notice someone sulking in the corner of the screen with a black cloud over his head or whatever. Really great use of funny anime symbolism here.

Sound: 8/10

Obviously, the most notable fact in musical department of Nodame Cantabile is that it packs a great deal of classical music. Compositions of Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and many others are present in this show. Almost half of its running time is spent on orchestras which play that music and it's music worth listening to. Though I was never too fond of orchestras, as watching few dozens of people in suits isn't what I'd call particularly exciting and I rather prefer to visualize stuff in my dark room when listening to music, Nodame Cantabile made watching it fun. As the expressions of the players and some little in between monologue which happens inside their heads make music all more pleasant. On the other hand I found out I prefer those modern/classical music mixes of this age to the classical music of the past. Either way, when it's not on concert, background music doesn't shine, as even after having finished this show a few days ago I can't recall a single track from a non orchestra situation. Talk about bland and unmemorable.

Allegro Cantabile by SUEMITSU & THE SUEMITH is a pretty suiting slightly funny, slightly serious opening theme for the show. Though I didn't find it good enough to download an mp3 version, I at least didn't skip it. On the other hand, both ending songs were bland and barely distinctive. I skipped both of them most of the time. Finally, the opening theme in the sequel in Paris is, of course, changed, and changed for the worse. As it was a really lame and boring song, barely suiting the atmosphere of Nodame Cantabile. On the other hand, the ending song Tokyo and Paris by Emiri Miyamoto x solita though not a great piece, did suit the mood of Paris very well.

Finally, the voice-acting in Nodame Cantabile is marvelous. And that is due to some of the most awesome names in voice-acting industry being present in this show. Chiaki voiced by an elite seiyuu Tomokazu Seki (Full Metal Panic! as Sagara Sousuke, Fate/Stay Night as Gilgamesh, Gungrave as Brandon Heat) sounds just as arrogant and just as funny (whenever the show calls for laughs) as his character is. On the women side though, we have one of my top favorite seiyuu Kawasumi Ayako (Crest of the Stars as Lafiel Abriel, Fate/Stay Night as Saber), who voices main heroine Nodame here. Though the real talent of Kawasumi Ayako shows when she is doing cool and serious voices, she does a great job at bringing carefree and wacky Nodame to life as well. Phrases like "gyabo" or "mukiii" certainly brought some new kind of charm in anime industry. Also whenever Nodame gets serious or angry (real rare), she sounds as awesome as Kawasumi Ayako is, and that means Awesome. You can also notice many famous seiyuu names on many undeserving minor characters here, like Noto Mamiko, Ishida Akira, Mitsuishi Kotono, Suwabe Junichi and Hiroyuki Yoshino all who made many great performances as main characters in many shows.

Story: 7/10

Since the main genre of this show is slice of life, it's obvious it happens in a modern day Japan. The show successfully mimics the feeling of the real world, hence making characters and the plot feel very close to the viewers. No dragons or mechas here, but real world can be fun too, sometimes.

Anyway, the best thing in the plot of Nodame Cantabile is its magnificent ability to keep balance between seriousness and comedy. It's funny when it's funny, it's serious when it's serious. Jokes don't affect the storyline, nor do dramatic situations affect the high quality of jokes. In my practice, usually when show tries to be both funny and serious, one side falls flat, because stronger side overshadows the other. So far only Honey & Clover, ironically directed by the same person, managed to keep such a fine line between drama and comedy. Add Nodame Cantabile and now there are two shows which can be both funny, sad and serious at the same time, while being strong at all three.

What I didn't particularly like about the plot was its weird pace, sometimes it seemed as if it was going at a snail's pace and you would want to push it forward, then the next moment it jumps three months into the future. It was really hard to keep track of things, especially in Paris-Hen which managed to jump six months in a single episode. And unlike in Honey & Clover, I did feel slightly disturbed by these jumps in this show... Either way, whatever the pace, each episode is exciting and fun, though it might be hard to watch one episode per sitting as you always feel compelled to reach the point when all the preparation for orchestra is over and time flies again. Though I didn't find the plot groundbreaking I did enjoy it, as leisure watching with minor spices of coming of age. Though it is still annoying that there is no complete closure in Paris-Hen either, I hope they will finally finish it in the next installment.

Character: 7/10

The two main characters of the show, Chiaki and Nodame are pretty good, charismatic and well developed leads. Unfortunately, the side cast of this show ends up in a dumpster as none of them possess enough charm to steal a single moment from Nodame and Chiaki. Nodame is a good character, because she is, well, original, I have seen many wacky girls in anime before, but it's the first time one shouted "gyabo" in my face. She is weird, she is untidy, she is chaotic, all the traits which bring great contrast to Chiaki's tidiness and cool head. Those contrasts bring many funny moments and succeed at developing a great romance between the two leads, who in the end appear as a male tsundere and female philanderer. Chiaki's determination and ambitions shed new light on Nodame, who didn't have any until meeting him. Her growth in a serious, adult world, and Chiaki's growth in a silly emotion infused part of the world sold the pair to me in the end. A really great match, two polar differences, feeding and evolving each other.

Though there are some personalities in the side cast, like the perverted maestro Franz von Stressmen, who manages to entertain, most of the guys in the first season are bland and have little purpose apart from playing their instruments. I forgot their names, forgot their faces, didn't even pay attention to most of them from the beginning. It's no surprise most of them were discarded after the first season. It takes Paris-Hen to finally introduce a side cast worthy of interest. Though there are still a few useless guys loitering around, Russian pianist Taniya and French otaku Frank are pretty interesting. Also, Kuroki, who was as important as fog in the first season, comes back in Paris and finally becomes a full fledged character, with both worries and real personality.

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:



Value: 7/10

Nodame Cantabile is certainly not a show to be watched many times. There are no cool action scenes, you wont find many show-offs here either. Humor is light and mood setting, so it doesn't work as strong the second time around. All you have watched will probably sit in your head for a long time to come. Hence it takes your appreciation of classical music to decide if you will re-watch this show or not. I wont delete it, and though I doubt I will ever re-watch it as a whole, I might repeat some cool concerts or laugh at one or two jokes a second time in a random episode.

Conclusion: Nodame Cantabile is an interesting light hearted show about classical music and coming of age. If you are fond of such stories, have interest in music or just want to relax next to a show which sets all of its values above average - Nodame Cantabile is your choice. You wont find a masterpiece, but you will probably be entertained. It's also, one of the very few shows in anime, which is equally interesting for both women and men. Though ranked for ages 13 and older, I believe Nodame Cantabile is best suited for people in High School or university. Anyway, if you have enjoyed this show - check Honey & Clover, which is quite similar, yet in my opinion, better show than Nodame Cantabile is.

This is not a conventional review, it is a list of my reactions to the show as I watched it. If you want a synopsis there are more than enough other choices. I don't really like the categorized rating system, but I’ll do my best.

1. Nodame Cantabile is Honey and Clover set in a music school instead of an art school (Well, not quite. Honey and Clover had more depth).
2. Too much yelling. Yelling is not funny. (They tone this down a bit later on, but not completely).
3. Nodame is insufferably cute (She remains so).
4. The music is excellent. It sounds like they commissioned the performances specifically for the show, so the style of play matches the action in the scene.
5. They seem to have spent most of their animation budget on very realistically rendered CG sequences of fingers playing instruments. These are nice, but the trade-off was many, many still shots. Not sure it was the right choice. The final effect more animation alternating with music, excepting the CG fingers, than animation set to music. This is unfortunate because animation set to classical music can be excellent.
6. Everyone is too talented, too beautiful and too successful. All the characters learn their lessons, literally and figuratively, and the (always minor) setbacks are quickly overcome.
7. The resolution of Chiaki’s problem with air travel is just silly.
8. On the characters: The supporting cast is little more than plot props and comic relief. Some of them are fun, others are just annoying. Good characters have problems to overcome. Nodame’s central problem is that she doesn’t know what she wants for herself. This is a classic and very real problem and it receives good exploration, partial confrontation and partial resolution. But the image of a woman hanging all over a man who doesn’t return her affection (a dated cliché for a woman without clear goals) gets tiresome. I hope they shake up this dynamic in the sequel. Chiaki barely has problems worthy of the name. His overt problems are whisked away. His underlying problem is that he is incapable of seeing value in people beyond their talent. This is a clear aspect of his character and the primary barrier in his relationship with Nodame, however it receives little development and is never confronted. I’d like to see this addressed in the sequel as well.
9. Despite my complaints I found this show addictive. It’s tightly told and the melodrama is effective. The fact I can complain about the characterization at this level means they did something right.

Nodame Cantabile is an anime series that could easily be called exceptional. It is by no means perfect, however it is definitely a joy to experience.

The story of Nodame Cantabile, originally created by Ninomiya Tomoko (manga) and directed by Kasai Kenichi (directed Honey and Clover, Major), is simple: Nodame and Chiaki are two students at a music conservatory; both play the piano, however Nodame is still searching for a dream that she can truly devote herself to, and Chiaki's dream is to become a conductor. Nodame falls in love with Chiaki (at first sight... so this isn't really a spoiler), and even though Chiaki pretends to dislike her, the two grow together while seeking their dreams, pursuing their own individual music careers.

The animation style is simplistic. The character designs are plain, and some of the side characters look a bit too much alike. The main characters don't even stand out very much amongst them, however they're at least realistic with hair colour, eye colour, et cetera. There's a fairly hefty amount of slapstick humour, so expect to see various animation deformations designed to induce chuckles. Some of this is pretty funny, but perhaps even better is the on-screen text—generally for humourous effect, there will be brief "insider" information about what a character is thinking, or an explanation of what someone is truly implying. Most often, it's giving you obvious information, however they manage to add to the humour by writing it on the screen, basically just by stating the obvious and being proud of it.

The backgrounds are mostly un-noteworthy, however they're at least not overly plain.

The main gripe I had with the animation is the gratuitous use of stills. When the characters are playing instruments, or when the whole symphony is playing together, at least half the time it shows them playing music with a panning still shot. While animating a bunch of moving characters might not be the easiest thing, it doesn't change the fact that it just plain looks static, and detracts from the enjoyment a bit. This was probably done for reasons relating to the budget, but again, knowing this doesn't make the animation any better. Sometimes (randomly), instrument-playing is done using close-ups in CG, which are animated. These generally just focus on the hands of the characters, but they have very fluid movements, and thanks to the effective angles, it fit well enough into the overall atmosphere. Having too much of this kind of close-up CG shot would get redundant, but the constant mixing between the close-up fully-animated CG shots and the panning still shots was fairly disappointing. On the bright side, the animation category as a whole is largely insignificant for this reviewer when compared to the other categories....

The sound is incredible. It is difficult to find an anime series with music of this quality, and it's no wonder, as Nodame Cantabile features music from such great composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Mahler... you get the point (I hope ;}!) The music is performed exquisitely, and needless to say... the music of this series is of the best one could possibly find. If you love any of these composers, or good music in general, this is already reason enough to watch Nodame Cantabile.

The voice acting is exceptional, as well. The two main characters are a great pair. Nodame, voiced by Kawasumi Ayako (Lafiel of Seikai no Monshou, Fuu of Samurai Champloo, and many more), has a ridiculously adorable voice, with an appropriately cute catchphrase, "Gyabo!" Chiaki's voice, done by Seki Tomokazu (Sousuke of Full Metal Panic!, Van Fanel of Escaflowne, Keisuke of Initial D, and a million other things) is perfect for this arrogant and charismatic character. The supporting characters are all fitting, with no standouts on either spectrum.

The story, as noted at the beginning of this review, is simple. It's not a particularly impressive tale, by any means, but there's a fair bit of romance thrown in, making this series a fun mix of drama and comedy. As the series progresses, the characters grow, and things get more and more interesting as the season nears its finale. There aren't many (or even any) surprises, however what's there is pulled off well enough. The story is, for the most part, centered purely around the characters, primarily Chiaki and Nodame. The individual characters' growth is the best part of the story.

The two main characters, Chiaki and Nodame, develop into a great pair. Chiaki is definitely the strongest and most interesting character. He has depth, and he is constantly trying to overcome his past, so that he can move forward and achieve his dream of being a conductor. While it's painfully obvious how he feels about Nodame (despite how he generally treats her), his main focus in life is the music he works with, and this becomes a strength of his as he works on achieving success. Nodame didn't actually become an interesting character until much later in the season. While she was endearing and cute from the start, she lacked depth until they finally decided to develop her character into more than just an avid lover of Chiaki and a relaxed yet very skillful player of the piano. I was disappointed for a while with her character, as a whole, however I was extremely pleased when she finally began to develop into her own interesting character. Together, these two characters grew into an incredibly fun-to-watch pair.

There is only one consistent side character with any level of depth, and that is Mine, the violinist. He's a cool and entertaining character, and he helps to bring some of the plot developments together. I really would have liked it if they developed his character more, perhaps making him more important or give him more backstory, but it didn't happen. The other characters were all flat and uninteresting.

Nodame Cantabile has a fairly high value thanks to its enjoyability and, more importantly, its incredible music. It's a great way to spread the appreciation of some of the best music this world has seen, all while showing the insane level of dedication that serious musicians often have to have, in order to become truly skilled. Otherwise, the story isn't particularly astounding, but the music performances and some of the character interactions that develop between Chiaki and Nodame make it worth checking out sometime down the road. I'd suggest this one to fans of music, or people that like a bit of romance with a lot of comedy thrown in.

The enjoyment factor of this series is high. As has been pointed out already, the music was a joy to listen to. The comedy was mostly funny, thanks to effective use of on-screen text in combination with the great voice acting of Nodame and Chiaki. The story picked up near the end, which added to the enjoyment. The main thing detracting from some of the enjoyment was the excessive use of panning still shots, but even this seemed to lessen as the series progressed. All things considered, this was a thoroughly excellent show, and it definitely gets the recommendation for all who love to see characters grow, those who love comedy, and of course, those who love wonderful music.

Story

How long would it take to teach a normal person with little or no exposure to classical music how to understand and appreciate the fine nuances of a Mozart sonata, or a Rachmaninov piano concerto? How much longer would it take to convince such a person that his preconceptions about classical music were totally unfounded and that classical music might actually be...interesting?

Apparently, all it takes is 23 episodes of Nodame Cantabile. Actually, in my case, it was far less than that. By the second episode, I was already dusting off my piano, untouched for ages, and digging around for old books of classical pieces my teacher used to make me practise.

Nodame Cantabile tells the story of the unlikely college romance between the meticulously clean Chiaki Shinichi, a perfectionist and star pupil of the Momogaoka Academy of Music who aspires to become a conductor, and Noda Megumi, (who prefers to go by Nodame) a complete slob, but a brilliant piano student who can barely read sheet music and plays almost exclusively by ear.

In every romance, there is that fine line between a captivating love story and oversentimentality: make the plot too pedestrian, and the audience loses interest; make it too fanciful, and it becomes a sappy soap opera. Nodame Cantabile strikes a wonderful balance, creating a capriciously charming tale with its full share of priceless moments.


Animation

Apart from feature-length productions, generally associated with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki, Satori Kon or Shinkai Makoto, which I deem to be in a different category than conventional televised anime, truly few titles offer the visual quality of Nodame Cantabile. The overall aesthetic appeal of the series is extremely high, especially when one considers how much screen time is devoted to showing the playing of various orchestral instruments. I cannot speak for the animation of other instruments, but certainly, the playing of the piano sequences is faithfully portrayed.

What really sets Nodame Cantabile apart from its peers, though, is the absolute undeniable genius of the animators in finding a way to visually convey the beauty and emotion of a piece of classical music. I will not even attempt to describe this in a review: it must be seen for oneself. I was equally blown away by the use of spectacular hand-drawn glamour shots with accompanying sparkle effects to emphasise dramatic moments of the anime.

My one gripe about the visual aspect of the anime was that certain secondary characters were drawn too similar to Chiaki. On several occasions, I had to look twice to determine whether it was really Chiaki on the screen. While this is a small issue in the grand scheme of things, I consider it mildly sloppy, given the extremely high quality of the rest of the production.


Sound

Ironically, as an anime about music, Nodame Cantabile has very few opportunities to showcase original compositions. Rather, the vast majority of music played throughout the series are brilliantly performed pieces or excerpts from various classical composers. The one original piece which stands out is the catchy title theme, Allegro Cantabile, which is reiterated in many forms throughout the series.

One would think that the sound team had an easy job, simply recycling recordings of famous classical works. This could not be farther from the truth. As it turns out, every piece was re-recorded to fit the context of the anime. This is particularly evident when characters are learning a new piece of music – the improvement and accuracy of a performance from day to day is quite observable.

The seiyuu selection could not have been more ideal. I am not one to use superlatives lightly, but I have a hard time imagining how this anime could be the same without the prodigious performances of all the seiyuu. I attempted to watch the live-action version of Nodame Cantabile, but could not continue past the first episode. The live-action felt totally lifeless without the dynamism and energy of Kawasumi Ayako in the role of Nodame, the frustrated retentiveness of Seki Tomokazu as Chiaki and the perverted insanity of Ogawa Shinji as Maestro Stresemann.

Nodame Cantabile is the strongest candidate to date for a perfect score in sound. However, in all objectivity, I was disappointed not to see a higher standard of music choreography within the anime. No one can dispute the beauty and the quality of the music, but there were a few scenes which left me wondering why the audio team were being so parsimonious with the background music. As a contrast, I mention Someday's Dreamers, in which practically every scene is paired with an atmospheric soundtrack. The result is clear: a style which gives the anime a rich and mellifluous feeling, which I felt was sometimes lacking in Nodame Cantabile.


Character

The characters in Nodame Cantabile really shine. Each is their own unique person, with quirky but believable defining characteristics. Characters of quality are a rare breed, as the common mistake committed by many an anime is to create memorable characters by giving them exaggerated caricatural traits. I thus consider myself fortunate when I come across a cast of rich and complex characters such as the one in Nodame Cantabile.

Nodame is without question one of the richest and most colourful female lead characters in any anime I have seen. Far from a picture of perfection, she is a piano genius placed in the body of a sloppy, dirty, possessive, selfish and childish girl. Yet, with her adorable attempts at haute cuisine – a fish accidentally burnt charcoal black garnished with a string of pink, heart-shaped mayonnaise – as well as her peculiar mannerisms and bizarre expressions, "Gyabo!" or "Mukya!", she wins over her audience with the same unforgettable charm with which she wins over Chiaki.

In fact, all the main characters in Nodame Cantabile have distinct and often clashing personalities. Of course, it is the interaction between these conflicting character traits which are the source of all the hilarity. At one point the anime notes that "the mind can be freed by new encounters", and nowhere is this more acutely observed than through the changes we see in the main characters as they grow and learn from each other.


Overall

A quick browse through YouTube for videos of classical music pieces featured in Nodame Cantabile – Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, for example – reveals comments like "Nodame!" or "Gyabo!". It is practically unthinkable that an anime about an arcane topic would garner such strong and reverent support, but having watched all 23 episodes, it is easy to see why.

Quite simply, this is a superbly produced anime. Few titles are able to keep audiences watching merely with good pacing alone, but Nodame Cantabile has certainly attained grandmastery of the art. Fewer yet can inspire audiences worldwide to appreciate the beauty of music written centuries ago. And only Nodame Cantabile can do it with the perfect dose of humour, drama and energy to make it appealing to all viewers.