Saturday, April 26, 2014
"Jolly, cheerful atmosphere, harmonious musical scattered across all episodes, Mozart and Beethoven-like era was emphasized, and probably the sweetest."
Who would've thought that Nodame Cantabile can move and tempt me into re-watching this anime series over and over again? From what I can tell, this anime is worth watching especially if you’re a musical instrument fan who likes to play with musical instruments like Piano.
Synopsis
The story started in Japan where the two hopeful
musicians Chiaki Shinichi and Noda Megumi crossed each other at Momogaoka
Conservatoire. Chiaki has very strong personality, conceited, skilled in
playing piano and violin, and especially he also knows how to be a conductor in
an orchestra thanks to his self-learning experience. On the other hand, Nodame,
known for her weirdness like saying unusual stuffs and terminologies like “gyabo”
or “mukya!” was her expressions whenever she feels sad or happy is skilled in
Piano due to her cantabile-like style of mastering every musical pieces.
However, she was often criticized as she was not playing the piece properly,
rather she plays it according on what she feels. But, despite of her eccentric
way of playing, she was beloved by her uniqueness of style and technique of
playing.
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| Momogaoka Conservatoire |
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| S Orchestra debut |
Along the way, they gained many friends at
conservatoire, ending Chiaki having his own Orchestra after he graduates from
the Conservatoire and his relationship with Nodame deepens unexpectedly despite
of his strictness for himself.
Not long ago I’ve finished watching the series
for the 3rd time already. I didn’t know that this anime series is
becoming the thing I really cherish and love. It some sort of drives you into
the musical world and it feels like telling you the reason why music is so much
cherished and beloved until now especially the historic music composers like
Mozart and Beethoven have embedded so much to remember within the music by
incorporating what they feel in their own compositions in Piano.
The Good
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| Nodame's first recital in Paris |
Atmospheric Musical Theme
This is one of the reasons why I love re-watching
the series so much. I used to be a pianist before myself. I didn’t really
appreciate classical music that much like Mozart, Beethoven’s set of classical
music until I’ve watched Nodame Cantabile. Some of the pieces that I love
includes: Rachmaninoff, Oboe Concerto in C, Rhapsody in Blue – Gershwin,
Pathetique 2nd Movement – Beethoven. And especially who would’ve forget
about the epic two Piano piece played by both Chiaki and Nodame which is the Sonata
for two Piano in D K.448 by Mozart?
Strong Character Development
At season 1 of
the series with 23 episodes, each episodes built an astonishing tension and
character development within the cast. Chiaki, who previously thought he won’t
be able to make it abroad have successfully made his dreams come true thanks to
all the efforts of Nodame and he was able to conduct as well by the help of
Stressemann, along with the efforts of Nodame.
Lively cast of Characters
May it be Chiaki,
or Nodame, or Kuroki, Miki Kiyora from Vienna, Mine Ryutarou, all of them seem
to love music. The cast are most often funny competing at each other especially
Mine who can’t seem to surpass Chiaki’s skills in violin and unparalleled skill
in Conducting. All-in-all they make the series so lively. None of them were
unnecessary since all of them have major role within the series.
The Bad
Unsatisfactory Ending
The last season
seems a little bit lacking for me. They have little impact unlike how the
audience felt when watching the first season of the series. I don’t want to go
too far as to say that the 3rd season ruined the excitement that
taken over from the 1st season. At first I was unsatisfied since the
story of Chiaki and Nodame seemed to be a little unclear to me at first whether
they really did break-up for good or they were together again. But, after I’ve
re-watched the series again, it was quite the opposite of my interpretation as
before.
And about the lacking thing I’ve always mentioned, it’s not just
from the relationship of Chiaki and Nodame that I really noticed, it's from
their performance and improvement as a musician. Did Chiaki finally have the
chance of playing with Philharmonic Orchestra? Did he finally accomplish to
make Vierra-sensei his teacher in Conducting? And for both of them, did they
have finally a chance to play side-by-side in Orchestra? With Nodame having a
piano concerto alongside Chiaki? The lack of conclusion that was given at the end of the series leaves you unsatisfied.
Definitely, there are still some things that needs answering. But,
when I found out about the sequel of the series, I was a little bit satisfied. I
was a little bit unsatisfied because it was only on Manga. If only did they make
an anime series for that sequel, I would be satisfied.
All-in-all, despite of its downside I felt Nodame Cantabile as one
of the masterpiece that I’ve ever watched so far. It really ignited by far my interest
in classical music and thinking of playing Mozart and Beethoven’s musical
pieces someday. So kudos to you Nodame Cantabile!
P.S. As a reward in reading my review, I’ll give you an e-book
compiled by me that tells the sequel of Nodame Cantabile after Nodame Cantabile
Finale. You may click the link here:
:D
