The Baboysai Brain

March 21, 2007 @ 02:31 AM

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Posted by baboysai under Baboysai's Reviews

Kimura Takuya, I'll still love you. But will you be my no. 2?

Of all couples I've encountered in stories, this couple is by far the cutest:

Let me tell you their story.

Shinichi Chiaki is a very talented pianist who was trained by the famous conductor, Sebastino Viera. Chiaki's mother decides to bring him back to Japan. When the plane they're on is about to land, it crashes. Because of this incident, Chiaki is traumatized and he is unable to bring himself to ride a plane again, not even a boat, for fear of drowning. This, however, is unknown to everyone in the music university he is attending.

It is unfortunate that Chiaki's talent doesn't get the attention it deserves because he doesn't join in competitions nor perform in public. His professor gives up on him and puts him under a new professor. This new professor insists on Chiaki performing a duet with a very strange pupil of his, Noda Megumi.

Noda Megumi, who calls herself Nodame, other than being strange, also plays the piano oddly. She plays pieces with a lot of mistakes, but somehow very beautifully executes them. Sometimes when excited, she tends to play very fast, even with very complicated arrangements. Chiaki later realizes that she in fact, often improvises and composes in the middle of the pieces she plays.
When Chiaki hears the same style of playing in his apartment, he discovers Nodame living next door. He finds out Nodame's strangeness even more strange because her house is a total wreck. Unable to control the urge, he cleans her place and cooks for her. Nodame becomes more and more dependent. When Nodame is told it is impossible for them to be together, she sinks into depression.

Review:

What makes the two of them very cute is that Chiaki denies and denies that there is anything going on between them, but he cannot help watching over Nodame. Nodame is exactly like a three-year old who must be attended to at all times.

The characterization is wonderfully done. Chiaki is a perfectionist who seems to excel in almost anything from playing music instruments to cooking. Nodame is a happy go-lucky, and almost clearly has a psychological condition of sorts, nearing autism perhaps. (Ueno Juri did a great job acting out Nodame) Not to mention the other characters in the least.

The overall mood of the production is cartoon comedy. Hearts floating, slapstick bonking of objects onto one's head, nosebleeds, the works. Everything you can find in a cartoon they put it here. Except maybe the "cry me a river" style, but it's okay to exclude that one. This technique, for me, worked well with the overall production. Because nothing really gets too serious. One moment they start crying, but something funny's bound to happen. ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

It's very light. Not cheesy, not mushy. Although in the end, I might have been more satisfied to see a little more Chiaki-Nodame cuteness, it was really the end. My sister knew someone who wouldn't watch the ending because she didn't want it to end, and an officemate who bought a piano after watching the series. The proof that I enjoyed this one is the mere fact it's 3 AM and I'm still typing away to ease down this hype from watching it.

I wonder, what would Nodame Cantabile do to you?

Title: Nodame Cantabile
Original Story: Tomoko Ninomiya (manga)
Genre: Japanese Live Adaptation
Starring: Hiroshi Tamaki as Chiaki, Ueno Juri as Nodame
Original air time: Oct-Dec 2006
Rating: /10