Thursday, January 29, 2009

Nodame Cantabile


This is a Japanese drama that I had watch during this Chinese New Year.

Emm…What can I say?

Bravo!!!

Well, there are many classic music and orchestra play. For those who really interested in music I strongly recommend you to watch this drama. It is better and more interesting than the anime of La Cordo. It is comedy, slice of life story and romance.

So I would like to recommend my dear friends (Xiao Jun, Rebecca, Cai Ling…) to watch this drama and share with me. It also has manga and anime but I not yet check it up. The anime is going to start at Animax, 715 Friday (6/2) 7.30pm.

Here is the synopsis I take form Wikipedia:

Megumi Noda, or "Nodame," is a piano student at the Momogaoka College of Music in Japan. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading the music score. Nodame is messy and disorganized, taking baths several days apart and rarely cleaning her apartment, and loves to eat, sometimes stealing her friend's lunchbox when it is filled with delicacies. Shinichi Chiaki is Momogaoka's top student. Born into a musical family, he is a talented pianist and violinist who wants instead to become a conductor. An arrogant, multi-lingual perfectionist who lived abroad as a young boy in the music capitals of the world (including Prague), Chiaki is trapped in Japan by his phobia of flying.
Nodame and Chiaki happen to be next door neighbours. They meet when a drunk Chiaki falls asleep at Nodame's doorstep. Afterwards, they happen to have the same piano teacher. Nodame quickly falls in love and soon starts claiming they are married, but while Chiaki is initially struck by her cantabile (song-like) playing style, it takes him much longer to appreciate Nodame's unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow, as they both support and compete with each other. Along the way, they make friends with fellow students such as Ryutaro Mine (violin) and Masumi Okuyama (timpany), and teachers like the famous conductor Franz von Stresemann and piano teacher Kouzou Etoh guide them. Later on, Chiaki creates an amateur orchestra (called the Rising Stars (R☆S) Orchestra) with violinist Kiyora Miki, oboe player Yasunori Kuroki and cello player Kikuchi Toru... which allows him to develop his conducting skills. Chiaki pushes Nodame to evolve in her piano skills and enter a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible.

After graduation, Nodame succeeds in curing Chiaki from his fear of planes and they both move to Paris where Nodame will continue her piano studies at a conservatory while Chiaki starts a professional career as a conductor. In Europe, they encounter new friends and rivals, as well as keep in touch with their friends from Japan.