Nodame Cantabile Review
Fire | 23 Aug 2009So being bored at home and all, I’ve decided to rewatch many of my animes. I stumbled upon this gem in one of my folders(specifically the pink one). This is one of my favourites and for good reason too.
Nodame Cantabile
Synopsis
Shinichi Chiaki is a first class musician whose dream is to play among the elites in Europe. Coming from a distinguished family, he is an infamous perfectionist; not only is he highly critical of himself, but of others as well. The only thing stopping Chiaki from leaving for Europe is his fear of flying. As a result, he’s grounded in Japan.
During his 4th year at Japan’s top music university, Chiaki happens to meet Noda Megumi; or as she refers to herself, Nodame. On the surface, she seems to be an unkempt girl with no direction in life. However, when Chiaki hears Nodame play the piano for the first time, he is in awe at the kind of music she plays. To Chiaki’s dismay, Nodame moves into the apartment next to his and finds out that she is head over heels in love with him.
Nodame Cantabile tells the story of Chiaki and Nodame, as they not only learn to deal with each other, but learn lessons from one another as they strive for the top of the musical world.
Review
This is a romance-comedy story with a bit of drama and music in it, while that may sound cheesy on paper it’s executed almost perfectly. In my opinion, this places near the top of my favourite romcoms and for good reason too. Though if you hate romcoms then you should steer clear because this isn’t going to change your mind. Though the main plot is the relationship between Chiaki and Nodame, their musical lives all work together to make the story much more interesting.
Each of the characters are unique and interesting though they may have cliches, each develop in a unique way which is quite interesting to enjoy. Chiaki, an overly serious guy and Nodame, a goofy girl. This is a typical cliche within romcoms where the main characters are complete contrasts however Nodame Cantabile plays with this formula and shakes it up which keeps things fresh. The side characters themselves are interesting as well, whether it be the upbeat Mine or the perverted Milche.
The graphics are great, through the use of water-colored palettes it knows how to bring out the focus in characters. It’s also nice to see a show where they don’t have the typical giant anime eyes. Though the pride of the graphics is the instrument playing. The detail is so high, the movement of each finger and keypress on a piano, all of these are finely animated. The only gripe I would have is the long distance shots, where the characters are just still images as if panning or zooming onto a picture.
Being an anime based around music, it uses alot of classical orchestral pieces. Never listening to classical music, I dont know if this is a recreation just for the show or taken from an actual orchestra however the pieces themselves are magnificent. The subtle sound effects upon certain realizations really help to bring out the comedy in these moments and is a nice touch to the show. Mukya~
I highly recommend this show to anybody who likes their drama with a slight subtle romance to it as it is quite good. Though it lacks in the fanservice area (practically none) so stay clear if thats all you watch anime for.
Nice Review and colourful still