Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter: Anime Review

Title: Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter
Author: Tomoko Ninomiya
Studio: J.C.Staff
Released: Q4 2008



Having watched the first season of Nodame Cantabile I have had to fight with my biased opinions while watching the second season and writing this review to come up with a quaint little neutral observation. Happily enough, though, I did not have to fight for long; the second season has more than lived up to the standard set by the first one.

If you haven't watched the first season I recommend that you stop reading and go watch it. Either that or read the first ten or so volumes of the Manga considering the Anime follows it like a carriage follows a horse. In fact, you could probably say the first season walked the exact same path as the Manga, taking in the sites as it ambled along, content and enjoying itself. As for the second season, all you need to do is take that description, add a bottle of Vodka and a pogo stick and you've got it. Considering the second season addresses the thicker part of the story, it covers everything quite well, however certain things are skipped over and when compared to the Manga some of it can seem rushed or unsteady.

In the first season we watched the characters go through various changes according to the influence of each other; Chiaki Shinichi learned to tolerate an orchestra that might seem terrible, but had the ability to become the fantastic R*Star*S Orchestra, something that he helped create thanks to the efforts of himself and everyone around him. Noda Megumi (Nodame) learned that if she wanted to be able to stay by Shinichi's side she would have to be more serious in her playing just to keep up with him. Other smaller characters also go through small changes as the first season progresses, making the overall watching process pleasant and enjoyable.

The second season leads on directly from the end of the first one, Shinichi having invited Nodame to join him in Europe. Nodame herself passes the exam and enters Paris' “Conservatoire”, a music school that cultivates the talent of young musicians. She was invited, in fact, by the teacher Auclair at the end of the first season after he saw her astounding performance in the competition. During her studies she is staying at an apartment filled with music students and artists (the artists get the attic...yay for Art), and it's not long before both Shinichi and Nodame have friends and the series has a cast.
There aren't only new characters, either. The second season sees the return of perverted conductor Stresemann, his dominatrix PA Elise and Samurai-like Oboe player Yasunori Kuroki. Throughout the series both Shinichi and Nodame have their own challenges and events to pass through, always coming back together at the end of each one, and always giving each other support.
This series is filled to the brim with some fantastic humour and great variety of characters. Paul Dubois is a Bassoon player with a whimsical attitude who fights against the trend of French orchestras replacing the Bassoon with the German Fagott. On the other hand Song Rui is a Chinese piano prodigy whose relationship with her mother nicely defines the situation of a parent pushing and pressuring their child to “be all that they can be” without concern for what the child actually wants to do, even when Rui is in her 20s.

One of the funniest parts of this series is the relationship between Nodame and Shinichi, compared to in the Manga as something like a Manzai comedy duo and the Anime is no different. Shinichi's air of maturity and intelligence greatly contradicts Nodame's impulsive and childish nature. What I loved was Nodame going around telling everyone she was his wife, and him eventually not bothering to even correct her when meeting other people. It starts off as a blatant “We are not married,” which eventually broke down to him just thinking it rather than saying it out loud.

Something else that I realised while watching this series was my ignorance of how musicians actually learn. There are so many classes including analysis, history, sight-reading, language and practicals that I can honestly say I was greatly underestimating the amount of effort needed to play classical music at a professional level. Even so you can see that this effort does not go to waste, and the rewards are great. Nodame herself gets to play a recital during the series, which was amazing and funny to watch.

When comparing the Anime to the Manga it is important to note that both are delivered completely differently. Manga doesn't have the advantage in audio that Anime has, it needs to rely on the imagination of the reader, which is all well and good until you bring in something like Classical music, something that not a lot of people might be able to recall by ear. You can show me some Liszt or Beethoven and I'll think “Well hey, that's classical music, that is,” but chances are I won't be able to place names, and in a Manga that constantly brings up names and genres, it doesn't have the ability to communicate through sound. It substitutes that with simple explanations and analysis of the music, as well as going through the history and feelings of the composer, and the actual story behind the piece itself.
The Anime, on the other hand, is able to use both explanation and sounds to communicate to the viewer, making it a more powerful experience overall. While I would urge you to both watch the Anime and read the Manga (in that order, considering the missing out of certain parts might annoy you while watching the Anime if you read the Manga first), if you want to for one go for the Anime. While a couple of interesting parts of the Manga are missed out, it doesn't have any particular impact on the story, and you won't really notice it unless you have read the Manga, in which case you know everything you need to know so it's all good.

The music used in this series is one of the best examples of how music can be used effectively to express emotion, easily setting whichever atmosphere the director wants. Simple, light, happy music is used in the background for the more common scenes, while a powerful orchestra and a hypnotising piano are both used to provide and awe-inspiring experience.
It's unfortunate but I can't quite say the same for the opening and ending titles. The OP (Sky High by the Gospellers) is a standard Jpop-ish song that's nice enough to listen to but doesn't really capture the series and seems more happy-go-lucky than anything else. The ED (Tokyo and Paris by Emiri Miyamoto x solita) is more or less the same. It sounds better, but I think could be better again.

I don't think there is any way possible that I could regret seeing this Anime without someone pushing a gun against my head and saying “You shouldn't have watched that,” and even then the regret would be half-hearted.