FurryMaisy

I have a secret liking for Taiwan idol dramas and some J-dramas. J-dramas mostly for their tight and fast-paced storylines, and idol dramas just for the lighter-than-air plotlines and beautiful eye-candy.

Recently watched a J-drama released in 2006 called Nodame Cantabile, starring Juri Ueno (loved her in Swing Girls) and Hiroshi Tamaki. It’s based on an ongoing manga by Tomoko Ninomiya. The main protagonists are students in Momogaoka College of Music, and classical music is the main thread linking all the characters in the series.

The boy Shinichi Chiaki is an arrogant perfectionist who is skilled in piano and violin, but secretly harbours ambitions of becoming an orchestral conductor. Although he lived abroad as a young boy in Europe, an incident on a trip back to Japan renders him with a phobia of flying, thus trapping him in Japan.

The girl Megumi Noda (Nodame) is a superbly talented pianist who prefers to play by ear rather than reading music scores, with an ambition to be a kindergarten teacher. Alas her piano skills does not extend to managing personal finances (she runs out of pocket money buying comic books and resorts to stealing lunchboxes from classmates to feed herself) and personal hygiene (bathes every other day and shampoos hair every 3 days).

A series of events made them students of the same teacher and soon they find out they coincidentally living in apartments next to each other. Nodame quickly falls in love with the handsome Chiaki. Chiaki, on the other hand, is fascinated with her skills on the piano, but struggles to appreciate her qualities as a person. Along the way, they meet friends who grow with them in their musical abilities and their love for music.

The supporting casts’ characters are well fleshed out, and each helps Chiaki and Nodame in their unique way.

Although there’s lots of classical music in this series, you don’t have to be a fan to enjoy them. Light and whimsical piano pieces are mixed the more serious orchestral pieces. Beginners will at least learn to recognize the few instruments played, as well as the names of a few more popular pieces.

I quite recommend this series.

Tags: Jdrama

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.