Nodame Cantabile - Anime - AniDB (2024)

Note: This review applies to both Nodame Cantabile and its Paris Chapter. One is based on A-Keep fansubs, while the other is based on BSS group's work. Both possess magnificent quality and professional translation. Recommended.

Originally written as manga by Ninomiya Tomoko (Tensai Family Company) and directed by Kasai Kenichi (Honey & Clover) Nodame Cantabile is an interesting, mildly original show, portraying the love affair of two polar-opposite musical geniuses - a constructive and hard working conductor Chiaki and a completely random and wacky pianist Nodame. Due to a twist of fate both of them end up walking the same path, together. Various challenges of conducting a flat out worst orchestra ever, or winning piano competitions are what make our characters mature and reach adulthood, all while pursuing their dreams to stand on the top of the music world.

If you are familiar with Kasai Kenichi's other work, Honey & Clover, you will feel right at home in Nodame Cantabile, as his directing abilities are felt very strong in both shows. Though I found Honey & Clover superior, probably because of a stronger original scenario, Nodame Cantabile is also a pretty good anime. It as well, basically, tells a story of university students reaching the pinnacle of their youth. Romantic dreams and cruel reality clashes are delivered by often sarcastic humor, which works real well all the time. Unfortunately having watched Honey & Clover in the past made me all too familiar with the philosophy of Kasai Kenichi, hence I didn't enjoy it as much here, as I did in his prior anime.

Animation 6/10

Animation done by J.C. Staff (Honey & Clover, Tsukihime) is a mixed bag. For starters, backgrounds are artsy. Some city or nature sceneries are as if taken from a painting or a picture book. Though not exactly necessary in a slice of life show, they do great things at creating just the right mood for the show. Add the very well balanced-color palette, good lighting effects, awesome architecture and detailed mass scenes, and you will get a damn great visual feast.

Unfortunately, what can be said about backgrounds, can't be said about character designs. The first problem I found with everyone was their obviously over-sized heads, which at times would make overall stature of the character distorted. Also, the lack of facial details and hairstyles make everyone look really similar to each other, so you will face a lot of situations were you will mix up random guys with the side cast. Even the two main characters don't stand out from the bunch. Chiaki is always described as very handsome, but at times he looked barely different from the guys described as ugly. Nodame's design doesn't possess much charm either. At times I did almost think that she might look cute, but her over-sized head would turn those thoughts off in a few seconds.

On the other hand, whenever a mass orchestra scene would pop out and the camera would actually concentrate on the musicians' fingers, rather than their heads, then the animation does shine. Fingers look slender and very human like, while their movements are fast and realistic, without a grain of choppiness. I really commend the staff of Nodame Cantabile for making orchestra scenes look magnificent from both artsy and technical stand points. When not in orchestra, movement of characters is usually realistic, though there are a few cases where it would get choppy. Hair doesn't flow in the wind as graciously as you would like it either.

Finally, I but have to mention the awesome direction of Kasai Kenichi, who did wonders in Honey & Clover, and so does wonders in here. Great symbolic backgrounds, usually in funny situations, reflect the mood of the character in center perfectly (like many little suns spinning around behind their backs). The clever use of character faces and placement during comedy scenes also took a big part in me liking this show, as you always have those great close-ups to Chiaki's face when he's dumbfounded, or when you think that the funny part is already over, you suddenly notice someone sulking in the corner of the screen with a black cloud over his head or whatever. Really great use of funny anime symbolism here.

Sound: 8/10

Obviously, the most notable fact in musical department of Nodame Cantabile is that it packs a great deal of classical music. Compositions of Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and many others are present in this show. Almost half of its running time is spent on orchestras which play that music and it's music worth listening to. Though I was never too fond of orchestras, as watching few dozens of people in suits isn't what I'd call particularly exciting and I rather prefer to visualize stuff in my dark room when listening to music, Nodame Cantabile made watching it fun. As the expressions of the players and some little in between monologue which happens inside their heads make music all more pleasant. On the other hand I found out I prefer those modern/classical music mixes of this age to the classical music of the past. Either way, when it's not on concert, background music doesn't shine, as even after having finished this show a few days ago I can't recall a single track from a non orchestra situation. Talk about bland and unmemorable.

Allegro Cantabile by is a pretty suiting slightly funny, slightly serious opening theme for the show. Though I didn't find it good enough to download an mp3 version, I at least didn't skip it. On the other hand, both ending songs were bland and barely distinctive. I skipped both of them most of the time. Finally, the opening theme in the sequel in Paris is, of course, changed, and changed for the worse. As it was a really lame and boring song, barely suiting the atmosphere of Nodame Cantabile. On the other hand, the ending song Tokyo and Paris by Emiri Miyamoto x solita though not a great piece, did suit the mood of Paris very well.

Finally, the voice-acting in Nodame Cantabile is marvelous. And that is due to some of the most awesome names in voice-acting industry being present in this show. Chiaki voiced by an elite seiyuu Tomokazu Seki (Full Metal Panic! as Sagara Sousuke, Fate/Stay Night as Gilgamesh, Gungrave as Brandon Heat) sounds just as arrogant and just as funny (whenever the show calls for laughs) as his character is. On the women side though, we have one of my top favorite seiyuu Kawasumi Ayako (Crest of the Stars as Lafiel Abriel, Fate/Stay Night as Saber), who voices main heroine Nodame here. Though the real talent of Kawasumi Ayako shows when she is doing cool and serious voices, she does a great job at bringing carefree and wacky Nodame to life as well. Phrases like "gyabo" or "mukiii" certainly brought some new kind of charm in anime industry. Also whenever Nodame gets serious or angry (real rare), she sounds as awesome as Kawasumi Ayako is, and that means Awesome. You can also notice many famous seiyuu names on many undeserving minor characters here, like Noto Mamiko, Ishida Akira, Mitsuishi Kotono, Suwabe Junichi and Hiroyuki Yoshino all who made many great performances as main characters in many shows.

Story: 7/10

Since the main genre of this show is slice of life, it's obvious it happens in a modern day Japan. The show successfully mimics the feeling of the real world, hence making characters and the plot feel very close to the viewers. No dragons or mechas here, but real world can be fun too, sometimes.

Anyway, the best thing in the plot of Nodame Cantabile is its magnificent ability to keep balance between seriousness and comedy. It's funny when it's funny, it's serious when it's serious. Jokes don't affect the storyline, nor do dramatic situations affect the high quality of jokes. In my practice, usually when show tries to be both funny and serious, one side falls flat, because stronger side overshadows the other. So far only Honey & Clover, ironically directed by the same person, managed to keep such a fine line between drama and comedy. Add Nodame Cantabile and now there are two shows which can be both funny, sad and serious at the same time, while being strong at all three.

What I didn't particularly like about the plot was its weird pace, sometimes it seemed as if it was going at a snail's pace and you would want to push it forward, then the next moment it jumps three months into the future. It was really hard to keep track of things, especially in Paris-Hen which managed to jump six months in a single episode. And unlike in Honey & Clover, I did feel slightly disturbed by these jumps in this show... Either way, whatever the pace, each episode is exciting and fun, though it might be hard to watch one episode per sitting as you always feel compelled to reach the point when all the preparation for orchestra is over and time flies again. Though I didn't find the plot groundbreaking I did enjoy it, as leisure watching with minor spices of coming of age. Though it is still annoying that there is no complete closure in Paris-Hen either, I hope they will finally finish it in the next installment.

Character: 7/10

The two main characters of the show, Chiaki and Nodame are pretty good, charismatic and well developed leads. Unfortunately, the side cast of this show ends up in a dumpster as none of them possess enough charm to steal a single moment from Nodame and Chiaki. Nodame is a good character, because she is, well, original, I have seen many wacky girls in anime before, but it's the first time one shouted "gyabo" in my face. She is weird, she is untidy, she is chaotic, all the traits which bring great contrast to Chiaki's tidiness and cool head. Those contrasts bring many funny moments and succeed at developing a great romance between the two leads, who in the end appear as a male tsundere and female philanderer. Chiaki's determination and ambitions shed new light on Nodame, who didn't have any until meeting him. Her growth in a serious, adult world, and Chiaki's growth in a silly emotion infused part of the world sold the pair to me in the end. A really great match, two polar differences, feeding and evolving each other.

Though there are some personalities in the side cast, like the perverted maestro Franz von Stressmen, who manages to entertain, most of the guys in the first season are bland and have little purpose apart from playing their instruments. I forgot their names, forgot their faces, didn't even pay attention to most of them from the beginning. It's no surprise most of them were discarded after the first season. It takes Paris-Hen to finally introduce a side cast worthy of interest. Though there are still a few useless guys loitering around, Russian pianist Taniya and French otaku Frank are pretty interesting. Also, Kuroki, who was as important as fog in the first season, comes back in Paris and finally becomes a full fledged character, with both worries and real personality.

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:

Value: 7/10

Nodame Cantabile is certainly not a show to be watched many times. There are no cool action scenes, you wont find many show-offs here either. Humor is light and mood setting, so it doesn't work as strong the second time around. All you have watched will probably sit in your head for a long time to come. Hence it takes your appreciation of classical music to decide if you will re-watch this show or not. I wont delete it, and though I doubt I will ever re-watch it as a whole, I might repeat some cool concerts or laugh at one or two jokes a second time in a random episode.

1. Conclusion: Nodame Cantabile is an interesting light hearted show about classical music and coming of age. If you are fond of such stories, have interest in music or just want to relax next to a show which sets all of its values above average - Nodame Cantabile is your choice. You wont find a masterpiece, but you will probably be entertained. It's also, one of the very few shows in anime, which is equally interesting for both women and men. Though ranked for ages 13 and older, I believe Nodame Cantabile is best suited for people in High School or university. Anyway, if you have enjoyed this show - check , which is quite similar, yet in my opinion, better show than Nodame Cantabile is.