Reviews for Nodame Cantabile (8.21) 2w535m

Nodame Cantabile is an anime series that could easily be called exceptional. It is by no means perfect, however it is definitely a joy to experience.

The story of Nodame Cantabile, originally created by Ninomiya Tomoko (manga) and directed by Kasai Kenichi (directed Honey and Clover, Major), is simple: Nodame and Chiaki are two students at a music conservatory; both play the piano, however Nodame is still searching for a dream that she can truly devote herself to, and Chiaki's dream is to become a conductor. Nodame falls in love with Chiaki (at first sight... so this isn't really a spoiler), and even though Chiaki pretends to dislike her, the two grow together while seeking their dreams, pursuing their own individual music careers.

The animation style is simplistic. The character designs are plain, and some of the side characters look a bit too much alike. The main characters don't even stand out very much amongst them, however they're at least realistic with hair colour, eye colour, et cetera. There's a fairly hefty amount of slapstick humour, so expect to see various animation deformations designed to induce chuckles. Some of this is pretty funny, but perhaps even better is the on-screen text—generally for humourous effect, there will be brief "insider" information about what a character is thinking, or an explanation of what someone is truly implying. Most often, it's giving you obvious information, however they manage to add to the humour by writing it on the screen, basically just by stating the obvious and being proud of it.

The backgrounds are mostly un-noteworthy, however they're at least not overly plain.

The main gripe I had with the animation is the gratuitous use of stills. When the characters are playing instruments, or when the whole symphony is playing together, at least half the time it shows them playing music with a panning still shot. While animating a bunch of moving characters might not be the easiest thing, it doesn't change the fact that it just plain looks static, and detracts from the enjoyment a bit. This was probably done for reasons relating to the budget, but again, knowing this doesn't make the animation any better. Sometimes (randomly), instrument-playing is done using close-ups in CG, which are animated. These generally just focus on the hands of the characters, but they have very fluid movements, and thanks to the effective angles, it fit well enough into the overall atmosphere. Having too much of this kind of close-up CG shot would get redundant, but the constant mixing between the close-up fully-animated CG shots and the panning still shots was fairly disappointing. On the bright side, the animation category as a whole is largely insignificant for this reviewer when compared to the other categories....

The sound is incredible. It is difficult to find an anime series with music of this quality, and it's no wonder, as Nodame Cantabile features music from such great composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Mahler... you get the point (I hope ;}!) The music is performed exquisitely, and needless to say... the music of this series is of the best one could possibly find. If you love any of these composers, or good music in general, this is already reason enough to watch Nodame Cantabile.

The voice acting is exceptional, as well. The two main characters are a great pair. Nodame, voiced by Kawasumi Ayako (Lafiel of Seikai no Monshou, Fuu of Samurai Champloo, and many more), has a ridiculously adorable voice, with an appropriately cute catchphrase, "Gyabo!" Chiaki's voice, done by Seki Tomokazu (Sousuke of Full Metal Panic!, Van Fanel of Escaflowne, Keisuke of Initial D, and a million other things) is perfect for this arrogant and charismatic character. The ing characters are all fitting, with no standouts on either spectrum.

The story, as noted at the beginning of this review, is simple. It's not a particularly impressive tale, by any means, but there's a fair bit of romance thrown in, making this series a fun mix of drama and comedy. As the series progresses, the characters grow, and things get more and more interesting as the season nears its finale. There aren't many (or even any) surprises, however what's there is pulled off well enough. The story is, for the most part, centered purely around the characters, primarily Chiaki and Nodame. The individual characters' growth is the best part of the story.

The two main characters, Chiaki and Nodame, develop into a great pair. Chiaki is definitely the strongest and most interesting character. He has depth, and he is constantly trying to overcome his past, so that he can move forward and achieve his dream of being a conductor. While it's painfully obvious how he feels about Nodame (despite how he generally treats her), his main focus in life is the music he works with, and this becomes a strength of his as he works on achieving success. Nodame didn't actually become an interesting character until much later in the season. While she was endearing and cute from the start, she lacked depth until they finally decided to develop her character into more than just an avid lover of Chiaki and a relaxed yet very skillful player of the piano. I was disappointed for a while with her character, as a whole, however I was extremely pleased when she finally began to develop into her own interesting character. Together, these two characters grew into an incredibly fun-to-watch pair.

There is only one consistent side character with any level of depth, and that is Mine, the violinist. He's a cool and entertaining character, and he helps to bring some of the plot developments together. I really would have liked it if they developed his character more, perhaps making him more important or give him more backstory, but it didn't happen. The other characters were all flat and uninteresting.

Nodame Cantabile has a fairly high value thanks to its enjoyability and, more importantly, its incredible music. It's a great way to spread the appreciation of some of the best music this world has seen, all while showing the insane level of dedication that serious musicians often have to have, in order to become truly skilled. Otherwise, the story isn't particularly astounding, but the music performances and some of the character interactions that develop between Chiaki and Nodame make it worth checking out sometime down the road. I'd suggest this one to fans of music, or people that like a bit of romance with a lot of comedy thrown in.

The enjoyment factor of this series is high. As has been pointed out already, the music was a joy to listen to. The comedy was mostly funny, thanks to effective use of on-screen text in combination with the great voice acting of Nodame and Chiaki. The story picked up near the end, which added to the enjoyment. The main thing detracting from some of the enjoyment was the excessive use of panning still shots, but even this seemed to lessen as the series progressed. All things considered, this was a thoroughly excellent show, and it definitely gets the recommendation for all who love to see characters grow, those who love comedy, and of course, those who love wonderful music.