Jdorama - Nodame Cantabile

Cast of Nodame Cantabile

I think you can easily tell from the title that I've been bitten by the Japanese drama series bug. And although I've neglected this blog because I've been really busy with work, I just felt I needed to write about this series, so here you go... =)

Aside from HK's TVB dramas, some of the stuff made by Mediacorp Singapore and a few Mainland Chinese series, I really don't watch any other types of series made by the Asian TV industries. Even then, the last Jdorama I watched was Shomuni 1, 2 and 3 which I really enjoyed but I was never truly into Jdorama's since I wasn't able to get good recommendations to the kind of Japanese dramas I liked.

How I came upon Nodame Cantabile is actually a little unusual and makes a mildly amusing story. =) Since Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS, I have been hooked on rhythm games and hunted down Ouendan 1 & 2 just so I could play them. In the process of looking for more rhythm games to play on my NDS, I came upon Nodame Cantabile. While EBA and Ouendan used songs from popular music, Nodame Cantabile differed from them because it used only classical music.

Now I really like classical music and my familiarity with it made playing Nodame Catabile the NDS game a breeze. But what made me really fall for the game was the quirky girl that kept showing up in the story parts. In this game, one takes the role of a conductor and tries to conduct a musical piece by taping or performing movements on the touch-pad with the stylus. This quirky girl didn't seem to have too much to do with the music parts but she kept showing up and even though I didn't have a clue what they were saying to each other, I pretty much figured out she lived in a messy room and made a lot of cute quirky sounds. Now it sounds silly but I for some reason, really liked her character in the game.

So just last week I was in TS video shop when I saw Nodame Cantabile the TV series being sold on DVD. I didn't even have a clue then that Nodame Cantabile was first a manga before it was made into a hit TV series, an anime series and a video game. For some strange reason, I was drawn to the series and the prospect of finding out just exactly what this quirky girl with the funny expressions story was and so I bought the series.

What I definitely didn't expect was just how wonderful this series turned out to be. The series has a cast of quirky characters that are not just for laughs but who influence each other and the story, giving this series depth and warmth. This series is heartwarming without being maudlin. The exaggerated manga/anime-ish moments are also well thought out as they aren't use merely for laughs but also to take off some of the edge of the serious moments so that the series isn't weighed down by melodrama. The background music is mostly comprised of classical music which is very well used and the music is so striking that I do consider the music to be one of the stars of this series. Many of the orchestra performances are also very nicely setup and really do bring across just how grand and moving a live performance can be.

It really helped that this series was very well cast and although Ueno Juri isn't the lead in this series, she played Noda Megumi with so much passion, energy and charm, and so perfectly that without her, I don't think Nodame Cantabile would have been superb series that it is. That's not to say that Tamaki Hiroshi who plays Chiaki Shinichi the protagonist in this series was bad. He was really good too. He was very convincing as the arrogant, very talented and at the beginning very self-absorbed music student. And Tamaki Hiroshi needed to be good because even though this series is titled Nodame Cantabile, the series isn't about Nodame (aka Noda Megumi). Although it is Nodame's love for music and life that influences Chiaki Shinichi and changes him, the story is really about him, his growth as a person and a musician and how the influences of not only Nodame but also Mine, Masumi and a hold host of other people help him to in turn influence them and others to seek out the best in themselves.


Eita as Mine Ryutaro and Mizukawa Asami as Miki Kiyora

Other notable characters and actors in this cast are Eita (plays Mine Ryutaro - violin), Koide Keisuke (Okuyama Masumi - timpani) and my personal favourite among the secondary cast, Mizukawa Asami (plays Miki Kiyora - violin). And yes, the only reason for this paragraph is because I just had to mention them. =) Truth is a lot of the supporting cast is very good, suitably cast and quite memorable.


Support cast

If you love classical music and heartwarming stories about love and friendship, then I urge you to check out Nodame Cantabile the TV series, it is that good. =)

cheers
p.s. now I'll have to hunt down the manga and the anime. =)