Anime: Nodame Cantabile

Another peek into my overly erratic tastes: I'm also greatly into Japanese anime. I've watched my fair share, and I enjoyed Nodame Cantabile quite a bit. Ploughing through all 3 seasons in 3 days, I have not really made up my mind on exactly what I feel about Nodame Cantabile. There were moments which I loved, and the overall schematics I rather enjoyed. At the same time, there were a couple of moments when I felt rather dissatisfied.

When watching shoujo, I typically lend myself into a mode of a lovesick puppy. That typically satisfies my inner, and very hidden, side where I squeal at typical cheesy scenes. It wasn't like that for Nodame at all. But, in a way, I'm glad that that wasn't the reason for me enjoying it so much as I find it to often cloud my perceptions.

Firstly, I'm really not a musical person in any way. I'm, quite ashamedly, not one to revel after Ravel (omg did I just do that). Secondly, I wasn't really into the love line between Nodame and Chiaki. I guess that might be due to the fact that that wasn't the point? They weren't meant to give "doki doki" feels which I'm, embarrassingly, quite a sucker for. Thirdly, the 2nd season (or the Paris chapter) was absolutely lacklustre and I felt so completely annoyed with how both the characters were depicted, finding myself with not too much reason to continue watching it except that "season 1 was good, and I guess I should continue seeing it to the end..."



But then again, going into Nodame with absolutely no expectations, I found myself thinking that the characters were loveable. I liked that they complimented each other in a rather typical manner, and Chiaki had such a strong character that drew me in. He's a genius, but not without extreme effort. He's played human and helped bring some realism in the world of ridiculously colorful side characters, all while giving a fair bit of comedic flair.

I definitely enjoyed season 1 the best, and honestly wouldn't mind just stopping there. The last two seasons kind of screwed my perspective of it and the dynamism that was present in the original story somehow dwindled into something different and slightly less enjoyable to watch. In the original Nodame, the comedic elements had me bursting out at many points and it was entertaining and enjoyable. In the later seasons, the drama elements were amped up and the standard few jokes that were constantly reused just left me quite dry in the mouth. I wouldn't have minded if they stopped there, giving a true non-ending a la Haruhi Suzumiya.



I hope I didn't sound too harsh, because I truly enjoyed Nodame Cantabile. The colorful side characters I truly enjoyed, and I found myself appreciating the world they pulled me into.

I put watching Nodame off for so long because I didn't think I'll enjoy a classical musical drama with such mellow/subdued artistry, but I'm glad I did after all. It served me well in passing time these past few dreary days and I'm awaiting the upcoming Korean adaptation (though I have quite a strong inkling it won't turn out too well, I mean just look at Boys Over Flowers...)