[Anime] Nodame Cantabile - in all its incarnations.

Okay, so I love this series. Being a musician, perhaps I'm simply more connected to the subject matter/setting than most people. However, the popularity of the series leads me to believe that it has appeal across the board, so you can get into it even if you have no knowledge of classical music.



Since I'm currently watching the Live Action jdrama, I'm going to make this an all-inclusive for the jdrama and anime. I figure more people will be interested in the anime since it just started up, so I'll be sure to provide torrents and such.
I'll try to keep up the list, but if anyone wants to update on the new episodes it would be very helpful .

Series description shamelessly taken from Wikipedia::

Spoiler:

Shinichi Chiaki is the top piano student at his university and an excellent violinist, but Chiaki doesn't care about playing these instruments as much as he dreams of someday being a conductor. Chiaki, however, has several deeply rooted fears about traveling, and so finds himself "trapped" in Japan. Because he's trapped, Chiaki starts to question exactly how far he can possibly go in music, especially when he's passed over again and again by others he believes less worthy of musical scholarship and fame.

Recently dumped by his girlfriend for a "ham" looking fellow, passed over for a chance to go overseas, removed from his star spot in the piano competition because he walked out on his piano instructor, Chiaki is at his limit. This is when he meets Nodame, or Megumi Noda. Nodame is a free — and filthy — spirit who reminds Chiaki that music can be fun. She reminds him what drew him to be a conductor in the first place and, in learning how to deal with Nodame, Chiaki learns how to deal with others. Chiaki begins to realize what is possible for him, even within the country of Japan.

For Nodame, Chiaki is everything she isn't. Clean, neat, dedicated, studious and inherently arrogant about his accomplishments and capabilities, Chiaki constantly bullies her into being more serious about life. He sees potential in her and her abilities as a pianist that she doesn't care about. She loves Chiaki and wants to be with him, but because she's not serious about her piano studies nor her personal hygiene, Chiaki always denies her affections.

Anime

Official Website: http://nodame-anime.com/
Studio: JC Staff
Year: 2007
OP: "Allegro Cantabile" by SUEMITSU & THE SUEMITH
ED: "Konna ni Chikaku de..." by Crystal Kay
Fansubbing group: C1 Anime
Torrents:

Episode 1
--
Drama
Personally, I feel that the live action is actually done better than the anime, simply because it's real people and real situations. However, the live action retains some random anime/manga-esque moments that make it amusing. Also, I feel the casting was absolutely spot-on!

Official Website: http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/nodame/index.html
Cast

* Shinichi Chiaki: Hiroshi Tamaki

* Megumi Noda: Juri Ueno

* Ryutaro Mine: Eita

* Franz von Stresemann：Naoto Takenaka

* Kiyora Miki：Asami Mizukawa

* Masumi Okuyama：Keisuke Koide

* Saiko Tagaya：Misa Uehara

* Mamoru Ookouchi：Yuuya Endo

* Sakura Saku：Saeko

* Tatsumi Mine：Masatou Ibu

* Kouzou Etoh：Kosuke Toyohara

* Hajime Tanioka：Masahiko Nishimura

* Sebastiano Vieira：Zdenek Macal

Year: 2006
Episodes: 11
Screenwriter: Etou Rin
Producers: Wakamatsu Hiroki (若松央樹), Shimizu Kazuyuki (清水一幸)
Directors: Takeuchi Hideki, Kawamura Yasuhiro (川村泰祐)
Music: Hattori Takayuki (服部隆之)
Torrents:
D-addicts torrent list.

FYI: the drama downloads are for RAW eps only. You have to download the softsubs from here. (yes, you need to register...sorry...)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Indeed, the jdrama is complete at only 11 episodes, which I think covers the first 9 volumes of the manga, which I'm not entirely positive is around 16 volumes long (not sure if it's continuing).

The author actually was against it being adapted into a drama series, but since the art style isn't...well...it's not bad, necessarily, but it's definitely not my favorite, I felt that it worked out better as a live-action series. I'm not sure about a sequel drama being in the works, but most people don't think it sounds likely since they don't really "do" that in Japanese TV.

I'll look for scanlations...I used to have some before it was licensed (I even have a couple of manga volumes in Japanese), but I've long since deleted them.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah...I wish they were all hardsubbed. But this way I can make a DVD and make selectable subtitles (because I got the Spanish ones as well for my friend), so it's all good.

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

I'm looking forward to see how the Timpani player with the "admiration" for Chiaki will turn out like.

Yeah, Masumi is one of my favorite parts of the story (I actually like him better in the drama as well), because he's so 'out there.'

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Seriously, I feel the same way about the drama ruining the TV show. It was just so well casted and filmed that there really needs to be more drama.

I've never watched H&C, so I have no referece for that -- mostly because I normally don't like this kind of shoujo stuff. The music twist is the thing that makes it most interesting for me and gives me an attachment to the characters.

Originally Posted by zzeroparticle

I do have a question though: how good is the analysis of the performance? I don't have any music training yet Chiaki often makes derogatory comments about the way a character plays a piece and I just wanted to know how spot-on he was.

As to that, I'm a violist, so I don't play piano and therefore am less able to heavily criticize piano playing; pianists themselves are very exacting when it comes to technical ability, something I'm completely unable to judge even as a music major. The performances on the whole sound pretty good. I'm convinced that the "A-Orchestra" is actually made up of real musicians (minus the concertmaster), because they look like they're actually playing. Likewise, I think Nodame is also trained in piano. To me, the performances don't sound as bad as Chiaki makes them out to be , but that's okay. The vast majority of people who watch the show aren't musicians, so it doesn't have to be spot-on (this is the story of musicians portrayed by actors...I think 'Master and Commander' is an annoying example of this). Mine is definitely not playing in most of the scenes, but he pulls it off pretty well.

I really, really hope there's a new season of the drama .

How ya doing, buddy?