Nodame "persuading" Chiaki not to change majors in her own special way. Impressions Hooray, the show is funny again! I felt that episodes 2 and 3 were a bit lackluster in humor (though necessary, since they introduced major characters), but the introduction of Stresemann the randy conductor really livened things up. Stresemann is not an unknown character type either in anime or, interestingly enough, in the history of classical music--which is full of pianists who wrote and played duets to hit on their duet partners and other groupie-like behavior. As episode 5 is meant to illustrate though, Stresemann is ultimately meant to be likable and have a natural feel for encouraging even mediocre musicians to do their best--a tactic I'm not sure always works for everyone but is certainly better than Chiaki's hectoring. Hey baby, why don't you and me go for a little one-on-one rehearsal time? The characters are settling into comfortable roles now, especially Nodame, who I just can't get enough of. She's the female version of Honey and Clover's Shinobu Morita in many ways (glutton, undisciplined natural talent, impulsiveness, etc) and there was many a time when I had wished H&C had more Morita scenes--well, while this show isn't nearly as dramatic as that wonderful show, it makes up for it with delicious slapstick humor--Nodame enjoying food, Nodame punching Stresemann, Nodame inviting Chiaki to bed... Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir I guess the only thing is that I do want to know more about these characters eventually. They fit broad comic archetypes and they play them well, but with many more episodes to go some character development would be needed to keep the momentum going. And I'd like more actual animation of musicianship--there's way too many stills and pans during playing scenes...this is a show about music, JC Staff. I have yet to see anything that rivals Haruhi Suzumiya's glorious concert episode in terms of accurate animation of musical playing. The bar's been set high...perhaps they just don't have the budget. Oh well, as long as it's funny and engaging as a story, I'll continue watching. Now, back to my listening of Beethoven's 7th Symphony...
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