I love Nodame Cantabile and I hate to say that the Paris Hen Season has been a disappointing one so far. From a Must-Watch, it has become a Nice-to-Watch. The music is still great and it's still quite funny but somehow, it's no longer engaging.I guess the main reason is the side characters aren’t as interesting as those of the 1st season. Masumi-chan and Mine were simply hilarious and I miss them. Comparatively, Frank and Tanya are not just as interesting.Anyway, a 3rd Season of Nodame Cantabile has been confirmed. It will be called Nodame Cantabile: Paris Green-Lit and it will be shown in Fall 2009. I'm not exactly excited about it. (o`з´o)Episode 9It's Summer! Tanya can’t go on her long awaited vacation in Southern France. Her allowance is cut as her brother is unemployed. Feeling depressed, she looks out of the window and sees Chiaki with his new car. In his room, she tries to hit on Chiaki but is unsuccessful!That evening, Tanya eats dinner with Chiaki and Nodame. Since she’s not going to Southern France anymore, Tanya is thinking of staying at Frank’s place. However, that didn't happen as Nodame invites Tanya to her recital. Tanya gladly accepts the invitation but she requests Nodame to bring a nice guy along.That nice guy is Kuroki. Both have bad impression of each other.After meeting Kuroki, they set off to the beach. Tanya and Nodame are happily playing with water while Kuroki is by a terrified Chiaki’s side. Since it's low tide, Tanya suggests walking across to Grand Bae Island. Obviously Chiaki wants to stay behind but after listening to Tanya's taunting, his ego tells him to go. On their way there, Tanya is angry to see Chiaki hugging Nodame from behind. She turns around and says, 'Global Warming is bad enough! Ah! I'm boiling!'. (haha.. this totally cracks me up)Well, all of us know the real truth.The 4 of them finally arrive. Mr. Pierre De Benoit gives them a warm welcome. Nodame is then led to her room. She will be sharing it with her 'husband' Chiaki. Since it's Nodame's first recital, Chiaki decides not to protest. Before dinner, Nodame asks to play the piano.Mr. Pierre De Benoit is a big Mozart fan. For the recital, he requests Nodame to play a piece from Mozart. Nodame still doesn’t like to play Mozart as she doesn't like the way her music teachers always instruct her to play in a certain way. While she is playing a piece on the piano, Mr. Pierre De Benoit walks in. Since he's a big Mozart fan, he's very critical of Nodame's play.During dinner time, Nodame still feels upset over what Mr. Pierre De Benoit says.Tanya is regrets having a light lunch. The meal consists of rice, peas and vegetables. When being asked what kind of Japanese food this is, Kuroki comments that this is similar to the meals in Zen temples. The master and his wife are happy with the answer. (My guess is because Zen sounds cool.)In Chiaki's mind, he praises Kuroki for such an answer.Nodame is still worried about the recital. She asks the butler if she really has to play Mozart. The butler passes her a book about Mozart's love for his wife. He feels that that will help her.Since Nodame can’t read French fluently, she asks Chiaki to read Mozart’s letters as a bedtime story. Chiaki reads the letters to her aloud and Nodame finds Mozart very interesting. After a while, Nodame falls asleep. The two sleep side by side.Episode 10This episode starts off with Nodame trying to put on the dress her mother made. She can't zip up and seeks Chiaki's help. However, it seems like Nodame has put on too much weight and the zip rips off.Chiaki wants to borrow thread and needle from Mr. Pierre De Benoit but instead, Benoit insists on Nodame picking a dress from his collection.In the end, she picks a Mozart costume to wear since she loves dress up. (I think she's attention seeking too =.=)Outside, Tanya is shocked and unhappy that she has to pay to enter. The price is €15 but Tanya only has €7 as she has spent her money on a necklace. She wants to look beautiful to attract the sons of the master. She borrows money from Kuroki.Finally, Nodame's first recital begins. Sitting down in front of her piano, Nodame plays the piano beautifully. Her first piece is 'Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman'.She completely conquers Mozart and the hearts of the audience. The grandsons of the master are attracted to her music too. Her second piece is Mozart’s last piano sonata. According to Chiaki, this is a hard piece to master because it's unpredictable. Mozart likes to follow his own methods rather than going with the norm.Nodame's third piece is from Ravel. Shocked by the change in atmosphere, the whole audience keeps silent and listens. While playing, she recalls herself falling into the fountain while trying to help the boy retrieve the wooden yatch (episode 7). Thinking about that, she smiles.Nodame then plays her fourth and final piece. Everyone is impressed with her play and gives her a standing ovation.After Nodame's recital, the master reveals to Chiaki, Kuroki and Tanya that they’ll be performing for the post-recital party. Kuroki has anticipated it and Tanya is looking forward to wearing the nice costumes. As for Chiaki, he's trying very hard to escape from it but fails as the master has prepared everything, even a violin, for him.Tanya doesn’t stand out as much as she would like to. She is also jealous of the attention Nodame is receiving. She's disappointed to find out that two out of the master's three sons are married and already have children. The only single son was the one at the reception witnessing her borrowing money from Kuroki. Tanya's hopes of marrying a rich guy is again dashed.Nodame is walking around looking for Chiaki. She finds him playing violin along with a quintet. Everyone is amazed at his amount of talent.Tanya is still feeling upset. She reveals that she left Russia because she didn’t have a piano back there. She also expresses her dislike for French guys as she feels that they are always arrogant. Kuroki encourages to perform to make herself more appealing.Soon enough, he joins in the quintet. Everyone is impressed with his oboe play.Tanya plays solo. She is playing a very gloomy minor of Mozart. Even though it sounds depressing and is unsuitable to be performed in a party, it is so beautiful that everyone enjoys her Mozart too.Tanya and Kuroki watch Nodame and Chiaki play around outside the ballroom. Tanya appears upset and wants to leave but Kuroki grabs her hand and asks her to have some food instead.Staring at his back, Tanya blushes. (Is this the beginning of Love? I feel that Kuroki deserves better!)Outside the ballroom, Chiaki tells Nodame that he doesn’t want to lose her and kisses her. (We finally see a Kiss!! ^^)
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