Title: Nodame Cantabile #1 Author: Tomoko Ninomiya Publisher: Del Rey ISBN:
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Regardless of the actors' ability to portray a skilled musician, I think there are some really good acting in this episode. Ueno Juri startled me when she started yelling in a yankee-style voice at Etou-sensei. I didn't know she had it in her to play a tough role. Tamaki Hiroshi and Eita also acted really well during the last scene when they find themselves at odds with the rest of the R☆S Orchestra. Speaking of the new orchestra, am I the only one who thinks that the flute girl looks a bit like Hong Kong actress Chingmy Yau? Anyway, I recently saw Ueno Juri in Swing Girls and I can contest that she is also awesome in that film. The only thing I don't like about the film is that the film's portrayal of the band struggle wasn't as realistic as I thought it would be. Having said that, it was amusing to see Takenoto Naoto (Strezemann) acting as another music teacher. His character in that film is not as weird as Strezemann though. :D
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After reading the manga and watching this episode, I finally realise that the S Orchestra is pretty much just the first stage in Chiaki's story. I'm a bit disappointed about this since I've gotten attached to the S Orchestra. I feel that as Chiaki steps up into the world stage, his Orchestra's members get less and less interesting personality-wise. Thankfully the live action series is still at the stage where the majority of the Orchestra members still have personality. It also helps that some of the original cast members are still around. Speaking of new characters, it looks like the majority of the cast members for this drama has been pulled either from Swing Girls (Ueno Juri, Takenata Naoto) or Water Boys/Water Boys Summer 2005 films (Tamaki Hiroshi, Eita, Koide Keisuke, Fukushi Seiji).
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I didn't enjoy this episode as much as last week mostly because I was unprepared for the plot development that happened in this episode. I thought the series will actually shows the characters in college setting a little bit longer but as it turns out, they're all pretty close to graduating. Oh well, it can't be help. I just hope it won't affect most of the main cast since I like their interaction with one another. Nodame driving Chiaki insane is nice but she's all too often overpowered by his sadistic chops and strangulation. It's when she combined forces with Ryuutarou and Masumi that Chiaki actually starts feeling overwhelm and that usually leads to some fun-tastic facial expression from every single actors involved in the scene. Actually, I'm wondering if Nodame, Ryuutarou, and Masumi have similar effect on other 'normal' people like Kiyori. I'd love to see her reaction to their behaviour when they stayed at Chiaki's house back in episode 4.
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Introduction + Nodame Team 01 (26.2MB, AVI format) Nodame Team 02 (37.4MB, AVI format) | YouTube video Nodame Team 03 (52.7MB, AVI format) | YouTube video Nodame Team 04 (49.3MB, AVI format) | YouTube video This is a light entertainment mostly for Nodame Cantabile fans but those who are interested in Japanese game/variety show might be interested to see it as well. 「笑っていいとも!」- Waratte Iitomo is basically a variety/game show featuring stars from various TV shows competing in a typical variety show games. The show is hosted by Kazuyoshi Morita, and this time around his co-host is Nakai Masahiro, the eldest member of SMAP. This is basically an Autumn Special episode aired on the 6th of October this year, so it's slightly late but I find it amusing so I decide to feature it here. The contestants are picked from variety different TV series and teamed based on the TV series that they are participating in. There are a total of 5 teams: Nodame Cantabile team, Yakusha Damashii team, Boku no Aruku Michi team, Dr.Koto - Shinryoujo 2006 team, and Waratte Iitomo! team (which just consists of several comedians).
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S Orchestra - Beethoven Symphony No.7 When I first started watching this series, I just wanted an alternative to all of the anime series that I watch. I never expected the series to be this good. Watching the characters interact with each other is a pure joy. Props should also go to the actors and their facial expressions. I never thought that anime character's twitch can actually be replicated in live action version. Speaking of anime, this episode actually features the anime within live action called Pururin Gorota. On a glance it looks like a Doraemon kind of story. I wonder if the upcoming anime series, which will aired in January, will include more Pururin Gorota scenes. As a side note, I have scanned the rest of the pages from The Television magazine for those who are interested. I've placed them in the same entry where I talked about Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi.
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Prior to watching the live action drama, I always assume that Nodame Cantabile is about Nodame and her struggle at the Music school. So far, however, the story seems to be more focused on Chiaki and how he gets to handle the messy playing style of the S orchestra members. It makes me wonder if Stresemann chose Nodame as a mascot for this orchestra because she represents the very style that the group uses. I'm probably wrong here but I guess the series is called Nodame Cantabile because it tells a story about a group of student whose music style is unique and 'Nodame-like'. Anyway, it's been a while since a live-action drama hooked me like this. The actors are surprisingly talented and capable of pulling off both the series and the comedic scenes. Some actors like Tamaki Hiroshi and Eita occasionaly can't stop themselves from grinning when the scene becomes too funny. Overall, however, they've done a good job in their respective role.
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To say I was pleasantly surprised would be a massive understatement. I was always skeptical of the manga. The way it was described on the back cover and the way it looked wasn't appealing at first glance so I never read it. After watching this episode, though, I immediately went to go pick it up [...]
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I am pretty much sold on this series. When I started watching it, I was simply looking for something that is different from all of the anime that I cover here. I never thought that I will like the characters and their story so much. The thing is, I wasn't that enthused about the musical part of the story. I do like one or two classical musics but I wouldn't call myself a big fan. Having said that, sometimes I regret the fact that I wasn't serious about learning Piano when I was a kid because when I see a friend playing Piano so well, I wish I could have done the same thing. Speaking of classical music, I decided to rip the Ending theme if you haven't had the chance to see it. It's only in PSP/Quicktime format though since I haven't done proper compression on the AVi version. Anyway, the summary will be shorter this time around although I still haven't been able to figure out how to condense a one hour show into 12 paragraphs or less sentences.
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I am pretty much sold on this series. When I started watching it, I was simply looking for something that is different from all of the anime that I cover here. I never thought that I will like the characters and their story so much. The thing is, I wasn't that enthused about the musical part of the story. I do like one or two classical musics but I wouldn't call myself a big fan. Having said that, sometimes I regret the fact that I wasn't serious about learning Piano when I was a kid because when I see a friend playing Piano so well, I wish I could have done the same thing. Speaking of classical music, I decided to rip the Ending theme if you haven't had the chance to see it. It's only in PSP/Quicktime format though since I haven't done proper compression on the AVi version. Anyway, the summary will be shorter this time around although I still haven't been able to figure out how to condense a one hour show into 12 paragraphs or less sentences.
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Say hello to Nodame. An exuberant young lass, she possesses a natural gift for the pianoforte. She views the world as if she is living in her own alternate reality. An odd duck, Nodame marches to her own drum. Yep, she is weird. Let me introduce Chiaki. Intense and talented, Chiaki [...]
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Well, I've been wanting to see this ever since I saw the announcement for the series. Although I haven't read the manga, I know that it's one of the more popular shoujo series. I have to say that the first episode is quite 'unusual' so to speak. There are some weird visual clues like the monkey creatures swinging from right to left screen to reveal the next scene. In addition to this, the actions of the characters are highly exaggerated at times. Having said that, I enjoyed the first episode thanks to its characters and comedy. Although speaking of comedy, I regret my decision in googling the meaning of 'Scatologist'. I don't think I could ever see Mozart in the same way again now. Anyway, I think it's worth giving the series a look although I realise that most people won't be willing to waste 1.34GB on this episode alone.
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Whoever said fujoshi wasn't on the rise is crazy. And to prove it, I humbly bring to you the news that a cafe based on Nodame Cantabile has recently opened in Harajuku. The cafe, called Cafe de Nodame, features dishes from the manga as well as live music and all sorts of things with Nodame [...]
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Well, if it isn't the year of the shoujo manga adaptation. This time around the duck-lipped crybabies that will be getting the adaptive treatment are the characters of Nodame Cantabile. They will be getting themselves a TV anime with very few details released on that other than it starts in January and will have production [...]
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Nodame Cantabile will be made into anime & drama. Anime will be aired Jan 2007. Drama will be aired October. Will be produced by J.C. Staff. I’m guessing that they are aiming for another Honey and Clover boom. I really liked the manga which is still on going and I am very looking forward to [...]
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