Nodame Cantabile

Nodame Cantabile - Opening

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• published: 25 Sep 2011
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Nodame Cantabile (Japanese: のだめカンタービレ Hepburn: Nodame Kantābire?) is a manga by Tomoko Ninomiya. It was serialized in Japan by Kodansha in the magazine Kiss from July 2001 to October 2009 and collected in 23 tankōbon volumes. A two-volume sequel, called Nodame Cantabile: Opera Chapter, which began serialization in the December 2009 issue of Kiss, was released in 2010.[citation needed] It is licensed in North America by Del Rey Manga. The series depicts the relationship between two aspiring classical musicians, Megumi "Nodame" Noda and Shinichi Chiaki, as university students and after graduation. It received the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award for best shōjo manga. The series has been adapted as two different television series: as an award-winning live-action drama that aired in 2006 followed by a sequel television special that aired in January 2008, and as an anime series spanning three seasons with the first one broadcast in 2007, the second one in 2008 and the third one aired in 2010.[1] Two live-action movie sequels to the television drama, with the same actors, were produced with release dates of 18 December 2009 and April 2010.[2] In addition, several soundtrack albums of classical music have been released, as well as three video games. Shinichi Chiaki, an arrogant, multilingual perfectionist, is the top student at Momogaoka College of Music and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy (namely Prague), but is trapped in Japan because of his childhood phobia of airplanes and the ocean. In contrast, Megumi Noda, or "Nodame", is a piano student at Momogaoka, notorious for messiness and eccentric behavior. Despite being very talented, Nodame prefers to play by ear rather than according to the musical score; thus, she is regarded as sloppy and playful. When they meet by accident, Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame's unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Along the way, they meet some crazy people (like Masumi, Mine, and Stresemann) and make lasting friendships. Because of Nodame, Chiaki gets the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people's musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible. After graduation, Nodame succeeds in curing Chiaki from his phobias and they both move to Paris, where Nodame continues her piano studies at the Conservatoire de Paris while Chiaki starts a professional career as a conductor. In Europe, they encounter new friends and rivals, as well as keep in touch with their friends from Japan. Tomoko Ninomiya based the character of Megumi Noda on a real-life counterpart with the same name. Ninomiya first learned about the real Noda when the latter, a music college student at the time, posted a photograph of her messy room on a website Ninomiya managed. This inspired her to start a comedy series about a sloppy music student. Ninomiya consults with Noda about musical details, claiming to receive inspiration from her, and thanks Noda in the acknowledgments of every tankōbon volume of Nodame Cantabile.[3][4] Noda, currently a piano teacher in Fukuoka (the home-town of her fictional counterpart), composed the music and co-wrote (with Ninomiya) the lyrics for the "Fart Song" Nodame plays in the first episode of the anime series,[3] and visited Ninomiya upon the birth of her son.[5] Ninomiya also based the character of James DePreist, the musical director of the fictional Roux-Marlet Orchestra in Paris, on a real-life counterpart with the same name. James DePreist was Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and conducted the Nodame Orchestra, which provided the music for both the live-action drama and the anime adaptations.