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Read This! Nodame Cantabile
I'm a music whore and as such I love all types of music. This includes classical and opera though I know nothing about the history behind the pieces or their famous composers, conductors, and musicians. Even if you're someone who doesn't like classical music Nodame Cantabile is a manga which can explain and express the love many people feel for it. Something that's hard to do in a print medium.
Nodame Cantabile is the story of Shinichi Chiaki and Megumi Noda aka Nodame who are both piano students at Momogaoka College of Music. Shinichi is the school idol on campus, the only son of the famous pianist Masayuki Chiaki. On the other hand, Nodame is something of a school joke. She steals food from other students, and spends most of her time goofing off with her piano instructor, composing things like The Fart Song and proclaims her desire to be a pre-school teacher one day instead of a professional musician. The manga has been licensed by Del Ray and is currently up to Volume 16. However, it is still being released in Japan. You can read the most recent releases through scanlations at Manga Traders and One Manga.
I'd say the one theme that carries throughout Nodame Cantabile is the love of music. When we're first introduced to Chiaki he's quite miserable. He hates his piano instructor who he calls harridan because of his use of a large paper fan that he likes to hit Chiaki with. Playing piano isn't something he wants at all. Chiaki has no joy for it and he has an overall disdain for everyone at the music college, thinking their talent is far beneath his own.
Basically he's lost all the joy of playing and of music. Chiaki snaps one day when harridan hits him and tells him he's no longer his piano instructor. The harridan is the most influential instructor at the college and many of his students have gone onto receive fame and recognition. Shortly after he does this he loses all his stature at the college and his girlfriend, a very beautiful and popular opera singing student, dumps him.
Life is miserable for Chiaki and on top of it all, he never wanted to play piano like his father. His dream is to become a conductor like his mentor Sebastiano Vieira who was his teacher briefly when he was a young boy. Suddenly he's not even a respected pianist on campus and he can't get into the conducting school. On top of it all, all great musicians and conductors for classical music usually go to Europe to improve their skills and Chiaki is deathly afraid of flying due to problems he had on a flight back to Tokyo after his parents divorced. Taking a ship across the ocean would be an option if he knew how to swim and also wasn't deathly afraid of a ship sinking as a plane crashing.
So Chiaki is stuck in Japan, a country not renowned for classical music, he's lost his stature at school, he doesn't care about music anymore, he's not in the major he wants at college, and he can't go overseas to study with his mentor. All in all he's having a really bad string of luck and has lost whatever happiness associated with music.
Then one day he hears Nodame playing the piano and it takes hold of him. Her music is lively and fun and brilliant in a way he's never experienced before. Chiaki never knew their college had someone of her talent. Chiaki soon discovers they're neighbors in the same apartment building and after they have one encounter she's soon wormed her way into his daily life. Nodame is the opposite of Chiaki in every way possible. She's a messy girl who never bathes, has garbage all over her apartment, and doesn't take music very seriously.
Everything is fun for her and it drives Chiaki crazy.
But through Chiaki's interaction with Nodame he starts to love music again and regains his drive. Soon he's conducting small pieces with Nodame and fellow student, Ryutaro Mine, and is on his way towards getting into the conducting school which is headed for the year by famous conductor, Maestro Franz von Stresemann.
Nodame Cantabile is all about Chiaki and Nodame's relationship with each other and music. It's symbiotic and one can't exist without the other. What is great about the series is you can see how much they help each other. While Nodame drives Chiaki crazy with her declarations that she's his wife and showing up at his door demanding he cook food for her and how he ends up cleaning her garbage filled apartment because he can't stand it she helps him by finding the fun in the music. Chiaki also has moments later on in the series where he gets so wrapped up in his conducting work that he can't take care of himself and she does that for him.
There's an understanding between them and through Chiaki we get to know Nodame who otherwise might have remained an oddball character with not as much depth. Discovering that she was a child piano prodigy who grew to despise the pressure her instructors put on her that made music more of a chore than something she enjoyed. Something that turned her into the person she is today who has a lacksidasical attitude towards studying music.
I highly recommend this series. What I love is how you follow Chiaki and Nodame's relationship through a number of years and you meet new characters along the way. It adds another level of realism to the story and feels as if you're truly following their lives. The characters are all very well developed and the romance is believable. Everyone you'll encounter in this manga could be a flesh and blood person with all their quirks and endearing traits. Classical music is wound into the story with ease and it doesn't matter if you don't like that genre of music, you'll still the enjoy the manga. Although I think the manga just might convince some people to try listening to a few pieces at the very least.
Nodame Cantabile is the story of Shinichi Chiaki and Megumi Noda aka Nodame who are both piano students at Momogaoka College of Music. Shinichi is the school idol on campus, the only son of the famous pianist Masayuki Chiaki. On the other hand, Nodame is something of a school joke. She steals food from other students, and spends most of her time goofing off with her piano instructor, composing things like The Fart Song and proclaims her desire to be a pre-school teacher one day instead of a professional musician. The manga has been licensed by Del Ray and is currently up to Volume 16. However, it is still being released in Japan. You can read the most recent releases through scanlations at Manga Traders and One Manga.
I'd say the one theme that carries throughout Nodame Cantabile is the love of music. When we're first introduced to Chiaki he's quite miserable. He hates his piano instructor who he calls harridan because of his use of a large paper fan that he likes to hit Chiaki with. Playing piano isn't something he wants at all. Chiaki has no joy for it and he has an overall disdain for everyone at the music college, thinking their talent is far beneath his own.
Basically he's lost all the joy of playing and of music. Chiaki snaps one day when harridan hits him and tells him he's no longer his piano instructor. The harridan is the most influential instructor at the college and many of his students have gone onto receive fame and recognition. Shortly after he does this he loses all his stature at the college and his girlfriend, a very beautiful and popular opera singing student, dumps him.
Life is miserable for Chiaki and on top of it all, he never wanted to play piano like his father. His dream is to become a conductor like his mentor Sebastiano Vieira who was his teacher briefly when he was a young boy. Suddenly he's not even a respected pianist on campus and he can't get into the conducting school. On top of it all, all great musicians and conductors for classical music usually go to Europe to improve their skills and Chiaki is deathly afraid of flying due to problems he had on a flight back to Tokyo after his parents divorced. Taking a ship across the ocean would be an option if he knew how to swim and also wasn't deathly afraid of a ship sinking as a plane crashing.
So Chiaki is stuck in Japan, a country not renowned for classical music, he's lost his stature at school, he doesn't care about music anymore, he's not in the major he wants at college, and he can't go overseas to study with his mentor. All in all he's having a really bad string of luck and has lost whatever happiness associated with music.
Then one day he hears Nodame playing the piano and it takes hold of him. Her music is lively and fun and brilliant in a way he's never experienced before. Chiaki never knew their college had someone of her talent. Chiaki soon discovers they're neighbors in the same apartment building and after they have one encounter she's soon wormed her way into his daily life. Nodame is the opposite of Chiaki in every way possible. She's a messy girl who never bathes, has garbage all over her apartment, and doesn't take music very seriously.
Everything is fun for her and it drives Chiaki crazy.
But through Chiaki's interaction with Nodame he starts to love music again and regains his drive. Soon he's conducting small pieces with Nodame and fellow student, Ryutaro Mine, and is on his way towards getting into the conducting school which is headed for the year by famous conductor, Maestro Franz von Stresemann.
Nodame Cantabile is all about Chiaki and Nodame's relationship with each other and music. It's symbiotic and one can't exist without the other. What is great about the series is you can see how much they help each other. While Nodame drives Chiaki crazy with her declarations that she's his wife and showing up at his door demanding he cook food for her and how he ends up cleaning her garbage filled apartment because he can't stand it she helps him by finding the fun in the music. Chiaki also has moments later on in the series where he gets so wrapped up in his conducting work that he can't take care of himself and she does that for him.
There's an understanding between them and through Chiaki we get to know Nodame who otherwise might have remained an oddball character with not as much depth. Discovering that she was a child piano prodigy who grew to despise the pressure her instructors put on her that made music more of a chore than something she enjoyed. Something that turned her into the person she is today who has a lacksidasical attitude towards studying music.
I highly recommend this series. What I love is how you follow Chiaki and Nodame's relationship through a number of years and you meet new characters along the way. It adds another level of realism to the story and feels as if you're truly following their lives. The characters are all very well developed and the romance is believable. Everyone you'll encounter in this manga could be a flesh and blood person with all their quirks and endearing traits. Classical music is wound into the story with ease and it doesn't matter if you don't like that genre of music, you'll still the enjoy the manga. Although I think the manga just might convince some people to try listening to a few pieces at the very least.