Nodame Cantabile is a very successful Japanese manga (and later anime) that was made into a very popular Japanese drama. There are some dramas that are almost iconic in nature to the foreigners (like me) who follow Japanese dramas and Nodame definitely falls into this category.
Nodame Cantabile is primarily a comedy / drama following the love story between two very different people set in the backdrop of a school for music in Japan. Chiaki is a serious, arrogant and impatient piano student who wishes to become a conductor. Megumi Noda (Noda Megumi = Nodame) is a piano student who wishes only to use her talent to become a kindergarten teacher. She also is eccentric, lazy and pretty strange.
They meet by accident (don't they always?) and Nodame quickly falls for Chiaki while he takes much longer to come around. All of this also occurs while Chiaki discovers a deeper love of music and begins conducting a student orchestra (of misfits) of which Nodame plays a large part.
The supporting cast is great (lots of funny characters) and the story is charming and draws you in despite being filled with silly moments. Takanaka Naoto is especially good as the eccentric lech / famous conductor Strausburg. (Takanaka is the bald man who is in the main character's dance class in Shall We Dance. He is a very respected actor in Japan and is his usual talented self here.) He is just great, he helps Chiaki and Nodame toward their goals at the same time he seemingly doesn't even care about anything except his pursuit of women and drink (and usually both).
The drama also has a great classical music soundtrack and there actually is a good deal of information about composers, their works, etc. I absolutely love the soundtrack and this show (no exaggeration) really helped me to form a much deeper appreciation for classical music than I ever have had before.
NODAME CANTABILE - THE MOVIE Trailer (2009)
The drama ran 10 episodes, and there were also 2 specials and a Movie (which i have yet to see). This should pretty much end the story which ran in the manga. Hopefully the movie ends differently because like many manga, the story ran past the main story arc which makes the later chapters seem almost like a coda. They can do more with the characters I believe.
This drama is the kind of thing that can only work in an asian drama, as US dramas tend to be too serious or funny, and have no middle ground. Japanese dramas can be almost slapstick, and yet can make you care deeply for the characters and what happens to them.
I HIGHLY recommend this drama. It has been subtitled by several great groups and you can probably find links for the episodes pretty easily (or email me and I will tell you where to find them).
Links
http://nodamecantabileresource.blogspot.com/ - Nodame Resource Page
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Nodame_Cantabile - JDrama Wiki Page
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