Episodes: 23

Year: 2007

Status: Complete

Nodame Cantabile Official Site (Japanese)

Rating: Great

Review: Chiaki Shinichi is the top pianist at the Mamagaoka College of Music and is highly skilled at playing the violin. Despite being an object of admiration and being popular among the girls, things have not been going well for him. He was recently dumped by his girlfriend, the top piano teacher of the school refused to teach him anymore, and most importantly, Chiaki is constantly frustrated by his inability to work towards his true dream – being a conductor. Noda Megumi or Nodame is the complete opposite of Chiaki’s personality. Her style of playing the piano tends to haphazard and improvisational. She often forgets to maintain a basic standard of hygiene and has given little thought to taking up the piano professionally. Even so, Nodame falls in love with Chiaki. Although Chiaki denies her affections, Nodame remains the free spirit that she is and helps Chiaki in finding a way to work towards his dream of being a conductor within Japan. A strange yet close relationship develops between the two and the story traces how Chiaki and Nodame grow as people and as musicians in search of their dreams.

Nodame Cantabile is a fun anime to watch with lots of good music in it. It has a tendency to drag sometimes and I often wondered where the story was going at some point. Even so, it has an interesting story which is made unique by Nodame’s free spirit. It is certainly not your run-of-the-mill romance story. It is a non-mushy anime with lots of music, a splash of light-hearted spirit and a decent dose of comedy.

Liked Nodame Cantabile? Try out: Honey and Clover I and II, Lovely Complex