Nodame fever is back!

Nodame Cantabile Movie Poster

Classical music has never been more entertaining ever since I've started watching Nodame Cantabile since 2006. Having just finished watching the movie, Nodame Cantabile: The Final Score I and II today, I'm captivated by classical music and the charms of Nodame again! I've watched the Nodame Cantabile drama, anime and specials, so it's rather late for a Nodame fan like me to watch the Nodame movie Finale, which is (in my opinion) the highlight and climax of the whole series. Though a bit late in watching the English-subbed movie (as the original is in Japanese and my proficiency for that language is rather lacking), I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hour long musical and romantic movie. Well, even though Chiaki senpai is so talented, cool and a surprisingly good cook, I find Nodame's character more entertaining, touching and subtle. Of course, the actress Ueno Juri contributed much to Nodame's success, who perfectly expose (which much care and attention) the overall growth and development of Nodame; from a piano student who aims to be a kindergarten student to a professional pianist performer, the relationship between Nodame and Chiaki and her path of self-discovery of understanding music (with the aid of her professors). Ueno has certainly won many hearts with her skilled and emotional acting regarding Nodame, and I find no other actress better to replace her as the character of Nodame. Plus, all the piano performances both in the drama and movie are ACTUALLY performed by Ueno, how good can she be eh?

Tamaki Hiroshi and Ueno Juri

Below are the cast to the movie :
* Juri Ueno - Noda 'Nodame' Megumi
* Hiroshi Tamaki - Chiaki Shinichi
* Eita - Ryutaro Mine
* Asami Mizukawa - Kiyora Miki
* Keisuke Koide - Masumi Okuyama
* Eiji Wentz - Frank Lantoine
* Becky - Tanya Vishnyova
* Sayaka Yamaguchi - Namiki Yuko
* Yu Yamada - Son Rui
* Shosuke Tanihara
* Takeshi Nadagi
* Seiji Fukushi - Kuroki Yasunori
* Michiko Kichise - Elize
* Masato Ibu - Mine Tatsumi
* Naoto Takenaka - Franz Strezemann

I would say that the drama and movie are much more meaningful, fun and exciting though the manga and anime is considerably more precise, contains more details and shows better growth of the relationship between Chiaki and Noda. However, if you're a person who may dislike the drawings and style of the mangaka of Nodame Cantabile, Tomoko Ninomiya, then the drama and movie is sufficient to fulfil your Nodame needs. (I do recommend you to watch the anime, because again, it's more informative). Apart from that, Nodame Cantabile is definitely one of the best alternative means to enjoy classical music (other means are listening to Li Yun Di, Maxsim Mrvica or playing a classical piece by yourself). You get to learn more about the composers such as Beethoven, Chopin, Mahler and more besides getting to know more about the background about a particular music piece and the emotions behind the music. Plus, as the drama and movie only show the really nice bit of the whole piece of music work of the composer (due to the intelligent editing of the director), classical music has never been so accessible and fun!

Best romance scene in Nodame Cantabile drama

 To end, I just cannot stop emphasizing how I love Nodame and how sad to know that the series has finally come to an end (Yes, it ended earlier this year and I know I'm a bit slow to know that fact). Though the story has now been placed with a fullstop, the fun and excitement from watching Nodame Cantabile will always be part of the memory of a good Japanese media product. Nodame, tsuki desu ❤ ~ 



These are the links to watch the Nodame series:
Drama - http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-drama/nodame-cantabile/
Anime - http://www.watchanimeon.com/anime/nodame-cantabile/
              - http://www.watchanimeon.com/anime/nodame-cantabile-paris/
              - http://www.watchanimeon.com/anime/nodame-cantabile-finale/
Movie Part I  - http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-movie/nodame-cantabile-the-final-score-part-i/
Movie Part II - http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-movie/nodame-cantabile-the-final-score-part-ii/
Info of Movie Part I & II (in Japanese) - http://www.nodame-movie.jp/index.html#/top