Nodame Cantabile ep.10

March 15, 2007 | 13 Comments

Well, this is a rather enjoyable episode much to my surprise. The comedy is actually spot on and there are several scenes which were not covered in the live action version of the series. I'm just hoping that the writers won't exclude more stories from the manga. I think at this point in time, they are on track to finish the rest of 5 volumes + 1 chapter in the constraint of 13 episodes. Animation-wise, there's nothing outstanding about the episode. However, character design is clean and consistent. The music, on the other hand, is quite interesting. Chiaki's Rachmaninoff is considerably faster in this version. In fact, it's actually very fast and almost similar to Nodame's version in the live action version. One thing that bothers me about this score is how depressing it seems despite the fast tempo that accompanies it.

The episode begins with Mine telling his friends that they should perform a costumed orchestra for the upcoming school festival. Masumi is excited to hear this because he wants to wear a princess dress. Nodame, on the other hand, want to make a stuffed animal costume. Upon hearing this, the rest of the S Orchestra intends on joining them as well. Later on, Nodame is impressed after she sees the dress that Masumi has designed for himself. She thinks the dress looks like the one wear by a character from Rose of Versailles. While drawing the sketch, Masumi lets out that he's going to join the Marimba ensemble. Mine is upset to hear this, prompting Masumi to wonder if Mine is not going to join another orchestra. In response, Mine tells him that Chiaki will be rehearsing a piano concerto with the A orchestra. He, however, thinks it's funny that Chiaki will be playing Rachmaninoff since he thinks it doesn't suit Chiaki.

Unfortunately for Mine, Masumi and Chiaki's fangirls immediately squee after hearing this. At the same time, Chiaki is busy studying Rachmaninoff but once he finished it, Stresemann realises that his student has played it a little too fast. He wants Chiaki to play it slower and to disregard the Russian or orthodox way to play it. Because Chiaki's style is to light and flat, Stresemann is of the opinion that his performance is not sexy at all. Chiaki is horrified to hear that he has to play the piece in sexy manner and asks Strsemann why he has to twist his body just to oplay Rachmaninoff. In response Stresemann tells him that he didn't ask Chiaki to twist his body all he wants is for Chiaki to be more absorbed in music. He points out that Chiaki has studied piano for four years now so Chiaki needs to show off how good he can be. Stresemann then ends his speech by saying that he won't forgive Chiaki if Chiaki's performance is substandard.

Chiaki realises that this is a great experience for him. He reminds himself that he's been studying piano so that he could be a conductor who also plays piano professionally. He also doesn't want to end up as a substandard performer. Having said that, he admits that he never thought he could be recognised at this school due to Stresemann. That night, Chiaki comes home late and wonders if Nodame is waiting for him to feed her. Much to Chiaki's surprise, Nodame is still at school. She claims that she's been busy preparing for the school festival and has a sad news for him. Since she'll be busy with the S Orchestra, she'll be coming home late for a while. She's sure that Chiaki will miss her but she asks him to have his dinner alone since she'll be eating at Uraken. Chiaki is pissed off upon hearing this and smack Nodame with his book, asking her never to come to his apartment again. After Chiaki left, Mine praises Nodame for getting away from their 'enemy'.

The next day, Chiaki has his first rehearsal with the A orchestra. Halfway through the performance, however, Stresemann stops him and tells Chiaki that he needs to express the emotion with his whole body. Stresemann even suggests that Chiaki shows the agony within him. Chiaki is embarrassed upon hearing this and tells Stresemann that he can't do that. In response, Stresemann tells Chiaki that Chiaki doesn't understand himself at all. He believes showing off to the audience is an important part of a performance. While Chiaki busy practicing, Nodame is busy making pattern for her costume. Mine, however, is not worried about costume because apparently his 'fan' will design one for him. That fan turns out to be Maki, one of Nodame's friends. She has indeed brings a few design for Mine to take a look at. Unfortunately, the costume she's designed are not human-based costume but rather something resembling a cigarette, a phone, and a tree.

The orchestra, however, has bigger problem because they don't have a conductor for the orchestra. All of a sudden, Oukouchi appears and offers to conduct for the orchestra. He admits to wanting to join the orchestra but refuses to wear a costume. Upon hearing this, the others start making fun of him by saying that he just want to look like Chiaki. Masumi is angry to hear this and tells Oukouchi that he doesn't even look close to his Chiaki-sama. He then starts picking out every single part of Oukouchi's external appearance, causing the other guy to lose confidence. In the end, however, Oukouchi gets his chance to conduct for an orchestra. Meanwhile, Chiaki is busy learning piano while maintaining an expression of agony. LOL. Stresemann, on the other hand, is too busy joking around with Minako in the office, causing the headmistress to be angry. She's particularly unhappy that Stresemann isn't taking Chiaki seriously.

All of a sudden, Minako pulls out a letter opener and threatens Stresemann with it, prompting the old man to assume that even old women are attracted to Chiaki. XD This, of course, leads to a near death moment when Minako throws the letter opener towards Stresemann. In her frustratioin, Minako tells Stresemann not to belittle her students and school festival before leaving the guy alone. Meanwhile, the school's administration is busy fielding phone calls from interested party who now find out that Chiaki will be in a concert with Stresemann. As it turns out, the sudden interest is due to an article on Classic Life magazine. It basically publicises Chiaki's conducting session during the music festival. After seeing the article, Saiko's friends decide to show the article to her because they want to know if she regrets breaking up with Chiaki. They think Chiaki has really made a comeback after struggling a year ago.

A few days later, the school festival finally begins. Much to everyone's surprise, the entire S Orchestra comes wearing Montsukihakama and Kimono. Masumi is especially shocked because he's the only one who's wearing a costume. Mine admits that his costume doesn't look good on him so he changed his mind. Upon hearing this the others protest because they think their own costume look good on them. They believe Mine forced the rest of them to wear the same thing since Mine's own costume doesn't look good. In retaliation, Mine tells them that all of their costumes looked awful and his goal was to put their orchestra in cool costumes or else they won't be able to beat Chiaki. He then starts imagining Chiaki posing in Shoujo manga style. Eventually the group admits that although the costumes don't look cool, it's actually comfortable. They didn't even have to pay for it since they borrowed it from their parents.

Masumi is still unhappy about this since he's the only one wearing a dress but Mine assures him that Masumi can still wear the dress he made and besides, someone will block him out of the view anyway. All of a sudden, a large furry creature appears behind Mine and asks the orchestra if it will be okay too. As it turns out, the creature is actually Nodame in a Mongoose costume. She also explains that the creature she's holding is a Habu, poisonous snake in Okinawa. She then explains how the Okinawan have a snake problem with Habus. Because of this, they released Mongooses on the island because they're good at killing snakes. Unfortunately, the Mongooses didn't catch the snakes. Instead, they ate the Amami Black Rabbits, which are considered a national treasure in Japan. And now the area is overrun with Mongooses. The orchestra can only look on in terror after hearing the horrible truth behind Nodame's costume.

Meanwhile, Chiaki has arrived at the festival, still unsure about what Stresemann asked him to do. Upon seeing him, Saiko asks him to join her and her friends but Chiaki coldly refuses and walks away. Saiko decides to follow him and asks the guy why he's been giving her the cold shoulder lately. She also brings up the fact that he'll be playing a Concerto and had become Stresemann's pupil. When Saiko tells Chiaki that she feels as if he's so far away now, Chiaki simply tells her that not much has changed. Saiko decides to change the conversatioin and tells Chiaki that she's going to perform on opera tomorrow and invites Chiaki to see it. The opera in question is Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. After Saiko left, Chiaki realises that he has to try harder as well. Since there is nothing that he wants to see that night, he decides to go home and practice. However, he changes his mind after seeing a large advertisement for S Orchestra.

That night, Chiaki decides to come to the performance, realising that he wasn't aware that the S Orchestra is still active. Since the orchestra doesn't have Stresemann and him, he can't help but wonder what song the orchestra will play. All of a sudden the lights in the auditorium dims down and the orchestra comes out. They then start tuning and Chiaki can hear a Pianica. A single spotlight is then focused on the stage, illuminating Nodame in her Mongoose costume. Despite not being able to see her, Chiaki for some reason can guess that the person inside the costume is none other than Nodame. The group then performs Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The biggest shock for the audience is that the orchestra is actually performing a Japanese style big band. At first they think the orchestra's style doesn't match the song but after a while, they are impressed by the orchestra's competence. They then go wild when the orchestra starts to show nifty tricks.

Chiaki realises that the orchestra is showing off. While he thinks Mine looks like an idiot, Chiaki can also see that everyone is giving their best. By the time the orchestra ends, Stresemann screams bravo and gives a standing ovation, causing everyone else to do the same. In the aftermath, Nodame rests on a chair, hoping that Chiaki watched her on the stage. Chiaki, however, is busy practicing at home, intend on proving to Mine that he'll be the star of this festival. On the last day of the festival, everyone is excited to see Chiaki performing with Stresemann. The only exception to this is a writer called Sakuma. He has come on the recommendation of Classic Life's reporter, Kawano Keiko, who was last seen at the Nagano festival. Meanwhile Chiaki informs Stresemann that he's going to perform the song his way. Much to his surprise, Stresemann doesn't mind this. However, he also informs Chiaki that he'll be leaving Japan soon.

Impression:

I probably should not laugh at it but the whole Habu tale was hilarious if it's actually true. But if you think about it, why would a Mongoose hunt a dangerous Habu when it can hunt a easy, juicy, and tender rabbit. On a different note, Masumi as a princess is still as disturbing as ever. It never ceases to amuse me that he didn't even bother to shave his mustache. I thought that was something that the live action version took liberty with but I guess that's not the case. Speaking of the live action version, the shot where Chiaki looks like a character from Shoujo manga is not as amusing in this version. I think the lack of sparks make it less LOL-worthy. Plus, the expression on Tamaki Hiroshi's face was just priceless while in this version, Chiaki looks all regal and unaffected by the flowers that surround him. Props should also go to the scene where Minako almost skewer Stresemann with that letter opener. What's with anime women and cutter these days?

On a more serious note, I really miss having Kiyora as the A Orchestra's concert mistress. I was a bit surprised when I saw that no name girl appearing in the A Orchestra's rehearsal scene. It took me a while to realise that since Kiyora is not a student in this school, it's impossible for her to be the A Orchestra's concert mistress. Moving on to other character, Saiko is still as unthreatening as she was in the live action. I think one thing that this series lack is an actual competitor for Chiaki's affection. I guess with Chiaki barely interested in Nodame, there's no point in adding unnecessary problem in her life. However, it's kind of strange that Saiko is only mildly unpleasant towards Nodame from the start to the end of the series. Anyway, prior to this episode, I don't really understand the role of Stresemann in the series considering that he doesn't teach Chiaki much. This episode, however, makes it clear that he gives Chiaki an exposure to the media that Chiaki needs.

On next week's episode: Chiaki's major concert.

© memento 2003