Nodame Cantabile ep.12

April 13, 2007 | 17 Comments

So after 2 weeks break, the series is finally back. The animation seems to be slightly better. The majority of the piano scene in this episode were well-animated. It really makes a lot of difference and makes the scene far more enjoyable. Unfortunately the character design is still inconsistent and background images are as plain as ever. I did, however, appreciate the stylistic stills that the animators use to show Cosi Fan Tutte story. Voice-acting wise, I'm starting to get annoyed with Nodame's voice. I think it sounds fake and unnatural. I really miss Ueno Juri's voice, which is a lot more mature while still has that touch of Nodame's crazyness. Chiaki, on the other hand, is really good and I find it hard to distinguish Tamaki Hiroshi's and Seki Tomokazu's voice.

Continuing from the previous episode, Nodame refuses to eat the Risotto that Chiaki cooked until she can perform in a concert with Chiaki. In response, Chiaki tells Nodame that it's impossible for her to play because she doesn't read the notes. In addition to this, she plays carelessly and makes up her own song. Nodame argues that she's heard Rachmaninoff a couple of times and therefore she doesn't need to look at the sheet music. She also tells him that the sound of his performance is still in her head so she wants to play it like Chiaki. Upon seeing Nodame's persistence, Chiaki decides to take her to the school. Once the two find two pianos, Chiaki tells Nodame that he's going to play the part of the orchestra so he wants her to play the piano part. He, however, wants her to play it like there's an orchestra. Before long, the two have started the duo but much to Chiaki's surprise, Nodame begins the first pianissimo part as fortissimo.

In addition to this, the tempo is too fast. Outside the room, the other students are impressed upon seeing their performance. Unknown to them, their conversation is overheard by Saiko. Back inside, Chiaki thinks there are too many extra notes in Nodame's performance. He believes that Nodame has been making up some of them, causing him to wonder if he should stop her. Eventually, however, Chiaki decides to match up his performance with Nodame's. Soon their duet attracts more attention including the Harisen. The other students are also impressed with Nodame, whom they believe to be Chiaki's girlfriend. Saiko is shocked to hear this especially after the other students point out that Nodame has always been with Chiaki and are probably living together. Eventually Saiko can't stand watching the two anymore and decide to leave the area. In the aftermath, Nodame ends up sleeping inside the practice room after playing the song twice.

The next day, the entire school gossip about Chiaki and his new 'girlfriend'. Sugunuma uses the opportunity to make fun Saiko by saying that every time "Dorabella" breaks up with a man, she always runs back to Chiaki. Her friends remind Sugunuma that Saiko is going to kill her if the later hears this. Moreover, they wonder why Sugunuma calls Saiko "Dorabella". Saiko tells them that the reason is because Saiko reminds her of "Dorabella". In Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, two men called Fernando and Guglielmo had girlfriends. As they were boasting about their love's faithfulness, a philospher, Don Alfonso, challenged them by saying that women are not faithful. They decide to test their girlfriends' love by pretending to go on a war. The two then come back wearing costumes and try to seduce their girlfriends, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. Fiordiligi remained faithful and rejected the advances but Dorabella's heart swayed right away.

In the present time, Saiko claims that her heart swayed right away because she had broken up with Chiaki. She admits that she fell in love with men who knew nothing about music but Chiaki was still cooler and knows more about music. This is why she wants Chiaki back and she doesn't think she's wrong for wanting it. A flashback shows that the first time they met. Chiaki told Saiko that she has a very beautiful voice. Saiko admits that she now respects Chiaki and wants to believe in the words that he said. In the present time, Saiko is praised by her teacher for being able to channel Dorabella really well. Meanwhile, Chiaki urges Nodame to practice with a concerto. Nodame, however, tells him that she already played with one. According to her, playing with Chiaki is similar to playing with a real orchestra and this is why she is really satisfied. Nodame thanks Chiaki for the effort but Chiaki is not sure if Nodame is really okay with this.

Fast forward to the New Year, Mine notices the S orchestra talking about the new Classic Life magazine. Apparently Chiaki has been featured by the writer for Dream Color Classic, Manabu Sakuma. Meanwhile, Nodame returns to Chiaki's apartment carrying a large box full of PuriGorota chocolate. Apparently she won them in a lottery at a shopping centre. Although it's as bit early, she decides to give one small packet of chocolate to Chiaki for Valentine's Day. Chiaki can't help but looking dismayed upon seeing the small amount of chocolate included in the packet. Nodame then changes the conversation after she notices that Chiaki has Liszt sheet music. The song in question is Waltz No.1, Dance in the Village Inn. For some reason Nodame laughed out loud after hearing this and tells Chiaki that it sounds just like him. Not happy being the object of Nodame's joke, Chiaki asks her what she is going to play for the exam.

Nodame calmly tells him that she's going to play Mozart. However, when Chiaki asks her to play it for him, Nodame changes the topic and pretends that she's going to give out chocolate to other people. After Nodame left, Chiaki is frustrated with her lack of seriousness. He wonders what she means when she said that she's satisfied. On hindsight, Chiaki feels that he should never have played a duet with her. Later on that day, Chiaki is surprised when both Kawano and Sakuma come to the school to talk to him. At the same time, Nodame finds out from Masumi that Masumi auditioned for a position at the Shinto Philharmonic and was accepted. Masumi claims that he didn't expect to get in but since he did, he can't help but wonder if he's a genius. Nodame thinks that maybe it's because of his hair, earning the wrath of Masumi. In retaliation, Masumi refuses her chocolate and order Nodame not to be selfish while he's gone.

He's basically unhappy that Chiaki is going to graduate school instead of studying overseas and attributes it to Nodame. Nodame, on the other hand, is happy about this, claiming that she and Chiaki will have a love rendezvous this year. In response, Masumi threatens to kill her for sure if she plans to do this with Chiaki. Speaking of Chiaki, he's now sitting at Uraken with Keiko and Sakuma. After introducing themselves, Sakuma shows the article that he wrote about Chiaki to the subject himself. Chiaki is shocked upon seeing the pictures but Keiko tells him that they have a permit to take Chiaki's pictures from Stresemann. Sakuma also becomes happy when he finds out that Chiaki is going to play Liszt for his graduation exam and wants to come to the graduation concert. Keiko explains that Sakuma has become Chiaki's fan after his last performance. As for her, she's been watching him ever since he became a conductor at Nina Lutz' music festival.

When the topic changes into Chiaki's plan to study overseas, however, the guy starts becoming nervous. He explains to the two reporters that he has no intention to go abroad or be in any competitions. This statement shocks Sakuma who thinks that Chiaki should do both. Chiaki, who has airplane phobia, doesn't want to say this so he ends up telling them that he's just going to graduate school. When Sakuma asks him what he's going to do in Japan, Chiaki snaps and tells the guy that is none of his business. He then proceeds to leave Uraken after telling Mine's father to wrap up the sandwich because he'll come back later. Meanwhile, Nodame is still handing out some chocolate to the rest of the S orchestra. Upon seeing the twin sisters practicing hard, Nodame wonders if this is for their exam. The sisters, however, tell her that the reason is because they want to take a second exam, which would serve as an audition for the graduation concert.

Basically all of the students who are selected from the second exam will perform in concert in March. The sisters admit that they didn't expect to make it that far. However, because Chiaki trains them hard, they get used to practicing hard as well. Other members, however, are not as lucky because they have jobs waiting for them as soon as they graduate. For them, the job has nothing to do with music so there is no chance that they'll be playing in an orchestra. One of them even plans on getting married. That night, Nodame tells Chiaki that she also wants to get married as soon as she graduates. An annoyed Chiaki tells her that she should go ahead and marry someone from her own planet. He then tells Nodame to go back as soon as she's done eating because he needs to practice. In return, Nodame wonders Chiaki is grumpy today. She also points out that today's dinner is also strange because it consists of all canned foods.

An angry Chiaki orders Nodame not to eat the food if she's going to complain. He then points out that she'll be graduating next year and wonders what she'll do after that. Much to Chiaki's surprise, Nodame knows that she wants to be a preschool teacher. In fact, she'll be busy next year because she needs to do her internship. She was going to return to her parents in Fukuoka and become a teacher but she wants to stay in Tokyo with Chiaki so she decides to get a job here. Chiaki is shocked to know that Nodame is not considering the competitions. Nodame, however, simply laughs the idea off. Chiaki thinks Nodame is a fool because although she is carefree, she is still a good piano player. Because of this, he wonders why she doesn't aim for a higher goal. This, however, reminds Chiaki of the same thing that Keiko and Sakuma said not too long ago. Chiaki realises that the problem is not that he can't go abroad but what will he do in Japan.

Impression:

Nodame's performance in this one is pretty good but it's clear that she's still not a professional. During the duet, Chiaki was the one who has to keep up with her performance. The song itself is unbelievably fast and I thought Chiaki's version a few episodes ago was fast. It also feels extremely uneven and all over the place. If I have to compare it with the live-action version of the song, I think I prefer the live-action version. In this one, I can barely tell what's impressive about her version apart from the speed. Moving on to other topic, I really like the Cosi Fan Tutte. I've actually never seen the opera before but after hearing the story, it sounds kind of familiar. I think I've seen the story adapted for a movie once but I can't remember the title at the top of my head. As for the character in question, I know the episode wants us to emphatise with Saiko but I find it hard to care for her character.

I mean, it's not like Chiaki is an easy person to deal with. However, Saiko did dump the guy when he was at his worst time of his life. It's kind of hard to sympathise with her character after she did something like that. Strangely, however, I don't actually ship Chiaki and Nodame that much in this version. For some reason I don't feel the chemistry as much as I did in the live-action version. I think it's mostly because I find Nodame to be annoying in this version to the point that I actually feel sorry for Chiaki. In addition to this, for some reason Chiaki doesn't feel as cruel as he was in the live-action version or the manga. Anyway, next week's episode should be interesting because we'll get to see Miki Kiyora again. I really am interested to see how the R☆S Orchestra comes across in this version. I personally find the members of the S Orchestra to not be as memorable as the same members in the live-action version.

Preview

On next week's episode: The formation of R☆S Orchestra.

© memento 2003