Nodame Cantabile Live Action ep.08

December 12, 2006 | 41 Comments

R☆S Orchestra - Mozart Oboe Concerto (42.2MB, AVI format) | Brahms' Symphony No.1 (92.8MB, AVI format)

I think this is the first time the Orchestra's performance really impressed me. There is a sense of professionalism that did not exist in the previous Orchestral performances. I wonder if the producer decided to slowly make the performance of the real Orchestra to sound better with each Orchestral performance that Chiaki is involved in. The performances of the actors are also better this time around. I like how the tune of the Orchestra precisely follows Chiaki's hand movement or in this case, Tamaki Hiroshi follows the tune of the song while he acted in the episode. The actor who plays Kuroki (Fukushi Seiji) was also awesome in his solo Oboe section. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that he's actually playing the Oboe himself. Either way, it takes courage to perform solo like Kuroki. On another note, it's nice to see the S Orchestra again in this episode. It shows what a good friend they are to Chiaki, Mine, Masumi, and Sakura.

The episode begins with Chiaki feeling down after what happened to his orchestra. As a result, he ends up feeding Nodame some canned food. Although Nodame claims that she doesn't mind eating canned food, she reminds Chiaki that there are other types of foods he can buy like bentou boxes. In return, Chiaki tells her not to eat if she's going to complain. Their conversation comes to a halt when Chiaki gets a phone call from his mother, Seiko. Much to Chiaki's surprise, his mother is not in Europe anymore. Apparently her company's cultural affairs department has just started to support foreign music students. In order to help out, Seiko decided to stay in Japan for a while. Chiaki is horrified to hear this especially when he sees Nodame acting like she's trying to introduce herself to his mother. Seiko also tells Chiaki that she met Strezemann overseas and he asked her to remind Chiaki to buy him Nagaoka Mami's photo album.

Strezemann also said that he’d always be watching Chiaki be it in Japan or anywhere else. Because of this, he won't forgive Chiaki if he does things half-heartedly. When Chiaki remembers Strezemann's words, he becomes motivated again and starts studying his conducting notes. He believes that even if his orchestra ends tomorrow, the time that he spent studying won't be wasted. His obsession with studying causes Nodame to worry, especially after he refuses to eat or take a bath. Meanwhile inside the practice room, Masumi and Sakura lament the fact that no one has come to practice. Kuroki then comes into the room carrying a flower and looking for Nodame. Masumi is horrified to know this and asks Kuroki what's so good about Nodame. Kuroki starts to mention how Nodame is cute, honest, bright, and kind. She also dresses up nicely and is polite when speaking. Masumi is annoyed to hear this and tells Kuroki the truth about Nodame.

He claims that Nodame is insensitive, often wears the same clothes for days, and the reason she uses Keigo (polite form of Japanese language) is to hide her country dialect. Nodame also likes to steal other people's food, only washes her hair once every three days, and her room is filled with trash. Despite this revelation, Kuroki refuses to believe that Nodame is a weirdo. Speaking of the weirdo, she finally completes the composition of her "Farting Exercise" suit. She thanks Etou for his help and tries to run away but before she manages to do so, Etou reminds her that she promised to learn his lesson. Because of this, Etou orders her to learn several classical pieces until their next lesson. At the same time, Mine tries to persuade Kiyora to practice with the orchestra but she refuses until her Concours is over. Apparently her teacher, a Concert Master from Berlin Philharmonic, will be there, so she can't afford to fail this competition.

Meanwhile, Etou is now seen inside Uraken, writing Nodame's name as the student that he's selected to enter the Maradona Concours. Nodame herself has returned to her apartment and is shocked when she realises that Chiaki hasn't had any food. She decides to spoon-feed him an instant pudding and becomes very happy when Chiaki accepts the offer. She then drags him off to the bathroom so he can take a bath. Nodame becomes excited when Chiaki doesn't stop her from unbuttoning his shirt. Halfway through, however, he whacks her head and throws her out of the bathroom. The next day, Kuroki tries to figure out the words that he can use to invite Nodame to his Concours when he notices the girl running in front of him. Upon noticing his presence, Nodame explains that she is on her way to the Supermarket because there is a "3 for 300 Yen" Unagi (Eel) sale. She claims that she needs to get the Unagi for Chiaki so he can regain his strength.

Nodame also claims that Chiaki would have been drowned in his bath yesterday if she didn't take a peek. Kuroki is shocked to hear this and even more so when Nodame starts to push the crowd in order to get her cheap Unagi. Despite her best effort, Nodame fails to secure the cheap Unagi so she has to buy a more expensive fish. Kuroki apologises for not helping Nodame but she asks him not to worry because Kuroki always do his best in the orchestra. She, on the other hand, can't help Chiaki with his music so the only thing she can do is to help him stay healthy. On the day of the Concours, Kuroki can't help but thinking how all of these times, all that Nodame think about is Chiaki. Despite being heartbroken, Kuroki tries to focus his mind on the upcoming Oboe competition. Unfortunately, he forgets that he's been soaking his reed for far too long. When he tries to change it with another one, he is already called to perform in front of the judges.

At the same time Kiyora finds out that her Violin performance only earns her the 2nd place. When Mine finds out about this, she explains that she slept at a funny angle and hurt her neck. As if being hounded by reporters about her failure is not bad enough, Kiyora finds out that her teacher is disappointed that she didn't get the first place. Kikuchi is a bit luckier because gets the first place in his Cello Concours. However, his girlfriends then appear one by one to congratulate him. They are not happy when they realise that Kikuchi has been cheating on them. The three girls end up in a nasty catfight and manage to hurt the triple dipper called Kikuchi in the process. Chiaki is surprised when he finds out that the result of the Concours is different from what he had in mind, especially since he can't find Kuroki anywhere on the list of the winners. When Chiaki asks her about Kuroki, Nodame claims that she saw the guy the other day.

Chiaki suddenly casts a suspicious look towards Nodame and wonders what she did to Kuroki. Nodame claims that she simply asked Kuroki about a love problem and if Chiaki is afraid that she'll cheat, he should chain her. Chiaki is ticked off to hear this and decides to chain Nodame's hands and legs and dumps her outside his apartment. That night, both Kiyora and Kuroki promised themselves that they will make up their failure in the Concours by doing their best in their new orchestra. Much to everyone's surprise, however, Chiaki is not so lenient this time around. He starts showing his demonic side when he thinks everyone's performance is lousy. Mine, Sakura, and Masumi are used to his style so they are more than happy to see this but the rest are shocked to see this side of Chiaki. Upon seeing Chiaki's enthusiasm, Nodame remembers what Strezemann said and casts a serious look towards the music note that Etou gave her.

In the aftermath, the orchestra members are shocked that Chiaki forced them to practice for 5 hours straight. Kiyora, however, understands what Chiaki wants from them. Kuroki confirms this by saying that usual performance is not enough for Chiaki. Sakuma and Keeko then appear to let Kimura knows that they managed to sell 100 tickets. Everyone is surprised to know that these two managed to sell that many tickets and are involved in advertising their unknown orchestra. Keeko also reveals that there is a one-page poster of the orchestra inside the magazine. Everyone realises the situation has become serious and decide to practice harder. Meanwhile, Chiaki is about to prepare for his performance when he finds himself tied to an airplane chair and sees a tube rolling on the floor. When the plane suffers from turbulence, he decides to grab the hand of a person sitting nearby. This promptly awakens him from the nightmare.

Nodame is surprised to see Chiaki grabbing her hand so he explains that lately he's been seeing strange dreams about his airplane accident. The accident happened 10 years ago on a plane from Praha. He developed an Aviophobia because of this and has tried various medical treatments to cure it but found them to be ineffective. Upon hearing this, Nodame produces the clock that Strezemann gave her and asks Chiaki if he ever tried hypnotism. She then starts swinging it in front of Chiaki and tells the guy that he feels sleepy. Chiaki tells Nodame that what she's trying to pull is called the fixed gaze method and he himself has tried it with penlight. Nodame thinks he should give it a try with a clock and is shocked when Chiaki falls asleep all of a sudden. When Nodame claps her hands, Chiaki wakes up and believes that the method doesn't work so Nodame uses the watch to hypnotise Chiaki again. Much to her surprise, the method works.

The next day, Nodame goes to a bookshop to read a book on hypnotism while Chiaki is disturbed with the realisation that he still wants to study aboard. Inside Uraken, there is a sale of all sorts R☆S Orchestra's merchandise (T-shirts, paper fan, etc) while R☆S Orchestra banners can be seen around Uraken's neighbourhood. Kiyora is embarrassed about this especially when people start to recognise her on the street. Nothing, however, is worse than Mine's proclamation that Kiyora is his red ruby. XD At the same time, Chiaki finds out that his mother will come to the performance as well because Saiko has informed her about this. Seiko also wants Chiaki to introduce her to his new girlfriend. Chiaki assures his mother that he's going to be okay in Japan since there are things he can do. Upon hearing this, Nodame looks at the clock that Strezemann gave her and returns to her room. Before she manages to do this, however, Chiaki calls out for her.

He pulls out a free ticket to tomorrow's performance and asks her to use it. Nodame tells him that she already has her own ticket. Upon seeing the ticket, Chiaki tells her that as he expected, she got the cheapest seat while the ticket that he has for her is the best seat in the house. Nodame wonders if this is the girlfriend's seat but Chiaki denies it. Nodame decides to use the opportunity to ask Chiaki what he would do if he doesn't have his Aviophobia. When Chiaki can't answer this, Nodame realises that as she thought, Chiaki really wants to study overseas. Chiaki simply tells her to take the ticket and listen to his music before returning to his room. Nodame smiles upon seeing the ticket and returns to her room. She then places the watch inside a box and claims that an amateur should not try hypnotism. On the day of the performance, each visitor is eager to see his or her own favourite player from the R☆S orchestra.

The girls want to see Kikuchi performing while the guys want to see Kiyora. However, they have never heard of Chiaki. Keeko thinks it's unfortunate that no one has ever heard of Chiaki but Sakuma thinks it can't be helped since Chiaki never entered any Concours. Sakuma also realises that this will be the first time he sees Chiaki's conducting. Meanwhile, the Clarinet and Oboe player from S Orchestra think that Kuroki is not good at all since the guy crumbled at his Concours. Outside the hall, Nodame notices Saiko talking to an older woman and realises that the woman is none other than Chiaki's mother. Inside the performance hall, Kiyora panics when she realises that Kai Dowin, her teacher/Concert Master from Berlin Philharmonic is one of their potential audiences. Mine, however, convinces her that she's going to be okay since she's his girlfriend. With this, the group that will perform Mozart’s Oboe Concerto enters the stage followed by Kiyora.

Behind the stage, Mine, Sakura, Masumi, and Aizawa (the flute girl) wish 'Kurokin' good luck. In return, Kuroki thanks Chiaki and the others. Even though he failed his Concours, their trust in his ability still does not change. Because of this, he intends on returning their trust by performing well on stage. Kuroki and Chiaki then enter the stage together to the applause of everyone and R☆S Orchestra performs their first song, Mozart's Oboe Concerto. Needless to say, Kuroki finally proves himself to be an exceptionally excellent Oboe player. In fact, the Clarinet and Oboe player from S Orchestra are shocked to see Kuroki being so good on stage. During break, the S Orchestra members are reunited again on the front lobby. The guys immediately gushes after Kiyora's performance while the girls not surprisingly are all about Chiaki. The only one who is not impressed is Ookouchi but no one cares about him and he gets pushed aside by the fangirls.

Everyone, especially Nodame, looks nervous as the Orchestra is about to start Brahms' Symphony No.1. This time around, however, the entire Orchestra including Mine, Sakura, Masumi, and Aizawa participate in the song. Chiaki then returns to the stage and the Orchestra begins their performance. Although he's impressed with Chiaki's conducting, Sakuma can't help but wonder why Chiaki looks as if he bears a hopeless burden. Needless to say, the Orchestra performs really well and impresses even the hard to please audiences such as Kiyora's teacher. As the performance gets close to the end, Chiaki encourages his Orchestra to 'sing' and convey the feel of hopelessness turning into hope. Nodame can't help herself from crying as the performance comes to a close. Before Sakuma can say "Bravo", Kiyora's teacher already one-up him and says the word. The rest of the audiences then give the Orchestra a powerful applause that they deserve.

After the performance ends, Saiko goes over to talk to a friend so Nodame uses the opportunity to approach to Chiaki's mother. That night, Chiaki stares at the dark Sky from his balcony and thinks how he used to dislike the dirty air and small sky of Japan but lately it doesn't seem so bad. Nodame then appears and disrupts his thought by saying that she has a present for him. She then produces Strezemann's watch and proceeds to hypnotise Chiaki again. Once Chiaki falls asleep, Nodame tells him that right now he's inside a plane that takes him from Praha back to Japan. His age is 11 years old. A flashback then shows Chiaki's mother telling Nodame that Chiaki no longer remembers it but the truth is, someone passed away during the airplane accident. In the present, Nodame reminds Chiaki that back then there was someone sitting his right side. Under the hypnosis, Chiaki remembers that the person is an old man who liked music.

The man in question was telling the wife sitting next to him that they should go back to see Vierra's performance again next year. It was then that the plane was shaken by turbulence and the old man suffered from heart attack. His wife tried to find his medicine but the bottle fell onto the floor during the turbulence. Chiaki tried to reach for the bottle but failed to do so. In the present time, Chiaki starts crying so Nodame holds his hand and convinces him that it was not his fault. She then sets an alarm on a table and proceeds to leave the room because 'God is calling her'. Nodame then returns to her apartment and stares at her Schubert's note as her own words echoes in her ears. Back then she told Chiaki to open his eyes when the alarm goes off and to forget everything that transpired during the hypnosis. She also told him that he’d be able to take airplane again from now on. The episode then ends as the alarm sets off in Chiaki's room.

Impression:

For some reason, I can pick up the subtle nuances in the R☆S Orchestra's performance a lot more than I could in other Orchestra's performance. I think this is because the actual orchestra did a good job of performing the two songs to the point that every single crescendo and decrescendo becomes notable even to untrained ears. Kuroki's Oboe was particularly amazing and sounds a lot better than his usual practice round. Amongst the R☆S Orchestra members who 'failed' their Concours, I thought Kuroki was the one who didn't deserve it. After all, he never once snub the Orchestra in favour of his own Concours practice. It was Kiyora, Kikuchi, Kimura, and Aizawa who looked down on the orchestra and thought that it's not as high in their priority in comparison to their Concours. Kimura and Aizawa kind of paid the price since they didn't even make it to the top 3 while Kiyora upsets her teacher who wanted her to be in the first place.

Kikuchi did get the first place but it was amusing to see him beaten up by his girlfriends for triple-dating them. He reminds me of a friend who once asked me if it's a good idea to bring his former girlfriend and his new girlfriend to a New Year's Eve party. My answer was a firm "No" but he didn't listen. Suffice to say, I bailed out before 'the fireworks' occurred. :P Anyway, I think this is the first time that Nodame really falls for Chiaki. I know that she always claims that she loves him but I think that was just some kind of schoolgirl's crush and nothing more. In this episode, however, she went out of her way to cure his Aviophobia even though it means that he'll be separated from her. I think when a person wants another person to be happy even if that happiness is not spent together with him/her, then that is when that person shows his/her love. Although Nodame prefers that Chiaki stays in Japan, she knows that he needs to go overseas to realise his full potential.

Compare her decision in this episode to her attempt to stop Chiaki from transferring to the conducting course back in episode 2. Back then her love was selfish one where she wants him to focus on her. In this episode, she wants the best for him even if the cost comes at her expense. That doesn't mean that she's about to give up on him anytime soon though. Judging from the preview, she'd do anything to catch up to his status by winning the Maradona Concours. I think the good thing about Nodame thus far is that she hasn't relied on Chiaki for her career. Yeah, she leeches on him when it comes to food but she never begs him to include her in his Orchestra. As a result, she has to carve her own success away from his limelight. I think this will be good in the long run since whatever success she'd have, it will be because of her own hard work and not her association with Chiaki. This is the only way that she can be her equal.

© memento 2003