Nodame Cantabile

Was in a very bad mood, so watched a new episode of Nodame Cantabile SP Part 1, despite the late hour.

Oh, it was great! Aft the 2 hr show, I'm back in a sensible mood. Am willing to empty the dustbin instead of letting it attract ants & cockroaches overnight, which was what I was seriously contemplating before the show.

So wanna share my current fav: the Japanese drama serial, Nodame Cantabile, 交响情人梦.

It's a adaptation of a jap comic, and the show retained some of the comic elements, eg. person being thrown abt like a rag doll. This I find amusing, adds to the 'anime' feel. Ultra exaggeration of certain aspects (eg. female lead's flat is dirty = room really looks like a rubbish dump!) makes the show even more light-hearted, very suitable for cheering oneself up!

The show is basically a standard love story, the female lead (Nodame) chasing aft the dream prince male lead (Chiaki). What makes this show different is its classical music background. Story occurs in a music university, Nodame plays the piano, Chiaki (being the dream prince) plays the violin, the piano, & aspires to be a conductor.

For every few episodes, there will be a showcase of some classical piece, which the leads would have been practising. At some point, the history of the piece would have been explained.

So aft hearing the signature tune of the piece several times, & knowing the music's background, it became much easier for a classical ignorant like me to remember the piece. So much more effective than listening to a CD or listening to hubby explain! ;P

This is my fav classical piece from the show, love the way it's being presented! It's also the show's ending theme:



Now Astro (Malaysia's cable tv provider) is showing the serial on Sunday 3pm on the 8TV channel. Hubby watched episode 1 the other day, & he agreed it was good. :)

Only problem is, the show being in Japanese, have to read the Chinese subtitles, & it's difficult for me when it comes to the technical music terms. Luckily had watched the show on vcd, I had to pause the disc several times to read the subtitles!

The show is so popular back in Japan they flimed 2 additional special episodes in Paris & Prague. So can get to watch the beautiful scenery in addition to the good music! Can't wait to get my hands on the dvd!

Yes, will splurge on dvd instead of vcd for the SP. The show's good enough to worth it (for me)!