Manga Review: Nodame Cantabile

[Eclipse]

Nodame Cantabile Vol. 1
By Tomoko Ninomiya
Reviewed by Maison

Visual 4:5
Storyline 5:5
Characters 5:5
Overall 5:5

Shinichi Chiaki dreams of studying to be a music conductor in Europe, but his fear of flying prevents him from going. Bitter and unhappy with music instruction in Japan and unable to do anything about it, he wonders if he should just quit music. Enter Megumi Noda, better known as Nodame. She can't even sight read music but she plays the piano in a wonderful and free cantabile style. Shinichi decides to take on the task of teaching her how to be a disciplined musician.

Nadome Cantabile's artistic style isn't your typical shoujo genre fare. There are no big and sparkly eyes; no rose petals; the eyes are small and roughly drawn while the noses are long. If you just got into anime and haven't yet accepted that some art is going to be slightly more realistic, this isn't for you. This is more appropriate for a seasoned otaku who can appreciate a good storyline instead of just pretty pictures.

Nodame shows us the fine line between perfectionism and passion that every music student walks. Nodame the carefree and Shinichi the perfectionist are polar opposites and they both compliment each other's character. Mine Ryutaro, an electric-violin-playing rocker introduced later on in the volume, has the same attitude towards music as Nodame does, which intensifies the hilarity of her actions (as well as confirm for me that the electric violin is the coolest instrument known to man).

As they go through school, the story plays out like a sitcom, making light of the little things like rehearsals, feeling like a failure because someone’s better than you, and mooching off friends. It even incorporates the weird sense of humor musicians are known for. Some musical terms may be lost on those without any musical background, but it doesn’t take away from the experience as a whole.

Music is not something that can be fully expressed in words. In order to understand music, you have to have listened to music. What’s so great about Nodame Cantabile is that it doesn’t try to illustrate music but rather the emotions and passion musicians have for their music.

Reviewed by: Maison
Proofed by: Natarle
Edited by: Firedog