Since my HanaKimi TV post last year has been, as it turns out, helping a lot of people in deciding which HanaKimi rendition to watch, I thought I'd write a similar post for another one of my favorite manga, whose TV renditions I absolutely adore.

I've written a short Nodame Cantabile review, actually, so let's consider this a part 2.

Extremely talented pianist and naturally gifted conductor. Another extremely talented pianist and your all-around weird girl. Put them together and what do you get? An impossibly addicting manga on classical music, love, and the love of music. And, yes, it's hilarious, too.

Obviously, the main ingredient of this manga is music, but non-musicians should not shy away! No, no, you won't drown in jargon, and, believe me, this series will enrich your knowledge in music. Also, there is an ample amount of comedy and a dash of romance to taste. Read full post...

Nodame Cantabile is originally a manga by Ninomiya Tomoko, running since 2001 and is currently ongoing. It now has a J-drama adaptation, an anime series, and a handful of OSTs. The anime and regular J-drama season both take from the manga's first to ninth volume. The J-drama, though, has a Special, which follows the manga a little bit further.

Most people know that I usually say that manga is the best, and, I guess, I think the same applies for Nodame Cantabile. But I think both the anime and the J-drama are a couple of must-watch renditions. Both have their pros and cons, though...

Cast and Characterization
Both anime and drama were SUPERB. I mean, seriously. The art in the anime was easy enough to adapt from the manga, but I just have to say that the voice dubbing was excellent.

As for the J-drama... ARGH! PERFECT! When I first saw the photos, I was, like, "Whoa! Nodame came to life!!!" But it doesn't stop there. When I watched the J-drama, right from the first episode, Ueno Juri and Hiroshi Tamaki (and everybody else, really) acted exactly as I imagined Nodame and Chiaki (and everybody else) to act. Not only did they capture the characters' look, but also their personalities, attitudes, mannerisms, speaking patters, everything! Kudos to the cast, and especially the director, Takeuchi Hideki-san!


Plot execution
The anime is, from start to finish, faithful to the manga; the pages were literally transferred to the screen. As for the drama, it's also as faithful as live dramas can go. Okay, sure, there were tiny tweaks here and there (some characters appeared earlier than they should, some events were merged into one, some pieces were performed at a different time) but I suppose it's understandable, since they had to make adjustments to fit 9 volumes of manga into 11 episodes. Still, there's only a hairsbreadth of difference, small enough for me, a purist, to actually let it go. About the J-drama Special... Hm... Now this one takes more events out of the plot, but, again, I'm willing to let it slide, since the parts they focused on were important, and the story flow wasn't disrupted.

Music
The drama, I think, is the best version to watch the performances. Not only do you actually see them playing the instruments, but the emotion is also seen better in the performers' faces. But in the anime, since it's understandably hard to animate people to move as they would in real life, the majority of the performances are just stills of the musicians playing. There are, however, exceptionally amazing concert sequences where you can really see the musicians' fingers hitting the right keys at the right time in the right tempo. Those are awesome, awesome sequences, but they rarely happen. In the anime, though, the shown/played excerpts of the music pieces are longer than the ones in the drama's regular season. (In the Special Lessons, though, the musical sequences are longer. Wheeeee~)


In summary:

• The anime has 26 episodes (about 25 minutes each ) plus one Summer Detour (15 minutes). The drama has 11 episodes (about 1 hour each) plus 2 specials (about 2 hours each).
• The anime is exactly the manga, just moving. The drama changes a few things here and there.
• The anime characters can't really move like real people all the time. The drama's cast is composed of real, living, breathing people (like, duh).
• The music is the same.
• The story is the same.
• The level of comedy is the same.

"So," you ask, "which do you recommend I watch, Sarah? Anime, or drama?"

My answer: BOTH.

I mean, really. I've read the manga, watched the anime, and watched the drama. And I still laugh. Every. Single. Time. Although, of course, you can chalk it up to the fact that I love the series, but it's just that each version offers something unique while still remaining so very... Nodame.

So, really, whichever rendition you pick, as long as it's Nodame Cantabile, I guarantee enjoyment. ^^

Labels: anime, manga, nodame cantabile, reviews, tv

Posted by sarah on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 5:24 PM | Permalink