Nodame Cantabile is originally a Japanese manga series drawn by Tomoko Ninomiya. The manga was later made into a Japanese anime and drama. While the manga provides a quick story, the anime and Japanese drama allow the audience to fully enjoy the classical music being played.
Noda Megumi prefers to be called Nodame: she was a talented pianist who could play a piano piece even if it was only played to her once. Another talented being in the story was Shinichi Chiaki, who came from a family of talented musicians. Chiaki was listening to a mysterious player’s piano, she concluded that the piece was played in a disorderly manner, but she was surprised that the player had all the correct notes, running to the piano room, she missed meeting the pianist.
It was by chance that he realized that his neighbor was the piano player that he had heard earlier, and when he entered the room he was surprised to see the mess and the smell. Nodame came to worship Chiaki who was a good violinist and pianist. Thus began a funny but romantic story.
There were some difficulties along the way, mainly the race between Chiaki and Nodame, both of whom seemed to be trying to one-up each other. Chiaki knew that Nodame had talent, so she forced her to become a better pianist; her arrogance led him to rebel at times. The audience or reader would realize that Nodame dotes on the older of her Chiaki of her and Chiaki would sometimes feel threatened by Nodame’s rate of improvement.
Some interesting characters were introduced to further spice up the story, but none were really a real threat to their special relationship. The story focused more on her musical journey than her feelings, but occasionally Chiaki would melt and show that she cared deeply for Nodame’s happiness.
The status of their relationship was the main topic in Nodame Cantabile’s film, where Chiaki had come a long way in his directing career while Nodame was struggling to catch up. Unknown to Nodame, Chiaki felt afraid that he would soon get over it. It was when Nodame disappeared that Chiaki realized her feelings for her and why he had been forcing Nodame to become who he wanted her to be: a great pianist.
Nodame Cantabile is not entirely written as a romantic story, it is also a story about friendship and hard work. The people you meet along the way, the experience you gain are important in life, but we must be careful not to lose sight of what is truly meaningful to us.