Well-Noted Romance Comedy

Recently, 7:30 PM is an important hour for me. For the past weeks I have been following a series in Animax-Asia called Nodame Cantabile. It has me running back home from wherever I am.

Nodame Cantabile is an on-going manga by Tomoko Ninomiya. The series has been adapted into 2 television shows; a live-action drama and an anime. The first season of the anime was first broadcasted in Japan in 2007. The second season in 2008. It has been announced that a third season will be coming in the fall of 2009. The first season of the anime aired just this February 2009 in Animax-Asia. It's shown every 7:30 PM Monday to Friday and has an encore telecast every Saturdays, 10:30 PM. As of writing, it's already airing Episode 13.

The anime revolves around the lives of Momogoaka College's music students particularly Megumi Noda or "Nodame," and her neighbor/love-interest Shinichi Chiaki. Nodame is a talented junior pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher. She plays the pieces by ear and has a tendency to ignore the music score and go on inventing notes along the way. She is messy, disorganized, has a huge appetite, and takes baths several days apart. Shinichi Chiaki is Momogaoka College's top student. He is a 4th year piano major who is also a violinist aspiring to become a conductor. He hails from a musical family and has lived in several music capitals abroad but is now trapped in Japan due to his fear of flying. He is arrogant and a perfectionist, but this does not affect his hearthrob status with the ladies in school.

Chiaki falls drunk one day on Nodame's doorstep and then they discover they have the same piano professor. Their relationship further evolves when Chiaki investigates the mess and stench that's been reeking through Nodame's apartment. He ends up cleaning Nodame's apartment, doing her laundry, cooking her dinner, and even washing her hair. Though Chiaki finds Nodame a pest, who keep coming back to abuse his "kindness," he seems unable to stay away from her altogether for he was impressed with Nodame's cantabile (song-like) style of piano playing. Nodame on the other hand falls in love with Chiaki, to the point of even claiming that they are married. Along the way, they meet several students and professors who become their friends and rivals as they gradually hone their talents and get into several musical adventures.

What is very engaging about this anime is the treatment of classical music itself which is a huge presence in the series. Pieces of Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Grieg, and Liszt's music are performed - and there are more impressive classical heavyweights to come. Then there's the hilarious romantic-comedy dynamics between Nodame and Chiaki that's going to leave the viewer in stitches. Interesting funny characters pop in as the anime progresses. Among such characters are Mine, the rock-rebel violinist; Misumi, the gay tympanist who also harbors a crush on Chiaki; and then there's the famous but lecherous conductor Franz Von Stresseman - also known as "Milch" to Nodame. Sometimes appearances by Saiko Tagaya, Chiaki's ex-girlfriend and opera singer, add to the insanity of Chiaki's life. The series promises fun and color with the introduction of more cast members and of course, impressive music.

My only complaint is that it's not dubbed in English, so you have to bother with subtitles. But then it does not diminish the enjoyment of the show. Certainly worth checking out for music lovers out there.

Check this site to view first episode:

http://www.animepile.net/Nodame-Cantabile/Nodame-Cantabile---Episode-1.html

The Wheel of Time Anime Series?

If JRR Tolkien is still alive, LOTR's breadth and scope will be that of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.

The fact that Robert Jordan is alive and kicking (even health issues such as amyloidosis can't stop the non-tiring author --> Godspeed, man!) only means expansion of his universe is of daily construction. There are 11 and counting THICK books (other accompanying books not included)to prove this.

I've been stuck to Book 4: The Shadow Rising for almost 2 years now. And it's not because the book is bad. In fact, it's so darn interesting. But the inevitable circumstances such as work, movies, other books, and sleep, keep delaying me from finishing the thing.

The book is filled with so much detail that if you forgot about those details, you have to go back and read again so that you can catch up where the story is heading to. And that's what has been happening to me for the past two years.

Anyway, I'm a fan of anime and God knows how overworked my Full Metal Alchemist VCDs are. I also love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Girl from Hell, and now my current fave is Blood +.

One afternoon while I was retracing my steps back to the Jordan's world, I was thinking that this series would make a very wonderful anime.

Why anime? Well, it's so impossible to make this into a movie due to the details and the length of the story. It's like making Tolkien's Silmarillion into a movie too (not a thick book but filled with so much detail). It's possible to make this as a TV series, but then i fear it might be done cheesily and that will be a big waste.


What makes this attractive as an anime is that the capabilities of the characters and the settings would be unlimited. You can make anything unimaginable in reality possible here.

There are wonderful anime directors out there who can make this one hell of a series. After all, anime directors are no strangers to magic, demons, magic swords, strange creatures, and virtual unknowns turning into something like a Dragon.

And besides, I'm too tired of re-reading this again and I want to move forward. If I only have a DVD copy of this (if it will ever exist)my journey with Rand Al'Thor wouldn't be as long as his.