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TcDohl
Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 82
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:09 pm
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My first impressions of this series is very good. Being a big fan of the manga, I am pleased with the production values, the animation, and the treatment that Nodame Cantabile has gotten for its anime incarnation. You can see the great amount of care they did, especially with the piano-playing parts where the hands seem to be motion-captured (or at least rotomated) CG. I especially like the acting of Tomokazu Seki as Chiaki, but I believe that Ayako Kawasumi, while being one of my favourite voice actors, is not the best fit for Nodame. Her voice is too high-pitched, and when I hear her voice as Nodame, it's too easy to think of Kanako Ohno from Genshiken. She sounds too cutesy for a character such as Nodame. But overall, the voice cast is good.
Story-wise, the anime does not deviate from the manga very much, and makes minor omissions. The feel is much like that of Honey & Clover, as they share the same staff, with a good amount of comedy mixed with story. Though, I believe that as well as the story is presented in its anime incarnation, the dorama Nodame executed this opening chapter better.
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Azathrael
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 745
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 8:04 pm
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I agree about Kawasumi Ayako as Nodame. I didn't see the anime, but I've watched the J-drama and the feel of the character is simply not appropriate for the high-pitched Kawasumi Ayako. Ueno Juri did a great job portraying Nodame and her kind of voice could be the most appropriate for the anime character as well.
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Busaiku Chama
Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 65
Location: There
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:16 pm
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I've never read the manga or seen the Live Action adaptation, but I can absolutely say I loved this.
I personally liked the voice actress that plays Nodame, going from the 1st episode. Made her even more likeable, in my opinion. But in any case, Nodame is awesome.
I'm also wondering, is this going to be a 26 episode series? As far as I can remember, I believe the manga is not yet finished.
Anyways, overall, it's awesome.
Best show since Honey & Clover II last year (in my opinion), yes from just seeing that 1 episode .
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marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:22 pm
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I just watched the first episode of this tonight and I did like it a fair amount, though I feel so far that I do prefer the drama to the anime, if only because the pacing in this episode was quite fast (it did in 20 minutes what the drama did in 40 or so).
I also do agree that Nodame's voice is a tad higher than I would have liked it. She did a good job singing the Fart Exercise however, so it may grow on me. The other voices seem very strong, though of course we still haven't met most of the main cast.
I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the anime, even though apparently it will only cover the storyline up to where the drama left off, because of some agreement with the mangaka not to animate the unfinished arc set in Paris. This could of course be a rumor, but I am hoping it's true, because I generally find that when an anime has to come up with its own ending because it has gone past the manga, that the anime ending is almost always inferiour.
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zalas
Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 100
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:02 pm
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I have to agree. Episode one was pulled off brilliantly, and has easily taken the number one spot for this season, in my opinion. It's a great way to rewind after watching an episode of Soukou no STRAIN. Plus, I think the fact that music is a theme in the show really reeled me in, and I now have various Beethoven songs stuck in my head -.-;
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marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:16 pm
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zalas wrote: | Plus, I think the fact that music is a theme in the show really reeled me in, and I now have various Beethoven songs stuck in my head -.-; |
I agree, I downloaded the orchestra soundtrack of the drama and was so excited about having all these lovely songs on my computer (I was especially pleased to pick up the Queen of the Night's Aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute). It's interesting to see the differences in how both versions use the music, the Pathetique in the drama is much slower but still has the same general Nodame style which is good.
It is a bit odd for me to suddenly have JPop songs used for the OP and EP however...the drama didn't really have an OP at all (it had a episode title and that was it) and had the EP using Rhapsody in Blue, a song that should be appearing later in the anime series.
Watching/reading Nodame has really made me want to play the piano more too (I have an electric piano in my room but I usually don't play it but have been doing so more lately).
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 2362
Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:37 pm
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zalas wrote: | I have to agree. Episode one was pulled off brilliantly, and has easily taken the number one spot for this season |
I agree, but it really has no competition at this point. I've previewed a bunch of other Winter 2007 anime already, and the only other one besides Nodame that even remotely interests me is Shuffle! Memories, but I am less than hopeful after the lastluster first episode.
So far story is solid but nothing impressive, but the animation is already really catching my attention. It's the same watercolor style as Honey and Clover, with VERY similar character designs, and same studio (JC Staff). Chiaki's fingers when he was playing matched the music exactly, and they were actually the right notes and his hand movements and position were nothing short of what you'd expect from a first class musician.
Also while I don't care for the opening, the OP sequence itself was nothing short of brilliant. Never have I seen musical instruments, particularly the brass instruments, rendered so masterfully, beautifully, and accurately. Taking the French Horn for example - it really isn't easy to manage to position all the valves in such an accurate way as they did.
I do want to see Chiaki start his conducting soon - I've worked under enough conductors to really begin to appreciate the art that is conducting.
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frouella
Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 199
Location: 大阪
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:54 am
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I just watched the first episode (several times, actually), and I have to say that I thought it was really good. I haven't been this excited about the start of a new anime in a while, so I'm definitely looking forward to the rest!
From what I've seen in this and other forums, people seem to like the anime more if they haven't already seen the live-action version, which is natural, I guess, since the first voice you hear in a role is usually the one you associate with it. Since I have not watched the live-action version, however, I think these voice actors sound just fine; for example, I wouldn't have thought that Nodame's voice should have been pitched lower, etc. Actually, I liked her voice, especially when she says she's happy that Chiaki called her a mammal. From what has been shown of her character thus far (which granted, is not all that much), there's really nothing that states pitch-wise what her voice should sound like. But maybe that's just my opinion.
My only (very minor) gripe is that the style and coloration used is so similar to Honey & Clover that it seems like they're just copying without coming up with a distinct style for the series. I keep expecting Hagu-chan to walk by in the hallway...
As for the OP and ED themes, I really like them the way they are. In fact, I'd have to say that the opening song alone accounts for at least 25% of my happiness with the show. A classical theme might adhere more strictly with the music used in the story, but by choosing a song outside the genre I think they more effectively convey the quirky and exuberant tone of the show. And "Allegro Cantabile" does feature a really prominent piano, so it works for me!
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Mindless Watcher
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 68
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:23 am
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I like it so far! I like it!
Ironically, I watched the first episode only because I didn't have anything better to do. Actually, one of my rules of thumb is not to bother to check anime out that are about some character striving to become a great musician, boxer, idol, go player, baker, etc because I never can bring myself to care.
Although I still don't care if Chiaki will ever become a conductor the characters make more than up for it so far.
I will definitely keep watching for a while.
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adonais
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 302
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Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:20 am
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Yeah I have to say this one came as a very positive surprise, I liked it a lot.
TcDohl wrote: | especially with the piano-playing parts where the hands seem to be motion-captured (or at least rotomated) CG. |
This was awesome! I have rarely seen it done so convincing - or rather, it just seemed very natural here, as opposed to most attempts of actors pretending to play (which is almost always so annoyingly bad as to pull down the show!) or the traditional "roughly-so" animated musical performances where you just shrug your shoulders. And even though it's kind of overused, her playing of the pathetique was quite wonderful to listen to. Cantabile indeed!
I guess it does look a bit like Honey and Clover, which I actually didn't care for much, but I found the animation style here very pleasant and entertaining to watch. What a great way to open up 2007
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HellKorn
Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 1669
Location: Columbus, OH
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Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:17 am
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frouella wrote: | Actually, I liked her voice, especially when she says she's happy that Chiaki called her a mammal. |
A dog, at that.
Anyway, I forgot how funny the series could be. I've already read the first seven volumes of the manga, so there weren't any surprises here, just reminders, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the hell out of it. I don't think that I've ever laughed that hard in one single episode of an anime, let alone the first one. The comedy seems well-adjusted from the manga to anime adaption, and it was an absolute delight to watch. The art was subtle and I still like the character designs, and I also appreciate how the animation wasn't overused so we won't encounter any exceptionally low-budget episodes in the future, hopefully.
The music was also pleasant to listen to, and I too found the openings and closings to be fitting even though the majority of what we'll hear are classical pieces. Lastly, I find it funny how, in a way, they've already spoiled one joke in the ending, but viewers with no prior experience with Nodame Cantabile won't realize until they come to it in the anime.
Definitely this show is leaps and bounds beyond most of the anime that came out this past fall season, and looks to be one of the most promising ones this current season. I really hope that a lot of people look into it.
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d.yaro
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 528
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:45 pm
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I wouldn't of bothered with this series if it wasn't for an article about the source of the stories for the manga and mention of Ueno Juri being in the dorama (yes, I really enjoyed her performance in "Swing Girls"). I've only watched episode 1 of both the anime and the dorama just today and found them to be an interesting duo. The anime certainly had to economize on story development and comic elements given that it's roughly half the length of the dorama episode. But I found that it had its own language for conveying its message of joy in music that was delivered very well. Anyways, this is an interesting situation from my perspective: There have been a number of times where I've watched an anime series and wondered to myself why they didn't just go ahead and make a dorama since there wasn't anything particular outstanding about how the story was told or depicted in the anime. Now I have a case with an anime and a dorama side by side. I'm probably going to watch both in full which will be a touch unusual for me. I have an outright terrible track record for watching dorama series in full (in other words, I've yet to finish one).
edit: Corrected a typo.
Last edited by d.yaro on Sun Jan 28, 2007 10:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
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frouella
Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 199
Location: 大阪
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:51 pm
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d.yaro wrote: | I've only watched episode 1 of both the anime and the dorama just today and found them to be an interesting duo. The anime certainly had to economize on story development and comic elements given that it's roughly half the length of the dorama episode. |
I also watched the first episode of the dorama, and despite the good buzz I've heard about it, I didn't particularly care for it that much. I know that it's done in a very stylized way (with manga effects and the like), but it was just painful to watch the acting of many of the characters (e.g. Chiaki's first music teacher, who doesn't even have the excuse of manga stylization -- his acting was just really, really bad).
My problem with the dorama version probably stems from the fact that I can understand and expect (and enjoy) a certain amount of ridiculousness in an anime, but I am less inclined to watch real people act that way. I understand that other people really like the way the Nodame Cantabile dorama was handled, but as for me, I'll stick to the anime. To me, it's just a better vehicle for the story.
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Bata-kun
Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 9
Location: San Noze.
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 9:24 pm
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At this rate, it could end up being my anime of the year. Of course, it's not the dorama, but eh. That's okay. Right now, I can't find a series that may push "Nodame Cantabile". Then again, 2007 just started.
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marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 10:51 pm
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frouella wrote: | I know that it's done in a very stylized way |
It took me a few episodes to really get used to the style and it definitely turned me off the drama at first, but I did eventually get used to it and come to enjoy it quite a bit. Who says that live action means everything has to be realistic? I was particularily impressed by how the leads managed to capture the manga expressions in a way that shows that they are in fact humanly possible.
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