Forum - View topicNEWS: 2 Live-Action Nodame Cantabile Films Green-Lit for 2010
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Shigi
 Posts: 41 Location: CA, USA |
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Was anyone else a little confused by this statement in the article? Chiaki and Nodame were both students. 
I am happy the drama's being continued! |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14869 |
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In case some haven't figured it out yet, I was being sarcastic, applying many people's reflex reaction whenever a Western outfit adapts an anime or manga. 
Ergo, worse than Kill Bill, making you pay twice for a movie - and with the price of going to the movies these days....
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2634 |
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Hey I am upset that not only will I probably not be able to pay a theater to see these movies, I probably won't even be allowed to purchase them on DVD. I hope I am wrong but it doesn't seem like Nodame Cantabile LA will be licensed in the US. And these are actually movies I would want to pay to see. And yeah sorry I do have trouble realizing someone is being sarcastic on the Internet. 
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rg4619
Posts: 163 |
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Several Korean series have been officially subtitled and released in the US (by YA Entertainment and the American subsidiary of KBS). Most are sold online, although YA Entertainment supposedly distributes a small handful of titles through Best Buy. I think some people hoped to cash in on the worldwide Korean TV boom. Nevertheless, success seems meager at best. |
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Raja
 Posts: 68 Location: Tottori |
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By the way, a nitpicky comment: The DVD cover pictured in the article is NOT the cover for Nodame Cantabile in Europe; it's the bonus materials disc covering shooting locations in Prague and Paris. There's a space for it in the Nodame in Europe box set, but it was sold separately from it. (and yes, I bought them both...  )
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Talon87
Posts: 89 |
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 )
I don't disagree with you that classical music is a hard sell in modern America. I only disagree that this is the reason why Nodame is ill-prepared to capture the American audience. I don't think Nodame is ill-prepared at all! I think it is perfectly poised to capture the American market's hearts. A nice romantic story for the teen girls, "epic" symphonic duels for the teen guys, and a nice blend of classical music's more "rockin' " pieces (like the signature Symphony No.7 of Beethoven's) and its more mellow ones (as we see later in the series). Teens will see themselves in the characters while their parents will be reminded of their own teenage youth many years ago. I mean, hell, I was never a "band geek" and I'm only in my mid-20s and even I got nostalgic watching this series! I don't think they will ever import Nodame as it is, though: not because of the subject matter but because of the cast. I think there'd be a much better chance for domestic success if they were to refilm it with American actors who had American names and who went to an American music school. Replace Chiaki and Nodame's academy with Juilliard. Replace the Tokyo Philharmonic with the New York Philharmonic. Personally? I think Nodame would scare Americans away for being all in Japanese before it would scare them away for being about classical music. Just compare the US market for classical music with the market for anime and foreign films combined and I think you'll see why I feel this way. How many symphonies perform each year in America? How many high school and college symphonies compete in contests? Yes, classical music is a niche American interest, but its audience is an order of magnitude greater than anime and J-drama's audience! And so given the success of little ol' anime in the US of A, I think that the Nodame J-drama definitely could succeed where other TV shows have failed. I do recognize that it's a lot cheaper for them to import the series and slap an R1 label on it at no added cost, but the chances for failure are also a lot higher for the reasons I've explained. While it's incredibly expensive to refilm the series (very expensive!), if it paid off it could be a huge success. Just imagine if the series attracted "guest stars" who are real-life budding musicians in the United States. Not Kelly Clarksons, mind you: I'm talking violinists, cellists, and conductors! These kids get no press in today's world but a live-action American Nodame could change that for them. And we know that Hollywood is definitely not averse to redoing foreign television series as opposed to cheaply importing and dubbing them over with English audio. Ugly Betty is a redo of a Columbian soap called Betty la fea which aired from 1999 to 2001. ABC could have just imported it and sold it directly to DVD but they chose not to and it's paid off for them quite well. And we all know about the American version of the The Office -- a show whose original version was already in English, our own tongue!! (lol @ over-localization) So the idea of a studio investing the dollars to redo Nodame for the west is 100% realistic. The only danger I would see for Nodame is TV execs complaining that the series is "too short" to bring over, since they love them some cash cows. |
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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), is gonna plunk down the better part of $100 (I'm guesstimating, cost-wise) for a foreign-language TV series boxset starring a bunch of actors they don't know. It's just never gonna happen (or at least not in great enough numbers to be profitable).
*Then again, I probably wouldn't be the target audience for any sort of American remake anyway... |
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Talon87
Posts: 89 |
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Totally agree with ya, poonk, about why J-dramas > American dramas. I don't demand closure, but I do demand letting shows that are ready to end end. If a show isn't ready to end until episode 150, fine. If a show is already ready to end by episode 15, fine. Just let it end when it should end. Don't force it to end prematurely, and don't force it to stay "alive" in name only, becoming a shell of its former self.
I've never seen either of these series, but I get the impression that both Lost and 24 fell victim to this. It seems like both series were insanely popular with their fanbases but that doomed them to the "jump the shark" fate so common with American television. The moment anything is popular on American TV, you can guarantee that the execs will make it keep on running until Americans are sick of it. It's worst with sitcoms, but it's not like dramas are immune. ABC's The Practice comes to mind. It was a great show up until around the final two or so seasons. Another famous example is Star Trek, with Berman & Braga running the beast into the ground -- it took the fanbase's abandonment of Enterprise to finally give Trek the much-needed vacation it had been begging for since Star Trek Voyager. Oh, forgot to mention: I'm right there with ya, buddy, at not being the American TV corporations' target audience member. But my parents and sister sure are, and they all three seemed interested in Nodame but bemoaned the fact that it was "Japaneez," lol. I'm sure many of you can relate. |
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Frederika Bernkastel
Posts: 1 |
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Sorry to get off topic, but I would not say Lost is an example of what you're trying to prove. A lot of people who've seen about two episodes think that's the case, but it's not. Lost is probably more akin to J-dramas in terms of plot management. It was plotted out to last between 5 and 6 seasons from very early on (it's going to be six, with seasons 4-6 as "half" seasons), and though it's really popular to say that the writers don't know where they are going with the plot, they do, actually.
When you actually watch the show, it becomes very apparent that they know exactly where they are going -- hell, the season 3 finale showed us a scene that wound up taking place chronologically at the end of season 4's flash forwards.
I just get testy when people try to talk about Lost when they've never watched it. Ahem. The same way I hate it when people talk about anime and J-dramas when they've never watched any. I got my mother to watch the Nodame live action (which I prefer to every other format of Nodame, mostly because it was my first exposure to the story) and she got really into it. I've watched anime with her before, though I wouldn't consider her a "fan". There is a cultural barrier there but it's not insurmountable. Anyway, I think someone could release the Nodame drama in the US without going broke. For one thing, it doesn't need to cost freaking $100. The original series is 11 episodes. It could be sold in a box set with no more than four discs and cost no more than $40-50. But then again, we are talking about price-gouging American distributors, so that will probably never happen. |
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TatsuGero23
 Posts: 1277 Location: Sniper Island, USA (It's in your heart!) |
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I still feel Nodame will be a hard sell due to in large part of the classical music theme. But will also be a hard sell in how the story focuses on music and the characters rather then just the characters and the concept of music.
The idea of a US remake of the series is thrown around but I see that as unlikely or unlikely to survive intact and true to the original source material. Its not just a series where its a love story or comedy where the 2 main characters just happen to be musicians. The music is a very centralize theme and as important as the characters themselves. Its on of the things that makes the show so great. I honestly can't see this aspect surviving a US remake. It's style of comedy is far different then US comedies and it's drama has the same hurdle. Can you honestly see any US actress being faithful to Nodame's character? Her lack of diginity? Her otaku or obsessive behavior? What about Stressman's character or Chiaki? I can't see any type of executive want to keep that aspect of the story intact. Nodame Cantabile is very light hearted but I can't see a US being able to do the same. Especially not how it is today. If a US remake is done, odds are it'll be closer to something you would see on the CW like Felicity or god forbid something on Fox like the OC or whatever it is that has young actors in it these days. No, odds are in a remake the music will turn more into a premises rather then being so central to the show or in a number of episodes the main theme. Something where the drama would be a bit higher and the dialogue more cynical then the manga, drama, or anime. In Nodame Cantabile, the characters add to the music but it's more likely in a western remake to be the other way around. Yes there is a market with a number of people who have an appreciation for music that isn't limited to the strings of a guitar and the buzz of an amp. But like you said it's niche, and its even narrower cause its a J-drama/comedy and Anime. I doubt the series would flop but I as doubt it will be a ratings magnet which is all executives care about in the end. The anime has the best odds of the 2 to get licensed state side due to a more general acceptance of anime these days. If they really want Nodame to work in the states and in turn, help bring classical back to the public eye then I would say a legitmate online stream would be the best start. There you can measure its viewership and gauge its appeal to a more general, non-otaku, non-asian drama audience. You gotta remember, even though the anime & asian media market and audience is bigger and more organized then it use to be. It's still small compared to other medias. Why do you think the anime industry has struggled so much the past years? And does anyone remember Prince of Tennis? That was suppose to be a thing trying to get younger people to get into tennis more in the US and that didn't work so well despite its anime fandom in the US and popularity in Japan. Don't forget Lupin the 3rd and Detective Conan. I love the Nodame Series and I'm glad I can at least get the manga now. But I won't hold my breath for a US release of the shows or movies. Al least nothing outside of a normal anime release or a limit release like the Train Man stuff. |
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Umai_Mouri
 Posts: 158 Location: The Big Apple |
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Ah, I remember! Sadly, I haven't seen the last few episodes of Stand Up!! Anyway, Becky really has good luck with JE boys. lol Yama-pi~ <333
Absolutely. Musicians of mixed background are also becoming common and gaining popularity. (eg. Yuna Ito, Anna Tsuchiya, and Olivia Lufkin) |
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GB3
Posts: 14 |
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Yay, more good news! I really liked Becky in the drama, she did a great job playing Tanya. It was like as if she was the actual Tanya. She was really fun to watch. Juri and Hiroshi were amazing too! They were all funny...
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