The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing

This is where I usually say something like, “I didn’t think this show was that good but I changed my mind.” However, Nodame has at least consistently pleased me with an interesting cast and story. It really is a good show. I noted in previous posts that I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Nodame has been a rather peculiar experience given its relation to another, arguably better, show.

“The show is focused on the effects of the music on people. More than that, the story seeks to show that making music is a metaphor for living. It has a rhythm about it.”
- me in Nodame Cantabile – I was the last chair coronet in sixth grade

[ yeah, I just quoted myself =P ]

The “music as a metaphor” thing is really laid on thick. Virtually every concert that Chiaki conducts freezes the audience as if they become instantly aware of the grandness they are witnessing. We see the same thing when Nodame plays.

Analytically speaking, music has a lot to do with the physical nature of the human ear. Our ear drum can only vibrate at a certain range of frequencies. Sound waves propagating through the air both attenuate and interact with each other. By the time they reach us the resulting sound may be a jumble of noise. On top of that, not all people can hear all things, and it is very common to lose some ability to hear as one grows older, I’ve written about this type of thing before. It has always been the job of the composer to understand these things, but the conductor has a different role in my opinion. After all, the conductor works less with the music and more with the musicians.

One of the aspects of NC that has been evident to me from the very beginning is how they utilize Chiaki. It would be hard to say that Chiaki’s gift was his talent for music, because it is evident that he had worked extremely hard to gain that “talent.” However, through that work he had gained the respect of his peers. This seemed to come effortlessly to him. To some extent he doesn’t seem to be aware how much those around him have respect for him. More than that, he does not seem too concerned with it, or maybe he’s simply oblivious.

The people around him want to experience Chiaki the way they experience their music.

Oddly, Nodame is not like this at all. She sees Chiaki’s success as a burden. It is something that will eventually take him away from her. Yet, she eventually urges him forward. I think she probably could have done it without hypnosis, but that wouldn’t have been as fun. It’s hard to make out what is going on with her. It would seem that she has a simple school girl crush on Chiaki, but we see an relatively pure intent to be with him and also help him pursue his goals. Slowly, she is wearing him down as she removes many of the social walls he had erected.

I find myself more interested in these two with every episode, Chiaki and Nodame. That isn’t odd in the least as these two are the main characters. They are both flawed characters. Nodame is completely naïve. Possibly it is that ignorance that drives her determination to make it to whatever goal it is she has set her mind upon. Chiaki in some ways is as unaware and naïve as Nodame. He isn’t that way in a worldly sense. It is his ignorance of himself that meets and matches Nodame. In a sense they are very much alike; yet, it would be very easy to list their opposing traits.