is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Tomoko Ninomiya is a Japanese manga artist, based in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Career In 1989, she made her debut with ''London Doubt Boys''. She is best known for her series ''Nodame Cantabile'', which received the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award for ''shōjo' ...

. It was serialized by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

in the manga magazine ''

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

'' from July 2001 to October 2009. A short series, ''Nodame Cantabile: Encore Opera Chapter'', was serialized in the same magazine from December 2009 to August 2010. The overall chapters were collected in 25 volumes. In 2016, a one-shot epilogue chapter was published in the same magazine. It was licensed in North America by

Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint (trade name), imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cr ...

. The series depicts the relationship between two aspiring

classical musicians Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can a ...

, Megumi "Nodame" Noda and Shinichi Chiaki, as university students and after graduation. The series has been adapted as four different television series: as an award-winning Japanese live-action drama that aired in 2006 followed by a sequel television special that aired in January 2008, as an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series spanning three seasons with the first broadcast in 2007, the second in 2008 and the third in 2010. Two live-action movie sequels to the Japanese television drama, with the same actors, were produced with release dates of 18 December 2009 and April 2010. In addition, several soundtrack albums of classical music have been released, as well as three video games. A South Korean drama live action adaptation aired on the KBS network in 2014. By March 2023, the manga had over 39 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. It received the 28th

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

for best manga in 2004.

Plot

Shinichi Chiaki, an arrogant, multilingual perfectionist, is the top student at Momogaoka College of Music and has secret ambitions to become a

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy (namely Prague), but is trapped in Japan because of his childhood phobia of airplanes and the ocean. In contrast, Megumi Noda, or "Nodame", is a piano student at Momogaoka, notorious for messiness and eccentric behavior. Despite being very talented, Nodame prefers to play by ear rather than according to the musical score; thus, she is regarded as sloppy and playful. When they meet by accident, Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame's unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Along the way, they meet some crazy people (like Masumi, Mine, and Stresemann) and make lasting friendships. Because of Nodame, Chiaki gets the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people's musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible. After graduation, Nodame succeeds in curing Chiaki from his phobias and they both move to Paris, where Nodame continues her piano studies at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

while Chiaki starts a professional career as a conductor. In Europe, they encounter new friends and rivals, as well as keep in touch with their friends from Japan.

Development

Tomoko Ninomiya based the character of Megumi Noda on a real-life counterpart with the same name. Ninomiya first learned about the real Noda when the latter, a music college student at the time, posted a photograph of her messy room on a website Ninomiya managed. This inspired her to start a comedy series about a sloppy music student. Ninomiya consults with Noda about musical details, claiming to receive inspiration from her, and thanks Noda in the acknowledgments of every volume of ''Nodame Cantabile''. Noda, currently a piano teacher in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

(the home-town of her fictional counterpart), composed the music and co-wrote (with Ninomiya) the lyrics for the "Fart Song" Nodame plays in the first episode of the anime series, and visited Ninomiya upon the birth of her son. Ninomiya also based the character of James DePreist, the musical director of the fictional Roux-Marlet Orchestra in Paris, on a real-life counterpart with the same name.

James DePreist James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at ...

was Permanent Conductor of the

Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra The (also known as Tokyō (都響)) is a Japanese orchestra based in Tokyo. Their offices are based at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, a concert venue owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The orchestra performs regularly at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Su ...

, and conducted th
Nodame Orchestra
which provided the music for both the live-action drama and the anime adaptations.

Media

Manga

''Nodame Cantabile'', written and illustrated by

, started in

's biweekly manga (aimed at younger adult women) manga magazine ''

'' on 10 July 2001. Starting in May 2008, the serialization changed from biweekly to monthly because of Ninomiya's pregnancy. Serialization went on hiatus starting October 2008 following the birth of her son and Ninomiya's subsequent diagnosis of having

carpal tunnel syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a nerve compression syndrome associated with the collected signs and symptoms of Pathophysiology of nerve entrapment#Compression, compression of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel in the wrist. Carpal tunn ...

, but resumed in March 2009 on an irregular schedule depending on her continued recovery. The series finished on 10 October 2009. A short series, titled ''Nodame Cantabile: Encore Opera Chapter'', was serialized in the same magazine from 10 December 2009 to 25 August 2010. Kodansha collected the chapters (including the ''Encore Opera Chapter'' chapters) in 25 volumes, released from 11 January 2002 to 13 December 2010. Ninomiya published a one-shot chapter, set five years after the last installment, in ''Kiss'' on 25 February 2016. It was described as a final coda to Nodame and Chiaki's story. The manga was licensed in North America by

, who released 16 volumes from 26 April 2005 to 28 July 2009. In 2016

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...

announced that they received the rights to the series for digital release. They released the series from 26 July 2016 to 27 June 2017.

Live-action drama

''Nodame Cantabile'' has been adapted as a live-action

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

broadcast in 11 hour-long episodes from 16 October – 25 December 2006, on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

, covering events up to volume 9 of the manga. This was followed by a four-hour sequel television special, ''Nodame Cantabile New Year's Special in Europe'', adapting further events in the manga after Chiaki and Nodame move to Paris, broadcast on Fuji TV on 4 and 5 January 2008. These were directed by Hideki Takeuchi from scripts by Rin Etou, and starred

Hiroshi Tamaki is a Japanese actor and singer from Nagoya, Japan. When he was still in high school, he was discovered by a talent agent while out shopping with friends. He made his debut in the drama ''Am I Weird?'' (私ってへん？ ''Watashitte Hen?'') in ...

as Shinichi Chiaki and

Juri Ueno is a Japanese actress. She first gained recognition in the 2005 film '' Swing Girls'' where she was a recipient of Newcomer of the Year prize at the Japanese Academy Awards. Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the title role in the live- ...

as Megumi "Nodame" Noda. Music direction was by Daisuke Mogi with original music by

Takayuki Hattori is a Japanese film, television, video game and non-soundtrack music composer, arranger and conductor. Early life Hattori graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris in 1988 and since then has worked in Japan. Career The works Hattori has s ...

, with several works of classical music featured in each episode. The orchestral music was performed by Nodame Orchestra, which consisted of members specially selected for the live-action drama with professional support from the

. The Orchestra was conducted by

James DePriest James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at Th ...

, Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, who would later have his name and likeness used in the Nodame storyline as the musical director of the fictional Roux-Marlet Orchestra. The opening theme for both the drama series and special was the first movement ("Andante Cantabile") from

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's '' Symphony No. 7'', and the ending theme was Gershwin's ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

'', both performed by the Nodame Orchestra conducted by Toshiaki Umeda. An episode of , the fictional anime series that Nodame watches, was created by

J.C.Staff is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was '' Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Aria ...

for the drama. The anime was written and directed by

Ken'ichi Kasai is a Japanese storyboard artist and director. He is amongst J.C.Staff's most noted directors, having directed the highly rated '' Honey and Clover'' series. Beginning his career as a production manager, using his name in kanji, , he moved on to ...

, the director of the first season of the ''Nodame Cantabile''

. Segments of the ''PuriGorota'' anime were shown during episode 4 of the ''Nodame Cantabile'' drama, with the complete anime released as a DVD extra with the ''Nodame Cantabile'' anime series. On 4 May 2009, the drama began airing in the Philippines on the

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

. In South Korea the drama aired on MBC's cable channel where it achieved peak ratings of 2%, which is a record high for a foreign cable drama. A South Korean adaptation titled ''

Naeil's Cantabile ''Naeil's Cantabile'' () is a South Korean television series adapted from the Japanese manga ''Nodame Cantabile'' by Tomoko Ninomiya. Starring Joo Won and Shim Eun-kyung with Park Bo-gum, Go Kyung-pyo and Baek Yoon-sik, it aired on KBS2 from Octob ...

'' starring

Joo Won Joo Won (; born Moon Joon-won on September 30, 1987) is a South Korean actor. He is known for starring in the television series '' Bread, Love and Dreams'' (2010), '' Ojakgyo Family'' (2011–2012), '' Bridal Mask'' (2012), '' Good Doctor'' (201 ...

Shim Eun-kyung Shim Eun-kyung (; born May 31, 1994) is a South Korean actress. She starred in the box office hits '' Sunny'' (2011), ''Miss Granny'' (2014) and '' Fabricated City'' (2017), as well as television series '' Naeil's Cantabile'' (2014). She has st ...

and

Park Bo-gum Park Bo-gum (; born June 16, 1993) is a South Korean actor, singer, and musician. A prominent Korean Wave figure, Park is the youngest artist to be named Gallup Korea's Actor of the Year, Gallup Korea's Television Actor of the Year and the firs ...

aired on

KBS2 KBS 2TV is a South Korean free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen ...

in 2014.

Live-action films

Two live-action movie sequels to the television drama with the same actors were produced, with the first film being released in December 2009, while the second film was released in April 2010. Filming began in May 2009 and lasted for five months, and included location filming in Vienna. In Japan, ''Nodame Cantabile: The Movie I'' grossed and ''Nodame Cantabile: The Movie II'' grossed for a combined , with both among the top ten highest-grossing domestic films of 2010. ''Nodame Cantabile: The Movie II'' went on to gross $86,192,740 worldwide, .

Anime

television series, produced by

and animated by

, was broadcast on Fuji TV and associated stations in the

Noitamina is a Japanese programming block on Fuji Television devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 0:45 to 1:15 JST. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical you ...

time slot. The first season, titled ''Nodame Cantabile'', was broadcast in 23 episodes from 11 January – 28 June 2007, and the second season, called ''Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter'', was broadcast in 11 episodes from 8 October – 18 December 2008. Both seasons were also later aired in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on the

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

network

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

. The first season was directed by

(the director of the ''

Honey and Clover is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chica Umino. It was serialized in Takarajimasha's manga magazine ''Cutie Comic'' from 2000 to 2001, before being transferred to Shueisha's manga magazines '' Young You'' (2001 ...

'' anime) and the second season by

Chiaki Kon is a Japanese anime director. She is known for directing ''Higurashi When They Cry'', ''The World's Greatest First Love'', the third season and the '' Eternal'' films of the '' Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal'' series, and ''You and Idol P ...

, and starred

Ayako Kawasumi is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer. She is affectionately referred to by her fellow voice actors and fans as "", "","" and "". She is a skilled pianist as she has played the piano since childhood. She performed "...To ...

as Megumi "Nodame" Noda and

Tomokazu Seki is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He has previously worked with Haikyō. He is honorary president of and affiliated with Atomic Monkey and the chairman of theater company HeroHero Q. He is a special lecturer at Japan Newart College. Caree ...

as Shin'ichi Chiaki. An

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

(OVA) episode was included with the limited edition volume 22 of the manga when it was published in Japan on 10 August 2009, and a third and final anime season, called ''Nodame Cantabile: Finale'' began airing in January 2010. On 6 February 2009, the series received its

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

television premiere on

Animax Asia Animax is an Asian pay television channel owned by KC Global Media Asia. The channel was originally owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and took its name from the Japanese satellite TV network; which was then-majority owned by subsidiary Sony ...

across its networks in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, airing the series with its original Japanese audio and English subtitles. and later its air in English Dubbed on 12 June 2009. The music director for both seasons was Suguru Matsutani. As with the live-action drama, several works of classical music were featured in each episode, performed by the Nodame Orchestra. The opening theme of season one was "Allegro Cantabile" by

Suemitsu & The Suemith Suemitsu & the Suemith (スエミツアンドザスエミス) is a Japanese solo project headed by Suemitsu Atsushi (末光篤). He performs piano and vocals for the project. Suemitsu is probably best known for performing the opening theme and ...

, and the ending themes were " Konna ni Chikaku de..." by

Crystal Kay is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host. After releasing her first single, "Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, ''Almost Seventeen'' (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese O ...

(episodes 1–12), "Sagittarius" by Suemitsu & the Nodame Orchestra (episodes 13–22), and "Allegro Cantabile" by Suemitsu & The Suemith (episode 23). The opening theme for the second season was "Sky High" by

The Gospellers The Gospellers (ゴスペラーズ) are a Japanese a cappella vocal group made up of Tetsuya Murakami, Kaoru Kurosawa, Yuji Sakai, Yoichi Kitayama and Yutaka Yasuoka. History Originally formed by Murakami and Kurosawa (along with 4 other memb ...

(with melody taken from the Third movement ("Allegro Scherzando") of

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

's Piano Concerto No. 2), and the ending theme was by Emiri Miyamoto x solita (with variations on the theme from

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

's ''

Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. It is one of Ravel's most famous compositions. It was also one of his last completed works before illness diminished his ability to write music. Composition T ...

''). The opening theme for the final season is "Manazashi Daydream" by Yuu Sakai (with variations on the theme from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's ''

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is the popular English title of the chorale from the 1723 Advent cantata ''Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'' (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life), BWV 147, by Johann Sebastian Bach. The chorale occurs twice in the ca ...

'') and the ending theme is "Kaze to Oka no Ballad (風と丘のバラード)" by Real Paradis with Nodame Orchestra. The first season was released on 8 DVDs between April and November 2007. A box set was released in February 2008 with an additional 15-minute

(OVA), taking place between episodes 8 and 9. The first DVD of the second season was released on 24 December 2008.

Music

Several albums of classical music have been released in association with ''Nodame Cantabile''. Some were promotional tie-ins with the manga, while others are soundtrack albums for the live-action and anime series. * ''Nodame Cantabile'' - Released in September 2003 (ISBN B0000C4GLG), with sections of music by

Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

, Gershwin,

, and Chopin that are performed by the characters in the manga series. The performers included the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, and

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

. * ''Nodame Cantabile Selection CD Book'' - Published on 10 August 2005, by Kodansha () as a book with accompanying CD. The CD includes works by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Gershwin, Liszt,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

, and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

that are performed by characters in the manga series. The book includes commentaries by music critic Sakuma. * ''Brahms Symphony Number 1: Nodame Cantabile'' - Released in September 2005 by King Records (ISBN B000ALJ16S), with recordings of Brahms's ''Symphony No. 1'' and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

's ''Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"'', which are performed in the series by the R☆S Orchestra. 50,000 copies had been sold by the end of October 2005, the month after release. * ''Nodame Cantabile Selection CD Book vol.2'' - Published in August 2006 by Kodansha (), covering music that appeared in the manga series since the release of the first ''Selection CD Book'', including pieces by

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, Ravel,

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

Franck Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck, Argentina, town in Santa Fe Province, Argentina * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also * Franc (di ...

, Dukas, and Mozart. Included in the book are commentaries by oboist and conductor Daisuke Mogi and music professor Osawa Tetsu. * ''Nodame Orchestra LIVE!'' - Released on 15 November 2006 (ISBN B000I5YAD0) as a 2-CD soundtrack for the live-action drama as performed by the Nodame Orchestra. It included works by Beethoven, Gershwin, Mozart, Brahms,

Pablo de Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish violinist, composer and Conducting, conductor of the Romantic music, Romantic period. His best known work ...

, Chopin, Debussy, Stravinsky, and

. This reached number seven on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

album chart. * ''Nodame Orchestra STORY!'' - Released on 21 February 2007 (ISBN B000M7XSPU) as a 2-CD soundtrack from the first season of the anime series, again performed by the Nodame Orchestra. It included works as supposedly performed by the fictional student ensembles S Orchestra, A Orchestra, and R☆S Orchestra. It included works by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Bartók, Dvořák, Gershwin, Rachmaninov,

André Jolivet André Jolivet (; 8 August 1905 – 20 December 1974) was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influ ...

, Listz, Saint-Saëns, Elgar, Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Debussy, Schumann, Stravinsky, and de Sarasate. * ''Nodame Cantabile Selection CD Book vol.3'' - Released in August 2008 (), covering music that appeared in volumes 16–20 of manga series, since the release of the second ''Selection CD Book''. It included works by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

, Chopin,

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

, Bach, and Debussy. * ''Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter'' - Released on 15 October 2008 (ISBN B001DNF70Q) as a 2-CD soundtrack from the second season of anime series, again performed by the Nodame Orchestra. In addition, ''Nodame Cantabile Special BEST!'' Released in December 2007, a "best-of" compilation of the most popular works from these albums to date.

Games

Three ''Nodame Cantabile'' games have been released in Japan: * ''Nodame Cantabile'' for

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

, released on 19 April 2007, by

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

. * ''Nodame Cantabile'' for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

, released on 19 July 2007, by

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Ba ...

. * for

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

console, released on 27 December 2007, by Namco Bandai Games.

Reception

The manga of ''Nodame Cantabile'' received the 2004

for best manga, and was a jury recommendation at both the 2005 and 2008

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival was an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

s. It was a finalist for the

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

in 2005 and 2006, but did not win. In 2006, the English translation was named by the New York Public Library as one of the Books for the Teen Age. The series sold 2.8 million copies in 2008, making it the 8th best-selling manga series in Japan that year. Volume 17 was the third best-selling manga on the

charts for 2007, and volumes 20 and 21 were the 6th and 7th best-selling manga on the Oricon charts for 2008, respectively, selling 1.2 million copies each. According to an Oricon survey men and women aged 10–40, ''Nodame Cantabile'' was the second "most interesting" manga series published during 2008. The series and its associated music albums are credited with increasing sales of classical music in Japan. By March 2015, the series had over 37 million copies in circulation. By March 2023, it had over 39 million copies in circulation. The English translation of ''Nodame Cantabile'' has been praised for its quirky, interesting characters, sense of humor, and clean art. Dirk Deppey in ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'' praised Ninomiya's storytelling, saying she "has a solid sense of when to accentuate the highs and lows with just the right note, and understands that one can only do this by not hitting such notes very often", resulting in "an understated soap opera" that is "a seamless and enjoyable storytelling experience." Reviewers have called Ninomiya's character development subtle, while noting it is the character interactions that drive the story, and that "each character has a real and lasting effect on others." Reviewers also cite Ninomiya's ability to depict "scenes of people playing music that no one can hear" and her sense of humor as factors in the series' appeal. Ninomiya has been criticized for not handling transitions between storylines well, for sometimes letting the characters derail the story, and for art and backgrounds that are sometimes too plain.

Rachel Thorn Rachel Thorn (formerly Matt Thorn; born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and a faculty member at the Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Global Culture (in the Japanese Culture Course) in Japan. She is best known in North America ...

criticized the English translation for inaccuracies of tone. The live-action drama received the 2007 Japanese Drama Academy Awards for Best Drama, Best Lead Actress (

), Best Direction (Hideki Takeuchi), Best Music (

), and Best Title Song; the show was also recognized overseas as Best Miniseries at the 2nd Seoul Drama Festival. Juri Ueno also was named Best Newcomer at the Élan d'or Awards for her performance, and the next year was named Best Actress at the International Drama Festival in Tokyo Awards for reprising her role as Nodame in the television special. The ''New Year's Special in Europe'' received an average household rating of 20.3% and 21.0% for the two nights it was broadcast in Japan, making it them the highest-rated drama episodes of the week. The first soundtrack album for the drama, ''Nodame Orchestra LIVE!'', reached number seven on the

album chart, breaking the record for highest ranked classical music album. The opening episode of the anime series broke the record for audience share for its time-slot. The first DVD volume debuted at number 3 on the Oricon chart for anime the week it went on sale. Although the anime has not been licensed in English, it has still received notice from English reviewers, who praised the character development and chemistry, the balance between drama and comedy, voice acting, and especially the music—both the performances and how it was presented. Reviewers did complain that the visual design of some secondary characters were too similar. In 2006, a cafe based on ''Nodame Cantabile'' opened in

Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesandō, Tokyo, Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya, Tokyo, Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 Japanese a ...

, Tokyo, including live music from the live-action drama and sets from the show.

References

External links

Kodansha manga website

Official anime website
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