A side-by-side comparison — Sino Francisco

I watch alot of anime of alot of different genres. Right now, I’m in the middle of four ongoing series – Death Note (9/10), Bleach (started out as 9/10 and is now 6/10), Naruto Shippuden (6/10), and Nodame Cantabile (9/10). The first three probably don’t need further explanation as it seems that a whole bunch of people are watching them, but the fourth warrants some examination.

I found Nodame Cantabile through a bunch of good reviews that it was receiving. I began watching the anime and thought it was really good. It’s up to episode 17 now. But then, I discovered that there’s actually a live action TV show of the SAME EXACT story. The TV show is really interesting because it’s so over-the-top anime-style that I thought they might have basically just done a shot-for-shot repeat of the anime with all of the overly-dramatic pauses and lighting…

In any case, from Wikipedia:

Shinichi Chiaki is the top piano student at the Momogaoka College of Music and an excellent violinist, but Chiaki doesn’t care about playing these instruments as much as he dreams of someday being a conductor. Chiaki, however, has several deeply rooted fears about traveling, and so finds himself “trapped” in Japan. Because he’s trapped, Chiaki starts to question exactly how far he can possibly go in music, especially when he’s passed over again and again by others he believes less worthy of musical scholarship and fame.

Recently dumped by his girlfriend for a “ham” looking fellow, passed over for a chance to go overseas, and removed from his star spot in the piano competition because he walked out on his piano instructor, Chiaki is at his limit. This is when he meets Nodame, or Megumi Noda. Nodame is a free — and filthy — spirit who reminds Chiaki that music can be fun and what drew him to be a conductor in the first place. In learning how to deal with Nodame, Chiaki learns how to deal with others. Chiaki begins to realize what is possible for him, even within the country of Japan.

For Nodame, Chiaki is everything she isn’t. Clean, neat, dedicated, studious and inherently arrogant about his accomplishments and capabilities, Chiaki constantly bullies her into being more serious about life. He sees potential in her and her abilities as a pianist that she doesn’t care about. She loves Chiaki and wants to be with him, but because she’s not serious about her piano studies nor her personal hygiene, Chiaki always denies her affections.

Drawn together in a turbulent relationship, Chiaki’s perfectionism and Nodame’s untamed nature ends up completing each other. As the story progresses, they mature as individuals, as musicians and as a couple.

Basically a comedy, odd-couple relationship with alot of good classical music. Like the bread-making (Yakitake! Japan), boxing (Hajime No Ippo), and Go-playing (Hikaru No Go) animes, it introduces us to a world that I’m not too familiar with, the music conservatory and makes it really interesting…

It turns out, however, that the progression was from a manga => Live action TV show (11 episodes in 2006) => Anime (January 2007 and still ongoing). Weird! The anime actually came out AFTER the TV show.

In any case, if you have some time, watch the first episode of the anime and compare it to the first episode of the live action series… I find it fascinating because the live-action SEEMS like an anime that I thought that they basically copied it but it turns out that it’s the OTHER WAY AROUND…

Nodame Cantabile: Anime Version

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Full-length version

Nodame Cantabile: Live Action Version

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For anime fans, I recommend you check both versions out…