anibal.hettinger - 2014-07-22 09:40:38

In Nodame Cantabile Paris, Chiaki begins his quest to become a professional conductor and Nodame finally gets serious about her piano education as she accepts an invitation to study at the Paris conservatoire. Nodame and Chiaki grow as musicians, people and lovers as they encounter new people, new experiences and of course, new realms in the world of classical music.

Story: The story has a nice pacing, neither too rushed nor too slow. It maintains its Slice Of Life feel while still making the characters work to a definite goal. It's great to see Nodame becoming more mature as a person and also a musician as she pushes her limits with Chiaki becoming more immersed into his musical career. It isn't a cheesy romance where both characters are "meant to be" and they spend every second of the day being all lovey-dovey and loving absolutely everything about each other. It's really quite realistic. A nice sequel to the first season.

Animation: There is definitely an improvement in the orchestra scenes compared to season 1. The conductors moves smoothly, the musicians are playing the right notes visually (I verified with my musician friends) and interestingly, the artists have put beautiful visual effects when Nodame (and some other characters) play their instruments, adding to the beautiful commentary by the characters, drawing you into the music and really appreciating classical music and its intricate beauty. 

Sound: Definitely a 10/10 for me. They've chosen really beautiful pieces of classical music such as Chopin and Liszt compared to the heavier, more serious pieces of Rachmaninoff in the previous season. The OST is beautiful, fitting every scene perfectly. The OP is not too spectacular, not as catchy as Allegro Cantabile (season 1 OP) but it's fine. The ED is beautiful and interestingly, the lyrics are all in French! Beautiful violin playing by Emiri Miyamoto and vocals by Solita.

Characters: A wide variety of realistic characters with realistic life stories and ambitions. The ever bubbly Nodame, the ever meticulous Chiaki, the vivacious Tanya, the patient Auclair-sensei: all the characters amalgamate to form a delightful cast who all add to the story in a significant way, without taking the focus off Nodame and Chiaki. 

Conclusion: Nodame Cantabile has really helped me appreciate music (instrumental and otherwise) in a very different way. Classical music was once a world I used to detest (read, being forced into learning the piano from a very grumpy teacher) but now it makes much more sense to me. The atypical romance of Chiaki and Nodame really made a mark on me as in most other romace anime, the main characters fall in love in the very first few episodes, as opposed to this romance wherein even after a whole season, one is not too sure as to how deep their romance is.

A lovely piece of art. 

funk.brenda - 2014-06-12 09:28:58

One of a kind