Nodame and Chiaki travel to Paris to further their studies in this continuation of the Nodame Cantabile anime series.

Episode Summary

Chiaki and Nodame arrive in France, where they’re both staying in apartments provided by Chiaki’s mother. Also staying there are two other music students: Frank, a Frenchman and also an otaku (who nearly greets them wearing a Shakugan no Shana T-shirt) and Tanya, a fashion-forward Russian. Nodame and Frank met while taking the entrance exams for the Conservatoire, though that doesn’t seem to have helped with the language barrier at all, since Nodame can’t understand French and Frank can’t understand Japanese (making their conversation a bit odd).

Nodame and Chiaki go out to see Sebastiano Vieira conduct, and then get dinner afterward, where Nodame’s limited command of French becomes all-too-apparent. She goes to bed drunk, but wakes up refreshed the next day and ready for some sightseeing. Sadly Chiaki is busy studying conducting and leaves her to work on her French — a task which becomes easier once she realizes that Frank is watching her favorite show, Purigorota, dubbed in French on TV. Meanwhile, Tanya tries to work her charms on Chiaki, who manages to browbeat her into practicing the piano instead of taking her Easter vacation. Both Frank and Tanya are amazed by the apparent powers of their new Japanese neighbors.

Thoughts

The first thought I had upon finishing the episode was that it felt like visiting an old friend. I’ve made no secret of the fact that the original Nodame Cantabile was one of my favorite shows of 2007, and the second season continues in nearly exactly the same vein as the first season. Normally to say that a show doesn’t alter its formula or try to infuse some new creativity in its second season would be a negative, but when the original was so sublime, I think it can be one of the highest forms of praise. The show again makes good use of classical music throughout the episode without making things seem heavy-handed. While the Nodame manga is good in its own right, I find that the inclusion of the music really enriches everything and helps to complete the illusion.

The visuals are on par with the original, though the CG bits during musical performances seem to blend in with the rest of the show a bit better. The illusion isn’t perfect, but I greatly prefer having the CG to having the action portrayed using a bunch of still frames. The backgrounds are still done in an airy watercolor style that helps to emphasize the romance of the French setting and compliments the more mature comedic and romantic moods of the show quite well (yes, I know to try and refer to Nodame’s romantic convictions towards Chiaki as ”mature“ is a bit much, but compared to a hentai-based or harem romantic show... well, you know what I’m getting at).

I’m excited to learn more about the new characters. As someone who’s painfully behind on the manga, Frank and Tanya were new to me, so to see their particular situations develop will be a treat I’m sure. Especially since we’re missing Mine and Masumi-chan for supporting characters this season. Of course, the man I’m really waiting to see is Milch Holstein, otherwise known as our favorite lecherous conductor Stresemann. Again, since I’m not current on the manga, I can only speculate that maybe there'll be some real drama between Stresemann and Vieira this season, and I’m waiting for sparks to fly.

I can’t recommend this series highly enough, so if you’re unfamiliar with what’s happened so far, please, please check out the first season. After that, it should be obvious why this series has been so highly-anticipated amongst my friends and anime fans everywhere.

Pros

• The inclusion of music is one of the show’s strengths
• The comedy manages to be funny without stooping into lowbrow territory
• The visuals are well done without being overbearing

Cons

• It might require a viewing of the first season to fully appreciate what’s going on

By Jessi – 11/18/08