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[Ascaloth/Akira] Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~, Episode 2

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Popularity: 8% [?] Published by Ascaloth October 19th, 2008 in Ascaloth, Anime

Just as my choice of the first picture of the article might suggest, viewing Episode 2 of ~Paris Chapter~ has left me in an altogether foul mood. The chop-and-dice that J.C. Staff did in Episode 1 was understandable, given that the material it covered wasn’t that crucial to the overall storyline to begin with, but what they did here was a complete butchering, and an utter travesty to Chiaki’s Competition Arc. The source material that this episode bulldozed through were enough for two perfectly good 20+ minute episodes, and it was material that played a big part in the character development of Chiaki (and to a lesser extent Nodame) too. No indeed, I am not particularly happy about how the Paris arc has been adapted so far, but since I’ve already committed myself so deeply to blogging this series that I brought in "expert opinion" on it, I might as well continue with it this week while adopting a wait-and-see approach. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how J.C. Staff is proving yet again how much they suck at sequels.

Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~, Episode 2.

A lot of what makes Nodame Cantabile what it is, is how hilarity often ensues when Nodame instigates her brand of slapstick humour, much to the chagrin of Chiaki. However, the fact that they were trying to cram the entire Competition Arc into one episode meant that the pacing was ridiculously fast, causing it to lose a lot of the opportunities of those jokes altogether. And that’s not even the worst of it.

J.C. Staff, you fail. So. Hard.

Jean Donnadieu, who is the main opponent of Chiaki throughout the Competition Arc, was along with Yuuko a fairly interesting side character in the manga, if just as prone to the same "drop-out syndrome" as other side characters within Nodame Cantabile after his role was done. However, here he somehow became little more than a bit character with little trace of his original personality, almost as if he was a mere plot device for Chiaki to get out of the way.

Featured Piece: Joseph Haydn’s Symphony no. 104 in D Major "London" (Hob. 1/104)

"Ironically enough, there were eleven other Symphonies (numbers 93-103) that all could be titled "London," and therefore, I will be referring to this symphony as 104 from now on. This confusion arises from the fact that Haydn wrote 12 symphonies in London (or to be performed in London), and so the 12 are collectively known as the London symphonies. Yet, for whatever reason, 104 gets to be called "London" while the other ones are referred to by other equally arbitrary names.

104 is Haydn’s last symphony (only 104!), written towards the end of his life in (Suprise suprise) London. The piece is in D Major, but the first movement starts out in d minor, in a very stately and grand manner. The first movement is monothematic, with only one musical theme used throughout the entirety of the movement. Here one can see Haydn’s penchant for reptition and his skill for modulating a theme into many different keys, as this is exactly what he does: he takes the theme and moves it to A Major. " - Akira, The Nihon Review

"First movement is in Sonata Allegro Form; this is also a form (semi) developed by Haydn. Three parts to Sonata Allegro form: Exposition, Development and Recapitulation. You will see that he sticks to Sonata Allegro very faithfully; with the exposition in D, modulating to A; this is THE most traditional way of introducing the 2nd theme (A shift of five notes up the scale, to what we call the Dominant). The Development is in b minor, and the recapitulation (literally, "back to the head"), we hear the original theme in D again. There’s a coda at the end, which is also in D. You’ll notice lots of repetition in this piece, and this isn’t just true for the first movement." - Akira

"Movement two, Andante, is slower (as the name of the movement implies.) This movement is in G major; it modulates to a and d minors, once again, repeats of the theme in the winds and strings. Second section begins with a mish-mash of other keys, still sticking to the main theme. The rest of the 2nd movement consists of tweaks here and there to the first section (which was in G), and accentuation on the flute." - Akira

"Third movement! Minuet and Trio, right on cue. Haydn was one of the first (although not the first) to use the minuet as the 3rd movement of the symphony. A minuet, as some of you probably know, is a dance in 3/4ths time, originating in France. The trio, the middle section of the minuet, was named because it was originally scored for three musicians.

The minuet is in D major; modulating to b minor (the relative minor of D major; shares the same key signature as D Major), and the dominant (A Major). It’s in ABA form, which means that it consists of a section of music, another different section of music, and then it goes back to the first theme. (I know that’s a rather crude explaination c_c) The trio is in B Flat Major, and you can hear the oboe and basson quite extensively (perhaps a throwback to the original meaning of the word "trio.") The piece then goes back to the minuet, ending the 3rd movement." - Akira

"Finale: Spiritoso, like the name suggests, is very lively. Like the first movement, it takes sonata form. Legend has it that the main theme is based on folk music; this may or may not be true, but we do know now that Haydn had a great fondness for folk music. This may be true given his humble backgrounds, and the fact that his father was somewhat of a folk musician, having taught himself how to play simple tunes without formal musical training. Haydn loved to sing as a child, and perhaps the tunes of his childhood remained with him throughout his life. Whether or not this is true, we do not know, but we do know that the 4th movement begins with a very folksy feel. Rather conventional shift to the Dominant for the development, but intrestingly enough, Haydn decides NOT to go directly back to the capitulation; the development is extended with a section in F#, before the recapitulation in D major begins. Perhaps Haydn isn’t boring after all!" - Akira

Video: Movement 4, Finale: Spiritoso

Featured Piece: Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Finale

"No introduction needed for this famous piece of music. Perhaps one of the most ridiculously overplayed Rossini pieces ever (apart from the THIRD section of this same overture, which usually is used to denote dawn or daybreak in most cartoons >_>), the Finale to the William Tell Overture is the generic "CHAAAARGE" music used in most old corny Spaghetti Westerns and cheap old video games based off of said spaghetti westerns.

The first thing obvious to just about anyone who can hear is the fast tempo of the piece. Indeed, the trumpets are pretty much dead when this section kicks off. Ouch, I don’t want to be one of them. Despite the fact that it’s mostly the strings one hears during this section, this part of the overture is indeed scored for the entire orchestra. There’s something for everyone.

A bit of a "cadenza" about a minute in for the violins; a fast passage requiring deft fingers and extremely refined technique. Other than that, though, there’s not that big of a change in both rhythm or harmony throughout the piece; it remains fairly boring from a music theory perspective. Almost no modulation (cept for a few measures near the end), the main theme is heard throughout; the piece is more known for its vibrant energy and technical difficulty as opposed to its intricate composition or musical genius." - Akira

Many Americans would recognize the Finale, also known as the "Cavalry Charge", as the theme music of the Lone Ranger radio and television shows.

Featured Piece: Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony no. 8 in G Major, Op. 88. Movement 1, Allegro con brio

"The old joke of this piece, is, of course, MOAR TIMPANI. In fact, that’s the last thing this movement needs: it’s got CRAPLOADS of timpani. The piece is quite cheery, beginning with a melody in the cellos in g minor. This lyrical introduction paves the way for the main theme, in G Major, featuring flutes, sounding much like bird calls." - Akira

"The 8th is an interesting beast; like most of Dvorak’s symphonies, it is rather structured, in the tradition of Mozart and Haydn. One can hear the flute theme repeatedly, and the piece develops itself in a fairly traditional and vanilla manner. Yet, at the same time, elements heard here and there throughout the piece evoke the feeling of a "symphonic poem" or "Program music," a new trend developed in the Romantic period, of which Dvorak belonged to." - Akira

"The cheerful nature of the movement (indeed, it’s titled Allegro con brio, "with brilliance or with viguor") is interrupted here and there with dashes of minor, which are a bit more ominous sounding than the rest of the piece. This could be a foreshadow into the 2nd movement, which is indeed in minor." - Akira

Quite the crapload of featured pieces we’re having so far, isn’t it? There’s still more to come, and so far so good….

Featured Piece: Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche, Op. 28

"Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, translated as "Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry (or funny, or happy) Pranks", is a symphonic poem (otherwise known as a tone poem) by Richard Strauss.

"Strauss? That guy who did Blue Dan—" I’ll shoot you. No, not the guy who did Blue Danube. That was Johann Strauss. They’re not even from the same damn country. <_<; It’s very confusing that there were so many Strausses, and that they all happened to be pretty damn good composers."  - Akira

"Eulenspiegel (Literally, owl-mirror) was a famous German folk character who would often go and play pranks on people. A peasant hero, he often mocked the clergy, the noblemen and those more fortunate than him in his various adventures throughout the countryside.

In a tone poem, each character is given a voice. In the case of Eulenspiegel, his voice is represented by either the horn or the clarinet, both of which are very obvious. The silliness in the piece is almost tangible; you can hear the deep badump badump of Eulenspiegel crafting up shenanigans to disturb the peace with." - Akira

And this is where the problems start mounting up. Unexplained plot device no. 1: How did Chiaki conveniently come to be in the audience just to get to hear Jean’s Till Eulenspiegel, which leads to his nervous breakdown and bombing of the same piece later on? In fact in the manga, it was Katahira who asked Chiaki to join him to listen to Jean’s turn in the 3rd preliminary, piquing Chiaki’s curiosity.

Back to Akira.

"Conversely, the deeper sounding instruments play the more serious parts of academics, clergymen, nobles, etc. You can hear their themes pretty distinctly within the piece; there are notable slowdowns between periods of heightened activity which represent Eulenspiegel’s running around the countryside.

Around 4:30 into the piece (perhaps a bit different since tempo may vary), one can hear the "stately" theme of the academics and clergy quite clearly. Eulenspiegel’s clarinet intrudes into their discussion, disrupting them. The frustration of the academics can be heard in the next minute, in which the dissonance and the jarring sound of the muted trumpet represent their anger at Eulenspeigel for messing up their serious conversation." - Akira

"All of this comes to a close, though, as, with a drum roll, the music suddenly shifts to the solemly minor of a funeral march. Eulenspiegel has been caught, and he tries to plead with the executioner (represented by the full orchestra) to spare his life, to no avail. The stoic executioner will have none of Till’s jokes, and executes him. Till gives one last scream as he dies.

Yet, the story is stil not over. Till’s original theme is heard again, symbolizing the immortal nature of both Till Eulenspiegel the folk hero and his undying, irreverent spirit." - Akira

Video: Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegals Lustige Streiche, Part 1 and Part 2

Domestic violence scene of the week.

Unexplained plot device no. 2: Yuuko truly annoys the freakin’ heck out of Jean’s competitors, that’s for sure, but why would Nodame have the -_-" face right from the start, considering that this is the first time she’s ever met Yuuko? In fact in the manga, their first meeting was actually in the train travelling towards the competition, so by right Nodame should have been familiar with Yuuko’s obnoxiousness by this point. By having left that out, J.C. Staff inadvertently left a gaping plot hole here, and their QCer was apparently sleeping on the job.

Featured Piece: Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila

"Ruslan and Lyudmila is a very, very horribly written opera (the libretto, not the music), as the author of the original work, the famed poet Aleksandr Pushkin, was killed in a duel before he could write the libretto. As a result, it was multi-authored, concocted in a drunken haze in about 15 minutes. Not exactly the best material for quality scripting.

The music, though, is very nice. Glinka is distinctively Russian; many of his tunes employ folk music at a time when there were no composers of note in Russia. Instead of copying the music of Austrians and Italians, he chose his own style." - Akira

"The overture is fast. That’s probably the first thing anyone says about it; it’s also true. The violins start with a quick arpeggio/scale up and down, up and down. The music isn’t structurally sophisticated; we hear the main theme again and again throughout the piece. A pretty conventional overture, really; a bit of up and down, some slower sections in minor, back to the main theme in major, all leading up to a climax and a coda, a final slam of the timpani, and the end of the music. There’s not much interesting to note; it’s a nice piece, if not a bit vanilla." - Akira

"Perhaps because of its fairly challenging nature, the overture has become one of the best showpieces in Western orchestras, and the overture gets a fair amount of play time. While the piece itself isn’t anything impressive, the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila was a distinctively Russian opera with a distinctively Russian plot, paving the way for future Russian composers to expound upon their own nationalism and create a unique body of Russian work to add to the western repetoire. " - Akira


Video: Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila

Unexplained plot device no. 3: Chiaki somehow makes it into the final along with Jean and Katahira, despite a bombed 3rd preliminary that should by all right have been undeserving of the qualification in the first place. Moreover, no explanations were given as to how it could have happened; however in the manga, there was a short scene of the judges discussing amongst themselves whether Chiaki deserved to go through to the finals, and why.

And while it was by no means the only omission of source material in Episode 2, this is the one that really pissed me off; of all the things they could have cut to fit the material into 1 episode (disregarding the wisdom of doing so in the first place), why the freakin’ Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto?! It was pretty much the penultimate piece of the Competition Arc in the manga, and this was emphasised just fine in the live-action special. This was one of the pieces I was most looking forward to seeing animated in the Paris Chapter, and J.C. Staff relegated it to a mere BGM. Seriously, fuck you Kon Chiaki; I want Kasai Kenichi back!

Would-Have-Been Feature Piece: Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35

"This is instantly recognizable. Anyone who’s listened to about four minutes of classical music has probably heard this one before. Easily one of the most difficult pieces for violin ever created, gruelingly long and difficult, the Violin Concerto in D is somewhat of a "holy grail" for violinists everywhere.

Movement 1 is slower than the insanity that embodies Movement 3, but it’s also twenty minutes long. Frequent violin solos with very little orchestral accompaniment define the work. This is, of course, to be expected, as this is a concerto after all. Most of the first movement is in D major, with some shifts into minor here and there. There are flashes of passages which require technical expertise here and there, but since the movement occurs at a reasonable pace, there’s nothing that should challenge a skilled violinist too much. A long "cadenza" about halfway through signals the one location where the violinist is truly in the spotlight. The entire orchestra is muted, and when listening to a live performance of this piece, the sound of the violin reverberates throughout the concert hall, a very nice touch." - Akira

Written in 1878 while Tchaikovsky was recovering in Switzerland from a disastrous fiasco of a marriage to Antonina Miliukova, he sought the advice of his composition pupil, the violinist Yosif Kotek, on the completion of the solo portions, as Tchaikovsky himself was no violinist. As Kotek at the time didn’t have enough of a reputation to premiere the work, Tchaikovsky initially dedicated the piece to Leopold Auer with the intention of having the latter premiere the piece, but Auer refused, saying that the work was "unplayable". Eventually Tchaikovsky rededicated the piece to Adolph Brodsky, and Brodsky premiered the piece in 1881.

"Other than the cadenza though, nothing TOO interesting musically going on; the main theme repeats throughout, one can hear the violinist the whole time, hacking away at the massive black wall of notes in front of him or her; a segway into the slower 2nd movement, and the crashing finale filled with all sorts of insanity. Simply one of the most beautiful violin pieces ever written, I repudiate J.C. Staff and their decision to cut it from Nodame." - Akira

However, critical reaction was initially mixed. Eduard Hanslick in particular had some especially creative vitriol to throw at the Violin Concerto, claiming that "the violin was not played but beaten black and blue", and that the work "brought us face to face with the revolting thought that music can exist which stinks to the ears". This was a deep wound to Tchaikovsky, who had to face innumerable troubles before finally managing to premiere the work, and it was said that he never forgot this criticism. Eventually though, the Violin Concerto was recognized as a masterpiece of the violinists’ repertoire in time, with many former critics repenting of their attacks, and even Auer himself confessing his misjudgement of the Violin Concerto in the last year of Tchaikovsky’s life, adding it belatedly to his repertoire.

Videos: Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35

Movement 1, Allegro moderato (Part 1, Part 2)
Movement 2, Andante: Canzonetta
Movement 3, Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

Two more omissions which I felt were major mistakes on the part of J.C. Staff. For one thing, the competitors were actually supposed to conduct three pieces in the final; apart from the Violin Concerto and a common judge’s choice piece, Chiaki chose to reprise Till Eulenspiegals Lustige Strieche; it was representative of his redemption for the mistake he committed yet again in the 3rd preliminary, as well as a revision of the lesson that Stressmann first taught him about respecting people and music. For another, Nodame was supposed to gush about Till Eulenspiegals after learning that Chiaki chose to reprise it in a prior scene, and Chiaki in turn was supposed to have compared the title character of Strauss’s tone poem to her. It was a very nice look into how Chiaki viewed Nodame, and would have been a nice further development into their relationship.

With the total omission of the Violin Concerto and the second attempt at Till Eulenspiegals altogether, Chiaki’s victory feels rather hollow and empty of meaning, and looked as if he won the competition simply by authorial fiat. The pieces symbolized all the hard work and effort Chiaki put in to get to where he was at that very moment, and with the absence of the orchestral scenes that should have accompanied the missing pieces, the whole scene instead looked like more a deus ex machina than anything. Horrible, horrible direction.

Finally, yet another major omission; Jean mentioned to Chiaki how everything has gone well for him ever since Yuuko came into his life, and in this scene he was supposed to realize how it was really the same thing for him with regards to Nodame. It was a key moment in their relationship, where Chiaki realized how important Nodame was to him despite his frequent frustrations with her antics, and another such scene doesn’t come in the series for some time to come.

In any case, it’s probably clear by now that I’m not at all happy with how they butchered the Competition Arc to fit it in one episode, and even the limited time of 11 episodes doesn’t excuse this travesty. I said on Animesuki that it would take a total butchering for me to drop this series, and now I wish I hadn’t jinxed it by saying that. It’s a ridiculous, and downright disgusting effort at adpatation. I was so looking forward to the Paris Chapter before the season, and yet two episodes in, I’m contemplating dropping it. Honestly, one of the few reasons I haven’t gone "screw this shit" by now is because of the fact that I dragged Akira into doing his stuff for me, and I can’t bring myself to waste the effort he puts into it. But still….I haven’t been this disappointed in a long while, and I really hope Kon Chiaki picks up his game soon. For now, I’m going to try and wash away the bad memory of this episode by rewatching the first episode of the Live-Action Special.

Ascaloth, out.

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18 Responses to “[Ascaloth/Akira] Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~, Episode 2”  

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  1. 1 Molenir 2 comments Oct 19th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    I completely agree with everything you said. Though I’m not as vehement in my disappointment. I very much enjoyed the first season, and I love the manga. Seeing the way they are chopping up the story, and essentially just leaving out huge chunks of it. Makes me want to go watch the drama instead. They at least did a pretty damn good job on it.

  2. 2 tj_han 1440 comments Oct 19th, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Did you just sully my enjoyment of this show lol? I thought the episode was good, since I haven’t read the manga. Uh oh, now the rest of my season will be spent wondering if I should indeed read it.

    Anyway, great article as usual! I learnt a lot.

  3. 3 Echo 2 comments Oct 19th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    Yeah, this season is off to a terrible start. Why did they have to switch directors? My exposure to Nodame has been anime then drama. At first I couldn’t stand the drama (and I’ve watched some jdramas before), but I eventually warmed up to it and finished it off with the Specials (because after watching Nodame Cantabile, I needed more). I still prefer the anime for the art, voices and funnier gags. But now that I know the Paris story from the specials, these first 2 eps appear extremely rushed and seem to be missing all the important beats, just as you have explained.
    I actually thought that they would take the Paris events slower in the anime…….damn them, ruining Nodame!

  4. 4 *too* red 1 comment Oct 19th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    I was also disappointed with this ep. You already mentioned most of the scenes that I never expected them to cut out. I really really hope that the orchestral performances were not included so they could cover more of the story but why do I feel it wasn’t included because it would be too hard for them to animate?
    That said, I’ll still continue watching … I loved the live action for the comedy and music but I fell in love with the characters in the anime because they seemed more real (ironic?)

  5. 5 The Sojourner 112 comments Oct 20th, 2008 at 10:52 am

    Haha. I do not understand what Akira had written. Anyway this episode was a travesty to have brisked through the Platini competition with little focus on the trials that Chiaki had to face. It felt like just another dungeon run and some leveling up.

  6. 6 Shadowmage 3 comments Oct 20th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    Interesting.

    As a person who has not seen this far into the manga, I have to say that the episode was actually pretty good. You may think that the episode limit may not excuse this “travesty,” but so long as they don’t waste any time with filler, I don’t condensing what is essentially a tournament arc into a single episode is a bad thing.

    I do realize that those small, meaningful moments are what make shows like Nodame Cantabile great; however, I believe your comments are a tad harsh. I may not have the grounds to say this, but I believe that your vision of what the anime should be is preventing you from enjoying what J.C. Staff is trying to create. Sure, if the company ostensibly fails at what even they are trying to do, then I whole-heartedly agree with your assessment, but as a person who doesn’t can look at this with an almost blank slate, I’m telling you that it’s not all that bad.

    Your complaints about the plot devices really do not hold because the episode flows even without the background information that’s in the manga. Given the nature of the competition, it’s not unreasonable for Chiaki to listen to a competitor’s performance, and Nodame’s reaction to Yuuko is plausible considering that both Chiaki and Nodame were ghosts of themselves by that point. Chiaki’s victory isn’t too much of a shocker since Jean said that Chiaki’s performance wasn’t bad and the series showed another conductor doing something petty like blaming others for his own faults (I saw the guy as a barometer of the other competitors).

    In regards to the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, is this piece played again in the near future (or within the confines of what you think this anime will get to)? If yes, then I would argue that the piece is not played because it may dull the impact of it later on, in a (possibly) more important moment.

    As for the fact that they cut out on some of the more subtle and meaningful dialogue, I won’t really argue with you on those since the people at J.C. Staff probably should have kept them. It’s possible that these quotes may arise at different scenes in the future, but if they don’t, then they have truly butchered a few touching moments.

    The episode as whole was fun and worked well within the overall narrative I think this show is trying to tell. The ending wasn’t quite deux ex machina as it was… shocking. I quite honestly didn’t expect Chiaki to win. After he won, however, I didn’t think it was all that forced because he had the momentum with a well-suited piece and his opponent drew one of his weaknesses. All in all, I’m content with the fact that - at the very least - the creators did not completely eviscerate the magic of the show a la Artland and Gunslinger Girls.

    Oh yeah, my vocabulary of musical terms is not strong enough to follow Akira’s arguments beyond the superficial implications as well.

  7. 7 ghostlightning 23 comments Oct 20th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    Thank you, now I feel justified in not watching the anime. Haven’t read the manga, but loved the dorama to unjustifiable extremes. Everyone should watch the dorama, it’s an amazing way to experience music. Akira’s liner notes are much appreciated, great job!

  8. 8 Ascaloth 202 comments Oct 20th, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    @TJ Han,

    I didn’t think you’d be the type to watch Nodame. :s

    @Shadowmage,

    You’re only the second or third person to suggest that J.C. Staff is somehow trying to do something different with the Paris Chapter, without telling me exactly what it is that they’re trying to do. Honestly, I can’t see how they’re possibly trying to “take it in a different direction”; the title of the series has the “Nodame Cantabile” name in it, so it’s supposed to be an adaptation of the source material, right? If it does not cover the critical scenes, it’s no adaptation.

    And I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of the Code Geass “Fan Wanking to Handwave Plot Holes” School of Anime Fandom, not least because it doesn’t cover the existence of the plot holes in the first place. It’s true that it’s not inconceivable for Chiaki to watch a competitor’s performance, but it’s also not inconceivable that he would rather be doing some last minute studying for his turn instead, which is actually what he initially decided to do in the manga. For what conceivable reason would Nodame be “a ghost of herself”? How does Jean saying that Chiaki’s performance isn’t bad, and some other conductor being an ass have to do with how Chiaki could somehow magically beat Jean? Why is Lalo’s Symphone Espagnole a weakness that someone hyped to be as accomplished as Jean couldn’t overcome? On what merit did Chiaki win the competition anyway?

    The Competition Arc wasn’t just a tournament arc, as you suggested. It was instrumental in how it showed how it was Chiaki’s work ethic and determination rather than some kind of dumb luck that he got where he is today, as well as how he truly viewed Nodame despite his tsundere behaviour towards her. It wasn’t supposed to be just “fun” and “worked well” within some non-existent “overall narrative” that you “think the show is trying to tell”. Those were the important themes that were lost with the omission of the scenes that I think is critical in the Nodame canon, and which quite a few of you apparently don’t.

    And to finish loose threads off, no, the Violin Concerto does not appear again in the manga. That is why I’m so pissed at its omission; it’s not only the penultimate piece of the Competition Arc, it also reinforced further the theme of Chiaki’s work ethic and determination being the foundation of his success, as opposed to Jean whose careless reliance on his natural talent to get where he is also became his downfall when pitted against Chiaki’s hard work. That is yet another important theme that got lost with the omission of the Final Round orchestra scene, and made it look like Chiaki simply got by on dumb luck in the manner of Jean instead. If this is indeed a different interpretation by Kon Chiaki, how could this thematic decay be somehow justified? I’m not raging at the omission of the Violin Concerto just for the sake of the missing music; if that were simply the case, I would be raging at the omission of Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture too.

    Hmmm….maybe I should rewrite this as an article in its own right.

  9. 9 Shadowmage 3 comments Oct 21st, 2008 at 11:02 am

    #Asc: “You’re only the second or third person to suggest… If it does not cover the critical scenes, it’s no adaptation.”

    This dialogue gets into the question of what an adaptation should do and should not do. My position is that an adaptation doesn’t have any obligations to the source material. It’s an independent product that reflects the names of those who worked on it but not necessarily the source material. Yes, I do lament things like WB’s interpretation of Harry Potter, but I’ll try my best to enjoy the dumbed-down, CGI extravaganza for what it is. (If a show is a complete travesty, then I’ll start to tear at it.)

    Hmm… I might expand this thought in a blog.

    #Asc: “And I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of the Code Geass “Fan Wanking to Handwave Plot Holes” School of Anime Fandom, not least because it doesn’t cover the existence of the plot holes in the first place.”

    Code Geass has plot holes? I dare you to name even one chink in the show’s immaculate armor. The folks at Sunrise are obviously the next coming of Shakespeare.

    #Asc: “It’s true that it’s not inconceivable for Chiaki to watch a competitor’s performance, but it’s also not inconceivable that he would rather be doing some last minute studying for his turn instead, which is actually what he initially decided to do in the manga.”

    I find this argument interesting because when the same logic is generally applied, all hell will break loose. Yes, both cases are not inconceivable but why in the world should I consider every bloody case that’s conceivable? Technically speaking, it’s not inconceivable that Chiaki would have taken a dump during the performance. Should I say something has a plot hole merely because there is a possibility that nature calls at that particular moment? Assuming I could turn your statement into an induction along the lines of “Let X be possible. If Y is also possible, there is a plot hole” virtually every single event in an anime can be seen as a plot hole.

    #Asc: “For what conceivable reason would Nodame be “a ghost of herself”? ”

    Simple, Chiaki lost and he was taking out his frustrations on Nodame. It isn’t all that surprising that she’ll shut up for a few seconds even when someone else is bashing them.

    #Asc: “How does Jean saying that Chiaki’s performance isn’t bad, and some other conductor being an ass have to do with how Chiaki could somehow magically beat Jean?”

    I was addressing your third plot hole which asked how Chiaki could have won. My response was essentially that everyone else sucked worse, and Jean acknowledged that the performance was fine (which is probably not something he would say carelessly considering his caliber).

    #Asc: “Why is Lalo’s Symphone Espagnole a weakness that someone hyped to be as accomplished as Jean couldn’t overcome?”

    Let’s assume that the quality of conductors in the top three are relatively similar in skill with one having a minor advantage over the others. Given this similarity in skill, it’s not unbelievable that even the smallest of advantages can decide the winner.

    #Asc: “On what merit did Chiaki win the competition anyway?”

    Effort and luck.

    #Asc: “The Competition Arc wasn’t just a tournament arc, as you suggested. It was instrumental in how it showed how it was Chiaki’s work ethic and determination rather than some kind of dumb luck that he got where he is today…”

    Of course Chiaki got here with hard work and determination. At this level of competition, everyone has those two qualities. I’m adverse to the thought that Jean simply relied on his talent unless the manga explicity states that he is or he is shown slacking off. Given these two assumptions, I can’t say that work ethic and determination is all it took for Chiaki to win.

    “…as well as how he truly viewed Nodame despite his tsundere behaviour towards her. It wasn’t supposed to be just “fun” and “worked well” within some non-existent “overall narrative” that you “think the show is trying to tell”. Those were the important themes that were lost with the omission of the scenes that I think is critical in the Nodame canon, and which quite a few of you apparently don’t.”

    I think you skipped over the part where I said that the show truly did butchered part of the manga if they cut out the genuinely meaningful moments. Of course, if you’re trying to argue that the “plot holes” had meaningful themes then that would be different.

  10. 10 Ascaloth 202 comments Oct 21st, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    @Shadowmage,

    “This dialogue gets into the question of what an adaptation should do and should not do. My position is that an adaptation doesn’t have any obligations to the source material. It’s an independent product that reflects the names of those who worked on it but not necessarily the source material. Yes, I do lament things like WB’s interpretation of Harry Potter, but I’ll try my best to enjoy the dumbed-down, CGI extravaganza for what it is. (If a show is a complete travesty, then I’ll start to tear at it.)”

    I think I’ll just take our different POVs as an example of Stuart Hall’s encoding-decoding theory, and offer to agree to disagree with you here.

    “Code Geass has plot holes? I dare you to name even one chink in the show’s immaculate armor. The folks at Sunrise are obviously the next coming of Shakespeare.”

    ….are you for real or are you being sarcastic? Either way, I’ll just be going off topic if I take up your challenge.

    “I find this argument interesting because when the same logic is generally applied, all hell will break loose. Yes, both cases are not inconceivable but why in the world should I consider every bloody case that’s conceivable? Technically speaking, it’s not inconceivable that Chiaki would have taken a dump during the performance. Should I say something has a plot hole merely because there is a possibility that nature calls at that particular moment? Assuming I could turn your statement into an induction along the lines of “Let X be possible. If Y is also possible, there is a plot hole” virtually every single event in an anime can be seen as a plot hole.”

    You are not addressing my point, and since I’ve recently learned that I have no choice but to state my points in an uncompromisingly obvious manner if I’m to get others to address them instead of going off on a tangent, I’m afraid I’ll have to do just that. Why would Chiaki be MOTIVATED to watch Jean’s performance in the third preliminary beyond that he simply can? There is a hole is the plot where Chiaki’s motivation to do what he did should have been, and any theories about why he decided to do so is just that; theories, Wild Mass Guessing, and Fanwank.

    “Simple, Chiaki lost and he was taking out his frustrations on Nodame. It isn’t all that surprising that she’ll shut up for a few seconds even when someone else is bashing them.”

    Then it would be the first time that Nodame has ever reacted to Chiaki’s usual abuse of her by keeping quiet, and go against everything we know about her character while at it. How does that make sense to you?

    “I was addressing your third plot hole which asked how Chiaki could have won. My response was essentially that everyone else sucked worse, and Jean acknowledged that the performance was fine (which is probably not something he would say carelessly considering his caliber).”

    How do you know for sure that the other competitors “sucked worse”, apart from the guy shown to push the blame onto the orchestra? Moreover, how do you know for sure that it’s why Chiaki could go through to the second round despite an apprently fatal mistake? More Fanwank.

    “Let’s assume that the quality of conductors in the top three are relatively similar in skill with one having a minor advantage over the others. Given this similarity in skill, it’s not unbelievable that even the smallest of advantages can decide the winner.”

    And what is the nature of the advantage that Chiaki has over Jean and Katahira? Again, not shown in the episode, isn’t it?

    “Effort and luck.”

    How do you know that for sure?

    “Of course Chiaki got here with hard work and determination. At this level of competition, everyone has those two qualities. I’m adverse to the thought that Jean simply relied on his talent unless the manga explicity states that he is or he is shown slacking off. Given these two assumptions, I can’t say that work ethic and determination is all it took for Chiaki to win.”

    As a matter of fact, the manga did explicitly mention that Jean “relied too much on his natural talent”, and that “some of his direction was unclear compared to Chiaki” in the Final; yet another scene cut in the anime.

    “I think you skipped over the part where I said that the show truly did butchered part of the manga if they cut out the genuinely meaningful moments. Of course, if you’re trying to argue that the “plot holes” had meaningful themes then that would be different.”

    That is the basic gist of why I was so unhappy with the cuts in the first place. It’s impossible for one to see what’s missing unless one knows it is there from the beginning.

  11. 11 biankita 6 comments Oct 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pm

    what annoyed me the most about this episode was that they made it seem that chiaki got through the third preliminary DESPITE screwing up Til, which wasn’t true because he played two pieces for the third preliminary. the omission of the tschaikovsky piece made me dig up files to watch the j-drama version… i can’t believe it, this is the first time i have higher regard with the j-drama over the anime version.

    but what really pisses me off is that they treated this part of the story almost like a filler, not a major event in the paris arc. i don’t know where jcstaff screwed up since they did the first season extraordinarily well. in a nutshell, i’m not looking for blow-by-blow adaptation of the manga, but at least a decent adaptation. i’m starting to think that this second season was created for the sake of having a second season and not because they had a story to tell. if i never read the manga or saw the j-drama, i would have thought that they were doing an anime-only story.

  12. 12 Shadowmage 3 comments Oct 22nd, 2008 at 1:30 am

    @Ascaloth

    #Asc: “I think I’ll just take our different POVs as an example of Stuart Hall’s encoding-decoding theory, and offer to agree to disagree with you here.”

    I’ll shake on that.

    Now that we’ve gotten the main argument out of the way, let’s go onto the finer details.

    #Asc: “You are not addressing my point, and since I’ve recently learned that I have no choice but to state my points in an uncompromisingly obvious manner if I’m to get others to address them instead of going off on a tangent, I’m afraid I’ll have to do just that. Why would Chiaki be MOTIVATED to watch Jean’s performance in the third preliminary beyond that he simply can? There is a hole is the plot where Chiaki’s motivation to do what he did should have been, and any theories about why he decided to do so is just that; theories, Wild Mass Guessing, and Fanwank. “

    The thing is that my statement wasn’t a tangent. You levied an argument against me and the reasoning behind that argument was flawed. I believe that the reasoning is often more important than the original statement because we both come to this piece of entertainment with two different sets of assumptions/expectations and - as a result - derive two unique conclusions from it. Since we have these different assumptions, if you presented what is ostensibly a valid argument, then fine, we agree to disagree – I cannot refute your assumptions as much as you can’t refute mine (except at on a factual basis). However, the argument you presented was flawed and begs the question “what’s the point?” The statement “It’s true that it’s not inconceivable for Chiaki to watch a competitor’s performance, but it’s also not inconceivable that he would rather be doing some last minute studying for his turn instead…” pretty much acknowledges the fact that there is at least a coin flip chance that the either scenario is possible. So, given the high probability of the event, I have no clue how you can say that this actually goes against the flow of logic of the plot?

    In regards to motivations, it’s simple. Chiaki has always been attracted to talented people (ie Nodame); it’s not unlikely that he’ll be curious about how Jean performs.

    #Asc: “Then it would be the first time that Nodame has ever reacted
    to Chiaki’s usual abuse of her by keeping quiet, and go against everything we know about her character while at it. How does that make sense to you?”

    Really? If I recall correctly, Nodame was pretty down when she lost her tournament. Yes, she is nowhere near as emotionally invested in this one, but I think it’s possible that she would refrain from lashing out for a few seconds. Besides, Jean cut his girlfriend off relatively quickly, so that might have prevented Nodame from going off.

    #Asc: “How do you know for sure that the other competitors “sucked worse”, apart from the guy shown to push the blame onto the orchestra? Moreover, how do you know for sure that it’s why Chiaki could go through to the second round despite an apprently fatal mistake? More Fanwank.”

    I know because the others lost. I saw the one guy who pushed the blame onto the orchestra and I generally inducted that the others were of similar caliber after I saw Chiaki win. “Fanwank”? Perhaps, but this bridge isn’t one that’s all that hard to make.

    #Asc: “And what is the nature of the advantage that Chiaki has over Jean and Katahira? Again, not shown in the episode, isn’t it?”

    Effort because it’s been shown that Chiaki has been doing nothing except preparing for his concerto since he arrived in Paris. Luck because he drew a more fitting composition than Jean.

    #Asc: “How do you know that for sure?”

    Unless the mighty voice of God tells us what caused Chiaki to win, we can’t know that for sure. However, I do admit that more breadcrumbs would probably lead to a more satisfying finish.

    #Asc: “As a matter of fact, the manga did explicitly mention that Jean “relied too much on his natural talent”, and that “some of his direction was unclear compared to Chiaki” in the Final; yet another scene cut in the anime.”

    In this case, we’re pretty much looking at two different products. In my parallel universe of Nodame Cantabile, everything makes sense because I’m completely oblivious to all the alternate possibilities the manga presents.

    #Asc: “That is the basic gist of why I was so unhappy with the cuts in the first place. It’s impossible for one to see what’s missing unless one knows it is there from the beginning.”

    Agreed.

  13. 13 Ascaloth 202 comments Oct 22nd, 2008 at 2:43 am

    @Shadowmage,

    “However, the argument you presented was flawed and begs the question “what’s the point?” The statement “It’s true that it’s not inconceivable for Chiaki to watch a competitor’s performance, but it’s also not inconceivable that he would rather be doing some last minute studying for his turn instead…” pretty much acknowledges the fact that there is at least a coin flip chance that the either scenario is possible. So, given the high probability of the event, I have no clue how you can say that this actually goes against the flow of logic of the plot?

    In regards to motivations, it’s simple. Chiaki has always been attracted to talented people (ie Nodame); it’s not unlikely that he’ll be curious about how Jean performs.”

    I’ll give you that I begged the question there. My apologies, it was poor form on my part.

    On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve actually said it went against the flow of logic, if I recall correctly. The closest thing I can classify it as is probably that it’s a non sequitur; you have no idea whatsoever how chance caused Chiaki to be there, and can only guess what happened. Frankly, I don’t like that sort of thing; it’s a hole of unexplained circumstances.

    “Really? If I recall correctly, Nodame was pretty down when she lost her tournament. Yes, she is nowhere near as emotionally invested in this one, but I think it’s possible that she would refrain from lashing out for a few seconds. Besides, Jean cut his girlfriend off relatively quickly, so that might have prevented Nodame from going off.”

    Eh, I thought you were saying that Nodame was feeling down because Chiaki was taking it out on her? I must not have gotten the intended meaning….in any case, she was still acting pretty genki in Chiaki’s room; I don’t think it’s been established that she can change her demeanour that fast.

    “I know because the others lost. I saw the one guy who pushed the blame onto the orchestra and I generally inducted that the others were of similar caliber after I saw Chiaki win. “Fanwank”? Perhaps, but this bridge isn’t one that’s all that hard to make.”

    That’s not just a Fanwank anymore, that’s simply Faulty Generalization. Wiki it, it’ll lead you to an article explaining what kind of logical fallacy it is.

    “Effort because it’s been shown that Chiaki has been doing nothing except preparing for his concerto since he arrived in Paris. Luck because he drew a more fitting composition than Jean.”

    Granted, they didn’t skimp out on showing the Cause. It was sorely lacking in the display of the Effect, though.

    “Unless the mighty voice of God tells us what caused Chiaki to win, we can’t know that for sure. However, I do admit that more breadcrumbs would probably lead to a more satisfying finish.”

    The manga has the breadcrumbs you might want. Heck, it probably isn’t that hard to find it.

    “In this case, we’re pretty much looking at two different products. In my parallel universe of Nodame Cantabile, everything makes sense because I’m completely oblivious to all the alternate possibilities the manga presents.”

    Granted. Perhaps you see something which is perfectly functional, while I see something that is an example of a bad case of Adaptation Decay.

  14. 14 Kairu Ishimaru 13 comments Oct 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 am

    Gotta watch this anime soon.. :D

  15. 15 ETERNAL 29 comments Oct 24th, 2008 at 9:25 am

    Don’t mean to interrupt your debate, but excellent post as usual. I myself am not disappointed at all since I haven’t read the manga or seen the drama, but this post seems to have accomplished the very opposite of killing my Nodame hype - I’m now curious about said manga and drama :P

  16. 16 Kaioshin Sama 101 comments Oct 25th, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    At first I was all like, “WOW! Look at all that classical music!”, but then I remembered my Legend of The Galactic Heroes boxset OST and what an absolute behemoth it is and I was like, “Well, it’s still as good an effort as we’re going to get nowadays”.

  17. 17 Blah 1 comment Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:17 pm

    If you think it’s easy to work on a tight budget, go ahead. >.>

  1. 1 serious fucking business » Tales of the Abyss is a pretty good adaptation Pingback on Oct 20th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
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