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[Ascaloth/Akira] Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~, Episode 6

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Popularity: 5% [?] Published by Ascaloth November 21st, 2008 in Ascaloth, Anime

At the beginning of the Nodame Cantabile story, Chiaki Shinichi started off as a piano major in a Japanese conservatory, only managing to become the conducting student of a Maestro through a combination of hard work and luck. Much has happened since then, and in that time, Chiaki has come very far indeed….or has he? Indeed, while he has certainly risen far indeed in stature from his origins, it will not be long before he learns firsthand that being a real conductor isn’t all that he thought it would be. In fact, the experience may soon prove to be frightfully familiar…

Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~, Episode 6

Anyone felt that the revelation of Elise being a Jean Donnadieu fan came out of left field? If so, here’s some interesting trivia; that’s only because J.C. Staff also cut out the majority of her appearances in the abominable Episode 2. A pity, really; it was an interesting sight to see the contrast between Professional!Elise and Fangirl!Elise when she was observing Chiaki and Jean, respectively.

While Chiaki learns how to truly enjoy the music he conducts from Nodame, the girl in turn learns how to strive for a lofty goal from him. It’s hard work, but a worthy pursuit. Ganbare, Nodame!

Featured Piece: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34. Mvt 1 "Alborada"

"Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is one of the most famous Russian composers. He is known as a member of "The Five", a group of famous Russian composers who worked together and composed during the late Romantic period, attempting to create a distinctly "Russian" music. Rimsky-Korsakov would eventually "turn his back" on the Five and compose other non-Russian pieces, such as the Spanish Capriccio." - Akira, The Nihon Review

"This piece is interesting to me; the way it is written and the way each instrument is used breaks norms. The first movement, Alborada, is a fast, jolly and vibrant dance. If you recall from episode 1, an Alborada is a piece of music celebrating sunrise or the dawn. Movement I’s festive tunes certainly carry a sense of celebration. The large, full opening with tambourines and the full orchestra be both fast and clear. The violins attempt to imitate the sound of guitars. The woodwinds serve as the main melody, giving the first movement a clear theme. The short solos throughout the first movement, which occur consecutively, should both be clear, loud and colorful." - Akira

Video: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, Mvts 1-3

How thoughtless of Chiaki to forget to mention his new assignment with his wife. BTW, Roland is going to be a recurring character in the Paris Chapter, although he won’t be as central to the story as the awesome supporting characters from the Japan Arc are. Unfortunately, that is going to be the case with the majority of the Paris Arc supporting characters….

Once again, Chiaki has to deal with the challenge of being in charge of an orchestra which, quite frankly, sucks. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? However, this time he has experience on his side, so it remains to be seen whether he can put that experience to use in this new challenge. Although considering it’s Chiaki we’re talking about here, one might think it’s a moot question.

Introducting new supporting character, Paul Dubois the die-hard bassoonist, and very much French to boot. Strange, I remember him being blonde in the manga….

Son Rui makes a return; like I said, she is going to be a main recurring character. Here’s another point where something doesn’t seem to add up; does anybody wonder what happened after Nodame asked Rui why she was in Paris? Why does it seem like it cuts to the next scene immediately, without Rui answering Nodame’s question? Did Rui simply blow off the latter or something? Feel free to take a guess; I’ll reveal the answer from the manga later.

So what’s the deal here? We can infer that Rui knew the general area in which to search for Chiaki based on how she was reading "St. Germain" off what looks like her phonebook, but what are the chances of Nodame ALSO being there at the same time to make the ambush? Did Nodame stalk Rui all the way here? And if so, why did the latter stand for it? Plot hole, much?

As it stands, in the manga Rui actually noticed Nodame’s necklace back when the latter asked her the question at the Conservatory, and deduced her identity accordingly. That was why Rui was perfectly fine with Nodame stalking her all the way to the St. Germain marketplace, knowing that the latter wasn’t just doing so for the sake of it. Honestly, for someone as seemingly haughty as Rui, did you guys really think she would have stood for Nodame stalking her all this distance without a perfectly good reason?

It is always amusing to see Nodame going especially territorial in the presence of Rui, putting on a Yamato Nadeshiko act as her own way of staking her claim on Chiaki. Thinking about it, I don’t remember her acting this way before; her tiff with Masumi was just silliness, and even Stresemann’s pictures of Chiaki being forced to consort with club girls didn’t get her down for long. Clearly she doesn’t take them that seriously, but somehow she thinks of Rui as her most direct threat simply because the latter is more refined AND is also a piano prodigy just like her. Well, thin line between madness and genius, I guess.

BTW, who’s voicing Rui again? Her "onegai" is just so hard to pass up.

The jealousy of a woman is a terrible thing to deal with. I wouldn’t know firsthand, but what do you say, TJ Han?

Old glasses and hard wax serves as an adequate disguise. Oh well, I guess it’s not so much of an anime theme as it is a universal one….

For some reason, everyone’s been finding "Nissan Toyota" particularly amusing. It’s an old but still funny gag, to be sure, I just didn’t expect it to be THIS popular. Japanese products sure have permeated the popular imagination, indeed.

It’s a Sony.

Keep an eye out for the concertmaster, Paul Simon, for he will only be the greatest in a sea of obstacles Chiaki is going to face in Paris. The latter has dealt before with a mediocre concertmaster in the form of Mine, but now, how is he going to work with a difficult one?

Welcome Rui, to the Paris band of side characters! And with this, the Paris version of the "band of friends" that Chiaki and Nodame had in Japan is complete; will they match up to their predecessors in terms of interest and camaradie? And are the shipping wars between Rui and Nodame about to commence? (I sure hope not)

Once again facing what seems to be an insurmountable challenge, Chiaki hunkers down yet again to meet this challenge face on, in his indomitable style. With the Roux-Marlet Orchestra entirely not what it was cracked up to be, it is up to our intrepid young conductor to bring Roux-Marlet back to its best, just like he did with the S-Oke in Japan, back in season 1.

….by the way, something’s bugging me; am I the only blogger left who’s still covering Nodame ~Paris~ anymore? I’m pretty sure that the guy at Ani-Nouto was still blogging this a while back, but even he seems to have disappeared from the job. My usual practice is to read the articles of others as a way to stimulate ideas for my own, but with this series, I’m practically on my own here. Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely, I have nobody…of my own, oooooo….

Oh, well. Ascaloth, out.

Popularity: 5% [?]

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4 Responses to “[Ascaloth/Akira] Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~, Episode 6”  

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  1. 1 Setsukyie 34 comments Nov 21st, 2008 at 11:32 pm

    I’m surprised that they didn’t notice the Nissan Toyota joke..LOL..

    Well, it’s not really a bad thing. It means that people who wants to look for Nodame ~Paris~ episode reviews have no where else to go but here (like me). But yea, I usually read other people’s reviews first before I write my own, that’s how I write episode reviews for CLANNAD. And yep, the first place I check is here. ^_^

  2. 2 Loba 86 comments Nov 21st, 2008 at 11:41 pm

    The owner of the blog I co-write at does nodame reviews as well, abeit at a slower pace.

  3. 3 tj_han 1440 comments Nov 22nd, 2008 at 1:17 am

    Yeah it’s really weird but a while back there were nothing but episode reviews on the blogs, but these days, there are barely any episode reviews and just a shit load of weird random news stuff.

  4. 4 Sorrow-kun 26 comments Nov 22nd, 2008 at 7:53 am

    You have a blogosphere monopoly on Nodame Cantabile commentary. Why complain?

    “Did Rui simply blow off the latter or something?”

    Well, that’s what I thought at the time, but if you’re asking the question then there must be more to it. It can’t have anything to do with the necklace and her suspecting Nodame’s relationship with Chiaki, because that happened later, so I’m going to guess that she still had some self-doubt at that time about studying at the Conservatoire, and therefore tried to dodge the question. Or something.

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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