Mar 28 2010 04:53 PM So the ending is basically the same as the manga ending...the show just simply ends
no confession between the two, but a very clear idea of where Chiaki, Nodame, and everyone else's future are like It's been a fun ride for 3 years now and yet another outstanding series come and gone. Although Nodame Cantabile didn't have the best pace for plot, it has the strong slice-of-life feel where not everything goes perfectly for someone. The Finale's plot was quite close to the manga. However, the show seemed to have cut out a number of parts with characters that ended up not showing up in the anime to the extent that it makes me wonder why J.C. Staff chose not to make a 23-26 episode series for Paris-hen and Finale when the first season was of that length? It wasn't as if this show wasn't successful to begin with. Overall though, the romance bits were a bit rushed as expected but the comedy and plot development through each character's hardships were kept well intact throughout all three seasons and the Finale did no less. It would seem, however, that the director, Chiaki Kon, may want to polish up her skills a little bit since her recent works, including Nodame Cantabile Finale, have begun to take a few disappointing turns throughout the series.
Since Paris-hen the animation has gotten slightly better. Colors are more vivid but the drawings felt a little off at times and many portions of the show ended up being recycled from past seasons. Although it seems as if J.C. Staff began to slack, it was still a very solid production overall and gave a 2005 feel, which is where the series is set in. It was also nice to continue the artistic/music theme, which differs from most shows in this age.
Music...there's really not much to say here. The show is about classical music. If you don't like classical music, then you're going to hate this show very very much. The whole show revolved around this to begin with and I won't comment on this since this portion of the review can be biased in many different directions (by the way, I actually enjoy classical music to a degree so I'm no hater). That aside, the voice cast is the exact same as the previous season except for Elise, who is now voiced again by Tomoko Kawakami, who originally voiced Elise in the first season. Elise was voiced by Kumi Sakuma in Paris-hen. Why they changed this throughout each season confuses me to no end. Moving on to the OP and ED sequence, the OP theme is better than the Paris-hen OP but not as good as the first season OP, which I also didn't like all that much. It's an improvement, but just not style. The ED theme on the other hand is amazing. A very nice orchestra playing in the background as an accompaniment to the vocals and am very pleased, especially compared to the "trash" we got in the first two seasons. Basically, music and sound was up and down throughout the series and the final rating would have to depend on your taste in classical music.
Character development...is probably the weakest aspect in Nodame Cantabile Finale. There were so many characters in this series and half of them looked alike. Not to mention that they attempted to bring/remind everyone of the main cast in season 1, which made it less helpful. In this season alone, we didn't really get much character development. Not exactly a surprise though since they were attempting to wrap up everything in such a short time frame, but they really could have done better by going into more detail about Vieira and Chiaki since that was Chiaki's lifelong goal and his purpose of coming to Paris in the first place. Eventually, that ended up disappearing as if nothing ever happened.
Enjoyment: As I said before, it's been a fun ride these past 3 years of the series. Although I wish they had animated everything in the manga, I still enjoyed what J.C. Staff has brought us and what parts Chiaki Kon chose to animate. Although I can't say I looked forward to this every week like I said with To Aru Kagaku no Railgun or Hidamari Sketch Hoshimittsu, it was still one of the better shows this season and pretty confident at this point that it will be one of the best shows this year.
Overall, I would have to give the finale a
9/10. The ending was pretty much what I expected since I had already read the manga, and thus may have spoiled myself. If I hadn't though, I think I may have gave this a 7/10 or 8/10 simply because I would not have been satisfied with such an ending.
Keep in mind, however, that this is not the end of Nodame Cantabile. The main 3 seasons may have ended but there is more scheduled as well as those outside the anime industry that have yet to come:
Nodame Cantabile Finale DVD Only Episode: April 7, 2010
Nodame Cantabile Finale OVA 2 (special extra chapter): April 26, 2010
Nodame Cantabile Live Action (aired in 2006)
Nodame Cantabile Europe (aired in 2008)
Nodame Cantabile: The Final Score Part 1 (aired in Japan in December/January, out on DVD/BD in June 2010)
Nodame Cantabile: The Final Score Part 2 (unknown)
and for those of you that enjoyed Puri Gorota, there is a movie specifically for it that came out with the original Nodame Cantabile DVD, unfortunately never subbed On another note, the Nodame Cantabile Complete Best 100 OST will be out on April 7th. My guess is it will compile many of the pieces played throughout all three seasons.