badger11’s take on anime

This show is turning out to be quite the little gem of the season for me. Granted, there hasn’t been much in the way of storyline until now. The episodes so far have focused on introducing the main characters. On the surface, this episode isn’t really any different from the previous three, introducing us to von Streseman, the new head of the conducting department that Chiaki wants to transfer into. Streseman is appears to be the show’s antagonist, setting Streseman against Chiaki.

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I’m sure they will, but when they release the soundtrack to the show, I hope they include the piano song from the start of the episode. Not the them song, but the song used during the flashback scenes. I’ve only bought one show soundtrack based on one song that I liked. It was the soundtrack for the first season of current Battlestar Galactica and the song was “The Shape of Things to Come” by Bear McCreary. It was the final song of the last episode for that season. Much like “The Shape of Things to Come”, that piano song (I wish I know what it was called) during the flashback scenes is very pleasant to listen to.

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Of all of the anime shows that I watch, Nodame Cantabile is one of two shows that I’d be most likely to suggest to people who don’t watch anime. Why? Because fun, light-hearted, humorous, and it doesn’t distract people. A new-to-anime-viewer doesn’t have to watch and wonder why an alien wearing a Lulu skin suit is trying to take over the world, or a battle princess and an 8ft tall scarred guy with a blue flashlight are destroying things (And I’m glad I started watching Pumpkin Scissors again, its gotten interesting), or a guy who hangs around with foxes, demon-slayers, and sick girls (God, I love Kanon).

The first episode introduced Chiaki and Nodame. I’ve watched the live-action version without understanding it, but I’ve developed a biased because of that. Now that the live action version has stopped airing on the local station, I’m sure that I’ll become accustomed to the anime actors. That’s not entirely true, I’ve come to totally like Ayako Kawasumi as Saber Sara Werec Nodame over Juri Ueno from the live action version. Not that Juri Ueno was bad, its just a preference. I still prefer Hiroshi Tamaki as Chiaki because he has the right harshness in his voice for the role of the perfectionist Chiaki. And I prefer the look and voice of Eita as Ryutaro Mine.

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So episode 18 finishes up Shiori’s arc. This was underwhelming when compared to the emotional ending of Makoto’s story and not action-packed or emotional as Mai and Sayuri’s story. I know, I know, different girl, different story, an yet…another girl we don’t see again (at least until the ending, I’d be surprised if KyoAni didn’t do a review of sorts). It was a nice touch to see that Shiori was the one to intentionally leave, undoubtedly thinking that it would be easier to stop seeing each other right then and make the pain less for Yuuichi. Wiping the slate clean for Yuuichi to move on.

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This episode didn’t do much for me. It was bad, but it wasn’t a standout one. It follows Hiro’s junior coworker, Mayu. A eager junior editor who worked hard to land a contract with a rising novelist, who happens to be Mayu’s favorite author. It’s her dream to work closely with this author. Mayu does get the author to agree to write some stories that will be serialized in the magazine. Part of Mayu’s effort was getting the contact information for the author, but she losses the slip of paper that has the information on it.

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I wanted to watch this show because I wanted a light and fluffy show (I thought I had it in Shuffle! Memories, but noooo, they had to bring in a razor blade and more). But I thought this was a 100% loli show and I just wasn’t really interested in that. Until I read Impz’s post. So they’re in high school and I guess the loli-like appearance is just a character design. I need a few more episodes to decide if I want to continue.
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