Nodame Cantabile

This is not a food blog but a J-drama review~ yes, when the cat is bored, one watches J-dorama. Much better than Korean dramas ( don't kill me but there is too much crying involved ) japanese serials are more gritty, funnier sometimes and it's amazing everything can be squeezed into 7-10 episodes. HK dramas should take note. Well, i can't diss Hong Kong series too much, i do get addicted to some...

This dorama is recommended by my colleague YY, who is a fan of j-dorama and k-doramas. A big thanks to her, cos' i really love this dorama and i am waiting for the anime to come out eagerly.

A lot of mangas (comics) have been translated to either animes or doramas' recently and Nodame Cantabile is one of them. This one is based on a manga written by Tomoko Ninomiya. Comes highly recommended by a lot of people.

Now, it's about 2 people who are studying music in Uni, who are complete opposites of each other. Chiaki Shinichi, the main male lead, is neat, precise and a bit of a up tight fella at times, while Nodame Megumi ( hey that's my name in japanese ) is the total opposite. Untidy, ( she doesn't bathe very often ), quirky and with a fondness of stealing people's lunch boxes, she meets up Chiaki one day ( being neighbours ) and she falls in love with him. You actually see "hearts" popping out of her.. Chiaki on the other is not impressed with her but when he sees her playing the piano and her passion for it, it is the start of an unusual friendship.

The dorama feels like a live action anime, complete with er.. people flying around, proper anime sound effects.. LOL, sometimes i could not help laughing out a loud. It is also reminded me of my music classes i took when i was small. To be honest, i played about 60% of the songs in this show, however, not as good as the people inside.

The characters are actually a gem, they each have their own personality and can be amazingly funny! I love the gay guy ( Masumi ) who has a serious crush on Chiaki. His afro hair is funny(especially the part where it "pops" up) and it is good to see that he and Chiaki became good friends after. :)

Nodame herself is a gem, albeit the fact she does not shower often. Please watch out for the farty song bit. Hilarious!

Funniest Episode: Eto Sensei doing the farty dance.
Most touching moment: When Chiaki realizes that Nodame is more than just a friend. Aww...
Most strange character: Franz Stresemann he speaks japanese with a foreign accent, i ended up speaking japanese with that same strange accent for the next few days.

This will turn you into a j-dorama fan. If you don't really like it, watch it for the songs, they are well performed.