I remember being very hesitant to dip my toes into the josei genre due to a silly chemical called testosterone. This all changed when I watched H&C. Finally, I could watch romantic comedies where moe, fanservice, unrealistic sexual situations, and cliches were absent. By the end of H&C I was thoroughly convinced that I would never find another josei of a similar caliber. This is where Nodame Cantabile comes in. Nodame Cantabile has far exceeded my expectations and has captivated me from episode 1.
I will to the best of my abilities review the Paris Chapter in a way that will hopefully prove helpful to any interested readers.
Note: Many References to Season 1 will be made. If you haven’t watched it… well why are you watching Paris Chapter? >.>
Story~ N/A Pacing~ 7.5
The story takes place right after episode 23 of season 1. As the title of the anime may suggest our two beloved MCs will explore the extravagant land of Paris as they struggle with their musical careers ... and quite honestly there's really nothing more to it than that, its simply a slice of life. I don't believe in judging a slice of life anime on story, especially when we're considering a sequel that has already had a majority of its core development taken care of in the previous season so I will now talk about the pacing.
Now from multiple perspectives the pacing was good and bad. Good in the sense that they fit a surprising amount of character development into a mere 11 episodes and bad in the sense that the season was … well 11 episodes. The runtime does not do the sequel justice and it just does not feel the same as season 1. Characters are very abruptly introduced, months go by within minutes, and so on. It is good to mention that for the little time the producers did have they displayed a very good amount of development between Chiaki and Nodame. In the end the producers did the best they could with what they were given and the short run time is only one of the sequel’s few flaws.
Art~8
The art is more or less the same as season 1. JC Staff still provides the very warm, plain, simple animations that drew me into the first season. Something great about the art in this season is the difference in setting. The Paris backgrounds look beautiful through the Nodame Cantabile art style. It makes the watcher truly feel that Chiaki and Nodame are far from home, in a distant fairy-tale. The one major difference I saw between the seasons is the usage of CGI animation. Having well rendered CGI animations would have been a huge step up from the still shots of orchestras playing but unfortunately the CGI was very stiff and poorly executed. Rather than enhancing the experience of watching the orchestra perform the CGI made the performers seem very robotic and unnatural and ultimately became a distraction rather than an improvement. Other than the CGI flaw, the art of Paris Chapter stays true to its roots and is well done and strong throughout the whole show.
Sound~8.5
Now how did an anime so heavily based on classical music not receive a 10 in sound? Don't get me wrong the pieces chosen for Paris Chapter were beautiful and an absolute joy to listen to but I felt like the time devoted to music paled in comparison to season 1. I kept in mind that this is most likely accountable due to the air time being less than half of season 1. The producers were likely trying to keep the music feel of the show while having enough time for character development. Unfortunately, the lack of devotion to the musical segments do hamper the joy when Chiaki and Nodame perform. Putting aside the fact that the pieces are played for short time segments, Paris Chapter’s choice of classical pieces is still very varied and diverse. Being a complete stranger to classical music, Nodame Cantabile gave me a new appreciation for this genre of music and Paris Chapter did it again.
The voice acting is still very strong. The trademark “Gyabo!” and “Myuka!”s are well timed and done in a hilarious fashion. Chiaki and Nodame still stay true to their personalities in season 1. A large amount of new supporting characters were introduced but each of their voice actors did a very good job. None of them seemed out of place and the warm, cozy, Nodame Cantabile atmosphere was left undisturbed. All in all, the voice acting was great with the flaws being largely unnoticeable.
Now for the OP. The OP for the whole season is Sky High by The Gospellers. To be frank, I didn’t really care for the OP. The song was average and the animations were a bit boring. I found myself skipping it almost every single time. The ED (Tokyo et Paris by Solita and Emiri Miyamoto) on the other hand was great. A gorgeous violin piece was played with the soft touching voice of Solita. The whole song is in French and so it just adds to the overall Paris feel of the anime. Listening to it after every episode was joy as you saw the credits rolling accompanied by still shots of our beloved characters.
Character~9.5
Now THIS is where a slice of life truly shines. Chiaki and Nodame’s relationship take a very sudden change in direction from the first season. Gone are the subtle developments and the ever so slow realization of love that were present in the first season. Chiaki and Nodame’s relationship is no longer one sided and is portrayed in a way that convinces the audience the long 23+ episode wait was more than worth it. Although this change in approach to their relationship is great I felt as if sometimes certain things were rushed and just completely out of no where due to the short air time. Other then that, the romantic scenes in Paris Chapter are well done and numerous. A huge step with Nodame is her increasing independency. She no longer clings to Chiaki as he mercilessly whacks her away. This in turn causes both individuals to become jealous, uncertain, and worried about each other. In other words, finally being an acknowledged couple, we get to see development in ways that could never be addressed in the first season. This only greater strengthens their bonds with each other and the audience.
Now a huge minus to Paris Chapter was the complete disappearance of the supporting cast from the first season. The only characters that were still around were Kuroki and Stresemann although Kuroki was one of the more boring characters while Stresemann appeared very infrequently. This results in most of the screen time for supporting characters being directed at the new cast. In no way is this bad, but like almost everything else in the show, the new supporting cast suffers greatly due to the short air time. No real development really happens with any of them which is completely fine because most of the emphasis is put on Chiaki and Nodame anyways. The new supporting cast does a great job in providing an authentic college atmosphere but don’t get expected to feel attached to any of them.
Enjoyment/Overall~8.5
In the end, Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter was a great watch. Although it did pale in comparison to the first season in many fields, it also had its strengths. A relatively short run time causes the anime to suffer as a whole but should not be a reason Nodame Cantabile lovers shouldn’t give it a try. We get to see a new side of Chiaki and Nodame as they explore the musical wonderland called Paris. Each episode was filled to the brim with events, sometimes too much. But it keeps the audience busy and the absence of pointless fillers is always a plus.
As far as sequels go, Paris Chapter did a great job. Honestly, if there’s 11 more episodes where I get to experience Chiaki and Nodame I’m going to watch it regardless.
The humour was great.
The characters were great.
The romance was great.
A well done sequel to Nodame Cantabile. Now onto the finale~
