Nodame Cantabile, Vol. 1 by Tomoko Ninomiya

The manga depicts her evolution as a person, as a musician. Nodame even though she is majorly talented as a pianist has no ambitions to become a professional, content to play around and dream about being a kindergarten teacher and eventually Chiaki Senpai’s wife.

He cannot go to Europe which is the centre of all things musical (classical music) because he has a phobia of flying and even traveling by water due to a trauma he suffered as a child. Chiaki Senpai is possibly the only in the series who knows what he wants and is serious in nature though he, too, has his own issues. In my opinion, it is the strength of the characters and the sincerity of the narrative that wins readers over. So how would I account for the success of the manga? Ordinarily I would say the music but in book form, you cannot hear the music. The word is generally used at school or in the workplace to denote respect.) In this instance, Chiaki is actually older because he is in an advanced class in school. Senpaii, if I’m not incorrect, means someone not necessarily older but someone who has bee doing something longer than you. The titular character is a piano prodigy whose name is Noda Megumi but who goes by the nickname Nodame but the manga is focalized on both Nodame and Chiaki Senpai (he has a first name but he is usually addressed like this so that’s what I call him. To get a sense of its popularity, the manga series has not just spawned two seasons of anime but also one season of a live action drama followed by two specials which were then followed by two movies. Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya is easily one of my favourite manga series ever.

Nodame Cantabile, Vol. 1 by Tomoko Ninomiya