Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter - 01

Having been a huge fan of the first series, I expected a lot from the second season. Thankfully, the first episode does not disappoint. The series follows Chiaki and Nodame as they study music in Paris and is only elven episodes long which makes me curious about the pacing of the story. The first series was 23 episodes but every episode was fantastic and meaningful. I hope they don't end up hurrying the production because Nodame has always been a relaxing anime to watch; especially during the long orchestral pieces.

The opening for the Paris Chapter was not nearly as good as the first season's opening, but I could see it grow on me as the season progresses. The music selection was still fun to listen to and you got to feel fuzzy and nostalgic hearing Nodame playing the piano once again.


It's nice to see that Nodame and Chiaki are neighbors again and that Nodame is still hopelessly in love with Chiaki. However, Chiaki does seem a little put off by it which seems to irritate me a bit seeing as how he's the one who asked her to come with him. Hopefully the two will actually hit it off despite Chiaki saying they weren't a couple (Honestly, what is he thinking???).

At least we see moments that lead us to believe his actions and words don't match up.

I'm not a big fan of the new characters as Frank seems more like a side character than a rival for Nodame and Tanya seems like a stereotypical blonde fan service character.

On a positive note, we finally get to see Viera-sensei in action. Chiaki wants to wait until he can prove he's worthy of being Viera's new pupil so I wouldn't expect to see him again for awhile. Perhaps as the OP indicates, we will be seeing more of Stresemann-sensei first which wouldn't be a bad thing since I loved him in the first series. His perversion has a stark contrast to Chiaki's serious nature and it's fun to see Stresemann get Chiaki into ecchi situations.

There were a couple of really funny moments in this episode, like when Nodame tells the waiter she is being raped. For the most part, it seems like the dynamic between Nodame and Chiaki provides the bulk of the humor that was present in season one. Their realtionship really carries this show despite the loss of many great characters from season one.

Overall, it looks like a good start for the series and I'm looking forward to the next episode.