Comments on: Nodame Cantabile Book 1

By: Oliver

Oliver — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 05:17:41 +0000

“The conflict between technical proficiency and playing with emotion creates a tension that I suspect will be more resonant to the Japanese reader than the American.”

I would re-phrase this by replacing “Japanese” and “American” to “Artistic” and “Non-artistic”. Your above quotation basically states that Americans don’t value the struggle between technical proficiency and playing music with feeling. I’m sure many do, in fact. Many musicians and non- can identify to this struggle.

I implore you, if you’re open to it, to give volume 10 a try. It starts a new arc, and you can see how the series has developed. It is a stark contrast to the “messy room” beginning and the art has smoothed out.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:48:42 +0000

I wouldn’t denounce the series merely on the fact you can’t hear the music. You can easily see the satisfying feeling and enjoyment that the characters have while playing music. I don’t need my books to sing to me.

The humourous and quirky style, non-flashy artwork, and character growth are all major selling points for this series. If you complain because you can’t hear it, well, that’s just missing the point entirely.

By: Angie

Angie — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:22:48 +0000

I havent read the manga yet, but the drama was extremely good.

By: Josei Manga in the US » Comics Worth Reading

Josei Manga in the US » Comics Worth Reading — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:17:29 +0000

[...] one title that can be considered josei, although none are labeled as such. For Del Rey, it’s Nodame Cantabile, about music students falling in love as they pursue their careers. Digital Manga put out Antique [...]

By: The State of Josei Manga » Comics Worth Reading

The State of Josei Manga » Comics Worth Reading — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:24 +0000

[...] to me that I’m forgetting some. Does Del Rey have any women-targeted manga? Update: Yes. Nodame Cantabile is considered [...]

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:22:13 +0000

i love this series a lot. Well i think this have to do for my love for music as well =)

By: Checking in on Dropped Manga » Comics Worth Reading

Checking in on Dropped Manga » Comics Worth Reading — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:22:03 +0000

[...] by Tomoko Ninomiya Publisher description Previous review of Book 1 [...]

By: More Manga Drops » Comics Worth Reading

More Manga Drops » Comics Worth Reading — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:04:47 +0000

[...] Nodame Cantabile — As David suggests, I’m not listing books where I sampled a first volume and didn’t care for it, because that’s outside the scope of this exercise. I mention this one only because I tried it twice, again after reader encouragement, and it’s just not for me. The pigsty lifestyle of the lead put me off. [...]

By: Piko

Piko — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:14:05 +0000

I suppose that musicians are the ideal readers. If you don’t get the music through paper it only makes sense to educate your senses. It’s a step up that most people aren’t capable of. The character’s are amusing although unnecessarily silly at times. But the whole gist about truly loving music and its essense can only be appreciated by the true music lover. Though the art is simple one should not have such high expectations for music (especially classical) to escape the pages to an uneducated reader.

By: Comics Worth Reading

Comics Worth Reading — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:43:22 +0000

[...] I’m going to try LA CORDA d’ORO, because the music setting sounds intriguing. It didn’t work for me with Nodame Cantabile because those characters got too weird and unbelievable, so maybe this will fit my tastes better. [...]

By: dini

dini — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 06:21:26 +0000

i wonder who’s the main character, nodame or shinichi? if the last, the title should be change into “shinichi’s cantabile”.all in all, it’s worth reading comic

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:22:35 +0000

I’d agree — I think O’Malley does a great job capturing energy, but that’s different from music.

I remember Megan Kelso doing a piece in Queen of the Black Black that beautifully captured reactions to music, but I still had no idea what the music sounded like, only what emotions it raised in the listeners.

By: Dave Carter

Dave Carter — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:06:11 +0000

Interesting. I haven’t yet read this, although it’s sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me.

I recall many years ago, Dave Sim (before he went completely nuts) discussing why there was dancing in Cerebus, but never any musicians. His rationale was much the same, indicating that any attempt to portray music in a soundless medium just wouldn’t work.

I contrast that with something like Scott Pilgrim, where I think that Brian O’Malley effectively conveys rock band performances. Or Para Para, with Andy Seto bringing musical theatre to life on the page.

But then, rock ‘n’ roll & musical theatre are as much about the physical performance as the musical, whereas in most cases classical music is much more about the music than the performers.