I’ve been a huge fan of its anime adaptation and was initially hesitant about watching the live adaptation because I always thought live adaptations of any anime and manga were all bad but boy I was wrong. Nodame Cantabile the drama series is splendid and simply a joy to watch. One of the best things I enjoyed about the drama is how it really closely followed the flow of the anime/manga, which is something you don’t really see these days in many live adaptations of books, comics or games etc. Staying close to the original flow of events, each scene wasn’t forcibly dragged to make the show longer and nothing unnecessary or unoriginal was added to the show. Everything was just right and because of that, I was extremely drawn into the series and gave it my fullest attention.

As someone who is relatively new to Japanese dramas, it took me awhile to really get used to the exaggerated comedy in Nodame Cantabile that Japanese people seemed to enjoy. Such comedy is not for everyone and it may seem like a throw off to many who are used to more realistic shows, but an episode or two in may be able to warm you up for the rest of the series, so hang in there first!

I’m not a fan of classical music actually and just like Mine from the show, I actually prefer rock, but not once was I bored throughout the series (as well as the anime). In fact, it opened my world a little and I was able to actually appreciate classical pieces that I once found boring. I even have a Spotify playlist of all the pieces played in the show that I occasionally listen to!

This is a show from the 2000s and you can’t expect the best production quality. I’m quite a picky person when it comes to how well the show is produced but the thing is... Nodame Cantabile is so amazing that I totally didn’t care. Please give it a chance, before you decide to drop it.