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Reviewed by Dan Polley Noda Megumi is back in the 10th volume of Tomoko Ninomiya’s “Nodame Cantabile.” This time, her adventure takes her to Paris, where she is set to continue her learning progressions. Shinichi Chiaki, a graduate student, the man who helped convince her to travel to Europe, has moved in with her in a home in France. There they meet up with someone from Megumi’s past. Megumi finds herself in France, but a bit alienated. In her crackdown to study for her musical competitions, she has neglected to learn any of the French language. There is a sequence in which Megumi and Chiaki are sitting at a restaurant and the waiter is asking questions to Megumi. The waiter’s words are not translated, adding to the heightened sense of loneliness and despair one feels when not able to communicate with others. During this volume, Chiaki must compete in a conducting competition, but will the new people in Megumi’s life take precedence over her longer relationship with Chiaki? But that’s not the only battle Chiaki might face. In the competition is another conduction, one who is universally celebrated as the best and brightest upcoming conductors. While the majority of the volume focuses on Chiaki’s competition, it is able to build upon Megumi and her relationship with Chiaki through the prism of Chiaki’s character. It’s a refreshing change of pace that helps add to the characterization in this volume. Just as with the last volume, the major drawback is the ability — or lack thereof — of the story to convey some sort of sound. There are some sequences that do a better job of convincing than others. Yet there are still some that are entirely lackluster, such as in the prelude in the beginning of the volume. In this volume, Chiaki feels as though he is much more of a rounded character, which really helps to bring about a greater fluidness to the volume. His increased presence helps make the volume that much greater of a story. “Nodame Cantabile” has improved in the 10th volume from the ninth one. Hopefully, that trend will continue with the rest of the series. Comment on this review of Nodame Cantabile v10 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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