Personal thoughts:This was my second dorama, I first had contact with Nodame when I read the manga, I liked it so much, it was really interesting and it had a different kind of female protagonist. I'm still reading Nodame and so far it has been interesting reading it. I also watched both anime seasons it's kind of weird how the first season of the anime and the dorama end in the same place of the manga and the second season of the anime shows the same as the 2 specials of the dorama

Review: Nodame Cantabile it's about Noda Megumi, who studies in a Musical Academy, she plays the piano she's good at it but she isn't serious about it, then we have Chiaki-sempai an arrogant person he studies in the same Academy in the piano section, but he plays the violin as well. He wants to be an orchestra conductor one day while he was drunk he meets Nodame, she instantly falls in love with him, but she is kind of weird so Chiaki at first is repelled by her, but when he listens her playing the piano, he founds out she is no ordinary person. Chiaki and Nodame then start getting more involved in each other lives, Nodame tries to help him full fill his dream of being a conductor and Chiaki tries to help Nodame on improving her piano.

They meet several people along the way, friends and colleagues, what will happen to their love relationship??? that's what we found out in this interesting dorama.

One of the first things about Nodame Cantabile is its quirky nature.

It was as if the producers wanted to create a live action manga - literally. The character's behavior is often outlandish. The acting is almost always over exaggerated and the general mood of the entire show is like it sprung straight from the pages of the manga that inspired it.

It is because of this that one may say that this drama is too faithful to its source material. It tries so hard to translate the images and words into the real world that it fails to add anything new to the mix. This begs one to wonder, why watch this if you've already read the manga, which is most likely better than the adaptation.

I suppose the shortest answer I could give is that you wouldn't watch it. The only people that should watch this are those who have not read the manga and do not plan to do so. If it is these people, then I think they will enjoy this drama's upbeat and over-the-top sensibilities.

3.5/5 Recommended for lovers of quirkiness and over-the-top comedy.

Overall: Don't watch it. I know I may seem harsh but I did watch it all in two days... Maybe that's why the classical music got to me. If you plan to watch it (and aren't taking my review seriously) then I bid you to take your time, don't watch it too quickly or you will join me in my dislike of this drama.
Storyline: The story is about a strange love between complete opisites. Megumi Noda (aka Nodame), the female lead, is a piano student who is extreemly talented but wants to become a kindergarden teacher. Shinichi Chiaki, the male lead, is the college's top student talented at piano and violin and wants to become a conductor. Nodame falls in love with Chiaki, but it takes practically the whole series for him to appreciate her. The plot could have been funnier, but was a little boring (in my opinion). They put too much of a focus on the music parts. It was overwhelming because I watched it in 2 days and it was just a classical music overload.
Music: The drama was centered around classical music, unfortunatly I felt like it was more about that then the plot. Sure, I like classical music, but when I watch a drama I don't want to have more music than anything else.
Characters: The characters are developed enough I suppose, but I didn't feel any sort of connection with them.
Acting: The acting was okay, but thats all I can say about it. (I love Eita though).

This drama is great. I can't believe it is funnier than the manga (to me, of course)
I think the acting is SUPERB. Of course everything is over-exaggerated. But that's why I couldn't stop laughing the first 4 episodes all the 5 times that I watched it. It's a really great drama. It enhanced my knowledge on classics as well. So if you're not into classics, this might not be the one. Because the down part of it is that they spend so much time on the conducting and analyzing of the music. But overall, I enjoyed it.
The storyline is great as well. It's not too complex and most problems are resolved. So if you want to kill some time with a romantic comedy that's not too complex, this is the one.

This sure tickled my funny bones. Too exaggerated and comical, making it catchy for the viewers. If you're the type who doesn't like classical music then this will make your disinterest in a 360 degree turn. Music and love sure is universal.