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Lesson 1: Anime
Total Episodes; 23+1 Summer special. A new (11 episode) season to come October 9th, 2008. (Airing at the moment.)
Genres; Classical Music, Comedy, Slice of life, Romance
Similar animes with music as a theme are for example 'BECK: Monogolian Chop Squad' and 'Piano no Mori'.
Opening/Ending;
OP- Suemitsu & The Suemith - Allegro Cantabile
An exciting and mood bringing opening. It starts with the main characters and later shows the scene's with objects or instruments that are involved in the series. It's a colourful and joyful opening song.
ED 1- Crystal Kay - Konna ni Chikaku de...
With the same art as in the opening it has an ordinary ending ... with Chiaki the main character and a weird mongoose walking the piano keys.
ED 2- Suemitsu & The Suemith – Sagittarius
Again, the same art that is colourful and plain. It shows some piano's twirling round with the main characters later on them.

Lesson 2: Manga
Authors; Ninomiya, Tomoko (Story & Art)
Chapters; 124 – ongoing
Published; July 10th 2001 to … (Hiatus?! Mangaka had a baby! Cheers!)
Serialization; Kiss

Lesson 3: Plot - 9.5/10
The son of a famous pianist, Chiaki Shinichi is a 3rd year piano student at the Japanese Momogaoka Music Academy and has a dream to become a conductor. He has a passion for classical music, plays the violin and piano wonderfully and can hear the differences between a good or bad musician. One day he meets someone he actually has never seen before. Her name is Noda 'Nodame' Megumi, who is a 2nd year piano student at the same school. He is disgusted by her sloppiness and attitude but fascinated by her playing. Before he even knew it, he is drug into her rhythm. As the story continues, he meets up with more 'weirdo' students and his father's rival, and perverted famous conductor, Stresemann.

Lesson 4: Characterization - 9/10
The characters are well thought out and have their own traits. Nodame is a special case and is characterized by her being annoying towards some people, very sloppy and shouting all kinds of phrases like 'gyabo' or 'mukya'. Every character within the series experiences growth, not only in skill, but in character as well. Throughout the series you get enough air time per character to know how they respond to certain events and story development. Expressing emotions and thoughts are shared with the viewer and give a good impression or explanation about the character. Every character is unique in it's own way and has an important role in the series.

Lesson 5: Anime animation & Music - 8.5/10
The animation is plain and simple, not that different from most anime series out there. Scenery, character drawings and animations are very good. Character interaction is greatly done and sometimes gives a humorous effect. The orchestra's playing is well put together, but is lacking mostly, which reduces the enjoyment of that moment or scene where it was the most important. (Definitely improved in Nodame Cantabile: Paris-hen!) The selling point of the series is classical music. If you like classical music you might enjoy the series, but keep in mind that there are other parts of the series that get attention. The music selection is not just limited to famous piano composers but also contains other instrument's composers. It is really thought out and researched. One can actually learn some parts of World music history. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Stravinsky and Brahms are some of the few composers that are talked about throughout the series.

Lesson 6: Manga art - 8/10
The art is clean and understandable, not messy nor over exaggerated. It is mostly focused on the characters interaction between one another, barely any extra art. Buildings, orchestra's and other scenery are well drawn and has a realistic, impressive look. Actions or movements are well shown and give the reader a good idea of what is going on without giving the impression that it is just to fill gaps. The structure and lay out of the manga is flexible and simple to understand. Text bubbles, music notes and other sound-related items are well placed over the series, being correctly used. The cover pages are varied with different characters and multiple instruments. If you see the oldest and newest chapter, you will notice slight to no difference in the drawings.

Lesson 7: Personal review - 9.5/10
Nodame Cantabile has become one of my favourite series. I strongly recommend it to anyone, even if you dislike the genre slice of life or classical music. The whole theme gives it's own feeling and is pretty unique amongst animes and mangas. The further you get in the series and get to know the characters, the more you wish there was more episodes.

Last Lesson: Overall - 9/10