View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
|
LaFreccia
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 324
|
Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:48 pm
|
|
|
Mister V wrote: | (although I'd still say that the first season is the best). |
Agreed. The first season had three things going for it that the final two didn't (or mostly didn't).
1. Longer, more intense musical segments. This was the thing, more than anything else, that impressed me about the show initially. Although the second half of the third season had longer (and more epic) performances, it was a little late.
2. More comedy. Although all three seasons contained humor, it just seemed that season one was really a comedy before anything else, whereas seasons two and three were romantic dramas with comic elements.
3. A stronger cast of characters. I understand that they had to move on, so new side characters were inevitable, but they left some great side characters behind in Japan, and the replacements (Rui, Frank, Sonia, etc.) were just not as interesting.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Ausdoerrt
Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 481
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 2:21 am
|
|
|
Quote: | 1. Longer, more intense musical segments. This was the thing, more than anything else, that impressed me about the show initially. Although the second half of the third season had longer (and more epic) performances, it was a little late. |
I dunno, why turn a show into an animated orchestra performance? I personally kind of liked the fact that Paris and Finale moved away from that and put more effort into the story. I mean, if you wanna listen to some music, you can always go to a concert, right? Music in Nodame is just a background.
I kind of agree with your #2 but I can't say that's a bad thing. The show was more romance than comedy to begin with.
As for #3, I wouldn't call the new cast "weak", they just had a lot less time to develop them all since they were concentrating on Nodame/Chiaki, so pretty much everyone except Rui was only superficially explored.
Overall, I'd say the show provided a satisfying conclusion to the series.
|
Back to top |
|
|
LaFreccia
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 324
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:19 am
|
|
|
Ausdoerrt wrote: | I dunno, why turn a show into an animated orchestra performance? |
Because people performing musical instruments is a beautiful subject for art. I think it is great that someone took the time and energy to work up those performances. And make no mistake, that was expensive to animate, because you have a lot of independent motion.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Ausdoerrt
Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 481
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:35 am
|
|
|
Meh, music isn't a visual art. It could be a subject for art, I guess, but I can't say it's that good for animation. Or at the very least not for the level of Nodame, because frankly the orchestra animation looked pretty crappy and unnatural most of the time. Money wasted, I say.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Mister V
Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 1000
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:58 am
|
|
|
The orchestra does look unnatural, even though they tried their best (I don't know about the costs involved, but would drawing an orchestra instead of that pretty awkward CG cost more?). It distracted me from the music at times, and I adore piano concertos (even though I can't claim to be a connoisseur or anything). I think that in general, considering the fact that music plays an incredibly important role in the series, it kept a good balance between musical and non-musical segments, it just didn't have the bright characters to go with it. The Japanese cast was more colourful, even though the characters they have here are as endearing as the ones from the first season.
In my opinion the show was always more comedy than romance, but that's just me. I feel that the first season had that irreplaceable "humble beginnings" appeal, that also translated to more effective comedy.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Darksorrow29
Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Posts: 412
Location: United States
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:13 am
|
|
|
Maybe I was just horribly drugged and out of it when I watched the last episode but...
I came away with the impression that Nodame and Chiaki break up and that Nodame realizes that she can get the same feeling she gets from Chiaki playing music from anyone else?
|
Back to top |
|
|
Ggultra2764
Subscriber
Joined: 21 Jan 2004
Posts: 3889
Location: New York state.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:36 am
|
|
|
Darksorrow29 wrote: | Maybe I was just horribly drugged and out of it when I watched the last episode but...
I came away with the impression that Nodame and Chiaki break up and that Nodame realizes that she can get the same feeling she gets from Chiaki playing music from anyone else? |
Nodame and Chiaki are still together in the continuation of the manga series called Opera-hen.
And I have to agree with Mister V and LaFreccia that quality-wise, the first season was the best of the series trilogy. The music was the core focus of that season and the impression I had of the series was that it focused on how music shaped the lives of those that took part in it. But in seasons 2 and 3, the series shifted its focus more on the romantic developments between Shinichi, Nodame and their new roommates in Paris with the music being second fiddle to those developments. The problem I had with this approach is that it took away what made the first season unique in the first place and made the later two seasons seem no different from a typical romantic comedy (though Paris-hen is the biggest offender of this flaw).
Pacing was also an issue throughout Paris-hen and the first half of this season. With only 11 episodes, events became rushed and with the increased focus on romance developments, the presence of major music performances either got less screen time or were only mentioned without actually being shown. Said developments in character relationships also seemed to feel unnatural with how quickly the series breezed through them. While this season did finally improve by slowing its pacing down and increased focus on music by the second half, its quality still doesn't match up to the first season since the first half still rushed through things.
|
Back to top |
|
|
|