Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Nodame Cantabile


* Title: のだめカンタービレ
* Title (romaji): Nodame Cantabile
* Genre: Romantic Comedy
* Episodes: 11
* Viewership ratings: 18.79(Kanto)
* Broadcast network: Fuji TV
* Broadcast period: 2006-Oct-16 to 2006-Dec-25
* Air time: Monday 21:00
* Opening song: Symphony No. 7 in A major by Beethoven, arranged by Hattori Takayuki
* Ending song: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, arranged by Hattori Takayuki


Synopsis

Based on the hit comic book by Tomoko Ninomiya, this is a fun-filled quirky romantic story of two very opposite people.

Megumi Noda, or “Nodame” is a piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading the music score. She is messy and disorganized, takes baths several days apart and loves to eat, sometimes stealing her friend’s lunchbox when it is filled with delicacies.

Shinichi Chiaki, is Momogaoka’s top student. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. An arrogant multi-lingual perfectionist who once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy, he feels mired in Japan because of a childhood phobia.

They meet by accident. Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame’s unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Because of Nodame, Chiaki got the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people's musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible.

Cast

* Ueno Juri as Noda Megumi aka Nodame (Piano)
o Morisako Ei as young Nodame
* Tamaki Hiroshi as Chiaki Shinichi (Piano/Violin/Conducting)
o Fujita Reo (藤田玲央) as young Chiaki
* Eita as Mine Ryutaro (Violin)
* Koide Keisuke as Okuyama Masumi (Timpani)
* Mizukawa Asami as Miki Kiyora (Violin)
* Saeko as Saku Sakura (Contrabass)
* Uehara Misa as Tagaya Saiko (Vocal)
* Takenaka Naoto as Franz Strezemann (Milch Holstein by Nodame)
* Akiyoshi Kumiko as Momodaira Minako
* Endo Yuya as Okochi Mamoru (Conducting)
* Iwasa Mayuko as Ishikawa Reina (Piano)
* Takase Yukina (高瀬友規奈) as Tanaka Makiko (Piano)
* Kondo Kouen as Tamaki Keiji (Clarinet)
* Sakamoto Makoto as Hashimoto Yohei (Oboe)
* Matsuoka Rinako as Suzuki Moe (Flute)
* Matsuoka Emiko as Suzuki Kaoru (Clarinet)
* Yamanaka Takashi as Iwai Kazushi (Contrabass)
* Kobayashi Kinako as Kinjo Shizuka (Viola)
* Fukada Aki as Inoue Yuki (Cello)
* Kojima Tenten (小嶌天天) as Kanai Kento (Horn)
* Inoue Yoshiko (井上佳子) as Suganuma Saya (Vocal)
* Ibu Masato as Mine Tatsumi
* Nishimura Masahiko as Tanioka Hajime
* Toyohara Kosuke as Eto Kozo
* Shiraishi Miho as Eto Kaori

* Fukushi Seiji as Kuroki Yasunori (Rising Star: Oboe)
* Mukai Osamu as Kikuchi Toru (Rising Star: Cello]
* Hashizume Ryo as Kimura Tomohito (Rising Star: Violin)
* Namioka Kazuki as Katayama (Rising Star: Horn)
* Sakurai Chizu as Aizawa Maiko (Rising Star: Flute)
* Kimura Ryo as Takahashi Noriyuki (RS: Violin - new concert master)
* Kuroda Chieko as Miyoshi Seiko (Chiaki's mom)
* Hatano Hiroko as Kawano Keeko
* Oikawa Mitsuhiro as Sakuma Manabu
* Kichise Michiko as Elise
* Ito Takahiro as Segawa Yuto (Nodame's childhood piano classmate)
o Ogawa Koki (小川光樹) as young Segawa
* Zdenek Macal as Sebastino Vieira
* John Hesse as Kyle Dune (Kiyora's professor)
* Manuel Doncel as Professor Auclair (Judge in Maradona Competition)
* Iwamatsu Ryo as Noda Tatsuo (Nodame's dad)
* Miyazaki Yoshiko as Noda Yoko (Nodame's mom)
* Betto Yuki (別當優輝) as Noda Yoshitaka (Nodame's brother)
* Eto Kansai (江藤漢斉) as Noda Saburo (Nodame's grandpa)
* Ohkata Hisako (大方斐紗子) as Noda Shizuyo (Nodame's grandma)
* Yashiba Toshihiro as Momogaoka teacher
* Masuda Keita
* Nagaoka Mami (photo stills)


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Sunday, October 15, 2006

Tatta Hitotsu no Koi


* Title: たったひとつの恋
* Title (romaji): Tatta Hitotsu no Koi
* Also known as: Just One Love / Love of my Life
* Format: Renzoku
* Genre: Drama, romance
* Episodes: 10
* Viewership rating: 11.61
* Broadcast network: NTV
* Broadcast period: 2006-Oct-14 to 2006-Dec-16
* Air time: Saturday 21:00
* Theme song: Bokura no Machi de by KAT-TUN

Synopsis

A story of pure love between the son of a man who runs a ship repair factory beset with financial troubles and the well-bred daughter of a national jewelry chain store owner. The backdrop of the story is Yokohama.

If you feel you have lost the purity of your soul by watching stories about womanizers seducing impudent women, or by carrying out calculated maneuvers in your own love life, here is a story for you. A boy and a girl from highly different social backgrounds meet and fall in love. Their love, of course, faces a lot of obstacles. The setting is in Yokohama, a modern port city known for its romantic atmosphere. Hiroto Kanzaki (Kazuya Kamenashi) works hard every day and night for the survival of a small ship repair factory (inherited from his father) as well as the survival of his mother and younger brother, who are suffering from health problems. Living such an underprivileged life, Hiroto has forgotten how to smile. In contrast to him, Nao (Haruka Ayase) is the daughter of a popular jewelry shop owner in a fashionable street in Yokohama. She attends a prestigious exclusive women's college and grew up cheerful and blessed with affluent love. From the moment Hiroto meets her, his closed mind slowly opens up to Nao, who is so innocent that she utters whatever she thinks. Their three close friends, who are also 20 year old's, play an important role in their developing relationship.

The scriptwriter is Eriko Kitagawa, who earned the nickname "The Goddess of Love Stories." This classic love story enables those who are in the same generation to feel empathy, or be envious of the characters' lives; and the rest, who were once 20 years old's, to reminisce about their own "Love of My Life."

--Beautified-- 10:43, 9 Mar 2007 (CST)

Cast

* Kamenashi Kazuya as Kanzaki Hiroto
* Ayase Haruka as Tsukioka Nao
* Tanaka Koki as Kusano Kou
* Hiraoka Yuta as Ayuta
* Toda Erika as Motomiya Yuuko
* Kaname Jun as Tsukioka Tatsuya (Nao's brother)
* Tanaka Yoshiko as Tsukioka Mitsuko (Nao's mother)
* Zaitsu Kazuo as Tsukioka Yasuhiko (Nao's father)
* Yo Kimiko as Kanzaki Akiko (Hiroto's mother)
* Saito Ryusei as Kanzaki Ren (Hiroto's brother)
* Ooshima Youko
* Taguchi Hiromasa
* Takahashi Mai (ep4-5)
* Namioka Kazuki as Yamashita (ep4-6)
* Anan Kenji (ep7)
* Ikeuchi Hiroyuki (ep 07-10)
* Wakaba Ryuya (ep10)
* Hiraizumi Sei (ep10)
* Yanagita Erika
* Kato Yoshika
* Akita Makoto


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