Chiaki doesn't fall for this? He must be married to music...
Minnie: I can’t believe they update 3/10 of my animes in the same day at the same time. I’m a bit exhausted from typing but it can’t be helped because I try to be ahead of myself in order to bring everyone reviews. I should be used to this amount of typing since I chat a lot and write a lot of chapters. EEK! A spider just crawl on me. T_T I hope that doesn’t affect my reviewing. Anyways, since we ended with a conclusion last episode, I don’t really know what is going to happen this episode since I haven’t read the manga. I’m one of those people who watch first, read later since most likely the manga is still on-going. Is it a weird habit? Maybe.
Minnie: Stresemann is back! And touching Nodame in all the wrong places in front of Frank. I feel sorry for the guy who doesn’t know that this perverted, old man is actually the infamous conductor Stresemann. But yeah, after touching her, Nodame invites him to her room where she makes him tea? He touches her piano and realizes that she hasn’t touched her piano at all since it’s so rusty. As for Chiaki, he’s been taken hostage by Elise or Stresemann’s strict manager. Thanks to her tickling tactics, Chiaki agrees to sign a contract with “the devil”. Poor Chiaki. Anyways, he goes home to find Frank freaking out about Nodame being tacken away by a man who is lecherous and looks like Stresemann. I’m sorry Frank but it IS Stresemann. Good luck when you know the truth for yourself.
Chiaki: Honestly, if someone beforehand had asked, “Do you think Chiaki is ticklish?”, I would have most definitely answered no. But, anyhow, that’s a rather… odd, yet entertaining way to persuade someone to sigh a contract. And, Stresemann… *sighs* You’re still you. I hate you, so very much (in a person, not character way), but this anime would have gotten nowhere without you, and it looks like that won’t change.
Minnie: Chiaki hurries over to where he’s supposed to meet Stresemann and that old man is with girls again. However, Nodame is indeed with him and she’s dressed up in a Japanese kimono in which Stresemann bought for her as a present? I laugh when her wig fell off. Soon enough, she learns that Chiaki must travel around the world with Stresemann for 3 months. Chiaki hates planes so they’ll be traveling by train. Nodame is very sad but doesn’t say anything to Chiaki. He gives her his key so she can practice with his piano whenever she wants. In the next scene, Nodame cooks bad vegetation food for her friends. One of her friends is a Chinese male name Yunlong whose mother is in the hospital due to food poisoning. He’s quite a sensitive one when it comes to his mother and is currently homesick. Nodame is upset and claims that her “husband” is cheating on her by having affairs. Hehe.
Garrick: Poor Nodame. You didn’t mention that at all. I feel totally sorry for Nodame, who traveled all the way from Japan to France, only to be left behind once again by Chiaki, who decides (or, is forced) to go on a conducting tour with Stresemann around the world. It makes me feel sorry for Nodame so very much. And… when she doesn’t get… too… sad, and takes it well, it just makes me feel all the worse for her. *hugs*
Minnie: Frank arrives with bad news. He didn’t get the professor he wanted under the name of Charles Auclair. Instead, Nodame did and Frank is throwing a tantrum. Poor Frank. He switched schools in order to be Auclair’s student after all. Then, from here on, the episode revolves around Nodame’s dream. Before she meets Chiaki, she only plays the piano ”for fun”. However, now that she is in France, her priorities have to be straightened out. We get a short phone conversation between Yuko from season 1 and Nodame. Apparently, Chiaki is doing very well- debuting in his concert in China where he meets the infamous Sun Rui. Chiaki replaces Stresemann in conducting for that one concert. Nodame watches Rui plays a very complicated song on television and I think envious of her talents.
Garrick: Wow, Rui is good. Not much else I can say, since, other than providing a simple synopsis of this part of the episode, I don’t really have any other feelings.
Minnie: Chiaki is indeed with Rui because they go shopping together. Rui stops by a jewelry store in which Chiaki remembers Nodame asking for a ring. Because he doesn’t know her ring size and is embarassed by the whole idea, he instead wants to buy her a cute necklace. However, Rui butts in and tells him that giving jewelry to a woman is like giving a collar to a cat. Chiaki has this mental image in mind and we are left guessing whether he goes through with the purchase or not. Back to Nodame, she doesn’t remember her first day of school and rushes to board the metro with her two friends. She seems to be in a heap of trouble adjusting to this type of school that requires registration and other such things. She doesn’t want to be late or miss any of her classes so she runs fast to her first class.
Garrick: Wow. Is it just me… or does the Cat sound so much like Nodame? A stray cat finding a home with Chiaki, and following him around. Being fed, cleaned… all that stuff. And when the cat’s owner finally decides to give that cat a collar, it signifies, “You’re mine, and mine alone.” Isn’t that cute? Of course… Chiaki’s just in denial. He knows he likes Nodame. He’s just too… Music-oriented to admit it to himself.
Minnie: In class, Nodame realizes that she is no match against the other students because they are all Chiaki’s basically. She doesn’t seem to like her first class very much and I sympathize with her. The professor Frank speaks of before is none other than the judge who is interested in her back in Japan- Auclair. He asks her to play for him a song she enjoys. Instead, she plays the song she heard on television with Rui. As for Chiaki, he parts ways with Rui and her mother, who seems strict. Stresemann talks to Chiaki about Nodame and why he treats her like this. Good job old man! As for Nodame, Auclair doesn’t like her playing at all and calls it horrible. He wants to hear her play a song she likes, not a hard song to impress him. This leaves us a cliffhanger (sort of) to figure out what both Chiaki and Nodame will do next.
Minnie: Overall, the episode is all right. For one reason or another, I didn’t like it as much as previous episodes because the humor is just not there for me. The humor is not as good as Season 1 and that’s disappointing. I understand where the plot is going and I like it but there are some interactions I feel are either rushed or unnecessary. There is a lot I can nitpick about but I won’t. Overall, I enjoy it enough to watch it through before reviewing but after 3 episode, this one is the least memorable I think. Still, it’s Nodame and I will watch it to the end.
Minnie’s Overall Rating for Episode: 7/10
Garrick’s Rating For Episode Three: 8/10
Minnie’s Anticipation for Next Episode: 10/10
Garrick’s Anticipation Scale: 7/10
-Minnie and Garrick
