Many of you may already know this, but one of the ways I found to fit in here last semester was by joining some other girls in the hall to watch anime once a week. We ended up getting through two entire series, plus watching random episodes of a couple of others. It was a great way to connect and have fun together, and it meant I always had something to do after class on Tuesdays. Sadly, my anime buddies have graduated and moved on, but my own rekindled interest in anime has not.
Yesterday afternoon I was rather bored, so I went online to a site that allows you to watch subtitled episodes of anime online (paying subscribers can watch as much as they want, but you're also allowed free access to 72 minutes a day for free--the time limit is actually quite handy, to avoid being sucked in completely [although, if you watch a few episodes through other streaming sites, you can watch more]). We had to use this site to watch a few of our Hana Yori Dango episodes last semester when the library didn't have all the discs we requested, so I went bakc to see what else they had that looked interesting. At the top of the page there was an advertisement for a series, and the picture showed musical instruments, so I clicked on it to see what it was all about. I have since decided that it is a new favorite, and I will be watching the entire series in my free time.
Nodame Cantabile is about students at a Tokyo music conservatory. The series is labeled as a romance, I suppose because the lead characters will eventually get together, but it's really about the music. Chiaki is a talented violinist and pianist, but he wants to be a conductor, and we get to follow him fulfilling that dream through being thrust into conducting a student group and actually making them sound good. Nodame is a gifted pianist with an unusual style, which doesn't fit with Chiaki's rigid Classical interpretations, but they all end up learning from each other. At least so far. the best part about this show is that the music is real, and so very good! And the animation actually fits the music being played! In Hana Yori Dango there was a character who played the violin, and the music was lovely, but the animation of his playing made me cringe. In Nodame Cantabile, the violinists, floutists, clarinetists, even the pianists move as if they are actually playing, and it makes me glad to see it. If only every cartoon musician paid such attention to detail...
And now for the real benefit. Episode 2 brings in a character who plays the violin (electric violin in a rock band, no less!) who is struggling to pass his performance final. Our two main characters help him in their own unique ways and he decides to dedicate his life to Classical music. The piece he played in the episode was Beethoven's violin Sonato No. 5, "Spring." It sounded so lovely, I had to get my own violin out. I don't have any Beethoven at the moment, so I went for Mozart, bringing out a piece Maria and I worked on my junior year. It felt so good! Not only did I run through the movement I once performed so well, I played the next two movements as well, which we never had spent much time on. I intend to keep playing that one until I feel like I could actually perform all three movements. Not that I have a place to perform a solo (though the COF orchestra starts rehearsals this Thursday!), but that's hardly the point at the moment. I think the reason I found it difficult to make myself practice was that I didn't have any real goals aside from staying in good shape for playing. Now I have a goal. I may even look into getting that Beethoven piece and trying to play it like the boy did in the episode. Now that would be fun!
Oh, and at Park Street this morning I filled out a card to let them know that I play violin and would be willing to participate in the service doing special music or something. A violin duet played this morning during the offering, and it sounded so lovely. Maybe I can join the Park Street Strings while I'm here too.
So you see, I found a show that both entertains and motivates me! Perhaps next I should search for one that will motivate me to write...
-Kim
No comments:
Post a Comment