Nodame Cantabile 131

I got hold of the raws last night however, I so badly wanted to watch The Devil (Mawang) so I just read through it and decided to make the post today.

On to the summary.

Lesson 131



Chiaki is clearly disturbed by the fact that Nodame was gone. He remembered the time when she went back home in Ookawa but he thought that was different because back then, Nodame lost the competition and went home in failure. But now, she had a great performance so Chiaki is wondering why Nodame's saying that "she can't play anymore." Chiaki thought that as long as he kept an eye on her, it's fine but now he has completely lost sight of her.

Masayuki went to Chiaki and said that he was tricked by Viera-sensei. He was told that his fan Nicole Kidman was there to see him and then it only turned out to be Chiaki. However, Chiaki doesn't seem to pay attention to his father. Masayuki wondered what's wrong with him because he thought that Chiaki hated him so much that he cannot bear to be in the same room with him, breathing the same air. But Chiaki said that those are petty things and it was not the time to think about that. Masayuki said that he is already on the stage of being ignored.

Chiaki asked what is he doing there and Masayuki told him that he saw the concert. Chiaki thought that his father was there to badger him about his mistake but then Masayuki told him that he did good when he conducted Beethoven. Masayuki said that he was glad that Chiaki was raised to be a proper and good person and that he was right to not raise Chiaki himself. Chiaki told him not to be proud about the fact that he wiggled out of his responsibilities. Masayuki said that at least he took Chiaki out and indulged him when he was small. Chiaki doesn't remember any of it.

His father reminded him that he used to take Chiaki on walks and he even brought him to work but Chiaki insisted that he was the one who followed his father back then. The two quabbled a bit about stuff before like Masayuki teasing Chiaki about his handwriting. The two agreed that they just cannot get along well.

Masayuki asked Chiaki what's wrong because it looked like he's worrying about something really important. He said that if he wanted to talk he'll listen especially if it's a funny story. Chiaki was a bit agitated that everyone seemed to be having fun at his expense.

Now the scene shifted to Nodame and we see her riding a train on her way to Paris. However, she overslept and the next stop is already Brussels in Belgium. Actually, her plan is to take a plane from Cairo to Milan. Then from Milan ride the TGV which is the train that goes to France and neighboring countries. But now since she overslept, she's in Brussels and the last train to Paris has already left. She had to wait for tomorrow but she didn't have enough money to spend a night in a hotel.

Back in Italy, Chiaki had apparently told his father all about Nodame. Masayuki was saying that it seemed that saying something like "you can't play anymore' happens a lot in their world (music world). Somehow, there a lot of people who after having a superb performance feel that they cannot do something like that anymore. Masayuki said that sometimes when you leave them alone, they'll eventually snap out of it but there are also people who no matter how long, they never come out of the stupor. So, their contracts are canceled. They're already satisfied with what they did and do not want to do anything anymore. Maybe Nodame was that type of person who gets easily satisfied.

It never crossed Chiaki's mind that Nodame will be so satisfied with what she has already done and would not want to perform with him anymore. Chiaki wondered if she has totally forgotten about him already. He also wondered why the hell is he telling this to someone he really hates.

Masayuki told Chiaki that if he was Nodame, he'll forget about Chiaki, go back to Stresemann and have another performance. Chiaki said that Nodame is not like him. Chiaki must have felt like he was being left behind and wondered when did being with Nodame become the most important thing in his life.

In Brussels, Nodame was allowed to stay in the hotel's storage room for free. The room's a bit messy but she felt right at home. She was hungry and she ate a packed sandwich. She fell asleep while smelling Chiaki's shirt.

Back in Paris, we see Tanya and Yunlong coming out of the apartment talking about random stuff. They didn't see Nodame come back.

Nodame, now back in her room, decided to check messages left on her phone. There were a lot of faxes and voice messages there. There were messages from Etoh, Mine, Kaoru and Moe congratulating her for her succesful debut. Her family also left messages for her.

Then she was disturbed by a sudden noise and saw that it was the mysterious girl on the upper floor. Yadovi apologized that the cymbals fell. She said No-san. Nodame replied, Nodame desu.

_____________________________

Thoughts:


I thought Masayuki went there on his own accord and thought how much of a coincidence was it that his son was also there. That was what I deduced from the last scene in Chapter 130 when he said to Viera-sensei, "I was nearby. Let's grab some lunch." However, it seemed that he was there because he was tricked by Viera. What a great timing it is to be there at the time when Chiaki is not his usual self.

I assumed that it was gonna be hard to get them to talk like that but I am glad that because of Chiaki's problem, he didn't seem to mind so much that Masayuki was there. On the other hand, what a change of heart for Masayuki. I couldn't believe he would actually talk to Chiaki as easily as that.

It's nice to see another side of Masayuki. He was a great factor to be considered when we talk about Chiaki's personality. It seemed that he knows his capability with regards to nurturing a child and knows that he could not do it well. So, rather than badly bringing up Chiaki, Masayuki left Chiaki and passed the responsibilities of rearing him to his wife. It's still not a good enough excuse (heck, not even near good), but I am glad that we are able to finally see the workings of the mind of this talented pianist.

On the other hand, Chiaki's finally coming around. He's worried about Nodame yes, but at the same time, his feelings are surfacing. He realized that he wanted to performed with Nodame. I think not only that but also he wanted to BE with Nodame. And the irony of it all, he was realizing it while he was talking to the person he hates the most.

One thing that confused me though in this chapter was the fact that Nodame went back to Paris. I mean, why that fast? I wonder what's her plan now. The crossroad at page 26 clearly described her problem. I really hope she goes back to Auclair-sensei.

And finally, we see the mysterious girl. Hmm, interesting, what could be her participation in this story now?

Okay, let's wait for Nodame Cantabile Chapter 132 on June 25.

(edit: Nodame Cantabile to return on July 25)

(another edit: Nodame Cantabile Chapter 132)