“Sempai doesn’t understand… how itchy and annoyed I am.”
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Tomoko Ninomiya
Translation & Adaptor: David & Eriko Walsh
Lettering: Michaelis/Carpelis Design
What They Say:
MUSICAL DISSONANCE: Student prodigy Shinichi Chiaki just can’t shake Nodame, no matter how hard he tries. Now he is forced to tutor her and Mine all night. So much for music being comforting! Then Shinichi gets a golden opportunity: the chance to temporarily fill in for Maestro Stresemann as conductor for the S orchestra. But after an unfortunate mishap, the maestro defects to the A orchestra and challenges Shinichi to a public-performance duel. With only weeks to prepare, can members of the inexperienced S orchestra pull themselves together to rival the confidence of the A orchestra? It’s going to take a lot of hard work–and inspiration from a certain free-spirited girl with a crush. The battle Shinichi can’t afford to lose has begun!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
On a technical level, it looks like Kodansha is still keeping to Del Rey’s original pages of Nodame Contabile, with the occasional Japanese text still sloppily kept intact alongside its English translation (At least I’d hope this is a past mistake left uncorrected rather than one made by Kodansha themselves). Thankfully, the series’ content more than makes up for this.
After finishing Nodame Contabile volume 2, I was honestly tempted to write the rest of the series off as a mediocre manga about inept musicians that Chiaki systematically helps in single-chapter mini-arcs. And I’m not completely off after reading volume 3. Though the main difference is that author Tomoko Ninomiya has actually taken note of the shortcomings of the last volume and cleaned up her writing significantly, taking each problem area and actually making them work this time around.
In the case of the titular character Nodame, while she hasn’t become the most directly involved in the plot, her presence has become much more bearable, with her eccentricities flowing alongside the overall story as opposed to awkwardly breaking it apart. As Chiaki is tasked from being a stand-in conductor to an official one for the ragtag S-Orchestra, it isn’t until he makes the connection between the oddball orchestra members and the oddball Nodame that he’s able to tweak his method of approach in teaching the group as a whole. It’s through Nodame’s carelessness that Chiaki is able to see his mistakes and learn from them. This in addition to Nodame’s punchier “Nodame-isms” make for a far more enjoyable read this time around.
Ninomiya also introduces new characters a lot more naturally than in chapters past. Now with a seemingly endless supply of characters to introduce via the S-Orchestra, Ninomiya focuses in on the meagerly Sakura on the contrabass. From the get-go, we’re able to see Sakura’s uphill battle as she struggles with an instrument that literally dwarfs her. Our empathy for her only increases as we learn of her financial problems, struggling to keep her family and school life from falling apart. And while her character arc’s solution feels rather deus-ex-machina-y, it still benefits the volume’s overall story as Chiaki learns how to better handle the members of the orchestra he is now in charge of.
It’s in a similar fashion that we begin to see the orchestra as a whole develop as its own entity of sorts. We see the orchestra mature in their own way—still keeping to their eccentricities while using them to their advantage come the performance. As atypically talented as each member is, it only becomes that much more rewarding come the volume’s end when we finally see the fruits of everyone’s labor. It’s a classic underdog tale, yes, but one done well and well worth the read.
In Summary:
With some stories, you just have to tough it out in hopes that at the least it will be able to provide a satisfying conclusion. In this case, author Ninomiya learns from her previous missteps last volume and uses them to her advantage this time around, making for a satisfying conclusion to the series’ first arc.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Kodansha Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 2, 2016
MSRP: $10.99
