Nodame Cantabile – 15

Summary:

Both Takehiko and Toshihiko rush out of their rooms upon hearing the music and find Chiaki and Nodame playing Edward Elgar‘s Sonata for violin and piano, Op.82. Toshihiko is able to identify the piece and recalls how his grandfather had enjoyed it. Chiaki’s violin playing impresses father and son so much that they both think he should continue with music. Takehiko now feels that Toshihiko should also do what he wants, even though he thinks it’s best for his son to join the company. It’s soon time for Nodame and Chiaki to leave, and Takehiko invites Nodame to come again sometime to meet Chiaki’s mother. He thinks that she wants to be a professional pianist, but Nodame reveals that she actually wants to be a kindergarten teacher. To her shock, everyone there opposes that idea, including Yuiko who says that Nodame is a friend, but not a teacher. Everyone wants her to continue working on her piano skills instead. When Chiaki tells her that he wouldn’t trust his kids with a teacher like her, Nodame gets so angry that she decides to go home by herself. As he passes her by in the taxi, Chiaki thinks to himself about how Nodame has to personally want to be a piano player.

April soon arrives, and Chiaki meets with Kiyora, Kuroki, and Kikuchi to plan their new orchestra. Kiyora has made a list of people, and Chiaki gets a message from Mine saying that he got into the A-Orchestra, meaning that he kept up his end of their deal. Once school starts up again, Nodame finds herself face to face with Etou Kouzou – Chiaki’s previous piano teacher who wields a harisen. Etou is her new teacher, and he’s shocked to find out that she’s been writing children’s music with her old teacher Tanioka until now. Nodame explains that there are going to be 12 songs, and she’s composed 11 of them so far. Etou, however, doesn’t care for this and wants to hear normal pieces, so Nodame gets ready to play a Puri Gorota song. This causes Etou to smack her with his harisen, which in turn triggers Nodame’s memories. She angrily asserts that she’s being serious and proceeds to break his harisen. Nodame then tracks down Tanioka and asks about the change. Tanioka reveals that it was Etou who wanted to be Nodame’s teacher, and even when Nodame says that she doesn’t like Etou, Tanioka feels that he can’t do anything about it and tells her to do her best.

Meanwhile, the members of Chiaki’s new still-unnamed orchestra have gathered all together for a party. At first, Chiaki notices that these people act drastically different from the way the S Orchestra acted during parties, but then after 30 minutes of drinking, everyone is wildly yelling what they want to play as an orchestra. After Kikuchi suggests a concerto, Chiaki makes the decision to have them perform an oboe concerto with Kuroki. Back home, Nodame rings Chiaki’s doorbell, but no one is home. She eventually makes her way to the Uraken, and Mine’s father tells her about the party for the new orchestra. He tries to offer her a new dish, but she quietly goes home instead. Because he’s worried, Mine’s father calls up his son to explain what happened, and Mine passes the news on to Chiaki. Chiaki is worried about Nodame not eating, but since the others are going to another bar, he goes with them even as he wonders if something happened to her.

Preview:

I don’t seem to remember Nodame getting a flashback in the manga after Etou hit her. I haven’t read the manga too much further past this point, so we’re almost at new material for me. Maybe those bad memories from the past are the reason she doesn’t want to play the piano professionally and instead wants to be a teacher. In any case, seeing Etou’s reaction to the kamishibai songs that Nodame wrote was hilarious, and the marriage/divorce scene between Mine and Kiyora was pretty funny too. I also can’t help but feel bad for Nodame at the end of the episode since she’s being left out, but it’s also hard to blame Chiaki since it’s not his duty to take care of her all the time.