Not one, but two live-action "Nodame Cantabile" films go into production

by Chris MaGee

"Nodame Cantabile" is one of the many manga/ anime/ live-action series phenomena in Japan. Based on the manga by Tomoko Ninomiya it tells the story of Shinichi Chiaki, a gifted young musician at a top notch Japanese music academy who after butting heads with one of his instructors is sent into academic purgatory in a class filled with a group of, shall we say, less than gifted musicians. Of course it's just not Chiaki's fall from grace that has made "Nodame Cantabile" so popular. There's romance brewing in academic purgatory in the form of a spunky young student named Noda, or as she like to be called "Nodame".

Now the manga/ anime/ live-action series is being turned into not one, but two live-action films which will continue the storyline of the 2006 live-action Fuji TV series and one-off "Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe" that aired this year. Hiroshi Tamaki and Juri Ueno will be back to reprise their roles as Chiaki and Nodame.

Production on both "Nodame Cantabile" films will begin in in both Japan and France in May with the first being slated for release in December of 2009 and the second following a couple of months later. Thanks to Anime News Network and Tokyograph for the details on this.