Shinichi Chiaki is a first class musician whose dream is to play among the elites in Europe. Coming from a distinguished family, he is an infamous perfectionist; not only is he highly critical of himself, but of others as well. The only thing stopping Chiaki from leaving for Europe is his fear of flying. As a result, he's grounded in Japan.
During his 4th year at Japan's top music university, Chiaki happens to meet Noda Megumi—or as she refers to herself, Nodame. On the surface, she seems to be an unkempt girl with no direction in life. However, when Chiaki hears Nodame play the piano for the first time, he is in awe at the kind of music she plays. To Chiaki's dismay, Nodame moves into the apartment next to his and finds out that she is head-over-heels in love with him.
Episodes
S01E01 Lesson 1
January 12, 2007 7.0 23 min
Shinichi Chiaki was almost giving up his dream of becoming a conductor, until he met Megumi Noda, also known as "Nodame". The pieces performed in the episode are Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns...
Ryutaro Mine is a violinist who needed a piano player for his violin jury. But when he chooses Nodame as his partner, little did he know his troubles were just beginning. The piece performed in...
An admirer of Chiaki, timpanist Masumi Okuyama becomes jealous of Nodame's relationship with him, and torments her with pranks. To sort out their rivalry, they compete to see who can snag a date with Chiaki...
A foreigner visits Chiaki's school and becomes friends with Nodame. Chiaki refuses to let him into his house because of his perverted behavior. It turns out the foreigner is Maestro Franz von Stresemann and is...
S01E05 Lesson 5: Many Years of S Orchestra's Direction
February 9, 2007 7.0 23 min
With Stresemann knocked out cold, Nodame "convinces" Chiaki to be substitute conductor for the special orchestra. Chiaki agrees and finds out that the group he's conducting is out of synch. As the rehearsal falls apart,...
The S orchestra is to perform before the A orchestra at the upcoming concert. However, Stresemann takes "business" leave and Chiaki is forced to take his place conducting the S orchestra. In a twist of...
Chiaki is still having trouble getting the orchestra into shape, and everyone's confidence shatters under his harsh criticisms. With help from Nodame, Chiaki finally realizes Stresemann's reasoning behind the S Orchestra just in time for...
Chiaki is asked to leave the S orchestra to play the piano solo of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff as requested by Stresseman for the A orchestra. It is revealed that Stresseman was...
Stresseman sends Chiaki, Nodame, Mine, and Masumi to a musical festival where each takes lessons from famous musicians in order to better their playing. An unprepared Mine is quickly overwhelmed by the many talented musicians...
S01E10 Lesson 10: The Notion That Where It Can Charm
March 16, 2007 7.0 23 min
The school festival is here and the S Orchestra is to perform without the aid of Chiaki, who is busy practicing with the A Orchestra with their performance. Chiaki discovers what was missing from his...
It is finally Stresemann, Chiaki, and the A Orchestra's turn to perform for the school's fall festival. They manage to captivate the audience with their Rachmaninoff performance. Chiaki and Stresemann go their separate ways as...
Chiaki and Nodame perform Rachmaninoff on two pianos and cause quite a stir attracting an audience including Saiko and Etou-sensei. Later Chiaki meets with the writers from Classic Life magazine and they try to investigate...
It's graduation time at the Momogaoka College of Music and its graduating students (including Chiaki and Masumi) put on a performance of various classical pieces for their graduation recital. Kiyora, the former concert mistress of...
Under rather bizarre circumstances, Nodame makes a visit to the home in which Chiaki grew up, meets his family, and even makes dinner for them (onigiri and nabe). Since the passing of Chiaki's grandfather, tensions...
Chiaki's relatives are awaken by Chiaki and Nodame's playing. Both uncle and cousin agree that Chiaki should continue his music studies. Just before leaving Chiaki and his relatives all agree that Nodame should become a...
The R-S Orchestra starts rehearsing for their first concert, while Nodame and her new teacher finally come to an agreement. The piece played is Mozart's Oboe Concerto in C major K 314.
Nodame finishes her last "Moja Moja" song and now must do her part in her deal with Etou sensei. Meanwhile, some members of the R-S Orchestra take a break on rehearsals to dedicate to their...
After the concert, Nodame uses hypnotism to cure Chiaki's fear of flying. The pieces performed in this episode are Symphony no.1 in c minor by Johannes Brahms, Piano Sonata D845 by Franz Schubert, and Transcendental...
Nodame advances through the preliminaries of the Maradona piano competition, while the R-S Orcherstra's fame increases, drawing more and more attention. The pieces performed in this episode are Piano Sonata D845 by Schubert, Prelude and...
Nodame makes it to the final round, but an untimely fever from practicing too much sets her back as it now becomes a race against time to finish memorizing the pieces for the final round....
Nodame is in deep trouble as her train of thought is robbed at an unfortunate moment. She leaves the competition hall disappointed as well as Chiaki who had hoped she would goto Europe with him....
Chiaki conducts his last piece with the Rising Star Orchestra and contemplates how he even got there in the first place. With Nodame still away in Okawa, Chiaki is urged to persuade her to return...