I gathered up the scattered music notes...
in the 88th scene with my hands.
I don't know how to put my feelings in words.
I put them in the music score as the days passed by.
When we come across...
At the third time, the feelings will ring out here.
Let me put it straight forwardly like a song.
I write all of them in a song.
This endless crescendo is so strong...
and reaching out to someone.
The melody is heading to the pianist on the stage.
The melody of everything about life.
It's the real face.
A whole new world...
has opened up before my eyes.
A new prelude repeats.
Tempo 120
126.
132.
162...
Nooo!
I can't take it anymore!
- What's with him? - Who, Masumi?
He doesn't like practice rooms.
He's claustrophobic.
And yet he's a wizard on the tympanis.
Marimba and drums, too.
They call him the "Percussion Queen".
What? That's a "she"? A "queen"?
I've had it! I want to go home!
I want to live under Yamagata's big open skies!
But I can't.
It's the great Chiaki!
What? Chiaki?
Yes, how can I leave Tokyo when it has Chiaki in it?
I can't leave this school.
Just once, though,
I'd like to muster the courage to speak to him.
Yoo_hoo, Chiaki!
Hm?
Sorry to keep you waiting!
Gak!
I wasn't waiting for you!
Are you going to practice now?
Please let me come listen to you play.
Stop following me!
Oh come on, why not?
I know that girl. She's a piano major.
She's just made it to the top of my curse list!
"She now tops my curse list"
I guess this'll do.
Wow! Did you write that yourself?
It's so romantic!
"Romantic"? Really?
We'll call it "The Nodame Rhapsody".
No, we won't!
I intend to make a full orchestra score out of this.
Really? For an orchestra?
So you're going to write the wind parts and everything?
- Well, yeah. - Wow!
The piece is finished,
but I have no orchestra to play it.
An orchestra, huh?
Something wrong?
You look a bit down about something.
Oh, I know! Dinner tonight, right? How about some warm stew?
Gyaah!
I guess it wasn't dinner he was worried about.
Ho hum. _
But...
But he asked me to buy groceries!
Like a happy married couple!
Wha? _
A letter! From Yoko, I wonder?
"If you don't pass this letter on to 100 people within 2 days,"
"you will die."
"202 Chiaki"
Help me write these letters!
What're you stupid?
It's just a prank!
- A prank? By whom? - How should I know?
More important than that,
where are the groceries I asked you to get for dinner?
Here. I bought them as you requested.
But the shopping list got soaked with water, making the ink run.
So I couldn't really make out what it said.
But these were all that I could read.
I asked for stew ingredients!
What!?
Seaweed, Chinese cabbage, Garland Chrysanthemum!
Locust, Chinese pickles, spring rolls.
Why locusts?
Well, how about locust stew?
Ew, stop!
Gyaah!
Aaahh!
Gyah!
Waah! Maki, I'm so sorry!
The person who ate your meat dumpling was me!
So it was you, huh?
Well, we figured as much.
Fine, but I didn't shoot that arrow.
What?
A very classical style of harassment, I'd say.
And " he's " obviously real close by."
I've no idea who it is but...
it serves your right, Nodame.
I hope it'll teach you not to steal people's dumplings.
I can't promise anything.
A lesson unlearned.
Chiaki made me a love filled box lunch with leftovers
from last night's dinner.
- You're kidding. - He made it just for me.
Gyaah!
We've got get rid of these locusts.
Does she mean "the" Chiaki?
- Fantasy world. She lives there. - Time to eat!
"Locust only"
"Thanks for the lunch. It was delicious."
Unforgivable!
I'll kill him!
I'll hang him by his toes!
When it comes to food...
people can really change.
Caught you red handed.
Gyaah!
You tricked me!
Let me get a look at you. Let's take off that wig!
Oww! It's my real hair!
- Stop! - What?
You're Masumi! The timpani player!
Friend of yours, Mine?
No! I mean, we're in the same grade.
We've been in classes together.
Let go of me, "Flunk out Taro"!
It's Ryutarou!
Why are you harassing me!?
Stop shouting!
My head hurts now, you know!
Anyway, stay away from Chiaki, you hear?
so that's what this is about.
What is this about?
Why Chiaki?
Chiaki is my prince.
My Apollo, capable of instilling me with hope and courage
with just a glance from a distance.
In short... my Sun!
But then suddenly...
some grubby little girl has entered the picture!
Gyaaah!
Can you make copies of these for me, please!?
It's not fair that you live next door to him!
And make him cook for you every day!
You've really checked her out, haven't you?
I won't stand for this, Shorty!
If anything I'd much rather see him with Saiko Tagaya than you!
"Shorty", huh?
But Chiaki is a man, you know.
Yeah? So?
That's Masumi's persuasion.
Okay then, Megumi Noda.
- I challenge you, then! - To what?
I'll show you who's the better woman, that's what!
A battle between two delusional, huh? Interesting.
So what kind of duel will it be?
- Me on the tympanis. - Then I'll be on the piano.
What kind of a duel is that?
- What else is there? - I know! I've an idea.
Whoever secures a date with Chiaki
for December 24th in 2 weeks is the winner.
The 24th?
A date?
A date on Christmas Eve!
Ta dah! _
A ticket to see the "King of conductors", Inzagi,
on Christmas Eve!
Holy cow! This is a super premium ticket!
I'm so thrilled, I could burst!
I wonder if Chiaki likes Inzagi.
Don't worry, he does.
This is just the kind of stuff that gets him excited.
This isn't turning out to be much of a battle.
It looks like you've won with this!
But I have to befriend him, first.
I have to go up and talk to him.
But what if he doesn't want to go with me?
What if he rejects me!
I'll just die! I will!
Don't worry, all right?
I know a secret tactic
that is sure to make you and Chiaki friends.
You do?
The 24th?
That's right.
Can we go out for dinner somewhere on the 24th?
Why should I go to the trouble. of going out with you somewhere?
To have dinner.
We have dinner every night.
I know but it'd be fun to eat out once in a while.
This cello part will join with the violas...
And then enter a clarinet. Pizzicato.
- Chiaki? - Hm?
On the 24th, I'm going to clean my apartment
and bake a Christmas cake.
- So please come over, okay? - Yes!
Trumpets at full blast!
He accepted!
Look here!
Isn't this Hayakawa in this photo?
Hey, you're right! Wow!
You mean Hayakawa the conductor major
who went to Germany to study?
Looks like he's been selected to attend a special public seminar
under the great Gelharm.
That's incredible!
Under Gelharm.
A student of ours?
- Can I have a look at that? - Huh?
Yes, of course!
- It's Chiaki. - He's so dreamy!
Who else is in this seminar?
Maestro Vieira!
How can it be like this...
So what if I've written a piece.
It's not going to get me anywhere.
No matter how hard I study...
I'm still going to lose out to a guy like that.
And just because? I can't get on a plane.
Hi, Chiaki!
What flavor Christmas cake would you like?
Christmas? what are you talking about?
when you and me will share a delicious cake together.
You promised, right?
No, I didn't.
What?
The 24th? At my place?
I didn't make any such promise!
Look, I'm real busy!
Stop pestering me with silly things all the time!
No...
Christmas, bah!
Being with an idiot will only send me deeper into depression.
Chiaki!
Here comes another idiot.
- Yo, Chiaki! You free right now? - Absolutely not!
What? But classes are over, right?
The A Orchestra is having a rehearsal.
Come check it out with me.
A friend of mine's playing the tympanis.
A friend of Mine's?
- I can't! - Why not?
My friend's amazingly good.
Worth having a listen, I promise. Come on!
What's with that get up?
This is just a rehearsal, Masumi? Why the tuxedo?
Because... now shut up!
I'm staking my life on today's rehearsal!
So you'd better not make any mistakes, got it!?
- What? But why? - It's only a rehearsal.
No, it's more than that.
Listen up. Today, we'll start with the 1st movement.
It's Chiaki! He came!
Oh Chiaki, watch and listen.
I am Masami Okuyama, 21.
I shall now entrust this timpani
with all my feelings for you.
Dearest Chiaki... I ask you to please...
be my friend!
Stop! Stop!
Timpani! Get out!
Huh?
That's your friend, huh?
Friend? No.
Well, he's a complete and utter idiot.
Complete and utter idiot.
Too bad, though.
It would've been fantastic if I'd closed my eyes.
God, I love orchestras.
Even here, I just watch.
My condolences... to both of you.
"Both losers in the bid to date Chiaki on Christmas Eve."
Why did he suddenly change his mind? After he promised!
Why did I have to be kicked out of practice?
I was only expressing my love!
Could it have been the pizza flavored cake idea?
It's all that conductor's fault, right?
It was all wrong.
Stay away! Leave me alone!
What am I supposed to do now?
You've still got it better than me!
I'm... I'm just...
A complete and utter idiot.
Not only didn't I become his friend,
but I'm the object of total disdain!
Unbelievable. All you had to do was play like you normally do.
I've never seen a dancing timpani player before.
You dance a lot too, Mine.
What do I do now?
I've even been cut from the orchestra.
I can't bear the thought of playing the tympanis all by myself.
It's all over!
I've no choice but to go home to Yamagata.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
You two have it easy. You're both flunkies.
And you both play instruments that can be played alone.
Easy, Masumi...
Hey...
How about if the three of us do a little ensemble?
What?
Huh?
Okay?
Say Shinichi...
What are your plans for Christmas this year?
Not Christmas, again.
I have none.
My family's holding another big party this year.
Wanna come?
Or would you prefer we spend it alone together?
Maybe I'll come over to your place and bake you a cake.
On the 24th, I'll clean my apartment and make a cake.
Oops.
So please come over!
Yes!
Now, I remember.
Shinichi? You listening to me?
Saiko, forgive me but...
I wouldn't say I'm duty bound... but a promise is a promise.
I'll refuse properly and politely.
"201 Nodame"
I guess she's not home.
Well, never mind.
She'll be coming over at some point, anyway.
Know what?
Have you seen Nodame in the past few days?
Come to think of it, no... I haven't.
But she's been attending her classes, I think.
I wonder what she's been doing?
- Look, it's Chiaki! - Catch me, I'm going to faint.
before I could hardly shake her.
Now, she's gone. Well, it looks like even Nodame has passed me by and moved on.
That music!
No, no! What kind of rhythm is that?
I'm playing a regular 120!
Why're you changing the tempo in the middle?
It's weird!
What? Are we really that much off the rhythm?
Yeah, Masumi. You're too precise with your rhythm.
This is jazz.
Let's try and relax with it a little more.
Pauses are important here.
Pauses are fine, but running out of control is not.
No, Dummy!
"No, Dummy!"
It's "Nodame", okay!
Easy, guys. Let's take it again from the top.
That's the piece I wrote.
That Nodame. She's only heard it once, and yet...
They've arranged it into a jazz tune.
Leave it to Chiaki to compose such a fine piece.
Yeah, but we're forcing it a little without a bass player.
If only I had one more hand,
I could play the bass part on the piano.
If it's one hand you need, I'd be happy to contribute.
What kind of reaction is that?
Am I intruding?
It's Chiaki!
Oh my God! Masumi's just passed out!
You mustn't sit around envying the worlds of others.
You have to go out and change your own world.
And so December 24th arrived...
Christmas Eve.
Nodame, ease up just a little bit there.
Bring up the violin.
And Mine, you're coming in too strong on the phrasing
before your solo.
And Frizzle top, start in with the fill
about two beats before the 36th bar.
Okay, once more from the top.
What kind of reaction is that?
You have a problem?
Give it a rest!
Stop calling me "Frizzle top"!
You said we were going to have a Christmas Party!
With cake! And pork cutlets!
In that case, hurry and play the piece right!
And so due to Chiaki's need for perfection,
our first 4 person ensemble did not end
before the year was out.
Love is painful.
I realised it when I was with you that night.
Because I know you...
more than everyone in the world.
Your casual attitude and tenderness...
make my chest feels constricted.
I am here. I am here. I am here right next to you.
Tell me why. Tell me why. Why are we merely "normal friends"?
I love you. I love you. No matter how much I love you,
you still don't get it.
You don't understand. I'm so in love with you.
My heart breaks day after day.
I can't sleep night after night.
The day when I first met you...
I wish if time can go back to that day.
I'm so in love with you.