The Musical Side of Josei - Nodame Cantabile

The iPod Touch/iPhone has some really interesting apps, one of which is called "Manga Rock" (there is also "iMangaX" but I prefer the first). Basically you can read free manga anytime you want! Well...as long as you have WiFi.

Now the selection isn't that great and most of the big names aren't available (no Naruto, Bleach, etc.) but hey, it's free!

From the Top 50 Manga of Japan list, only three or four are available. One of the ones I am reading now is called "Nodame Cantabile", ranked 14. It's a Josei music series.

For those of you unfamiliar with the different genres of manga, josei, literally translated as 'ladies', is mainly for women in their late teens to adult. (As opposed to shojo, which is for mainly for girls 10-18).

The title is taken from the main female protagonist, Megumi Noda (a.k.a. Nodame) and the word Cantabile means "singable or song like" in Italian.

The story follows Nodame, a classical piano college student who can't read music but is able to play almost perfectly by ear. Her relationship with a senior piano player, Chiaki, is the love basis for the story. Chiaki is a piano and violin prodigy whose dream is to be a famous conductor. Due to his fear of flying and the ocean, Chiaki is stuck in Japan and is unable to fulfill his dreams of conducting in Europe. Even though Nodame is constantly attacking (literally!) Chiaki for his affection, he seems to not care about Nodame in that way, though he love for the piano is forcing him to continue to inspire her.

Even though Nodame is supposed to the be the lead, the story seems to revolve more around Chiaki (as of Volume 6). Chiaki is kind of a divo and a prick to everyone, but eventually opens up to his true feelings about music due to the passion and support he gets from Nodame, his teachers and other students. This story also focuses a lot more on comedy than love, making it a decent read for guys. There is a lot pf physical humor too and lots of other information about music and musicians so fans of classical music will also get some interest due to the background knowledge.