This C-drama is a remake of the popular Japanese drama Nodame Cantabile のだめカンタービレand the Korean version Naeil's Cantabile 내일도 칸타빌레.
At first, I was hesitant to watch it because the trailer seemed as if the original story had changed so much it was no longer about Nodame (Fang Xiao Wo) growing through music and Chiaki (Li Zhen Yan) learning to care for someone other than himself, but about two regular students at a music conservatory working to pursue their musical dreams while coping with the struggles faced by 21st century youth. Sort of like a coming-of-age drama.
While my initial impression of it was not wrong, it was not as bad I had thought it would be. Fang Xiao Wo is definitely smarter than Nodame but still carries a very simplistic life aspiration and has undying love for Li Zhen Yan.
Li Zhen Yan is as proud as Chiaki but not as cold. He warms up to Fang Xiao Wo and definitely smiles more than Chiaki. They even have some cute moments together that are definitely more in number as compared to Nodame Cantabile!
The supporting cast also have their equivalent roles from the original drama and there are some characters that were not originally there. Even Fang Xiao Wo's love rival in this C-drama is not as "rival"-y as one would have expected. She turns out to be quite nice and has her own mini storyline.
This is also the same for the other supporting characters and they are not just left there as backdrops to the main storyline. I think the reason for this would be that the drama is not just about two musical geniuses but about the lives of youth who study at a music conservatory.
As for the soundtrack, the pieces that the students perform are not the same as the ones in Nodame Cantabile. Even the piano duet between Fang Xiao Wo and Li Zhen Yan is a completely different piece! While I was a little disappointed that the same pieces were not used, it definitely did give me an impression of a wider variety of classical music as compared to a repeat of the original songs (typically popular, common pieces).
Overall, I would highly recommend this drama but definitely keep in mind that while it may seem like a remake of Nodame Cantabile, it is probably a loose adaptation of the original while keeping the same key events.
No comments:
Post a Comment