The end of Nodame Cantabile is fast approaching with the release of the movie Nodame Cantabile Saishu Gakusho ~ Kouhen, out next Saturday nationwide in Japan. The two lead actors, Tamaki Hiroshi and Ueno Juri, were joined by fellow cast members including Eita and Koide Keisuke in Tokyo for the premiere of the movie. Over 1,000 fans came to show their support, making it extremely lively at the scene.
Adapted from a manga series, the live action drama was an immense hit when it aired in 2006. Similarly, the character of Nodame has left deep impressions on the viewers. As the film and manga will be wrapping up at the same time, it's no wonder that actress Ueno Juri is finding it hard to let go. "I cried when filming was over. It's hard to believe that Nodame has been with me for the past four years!" As for Chiaki, Tamaki Hiroshi says he fondly remembers all the conducting scenes. It was a lot of work, but he relished in the experience.
Here’s the full trailer for the two upcoming “Nodame Cantabile” movies which up where the popular Fuji TV drama series left off. In addition to Japan, filming took place in France, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, and Austria.
Based on Tomoko Ninomiya’s long-running manga series, the story centers around two complete opposites: piano prodigy Megumi Noda (Juri Ueno), aka “Nodame”, and conductor Shinichi Chiaki (Hiroshi Tamaki), aka Chiaki-senpai, as the unlikely pair inspire each other to fulfill their respective dreams in the music world.
Part 1 will be released in Japan on December 19, 2009 with part 2 coming sometime in 2010.
According to figures released by Japanese ad research companies, the most popular figure appearing on the five largest television stations for the first half of 2009 goes to Tamaki Hiroshi.The star of the movie 'MV', Tamaki endorses many products, including tea drinks for Nagatanien. Within the first half of the year, his CMs aired 7140 times, totaling 38.5 hours. It was 5.5 hours more than his second place rival, SoftBank spokesperson Ueto Aya, star of the drama 'Konkatsu'. Tamaki is no doubt the King of CMs.
As for popular idol group SMAP, Kimura Takuya placed sixth on the list, coming off of his successful series 'Mr. Brain'. However SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, who was arrested on suspicion of public indecency back in April, did not even place on the charts after coming in sixth place last year. He'll have to work harder for the remainder of 2009 if he wants to make top 20 again!
Nodame Cantabile manga's end to coincide with final live-action film next spring
Manga artist Tomoko Ninomiya confirmed on her personal blog on June 21 that she will resume her Nodame Cantabile romantic comedy manga in Kodansha's biweekly Kiss magazine on July 25, after putting the manga on hold last month due to acute appendicitis. She added on July 7 that she plans to draw new manga installments in the next three issues. She had previously written that she will end the manga soon, and the Asahi Shimbun paper reports that the end of the manga will coincide with the opening of the final live-action film next spring. The cast is filming on location in Vienna, Austria this month.
Not coincidentally, the third television anime series, Nodame Cantabile: Finale, will premiere next January. If it lasts three months like the second anime series did, Nodame Cantabile: Finale will end at about the same time that the live-action film finale opens in Japan. Del Rey publishes the manga in North America.
Another popular manga creator, Ritz Kobayashi, has resumed the Saki mahjong high school club manga in this year's 15th issue of Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine on Friday. Saki has been on hiatus since the 11th issue due to Kobayashi's sudden illness. The 15th issue marked the occasion by bundling an alternate cover for the manga's sixth compiled book volume.
With demand for men's cosmetics and salons increasing, people are becoming more conscious of male beauty. As a result, Oricon surveyed 500 males ranging from their teens to their forties, creating a "men with beautiful skin" ranking.
Teppei Koike was ranked first with his white, smooth skin and envious looks. Actor and musician Masaharu Fukuyama followed Koike at second while Gackt took third place in the rankings.
Last season's drama series "Love Shuffle" (TBS) revolved around a group of men and women mixing and matching their relationships in an attempt to find their right mates. The experiment apparently worked out for two of the show's stars: Hiroshi Tamaki (29) and Yuriko Yoshitaka (20), who are said to now be seriously dating.
In "Love Shuffle," Tamaki played a manager at an IT company who was on the fast track due to his engagement to the president's daughter. Yoshitaka, on the other hand, played an art student undergoing psychiatric counseling. Although their characters did not end up together, the two actors hit it off and continued their dates off-screen.
Sources said that the two got along well during the show's filming, and they really started seeing each other after the series ended in March.
Tamaki's acting career has been very busy lately, particularly with starring roles in movies such as "Manatsu no Orion," "MW," and the upcoming "Nodame Cantabile" movies. Meanwhile, Yoshitaka has been establishing herself as a rising star. She received multiple Best New Actress awards for her role in last year's "Snakes and Earrings," in which she appeared nude.
The end of Nodame Cantabile is fast approaching with the release of the movie Nodame Cantabile Saishu Gakusho ~ Kouhen, out next Saturday nationwide in Japan. The two lead actors, Tamaki Hiroshi and Ueno Juri, were joined by fellow cast members including Eita and Koide Keisuke in Tokyo for the premiere of the movie. Over 1,000 fans came to show their support, making it extremely lively at the scene.
