music to my ears

So I was just wondering what exactly draws people to nodame? And out of those people, how many of them play instruments/sing or know anything about music.

For me, I'd have to say it was the idea of a manga about an orchestra that first intrigued me. There are plenty about rock bands, but classical music is hard to do. There's not much knowledge about it floating around (it has a certain niche, at least where I live) As a musician who's been in school orchestras for around 8 years (violin and clarinet), i never tire of hearing the music babble. Actually, I've learned a lot of music history from just reading Nodame. (I got the biggest kick out of exhasperating my friend who, upon preparing for her piano teaching exams, declared she knew more music history than anyone at our lunch table. Yet, thanks to this manga i was able to whip out completely random information on Beethoven and Stravinski) So i'd have to say I love Nodame because it's a combination of what I love, music, art, and a good story.

So, was it your love of music, the art, the sheer comedic genius, the crazy foreignors, the french, the mongoose or the (sloooooowly progressing) love story? If not originally the music, has anyone gained a love for it since reading? Learned anything?

Well, I'd have to say what keeps me coming back is Nodame and Chiaki. Not just the eternal romantic struggle (!), but their struggles with that most Japanese of desires: "Do your best!"

Chiaki has always worked tirelessly to develop his talent, but with conducting, he begins to realize that it is not enough to focus on himself. He needs to learn how to bring out the best in others. This new impulse (which he recognizes from his grandfather as well) is what leads him to "put up with" Nodame, though he's not attracted to her in the usual way.

Nodame, meanwhile, is torn between wanting to do her best by playing in her own special, unique way for herself and a few close friends; or allowing herself to be instructed, with the risks of losing her uniqueness and her love of music, but with the payoff of getting to perform for many and share her music much more broadly.

The fact that this inner struggle for each has become personified in each other adds tension to their relationship far beyond the typical "will they or won't they" Ross/Rachel BS.

The process of growing as a person is slow, incremental, difficult. NC paints a good picture of it. But being young is also a lot of fun. School was fun, and now Paris! The humor, the class differences, and of course, the music (though it doesn't come across in the manga the way it does in the anime!). All these things are great, but I come for the characters, and their slow unfolding.