I did a bit of internal screaming when Vampire Knight ended at episode 13. I’m not sure if the anime ended as strongly as it started, but I was still hooked enough to hunt down the manga and marathon it until about 4AM on a workday. I couldn’t believe they broke the anime up into two seasons Dx I guess it’s mainly because the manga hadn’t finished yet. The manga definitely grew on me a lot more than when I first flipped through vol. 1 at Borders; I also really enjoyed the big twist-reveal about Yuuki and am dying to find out about what happens next.
So with Vampire Knight temporarily done I was at a bit of a loss about what to watch/read next. Not to say that I don’t have a full watch/readlist right now, but I wanted to pick up something that can really hold my attention like Vampire Knight did. So I picked up Nodame Cantabile manga from where I dropped off, and it’s STILL AWESOME. Most people who know me knows that I freaking love this series to death, having watched anime, manga, and live action – I just can’t get enough of this series, it’s definitely an absolute favorite. I’ve forgotten some of the finer details of the story since I took a pretty long hiatus from the manga, but the plot is still going strong with quite a few threads creeping in with the appearance of Chiaki’s father. I’ve had so many laugh-out-loud moments reading the manga… usually whenever characters go into blank-eyed angsty/moody mode… or when Chiaki (fondly) imagines Nodame in weirdo forest mode… seriously FTW stuff.
One of the (few or only) shortcomings of the manga is that you can’t hear the pieces that the characters perform. I’ve started youtubing every piece performed when I get to them in the manga so I can get the full experience, and I’ve definitely found that being able to hear the music, even if it’s just the opening minute or two, adds so much to this story. I’ve also really enjoyed sampling the wide range of music presented in this series and discovering new musical favorites.
Right now I’m close to finishing Vol. 18, which incidentally a friend picked up for me in Japan a while back, and am on Lesson 106 – Nodame’s salon concert. I fell in love with the last piece she played before intermission: Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasie Op. 61. Auclair sensei picked the piece out for Nodame because he thought the piece feels like Nodame – “a fantasy-like series of changing melodies, yet the main theme doesn’t immediately appear. Major one moment, Minor the next.” It really does suit Nodame’s character to a tee, but it’s also a beautiful piece in itself. So here is Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasie Op. 61, performed by Sviatoslav Richter.
I’m hoping to make a few Nodame “concert playlists” if anything else really catches my ear 
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