Top 20 bestselling manga in 2009 (Oricon)

1) ONE PIECE Vol 53 (2,057,528)

2) ONE PIECE Vol 54 (1,963,696)

3) ONE PIECE Vol 52 (1,952,551)

4) ONE PIECE Vol 55 (1,810,410)

5) NANA Vol 21 (1,505,575)

6) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 23 (1,277,733)

7) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 21 (1,271,340)

8) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 22 (1,238,354)

9) NARUTO Vol 45 (1,222,356)

10) NARUTO Vol 47 (1,186,478)

11) Nodame Cantabile Vol 22 (1,184,722)

12) NARUTO Vol 46 (1,119,917)

13) NARUTO Vol 48 (996,398)

14) BLEACH Vol 36 (955,085)

15) BLEACH Vol 37 (944,066)

16) BLEACH Vol 38 (888,622)

17) Sei Oniisan Vol 3 (879,612)

18) BLEACH Vol 40 (850,059)

19) BLEACH Vol 39 (841,028)

20) Kimi ni Todoke Vol 8 (790,656)

First day screening of "Nodame Cantabile Saishusho Part I"

The first day screening of "Nodame Cantabile Saishusho Part I" was held on 19 December 2009 at Yurakucho's TOHO Cinemas Nigeki 1 where cast members including Ueno Juri, Tamaki Hiroshi, Wentz Eiji, Yamada Yu, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Fukushi Seiji and Takenaka Naoto made appearances. The screening was attended by 950 fans. Toho had also confirmed that Part I will be screened in Hong Kong and Macau on 4 March 2010, 5 March 2010 in Taiwan and 11 March 2010 in Singapore. As for South Korea, the screening date has not been confirmed.

Part II of the movie is slated to be shown from 17 April 2010 in Japan.

Source: Sanspo

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 21 Dec 09

1) ONE PIECE Vol 56 (398,550)

2) BLEACH VOl 42 (162,299)

3) D.Gray-man Vol 19 (156,739)

4) Katei Kyoushi Hitman REBORN! Vol 27 (149,210)

5) Nodame Cantabile Vol 23 (115,047)

6) Hanma Baki Vol 21 (77,385)

7) Souten no Ken Vol 21 (76,934)

8) Vampire Knight Vol 11 (72,522)

9) Chiwayaburu Vol 7 (70,790)

10) Toriko Vol 7 (64,500)

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 14 Sep 09

1) ONE PIECE Vol 55 (1,121,685)

2) Vagabond Vol 31 (288,225)

3) Gintama Vol 30 (203,750)

4) Ouran Koukou Host Club Vol 15 (170,016)

5) Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Vol 8 (85,971)

6) Garasu no Kamen Vol 44 (84,957)

7) Beruze Babu Vol 2 (68,072)

8) Junjou Romantica Vol 12 (62,146)

9) Kyou wa Nekomura-san Vol 4 (53,966)

10) Nodame Cantabile Vol 22 (46,428)

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 7 Sep 09

1) Garasu no Kamen Vol 44 (241,633)

2) Mei-chan no Shitsuji Vol 10 (158,414)

3) Meitantei Conan Vol 65 (102,917)

4) Clover Vol 22 (89,308)

5) Nodame Cantabile Vol 22 (83,326)

6) Bokutachi wa Shitte shimatta Vol 7 (77,051)

7) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai Minna Goroshi Hen Vol 3 (67,459)

8) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 23 (65,700)

9) Suki desu Suzuki-kun! Vol 4 (64,362)

10) Fate / Stay night Vol 10 (59,710)

Top 10 favourite music-themed manga (Oricon)

1) Nodame Cantabile

2) NANA

3) Kei-on!

4) BECK

5) Detroit Metal City

6) Piano no Mori

7) Tenshi no Uta

8) Pride

9) Soranin

10) Itsumo Pocket ni Chopin

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 31 August 09

1) Meitantei Conan Vol 65 (383,086)

2) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 23 (222,823)

3) Nodame Cantabile Vol 22 (195,975)

4) Daiya no A Vol 17 (172,154)

5) Azumanga Daiou 3nen sei (119,534)

6) Sangatsu no Lion Vol 3 (106,419)

7) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Vol 18 (87,381)

8) Aria no Kishi Vol 17 (85,139)

9) LIAR GAME Vol 9 (84,583)

10) capeta Vol 20 (80,702)

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 24 Aug 09

1) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 23 (849,067)

2) Nodame Cantabile Vol 22 (733,157)

3) Sangatsu no Lion Vol 3 (275,213)

4) NARUTO Vol 47 (177,698)

5) BLEACH Vol 40 (126,979)

6) Sukitte Ii na yo Vol 3 (96,205)

7) Shin Tennis no Oujisama Vol 1 (83,145)

8) Amanchu Vol 1 (68,948)

9) Bakuman Vol 4 (66,110)

10) Monster Hunter Orage Vol 4 (58,485)

Nodame Orchestra to hold 6th concert in conjunction with the movie's screening

The Nodame Orchestra will be holding their 6th concert at The International Forum located in Tokyo on 31 October and 1 November. The orchestra was formed in 2006 when the drama adaptation was shown on TV and consists of musicians who were selected through a public audition. The upcoming concerts are held in conjunction with the impending release of the Nodame Cantabile movies as Part 1 is due to be screened from 19 December. Fans will get to hear the music pieces from the movie first through the concert. Tickets go on sale from 5 September.

Nodame Cantabile Part 3 ~ Finale to be shown from Jan 2010

The final installment in the anime series of "Nodame Cantabile" will be shown in the Noitamina slot from Jan 2010. This is in conjunction with the upcoming screenings of the real-life 2-part movie starring Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi to be shown at the end of 2009 and early 2010. The first part of the series was shown in 2007 and Part 2 was shown in 2008. Ep 9 of Part 2 holds the record of the highest rating for a Noitamina anime's single episode at 6.6% which is considered a feat because the Noitamina slot is near 1 am in the morning.

Nodame Cantabile movies' filming underway in Europe

"Nodame Cantabile", the hit manga which has released 21 volumes to date and boasts of a high sales figure of 29 million copies so far, will be made into a 2-part movie to be shown at the end of this year and next year. The author, Ninomiya Tomoko released her comments after the production press conference in Vienna, Austria on 27th and 28th June. She reminded the cast and staff to take good care of their health and wished them luck during the filming.

Ninomiya was on maternity leave for a while when she gave birth to her son. Shortly after she resumed the serialization of Nodame's manga, she was struck with acute appendicitis in June and had to be hospitalized. This led to a delay in the publication of Lesson 132 of the manga. As a result of her experience, she was very concerned that the tight schedule may take a toll on the production crew. She also expressed anticipation and excitement about seeing the classical concert scenes being brought to life in Europe's big and famous concert halls.

The movie, "Nodame Cantabile Saishu Gakusho Part 1" and "Part 2" are scheduled to be screened in cinemas from 19 Dec and next year's spring respectively. Currently, filming is going on in France, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria.

Nodame Cantabile Notebook

Title: Nodame Cantabile Notebook
Price: 525 yen (inclusive of tax)
JAN Code: 4543112236289
Dimensions: 145mm x 250mm x 5mm

Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen Mongoose Mug

Title: Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen Mongoose Mug
Price: 1680 yen (inclusive of tax)
JAN Code: 4560107990667
Material: Ceramic
Available at: FujiTV Shop

Nodame's author, Ninomiya Tomoko suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome

Nodame Cantabile's author, Ninomiya Tomoko revealed on her blog entry dated 20 Jan that she is suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. This disease causes the patient to experience abnormalities in the fingers as well as numbness and pain in the middle of the night. According to Ninomiya, the illness could have been brought about by her pregnancy. She gave birth to her first son on 24 Oct last year and started to experience numbness in her hands one month after delivery. At first, this only happened when she was writing but it gradually escalated into numbness in both hands no matter what she was doing. It also developed into a state where she couldn't even clench her fists in the morning due to the numbness. After the diagnosis by the doctor, she was told that she is suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Luckily, Ninomiya started to feel better after the injections to her wrists and expressed relief at her improved condition since she needed her hands very much as a manga author. As such, she apologized for the delay in returning to work and mentioned that she was trying her best to juggle work and her parenting duties at the same time.

For more information on this condition, please go here.

Top 20 bestselling manga on Mangazenkan

1) 20th Century Boys

2) ROOKIES (manga version)

3) SLAM DUNK

4) ONE PIECE

5) Cross

6) Hana no Keiji

7) ROOKIES (novel version)

8) Nodame Cantabile

9) SLAM DUNK (new complete version)

10) Dragon Ball (new version)

11) Cross Gaiden Set

12) WORST

13) Kinniku-man (novel)

14) NARUTO

15) Hana no Keiji (novel)

16) Kami no Shizuku

17) ONE OUTS

18) BLEACH

19) Gintama

20) Hana Yori Dango

Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen DVD Vol 2

Title: Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen DVD Vol 2
Catalog number: ACBA-10644
Number of discs: 1
Date of release: 28 Jan 09
Price: 4,935 yen (inclusive of tax)
First press premium: 3D jacket, booklet and original sticker

Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen OST

Title: Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen OST
Catalog number: ESCL-3138
Produced by: Sony Music Entertainment
Number of discs: 1
Date of release: 26 Nov 08
Price: 3,059 yen (inclusive of tax)

Sky High by The Gospellers (OP of Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen)

Title: Sky High
Artiste: The Gospellers
Catalog number: KSCL-1312
Produced by: Sony Music Entertainment
Number of discs: 1
Date of release: 12 Nov 2008
Price: 1,020 yen (inclusive of tax)

Tokyo et Paris by Miyamoto Emiri & solita (ED of Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen) - French lyrics

As the lyrics of the song is in French, I will be providing the original lyrics. Please note that there are signs on the words which I'm unable to key in.





Title: Tokyo et Paris
Lyrics: solita
Melody / Arrangement: Ookawa Shigenobu
Performed by: Miyamoto Emiri (Violin) / solita (vocals)

Tokyo et Paris
Paris et Tokyo
Et puis toujours la musique
A Paris nou etudierons
En bonne harmonie

On se connait depuis l' enfance
On allait au cours de piano a cote
En face du grand marche
On jouait au square du quartier
A la marelle et au ballon prisonnier
Puis c etait le gouter

C etait la nos plus belles annees
Qu aucun souci ne pouvait alterer

Tokyo et Paris
Paris et Tokyo
Et puis toujours la musique
Tokyo et Paris
Paris et Tokyo
Et puis toujours la musique
A Paris nous etudierons
En bonne ensemble

(Interlude)

On s' est aime depuis toujours
Plein d' apprehension avant nos auditions
A la tombee du jour
Concerts prives tour les etest
Dans la grande salle aux immenses baies vitrees
Un ete enchante

C' etait la nos plus belles annees
Qu' aucun souci ne pouvait alterer

Tokyo et Paris
Paris et Tokyo
Et puis toujours la musique
Tokyo et Paris
Paris et Tokyo
Et puis toujours la musique, musique, musique
A Paris nous etudierons
En bonne ensemble...

Nodame Cantabile's anime to be back again in autumn 2009!

The sequel to "Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen" will be back in the Noitamina slot in autumn 2009. This makes Nodame Cantabile the first anime to have 3 seasons in the Noitamina slot. The Paris-hen is currently on air so the sequel will be a continuation of where the current arc ends. With the impending launch of the sequel, Nodame will span over 40 episodes (23 episodes in the first season and 11 episodes in the Paris-hen).

The reason to produce the sequel lies in the high popularity of the series. The episode shown on 4 Dec registered a high rating of 6.6% which is the best in 10 years for animes shown in the midnight slot. In addition, sales of the original manga and the related classical music CDs have been very encouraging.

Coupled with the real-life movie versions due in 2010, the Nodame fever is set to continue for a long time.