Cantabile Youth (2020)

A new kind of Cantabile!

If you are expecting that it factor from the original Nodame Cantabile (japanese drama) or the craziness that was Tomorrow’s Cantabile (korean version), this isn’t it. This drama is not a remake but an adaptation. There are elements from the original story that are waaaay tone down and this makes Symphony’s Romance break away, distinguish itself, and become a drama on its own but still be that familiar tale you know so well. As a result I could enjoy the drama without constantly comparing it to the other versions.

The relationship between Xiao Wo and Zhen Yan develops naturally, from a mutual admiration of the talent each holds to a professional and personal partnership among equals. This makes the romance feel more grounded and mature. A welcome change since it makes leading man more affectionate and open to the leading lady’s proactive and flirty ways and, in return, he becomes the person she can rely on when her genius overwhelms her. They support each other’s dreams and ambitions, based on the knowledge not only of themselves as individuals but as a couple. They keep choosing each other through hardships and insecurities. Xiao Wo and Zhen Yan work out things together like the dream team they choose to be.

The same can be said about the secondary characters. For once we see what happens when some of them make it in the world of classical music and others don’t. What happens among friends, lovers and rivals, whom so far have been following the same path, when they go out into the stage of the world. Do they follow their vocation? Was music just daydreaming? Do they decide to follow society’s expectations of what kind of job they should have?

I appreciate this more realistic take on the story. It’s not a youth drama, it’s a drama about young adults trying to find their place in the world and that’s definitely Symphony’s Romance strongest point.

The only weak point, for me, it’s the musical performances. In a drama about musicians and the need to stand on the stage as the best version of yourself, the performances were lacking for my taste. I am not sure if it was the music selection or the editing but, at times, it felt like there was no emotion behind the music that was playing. It should have been since it was supposed to be the culmination of trials the characters had gone through. In very few performances I can truly say that it felt like these passionate musicians left everything on the stage. However, this does not take away from the drama or the character development.

Overall, I had a really great time with this drama and enjoyed every episode. I have no complains about this drama, it gave me exactly what I wanted and needed from it. Symphony’s Romance is the perfect drama to relax and enjoy as the story evolves and its characters grow. With a super cute romance on top. I recommend it!

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Dull Symphony

As a remake of one of the greatest musical dramas, i.e. Nodame Cantabile, this show was dismal. Instead of becoming the strongest point, music was the biggest downfall in this symphony. They changed the music into the lousy ones and there's practically no spark during music performances. These were actually very odd because both should become the highlight in this drama instead.

Basically this drama ONLY followed main plot points from the original source. Characters and focus were totally different. Say goodbye to quirky yet amusing traits we saw in Nodame Cantabile. Here, even main leads portrayal were lack of depth :(. The writer excessively toned down their unique personalities. Moreover, it often seemed like they were not main leads because too much time dedicated for developing side character's love stories. Some episodes even heavily focused on them.

Integrating wholly different characters into the original main plotlines evidently was a total disaster. Every turning point became flat while character's actions and decisions made no sense. Comedic parts were mostly removed, but there's no adequate plot to cover that. Neither serious nor comedic, just plain. So boring.

The way they shot scenes was weird. Cameras were shaking, zooming in and out rather randomly and sometimes shooting from odd angles. It's uncomfortable to watch. Transition from one scene to another was kinda rough. Same footages were always shown everytime location was changed.

Generally, the acting was rather tolerable, but during music performances was poor. The lead actress, unfortunately, had the least acting quality. Whether the writer really made a dull character for her or she just couldn't portray the character well, her performance was below standard. Acted as a dull character while looked appealing to viewers definitely was not easy, especially for rookie actors/actress without rich face expression or gesture.

All in all, if you have spare time, it's better to invest in other activities than watch this drama :)

Don't you think people should really consider to not remake any drama, especially the great ones, if they just have a half-baked idea?

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