Nodame and Chiaki are finally in the same city, same conservatory, same gravitational pull, and the show knows exactly what to do with that tension. The OVA strips away the competition subplot noise and just lets you watch them exist near each other, bickering, playing, misunderstanding, closing distance, while the score does half the emotional work. This is the episode for people who watched the series waiting for them to actually be together, not someday, but now.

Spring arrives for Nodame and Chiaki. Nodame is nearing graduation from the Conservatoire, while Chiaki, a highly acclaimed conductor, keeps busy with his work. Nodame has told Chiaki she loves him many times, though where the two actually stand remains unclear. After a petty argument over soy sauce, she accepts a date with Lucas Beaudry, a young French piano prodigy, and Chiaki feels real jealousy for the first time in his life. This single anime-original OVA episode, written by Ninomiya Tomoko, sits between Nodame Cantabile Finale and the Opera-hen and mixes comedy, music and romance.