Tanya and Yu Long have poor performances at the competitions they took part, and thus they will be forced to return to their respective countries after graduation. While trying to cheer Tanya up, Kuroki ends up making a surprising proposal to her. Meanwhile, Nodame hears a piece of music that draws her attention. She hopes to play it along Chiaki someday, unaware that it's the same piece that will be featured at Chiaki and Rui's concert.

Chiaki's popularity ahead of the Martlet Orchestra keeps increasing while Nodame gets depressed as she feels the distance between them growing and she decides to enter in a competition by herself, even without her teacher Auclair's approval. Pieces featured: Bach's Concert No. 1 in D minor, Romeo and Juliet's Overture-Fantasy by Tchaikovsky, Études Op. 10 No. 8 and Op.10 No. 12 by Chopin

Chiaki and Nodame arrive at Paris to hone their musical skills. While he who had lived in France before easily adapts himself to their new environment, she must face some difficulties herself, including having to learn the country's language.

Nodame travels to Saint-Malo with Chiaki, Tanya and Kuroki for her very first recital. However, her companions are worried about her insecurity, as she usually has trouble in playing pieces by Mozart.

Tanya starts to feel jealousy when Kuroki is asked to take care of a young japanese girl who is trying to enter the conservatoire. While trying to get closer to him, she starts to wonder about her own future as she is near her graduation.

Nodame finds that Chiaki has hidden from her the connection between the piece and his concert with Rui and she can't hide from him her dissatisfaction for not telling her sooner. After looking at how much difficult pieces Nodame is studying with her teacher, Chiaki cancels an important trip to Italy just to lend a hand to her.

Chiaki helps Rui for their concerto. When Nodame found out, she feels betrayed, and uses that feeling to help her master a piece. Pieces featured: Paris Symphony by Mozart, Third Movement of Piano Sonata No. 31 by Beethoven

After Chiaki and Rui's concerto, Nodame and Chiaki spend the night together and she proposes to him in the following morning, just to be rejected by him. However, Chiaki starts to wonder about how serious she was at that time, and Stresseman pays a visit to her. Pieces featured: Piano Concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel and Third Movement of Piano Sonata No. 31 by Beethoven

Chiaki is asked to leave the S orchestra to play the piano solo of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff as requested by Stresseman for the A orchestra. It is revealed that Stresseman was asked by his ex-lover, a member of the academy's board of directors to instruct Chiaki in conducting. The piece performed by Nodame towards the end of the episode is Etude N° 4 in C Sharp Minor by Frédéric Chopin. The short piece that was played by Stresseman's ex is an excerpt from Nocturne Op 55 No. 1 in F minor, also by Frédéric Chopin.

It's graduation time at the Momogaoka College of Music and its graduating students (including Chiaki and Masumi) put on a performance of various classical pieces for their graduation recital. Kiyora, the former concert mistress of the Nina Lutz Seminar Youth Orchestra, proposes to Chiaki her idea of assembling an orchestra. She invites Chiaki in as their conductor. Needless to say, she also requests that Chiaki and his "superstar" status to invite some of the elite musicians (cellist, violinist, and oboist) into the orchestra. The S Orchestra has their final get together as they disband and move on. The pieces performed in the episode are Concerto for Flute and Percussion by André Jolivet and Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke) by Franz Liszt.

Nodame and Chiaki meet Stresseman in Paris. Chiaki starts to travel the world attending concerts with Stresseman after being forced to sign a contract with his manager, while Nodame has her first class with an acquaintance of hers at the conservatoire.

Kuroki was having trouble to adapt himself to life at Paris until he meets Nodame at the conservatoire. Meanwhile, Chiaki is feeling insecure as Nodame does not answer his phone calls and wonders if both will really be able to spend Christmas together.

Chiaki is appointed as the official conductor of a famous orchestra which is facing serious dificulties, and Son Rui, a famous pianist who is an old friend of his, gives a break on her performances to study at the conservatoire. However, Rui's closeness to Chiaki is more than enough to ignite Nodame's jealousy.

Chiaki decides to move to another apartment much to Nodame's despair and Rui tries her best to convince Auclair to have lessons with her, but he seems to be more much more interested in teaching Nodame instead. After hearing Nodame's smooth playing, she also starts to doubt herself. Pieces featured: Sonata K157 in C Major by Scarlatti, Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 in Eb Major by Chopin

An admirer of Chiaki, timpanist Masumi Okuyama becomes jealous of Nodame's relationship with him, and torments her with pranks. To sort out their rivalry, they compete to see who can snag a date with Chiaki on Christmas Eve. The piece performed in the episode is a jazz arrangement of Chiaki's composition arranged by Nodame, Mine, and Masumi.

The S orchestra is to perform before the A orchestra at the upcoming concert. However, Stresemann takes "business" leave and Chiaki is forced to take his place conducting the S orchestra. In a twist of events, Stresemann quits the S orchestra and in revenge against Chiaki, plans to lead the A orchestra in humiliating the S orchestra at the concert. With the concert just a week away, Chiaki becomes the S orchestra's new conductor. The piece performed in the episode is Symphony No. 3 Op. 55 "Eroica" by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Chiaki and Nodame perform Rachmaninoff on two pianos and cause quite a stir attracting an audience including Saiko and Etou-sensei. Later Chiaki meets with the writers from Classic Life magazine and they try to investigate why Chiaki is still in Japan when he could be going abroad. Nodame goes around bringing candy to various 4th year students in the S Orchestra as they reflect on their experience playing under Chiaki and on their future as graduation looms around the corner. The piece performed in the episode is Piano Concerto No. 2 (for 2 pianos 4 hands) by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Under rather bizarre circumstances, Nodame makes a visit to the home in which Chiaki grew up, meets his family, and even makes dinner for them (onigiri and nabe). Since the passing of Chiaki's grandfather, tensions seem to have risen within the family, nearly to a breaking point. The pair end up staying over night, and when a nightmare wakes Chiaki, he retreats to his grandfather's audio room. Upon waking to the sound of the opera, Nodame finds Chiaki in the study, listening to records. Eager to play, she convinces him to accompany her on the violin while she plays the piano. There are no pieces performed in this episode; however, Chiaki listens to Matthäuspassion by Johann Sebastian Bach in his Grandfather's audio room.

The R-S Orchestra starts rehearsing for their first concert, while Nodame and her new teacher finally come to an agreement. The piece played is Mozart's Oboe Concerto in C major K 314.

Ryutaro Mine is a violinist who needed a piano player for his violin jury. But when he chooses Nodame as his partner, little did he know his troubles were just beginning. The piece performed in the episode is Sonata No. 5 "Spring" for Violin and Piano, Op. 24 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

With Stresemann knocked out cold, Nodame "convinces" Chiaki to be substitute conductor for the special orchestra. Chiaki agrees and finds out that the group he's conducting is out of synch. As the rehearsal falls apart, Stresemann takes over and demonstrates everything that Chiaki failed to do. Stresemann finally accepts Chiaki as his student but tells him to remain a piano major. The piece performed in the episode is Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Chiaki is still having trouble getting the orchestra into shape, and everyone's confidence shatters under his harsh criticisms. With help from Nodame, Chiaki finally realizes Stresemann's reasoning behind the S Orchestra just in time for the concert subscription series, and the S Orchestra manages to impress their audience with an unorthodox display. The piece performed in the episode is Symphony No. 3 Op. 55 "Eroica" by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Stresseman sends Chiaki, Nodame, Mine, and Masumi to a musical festival where each takes lessons from famous musicians in order to better their playing. An unprepared Mine is quickly overwhelmed by the many talented musicians there. Meanwhile, Chiaki is ordered to look out for Stresemann and thanks to Stresemann's hangover, is also made to conduct an orchestra (the piece performed is the Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76, B. 54, by Antonín Dvořák). Nodame is yelled at by the festival director, Nina Lutz, for not having motivation. At the end, however, after much practice, Nodame plays Bartok's Allegro Barbaro magnificently, but disappears from the practice room just as Lutz comes to see who was just playing.

The school festival is here and the S Orchestra is to perform without the aid of Chiaki, who is busy practicing with the A Orchestra with their performance. Chiaki discovers what was missing from his playing courtesy of the S Orchestra, but Stresemann tells him to disregard it for their upcoming performance after insisting on it throughout all his practices. The pieces performed in this episode are Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (brief) and Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (pianica version).

Chiaki's relatives are awaken by Chiaki and Nodame's playing. Both uncle and cousin agree that Chiaki should continue his music studies. Just before leaving Chiaki and his relatives all agree that Nodame should become a concert pianist and not a kindergarten teacher (seeing as she will be bullied). Nodame is perturbed and decides to go home by herself (as opposed to riding a taxi with Chiaki). Later, back in school, Chiaki meets up with Kiyora (violin), Kuroki (oboe), and Kikuchi (cello) to discuss the new orchestra they were about to "build". Meanwhile, Nodame has been officially transferred to Etou-sensei (famous for his white fan for hitting people with). Later that night, Chiaki goes to a drinking party of the new orchestra deciding the piece of their first performance. Mine's father called and said that Nodame dropped by to look for Chiaki but did not eat anything. The piece performed in this episode is Violin Sonata (Sonata for Violin and Piano) op.82 by Edward Elgar.