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.

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

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.

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

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.

Chiaki rehearses for his debut concert in Paris, and finds that Nodame is troubled as she is not doing fine at the conservatoire. While he tries to cheer her up, their relationship ends up moving a little forward.

The Marlet Orchestra is short on staff, and Chiaki asks Nodame to take a part on it. However, Nodame's dreams of having her first performance along Chiaki are crushed when Rui is forced to assume her place due to a misunderstanding.

Thanks to Chiaki's encouragement, Rui decides to keep playing and a special concert featuring both is arranged. Stresseman is seriously depressed over the death of a friend of his and Chiaki, on the way to attend one of Nodame's recitals, have a surprising reunion with Sebastiano Vieira and he decides to accompany him instead. Pieces featured: Italian Concerto, BWV 971 by Bach, Op. 19 No. 1 "Sweet Remembrance" from Songs without Words by Felix Mendelssohn, Polonaise Fantasie by Frédéric Chopin, Légende No. 1: St François d'Assise by Franz Liszt

A foreigner visits Chiaki's school and becomes friends with Nodame. Chiaki refuses to let him into his house because of his perverted behavior. It turns out the foreigner is Maestro Franz von Stresemann and is attending the school as head of the conducting department. Chiaki, interested in changing his major to conducting, gets rejected by the new professor who is apparently at odds with Chiaki's former "teacher", Vieira. The piece performed in the episode is Fantaisie Impromptu, Op. 66 by Frédéric Chopin (brief).

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.

Chiaki takes part in his first competition as a conductor. But he ends up having to face strong contestants like Jean Donnadieu, one of Sebastiano Vieira's apprentices.

Disappointed with his first performance, Chiaki starts scouting for new musicians and invites Kuroki for an audition. Meanwhile, Rui is forced by her mother, Mrs. Son, to leave Paris with her, after she heard from Madame Bellou (possibly Rui's landlady) that she's been slacking off and spending time at Chaiki's. While Nodame rehearses for the exams at the conservatoire along with Kuroki and Paul duBois.

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.