An esteemed and well-known professor of piano at the Conservatory where Nodame studies. During Nodame's piano competition in Japan, he is one of the judges and is captivated by her performance, but soon detects her immaturity in attitude towards music, referring her as "still a baby" (later on "Bebe-chan"). Auclair offers Nodame (through Etoh) an opportunity to study in Paris and selects her to become one of his students, much to Franck's envy. He refers to Nodame as "Bebe-chan" and sees that she has tremendous potential, but limited time to hone her skill and recognizes Nodame's reluctance to become a professional pianist. Trivia: he gets a lot fatter from his debut to current chapter (if not younger as well).