Piano no Mori

This is the best series I have ever watched. It is not just about classical music, it teaches you many life lessons. They thing is that you need a warm, soft, light soul to go beyond what your eyes see and what your ears listen. Love it!!!

This animation about a feisty boy, Kai Ichinose, who finds an abandoned piano in a forest and learns to play it by himself, is so addictive I watched the whole 2 seasons, of 12 episodes each, in one sitting.

He rescues a classmate Shuhei Amamiya from bullies and, after finding out Shuhei wants to be a pianist, shows his new friend his piano in the forest. By some magic, the piano only responds to his touch. Shuhei is startled by Kai's playing and starts to harbor a complex emotion of envy and admiration for Kai, an emotion that eventually turns into an obsession to prove his superiority in piano playing.

Kai's teacher, Sosuke Ajino, a once-renowned pianist who got incapacitated after an accident, finds out about Kai's piano and volunteers to train the poor but extremely talented boy who, being the son of a prostitute and raised in a red-light district, would have little chance to better himself.

Season 2 is mostly about the International Chopin Piano Competition that Kai and Shuhei participate in. Side stories about the participants and Ajino add to the delightfulness of the series. The competition is fierce, raising my respect for pianists through the roof for having not only enormous talent but also incredible memory and nerves of steel. The commentaries from spectators add to the excitement about the events. But most of all, the music is exquisite, made more so by the pianists' affinity with it.

I not only loved this for the Classical Piano but also how it draws you into the minds of both pianist and audience. Maybe piano competitions and concerts aren't your thing but that's ok because I loved it. I was hoping for a season 3 but no such luck.

Forest of Piano or Piano no Mori is based on a 2007 animation film also called Piano no Mori. I haven't watched the film but, based on the images I saw, I can tell the first season of the anime covers the story in the movie and the second season expands it. In the first part we watch Kai Ichinose difficult childhood, his connection with the piano in the forest and the beginning of his relashionship with Shuhei Amamiya. It's a simple yet captivating coming-of-age story, with a nice character development and a good narrative. Kai is very likeable and I couldn't help but be curious to know what was going to happen in his life, so I went straight to season 2. There are some differences regarding the two parts. The second has much more music and more characters. If you like piano and erudite music, then you are gonna enjoy this part a lot. It's delightful to watch and, essentialy, to hear the pianists through the 12 episodes of the season, the same amount of season 1. I can't say much about the second phase, cause it would be a spoiler so I'll just say it focuses on a very famous pianist from the romantic era and it's lovely to see the amount of love people from the country where he was born still gives him, through events. Like I said before, there are more characters in this season, what adds a lot to the narrative, that becomes more complex, with more conflicts. There is just one negative thing I gotta highlight in this review: the animation. The drawing is beautiful, but it lacks in motion. In the first season the animators used techniques to give motion to the characters while playing the piano, so it's delightful to watch and hear the piano. But, regarding season 2, there is almost no movement at all, therefore, it relies totally in the beautiful soundtrack. Like I said in the trivia, professional pianists were hired to play for the studio. I don't know so much about music yet I could totally notice the difference in the way each character plays the piano. It's a masterful job. That's why it's crucial to like erudite music to watch this anime, because it's what stands out in it. I loved the music, the landscapes and the energy about the city so much that it became a dream of mine to go there someday and pay homage to the brilliant composer the anime honors.

Tbh I wasn't expecting crazy animation but man this was on PowerPoint levels. It's such a good story and amazing music, it just feels so wrong. It's like the whole budget went to animating his hair as if a fan were in front of him. I knew it wasn't going to be like YLIA, but I expected at least a little arm movement while he was playing. It's such a shame.

Other than that I highly recommend it. I sat through both seasons. Binged it even. It's a captivating story. Moved me to tears a couple of times. You know, sometimes there doesn't need to be mappa, ufotable, or even kyoto animation levels. But it does help.