Ranked #285

Piano no Mori

When I first heard of Piano no Mori I thought it was a bit of an odd concept. I expected something fantasy based, and while there are some nudges in that direction they mainly stem from the imagination of the characters. The film itself remains rooted in reality.

The story takes place in a small town in the countryside, and revolves around the friendship and rivalry between Amamiya Shuuhei and Ichinose Kai. Shuuhei is an accomplished child pianist, and has studied hard for years to uphold the family tradition of producing outstanding musical talent. He and his family move to the countryside for a short time to help nurse his sick grandmother, and because of the duration of their stay, he must attend the school there. It is while he is at school that he first hears of the mysterious piano in the forest (which is rumoured to be cursed as no sound will be heard if you play it), and where he first encounters the scruffy and enigmatic Kai, who claims the piano belongs to him and only he can play it.

The artwork for this movie is excellent. The town and forest backdrops are very well realised, and the characters are nicely depicted as unique individuals. The animation is generally very smooth, especially during the piano scenes.

The sound is one area where this movie excels, especially during the scenes involving music. The sound effects throughout the movie are generally very good, from the hum of the car, to the sound of a restless crowd.

I found both Kai and Shuuhei to be very likeable characters, and the interaction between them is quite realistic. The side characters are also very well done, but as this is a movie, the only real development is given to the main characters, with a little devoted to some of the side characters. This should not be considered a limiting factor though, as the movie doesn't really suffer for it.

I enjoyed this movie immensely, not simply because I'm a fan of classical music (and anime), but because it's a very nice story that has been very well animated with some good characters and excellent sound.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of classical music. I'd also recommend it to fans of shows such as Nodame Cantabile and La Corda D'Oro.

If you're after action, adventure, fanservice, etc, then this movie is probably one you should avoid. If what you're looking for however, is a heartwarming movie about friendship and rivalry then you should definitely check this out. read more

First of all: i cannot judge who was played well or badly - i do not know Musics well enough. As well i do not know how (un)realistic the explanations on "virtuoso piano playing" were. To me it seems unrealistic, but not impossible, tha Kai - never having had lessons - can play the piano very well. That he cannot even read notes looks like an allusion to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was said to be able to replay a composition from his hearing.
The whol drama about the "little children of prodigy", who nearly were defeated by a natural, competition and stage fright - and the friendship being stressed by this - seems credible to me and is shown very emotionally. It has quite the intensity of Hayao Miyazaki, who shurely would not have shown it less dramatically - and maybe some more hokey.
All in all the movie does not really feel like an anime to me - the story matches Japan with the overdone focus on effort (which nevertheless is not finished consequently), but might as well happen in America or Europe. And although it is clearly said that bullheaded training and learning do not make you a good pianist, i am disappointed how the fate of these children is accepted without any criticism. You even learn only from a side note that Shuuhei is no prodigy child but is simply born into this destiny because of being the son of a famous pianist.
The piano in the forest - well, on one hand it is of course absolutely implausible that a piano should have been in the forest for years in all weathers and nevertheless should have remained playable. On the other hand, it can only be played by Kai; i did not really understand this point: shall all of this be unreal - like Kai being chased by the Mozart's ? But that would not to Kai and Shuuhei trying it together and wondering that only Kai can play the grand piano; even Ajino later hears Kai playing it in the forest and is enthusiastic about it.

The musics is purely aligned to the subject: apart from the ending only classical piano soli.
Concerning the graphics i was irritated by some reflections (mainly on the grand piano) which for sure were computer-generated - for me they did not match the cell-shading movie. But this is just my opinion.
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