Piano no Mori (The Piano Forest)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: The Perfect World of Kai, Forest of Piano

Japanese: ピアノの森 The Perfect World of Kai

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Information

Type: Movie

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 21, 2007

Producers: Sony Music Entertainment, Cyclone Graphics

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: Madhouse

Source: Manga

Genre: Drama

Themes: Music, School

Demographic: Seinen

Duration: 1 hr. 40 min.

Rating: G - All Ages

Statistics

Score: 7.62¹ (scored by 27,418 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1449²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #2624

Members: 68,504

Favorites: 123

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Synopsis

Piano no Mori tells the story of Shuuhei Amamiya, a transfer student, and Kai Ichinose, a problem child from the rough areas of town. Upon transferring to Moriwaki Elementary and telling the other kids about his talent for piano, Shuuhei quickly finds himself as the victim of bully Daigaku Kanehira.

Daigaku dares Shuuhei to find and play a cursed piano in the forest, which leads him to meet Kai, who claims to be the owner of the piano and the only one who can play it. Intrigued, Shuuhei follows Kai to the hidden piano in the forest and listens to him play a beautiful medley.

Earning the respect of not only Shuuhei but school music teacher Sousuke Ajino as well, Kai now finds himself formally learning how to play the piano.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Piano no Mori
Alternative version:	Piano no Mori (TV), Piano no Mori (TV) 2nd Season

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Ichinose, Kai

Main

Ueto, Aya
Japanese

Amamiya, Shuuhei

Main

Kamiki, Ryunosuke
Japanese

Ajino, Sousuke

Supporting

Miyasako, Hiroyuki
Japanese

Ichinose, Reiko

Supporting

Ikewaki, Chizuru
Japanese

Maruyama, Takako

Supporting

Fukuda, Mayuko
Japanese

Amamiya, Namie

Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko
Japanese

Homeroom Teacher

Supporting

Iseki, Yoshiko
Japanese

Kanehira, Daigaku

Supporting

Amano, Hiroyuki
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Saitou, Yuuichirou

Producer

Kojima, Masayuki

Director

Fujiyama, Fusanobu

Sound Director

Ishizuka, Atsuko

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

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Ending Theme

"Moonshine~Tsukiakari~" by Nao Matsushita

Reviews

Apr 8, 2008

Archaeon

Recommended

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 ...

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Jul 3, 2011

ellenmelon13

Recommended

Well, today, I was radomly scrolling through watchanimeon.com looking for an anime that would catch my interest. I came across Piano no Mori thinking, "Oh, I have a piano lesson in two days, maybe it will motivate me to practice." And it sure did. Piano no Mori, although unrealistic and strange at many times, is a very touching and pleasurable story. I think this movie is really a movie made for musicians. As a music LOVER, I saw a lot of myself in these characters. I am a vocalist over a pianist. When I sing, I have fun. It comes naturally. Kai, the young prodigy ...

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May 10, 2012

kekekeKaj

Recommended

Ever since I watched "Nodame Cantabile", I can't help but compare all anime about classical music with it - it's insightful in its explorations of the topic, yet remained remarkably accessible and entertaining to those not into it. In an admittedly small sub-genre, it has become the benchmark for greatness, and as a result has an unfortunate eclipsing effect over lesser but otherwise good shows like "Kiniro no Corda" that shares its domain.

To be honest, I hadn't really expected to find other classical music anime that could compare to "Nodame Cantabile", but enter "Piano no Mori", a quiet film that, in less than two hours, ... captured what was at the heart of "Nodame Cantabile" surprisingly well - its passion for music.

"Piano no Mori" revolves around two boys, Shuuhei and Kai, who both have piano as one of the central aspects of their lives. Shuuhei comes from a family of pianists, is forced to practice piano day in day out in order to become a pianist himself. On the other end of the spectrum, Kai found a broken piano in the forest which only he can play; it enthralled him and he has grown up playing it without any formal training. The story starts off with Shuuhei moving to a new town with his family and meeting Kai, who attends the same school. The two soon become good friends, and the story focuses on how their attitudes towards playing piano is changed by one another.

The set up is not too dis-similar to "Nodame Cantabile", with Shuuhei being a bit like the serious, hard working Chiaki and Kai representing the unrefined genius type, blessed with vast, untamed talents just like Nodame. Unlike "Nodame Cantabile" though, the characters are more polarised: while Chiaki also had talent and passion for music in abundance, and Nodame is also (somewhat) classically trained, Shuuhei and Kai have less of an overlap.

This comparison also holds true in other common areas shared between the two anime: while they have a lot in common in terms of what they have to say about music, "Piano no Mori" explores the themes with less maturity, and presents its messages in a more black and white, more straight forward way. As an example, see how easy it is for Kai to play complex pieces by ear, and to play a challenging Chopin sonata after just practicing the scales for a bit. Even for a genius, to play like he does without formal training and proper practice is just impossible. And this is one of my main complaint for the film: while I acknowledge that "Piano no Mori" isn't meant to be well grounded in reality, at times it feels a tad too fairy-tale-esq in light of its generally earnest approach to music.

But because of its earnest approach, its faults are something I'm willing to forgive. The movie covers remarkable breadth and depth, emphasising amongst other things passion, hard work, as well as finding one's self within the music. Shuuhei impresses upon Kai the importance of taking piano more seriously and facing it head on. But while Shuuhei learnt the piano, Kai lived it, and the latter's infectious enthusiasm profoundly effects the former, for whom piano is mostly like a chore. To those who've watched "Nodame Cantabile", most of this will sound familiar.

Unlike "Nodame Cantabile" though, I would hesitate to recommend this to people not into classical music. I just can imagine non-enthusiasts yawning through the first half of the film, though the second half is somewhat more entertaining. Though Shuuhei is a bit dull, Kai makes for an interesting, spunky lead; he pretty much carries the entertainment factor of the show, and often drew chuckles from me with his outrageous antics.

The story of "Piano no Mori" is a bit loose. For one thing it feels incomplete - it's odd that the film introduces the mysterious piano in the forest that only Kai could play, only to ignore the mystery of its magical qualities almost completely. Also, the story is annoyingly inconsistent regarding the piano competition preliminaries that was featured. First they were saying the everyone had to play Mozart's piano sonata K. 311... but then in the competition, someone played a different Mozart piece, and that seemed okay too. Also there was one part of the film dedicated to a contestant whining about someone like Shuuhei being in the region ruining her chances in the preliminaries as though there's only one person who can qualify. In the end, about 10 people qualified, and I was left wondering what the big fuss was all about.

If you like classical music though, these problems will seem small compared to what the film does right. Unlike "Kiniro no Corda", which often seems more concerned about its bishies than the music, "Piano no Mori" focuses on the music, and is essentially a simplified emboddiment of the ideas at the core of "Nodame Cantabile". And THAT, is why it does not disappoint.

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Recent News

NHK Announces Three New TV Anime Series to Air in 2018

The official site for NHK has revealed three new TV anime series to air in 2018. Piano no Mori (Piano Forest) is getting a TV anime adaptation to air on NHK in Spri...read more

Oct 23, 2017 1:36 AM by Stark700 | Discuss (40 comments)

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Recent Forum Discussion

So why is it "Forest of Piano" and not "Piano of the Forest" srogers1 - Mar 24, 2019	2 replies	by srogers1 »» Jun 8, 2019 7:14 PM
Poll: Piano no Mori Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Faust721 - Feb 12, 2008	50 replies	by removed-user »» Oct 10, 2018 8:37 AM
Junko Takeuchi!? Sesam - Jul 6, 2010	1 replies	by Lahve »» Apr 4, 2013 7:20 PM
Piano no Mori - Seiyuu question. disgust - Mar 18, 2008	6 replies	by cyruz »» Mar 21, 2008 4:32 AM

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Piano no Mori

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Ichinose, Kai

Amamiya, Shuuhei

Ajino, Sousuke

Ichinose, Reiko

Maruyama, Takako

Amamiya, Namie

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Piano no Mori

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Background

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Staff

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