The Piano Forest

Archaeon★ 8

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 timeto 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.

ellenmelon13★ 8

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 prodigywho can play the broken piano in this forest, is this part of all musicians. The fun. The feeling. The pure PURE feeling of music. On the other hand, Shuuhei is pretty much everything else. The hardwork, the nervousness, the pain... I'll say it. I love the piano, but right now, I stink at it. I listen to Kai play and I think, "Wow, I wanna play like that someday!" But I never want to sit and practice for that long. Shuuhei brought my own goal more into focus. After this movie, I really just wanted to go downstairs and start playing my piano. To get better and better. To conclude this review, I would reccomend this movie to musicians. Without these factors, the movie was just cute. Nothing special. But for a musician or a musician in the making this movie is beautiful simply beautiful.