A tranquil tale about two boys from very different upbringings. On one hand you have Kai, born as the son of a prostitute, who's been playing the abandoned piano in the forest near his home ever since he was young. And on the other you have Syuhei, practically breast-fed by the piano as the son of a family of prestigious pianists. Yet it is their common bond with the piano that eventually intertwines their paths in life.
(Source: KEFI)
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Comentários
ChlozoBozo
I've never been so bored binge-watching an anime before. I wanna get this review out of the way so I can ultimately forget about this show and move on with my life. Story - 5 It's fine and leads to a few fun ideas throughout the show, but none of them are really developed interestingly. I think. Honestly, I don't remember. I literally am writing this review five minutes after binging the entirety of this show and its blandness has led me to forgetting everything about it. Also I'm still irritated about the fact that Kai is apparently "The Chosen One", but whatever. Art - 7 Easily the mostinteresting thing to talk about in this show is its blend of 2D with 3D animation, which I completely adored. The 3D animation was beautiful and worked amazingly into the story, but the big drawback was how stilted and awkward the 2D animation was. Points for trying to be different though.
Sound - 7
Plenty of beautiful piano pieces throughout the show, as one could assume. That being said the OST itself is rather bland and uninteresting. If you're a piano buff, you've probably heard most of the pieces in this show already, and if you're not, it'll all sound very same-y and it'll be hard to understand what the characters are getting so worked up about.
Character - 2
Kai is the only character that can even remotely be interesting, but most of the time he's boring along with the rest of the cast. The show continues to add more and more characters building up to a final piano showdown that falls completely flat, leaving the characters overall uninteresting and a total waste of time. Takako is especially shafted in this regard, which is disappointing because she had an actually interesting bond with Kai that's never brought to any sort of payoff. Easily the worst character in this entire show is Shuuhei, though. The show continuously tries to portray this self-centered and arrogant asshole as one of our main protagonists as he proves time and time again to be completely insufferable. He's either an extremely unlikeable protagonist, or an extremely boring antagonist, and the show can never seem to decide which.
Enjoyment - 4
Boring. This was very boring. I was interested for the first 3 or 4 episodes, but eventually it felt like the same five minute chunk of piano played over and over for the rest of the show. Every single episode feels like another shot of numbing novocaine injected straight into the wrist.
Overall - 4
I'm bored and wanna move on to more interesting projects. Watch the show if you want, but like, I can't say it'll be fun.
KANLen09
I have no idea how to judge this, but do have a clear idea of it, so with the anime adaptation of both the Madhouse film and the completed manga itself, let's see what you get with the 1st half of this series while waiting for the 2nd cour to be set next Winter (at the time of this review). As many would suggest, watching the film made by Madhouse in 2007 is a plus (or how I would interpret it as a MUST) because Gainax clearly rushed out of proportion, seeing that the manga made an extensive approach to cover the emotions felt by theMCs-turned-rivals Kai Ichinose and Amamiya Shuuhei from children to grown-up, full-fledged pianists. And for manga readers like myself, it's a no-brainer with the most well-beloved pianist-turned-teacher, Sousuke Ajino, having an accident wreck his ability to play with teaching Kai to not surpass anyone, but to find his own voice, from the piano in the forest onto the big scene.
This 1st half covers pretty much the rushed film adaptation onwards to the Polish competition that came to an abrupt end with the 2nd cour left to go. And with music anime, it's a dime a dozen with hits (Your Lie In April etc.), and Piano no Mori falls few and far in between with these. It's a good adaptation, and pretty much still getting used to the CGI which helped in transition moments and such.
As of now, please watch Madhouse's film (which encompasses Episodes 1-4) and follow up on the rest when it comes soon, but for anime-onlys, this series is good if you want a music anime, only if it prefers to your tastes for competition-filled drama.
Red-beak
If you like learning about things then you will like this anime. I've learnt a lot about classical music, it's status in society, people's reaction to great talent, and an appreciation for the art of piano. Nothing is confusing for people who don't know anything about classical music. The story is told where we are introduced to the performer's background story/their motivations to compete in the grand stage of piano, before they play their piece. We aren't just listening to the music, but we get to hear the thoughts as they play. This brings an emotional element to the performance where we are able tolearn in more depth about what it's like to be that person performing.
The way the writer talks about the music has an artistic style that is impossible to not notice the passion for piano. And this what makes the anime so enjoyable, it's a passionate story that doesn't need the hype we see in shounen anime to make it great. And like anything that isn't mainstream, this anime won't sit well with a lot of people.
My one critique is that it's a short anime where time periods in the main character's life is missing. This can effect our ability to understand what the main character, kai, has been through to get where he ended up.
I really like the protagonist Kai, he's a very compassionate character and this doesn't change throughout. However, we don't see much challenges to Kai's character development.
Overall, there is plenty to get out from watching this anime and I defiantly recommend it.
AbeldeMedici
Piano no Mori anime, like the homonimous film, tells the story of Kai Ichinose, an incredibly talented pianist child, whose free style however fails to convince the strict judges of the competitions. Sôsuke Ajino, a former master pianist, takes him as his pupil and vows to make the world appreciate his talent. If you saw the film, you already saw the best part of it. The problem of this anime is that after the first arc (which was already covered in the film version) the story suddently stops moving forward and keeps moving in circles around the two same ideas: Amamiya (Kai's friend-rival) is frustratedabout not reaching Kai's level, and the competition judges are a close-minded bunch who can't appreciate Kai's talent. Competitions become the end of the story and not just plot drives, to the point that the last 4 episodes have been a single competition. On top of that, there're no other plot lines to bring some fresh breeze into the story (as, for example, there were in Your Lie in April).
Unless you want to see some anime version of a piano competition, I can't recommend to watch it further than the childhood arc.
nich303
Alright, this anime might be hard to review, but I'm up for the challenge. Story 5/10 The story was alright but lacking through all the piano playing. Art 6/10 The art was fine, but the use of CGI was jarring. Music 6/10 The music was fine. There was a LOT of piano playing. Don't get me wrong, I love the piano, it's one of the most beautiful sounding instruments in my opinion. There was just a lot of it and none of it really stood out to me.Characters 7/10
Here is where it gets hard for me. While watching the show I wasn't all that impressed with the characters. Kai's mom was hot. Takako was my favourite character, but she hardly showed up at all in the latter bit of the show. Despite this, while I watched the final end theme and saw all the characters in front of the piano in the forest, I couldn't help but think how much I liked the cast. 7/10 it is.
Enjoyment 5/10
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't get much enjoyment out of this show. Near the end of the show I was just waiting for it to be over.
Now for the overall. This anime is categorized as an adventure anime, but I wouldn't call it that, so if you're looking for adventure I would look elsewhere. This show is definitely a music anime, and I get that, so if you like listening to at least two hours of piano, I think, then this is definitely for you more than it is for me. This anime is categorized as a comedy, but I don't think I remember laughing at all, so don't come here for the comedy. I feel the drama was forced so don't come here for that either. Finally, this show is categorized as a school anime. The first bit was school, but if you're here exclusively for that, for some reason, then you won't enjoy the whole thing. Due to the alright start and the rather boring latter bit of this show I have decided to give it 5/10. Now, this is my second time writing this review. I already wrote it once and my phone decided to delete it, so my apologies if this one isn't as good as the original. I mean you'll never know, but you know what I mean. Have a good day.
PyraXadon
If there's one thing I wish this show did, it was to just cut off ALL dialogue and just let the BGM play. Unfortunately, like most music-based shows, that's never going to be the case, but one can hope. Story: Piano no Mori introduces us to two boys, Shuhei Amamiya and Kai Ichinose, each of whom play the piano with different upbringings towards the instrument. Shuhei is from the city and is taught by his father, who is a professional pianist and provides him with the formal training any aspiring pianist would dream of having. Kai on the other hand is from a place called 'Forest's Edge',a slums that gets rotten looks by those that don't live there. After meeting in elementary school, the two embark on different paths in life with the pursuit of playing the piano, their goals differing as they grow and mature as pianists.
Based on a manga of the same name (and with a movie made prior), Piano no Mori is primarily a journey of Kai as he breaks the chains he has of his birth to become the pianist that he pursues and dreams of, chronicling his life as he slowly makes a name for himself. Shuhei tags along for the ride and does get many of the episodes featured about him and his struggles to become the pianist he wants despite having the best training, but never really gets the kind of attention to detail that Kai does. As a result, the two boys feel like they have an imbalance in focus, with one overpowering the other in screentime in any given episode or arc. By that same stretch, it seems as though despite the anime having MUCH more time compared to its movie counterpart, there still seems to be some missing details that are absent from the anime. This is mostly through word of mouth as I have not read the original manga myself, but there are a multitude of side characters featured in the middle to later sections of the anime that do feel like they serve no purpose, and that's probably where that dissonance occurs.
But despite that, the one thing that I can adore this show for is giving the piano and music in general the attention that it deserves. The show is always about the characters and their connection to the piano. Hardly any episodes go by without a classical piece being played, and it's such a delight to have an anime featuring music be about the music rather than solely focusing on the drama or anything else. (Looking at you, Haruchika.) Because of this, the plot always feels like it has a sense of purpose, and it always felt like it was pushing itself towards something rather than waste time.
That being said, Piano no Mori is still an unfinished adaptation. Its longer runtime is split into two seasons, so what we get here is a half-finished series with a little note tagged onto the end saying that the second season is coming. Personally, I think the note that they left on is very poorly timed, as we not only get introduced to new characters, but it doesn't even finish up an arc, so what we're left with instead is only barely part one of a two part sonata.
Overview:
+ Very focused plot
+/- Decent pacing (floundered at times)
- Bad place to end
- Some skip over on arcs
Characters:
Characters for Piano no Mori fall into two categories if their names are not Kai Ichinose or Shuhei Amamiya: Important and unimportant.
For Kai, what we get is an initially rowdy kid who over the course of the series grows in determination and willingness to fulfill the big shoes that he's put himself in as the only pupil of the famous, now retired professional pianist, Sousuke Ajino. As the only pianist who can bring out the sound of the Piano of the Forest (which is quite literally a piano in the forest), what we see in Kai is a natural genius who starts to come into his own only after the hardships he endures being a child born in the slums of 'Forest's Edge'. That's not to say that he's without flaws, as the show stagnates him once he's achieved a level of renown towards the middle of the series, making it seem like at face value that all we got with Kai prior is all we'll get.
Shuhei however is on the opposite end of the spectrum as his formal upbringing gives him less development early on, then whales on him later as his anxiety and crippling inferiority complex breaks the guy after hearing Kai play over and over again. The relationship he has with Kai is complex, as not only are the two are friends and rivals, but Shuhei spends much of his time in the spotlight trying to get out of the shadow he sees himself in when compared to his fellow pianist. The only issue here is how little he seems to change, or rather, how little the show focuses on him making that change. Shuhei isn't really in the show's focal point for most of it, which given how many struggles he has later on in the series, doesn't seem right given the imbalance in screentime. (Though I suppose that COULD be a metaphor.)
As for the side cast, what we have is split between the characters who act as the two boys' influences as family, mentors, and friends, and the other pianists who for the most part get shafted and/or aren't important cause we've known them for far less longer and as such don't really care about them. Characters like Kai's mother, Sousuke Ajino, and Shuhei's parents are prime examples of those that get attention put into them as they have minute forms of development alongside the boys, and everyone else really doesn't matter. Which is really a shame cause Takako, a girl who is also a budding pianist, had a lot of potential to round out a trio, but unfortunately doesn't contribute much to the story to warrant something like that to happen.
Overview:
+ Two very well-made protagonists
- Focus and development of protagonists could've been better presented
- Most of the side cast doesn't matter
Art:
Produced by a branch of Studio Gainax called "Fukushima Gainax", Piano no Mori looks...bad. In a sense. I'll explain. The art for the series is primarily comprised of a lighter color palette that's could almost be completely white given how bright everything is, and the character designs for a majority of the characters have a nice simplicity to them that looks good. Because of this style, the backgrounds having an almost painting-like appearance to them and gave the show a nice sense of whimsy reflective of a show that's about showing how magical music can be.
On the flipside though, there're several aspects of the art that irk me. For one thing, lips. There're several characters with outright ugly designs, and this is primarily because some characters have horrendous lip designs that make them look ugly, either making a thick ring around a character's mouth, or drawing sideways threes around the mouth to symbolize thick lips.
On top of that, Piano no Mori heavily utilizes CG in its piano playing scenes. Now granted, this is a smart shortcut, as they save costs while getting amazing shots of fingers flying across the keys as the characters are playing. But from a visual perspective, this just doesn't look all that great. This is further proven because in doing research for comparisons, the movie version had drawn animation for the playing scenes, which looks infinitely better.
Overview:
+ Nice, simple artwork
- Artwork however looks bad at times
- CG for playing looks terrible
Sound:
I have been disappointed by music anime not delivering on the 'Sound' aspect before. Thankfully Piano no Mori is not in that category, or else I would've seriously had to reconsider my affection for music-based shows.
The opening is just a simple piano instrumental piece accompanied by a small orchestra behind it in order to give it that bit of grand flair. It's a short and sweet piece that honestly is a lot better than most OPs cause it not only fits the show it's attached to, but it has the unique quality of just being an orchestral piece compared to what most shows do by introducing the audience to a new J-pop piece. By contrast, we have Aoi Yuuki's "Kaeru Basho ga Aru to Iu Koto" which is...an interesting piece. It's a mystical piece with a mix of wonder, soft sounds, and an medium tempo that's cheerful with a recognizable beat but also really contrasts the OP which makes it seem like such a strange partner.
But the real star in the sound department are the numerous Chopin pieces and other classical works that are sprinkled throughout the show. Pieces that for all intents and purposes give truth to the 'Piano' part of the show's name.
Overview:
+ Good tracks all around
Personal Enjoyment:
As someone was trained in piano, this is a show that really resonated with me. Everything from Hanon in the first few episodes to trying to find your own style of playing the instrument was a weird nostalgia trip that I didn't see myself having. Not only that, but seeing the two protagonists grow into their own with the instrument was a joy to watch, albeit kind of depressing when you look at it from Shuhei's end.
Quite honestly though, I can't find myself mulling over any specifics over why I liked this show other than I liked it because it was a music show that was about the music and resonated with me personally as a person. I do feel like the plot started to dip in quality towards the end as an entire concert arc spanned several episodes and focused on introducing a bunch of rival characters that we've never heard of before, but it was still good enough to keep my interest.
If you're a fan of music-based shows, Piano no Mori has you covered. With dual protagonists who for the entirety of its runtime has an interesting rivalry about them as well as being a sort of coming of age story for these young pianists, Piano no Mori is an interesting and unique story that while gets cut in half because I assume production problems, does have its merits and compared to the movie, seems to be telling the whole story.
mageryan
Piano No Mori (Forest of Piano) is a solid, enjoyable music anime and one of the better offerings on Netflix. I watched this first before watching "Your Lie in April" (which I also wrote a review for). I have not seen too many musical animes but I have seen my fair share of animes to consider myself a good judge on whether something is worth watching. Even people who don't particularly enjoy classical music (like myself) will be able to get something out of this. I use pretty simple criteria. 1) Did I enjoy it, or did I want to fall asleep? 2) Did some parts seemrepetitive or silly?
I feel like Piano No Mori is definitely an enjoyable, bingeable anime but it can get repetitive, which I will explain below.
Story (7/10):
A boy who is the son of a prostitute can mysteriously play the piano of the forest. This piano will not make a sound for anyone but the boy. Simultaneously, a talented aspiring pianist moves into his classroom. Craziness ensues (?)
Not really. This isn't a shonen and there aren't any typical fight scenes. If anything its just good ol piano competitions with polite claps and flowers being thrown on stage. It is more exciting than it sounds and there are enough interesting characters to mix things up.
I did rate this a 7/10 because I felt the premise was a bit shaky. There is a somewhat supernatural element to it (the mysterious piano that plays for no one else) which I don't understand. It does do its job on hooking the reader/watcher, so good for the show I guess.
Art (9/10):
2018 anime never looked so good. Awesome 2d scenes, tastefully done CGI piano exhibitions and beautiful forest backdrops make PNM a wondrous anime to behold. Some of the latter scenes are especially creative.
Sound (10/10):
This is the best aspect of the show. The music and score is great and anyone who loves music will feel at home here. The way the characters play the music portray their emotions and intentions.
I could also see the virtues of the different composers throughout history (Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc). It was quite interesting how each character plays the same piece differently.
Character (8/10):
The characters of PNM are believable in their insecurity and flaws. I could readily identity and sympathize with their brokenness and imperfections.
PNM showed me a window into the world of high-level performers and the pretenses they have to carry. I never realized just how much pressure and stress they go through until now. It also showed me just how brave the art world really is when most of us want to play it safe with a typical job versus a performer job.
Enjoyment( 9/10):
This is a fun anime to watch. It gets repetitive however, since a lot of the premise revolves piano battle arcs lasting several episodes worth of valuable screen time. I wonder how long they can keep this up (since they already confirmed a second season). I know the manga is pretty long, but I'd rather they keep this short and sweet rather than drag it out.
Overall (8/10):
Piano No Mori is a solid anime worth watching. There are no harems, stupid jokes, fan service, etc that pervades a lot of anime today. It is just a solid story that is built on a slightly shaky supernatural premise but will provide good entertainment value.
yuas
personally, i'm not really into music. the reason i was intrigued and started watching this show was honestly because the summary on MAL made it look a little bit like a shounen ai or have shippable male main characters, so i picked it up. although it isn't actually shounen ai, i've always shipped kai and shuhei. the reason i enjoyed this anime and watched both seasons was because i was probably a bit more focused on their relationship than anything else, so i stuck around for that! the show throughout the two seasons went between different perspectives of other pianists, but i would've wished itfocused on kai and shuhei just a bit more.
something i have always hated about this anime from the first episode is the animation during anyon'e piano performances. it broke the (general) 2d anime rule and was more of a 3d style. it didn't suit at all, and looked quite weird; especially for an anime. i could understand in a cartoon but seeing it in an anime was pretty odd.
overall, the anime was good from my point of view, but everyone has a different reason for picking this anime up if they did.
Disfemisef
So, Piano no Mori, or Forest of Piano, is a hearfelt anime about two piano geniuses, Kai Ichinose and Shuhei Amamiya. The former is the son of a prostitute who had no real goals in life till a fateful encounter, and the latter was a rich kid that was the son of a piano legend. The two form a friendship that spans a number of years as Amamiya seeks to beat Kai to become the greatest pianist. So, the story itself is pretty decent, although I had a few issues with the pacing. The characters were nice and real. I really felt the jealousy thatAmamiya felt towards Kai, I understood it, even if I didn't particularly like it. While the characters of Kai and Shuhei really got some nice development, sadly I didn't see the same with other characters.
I also had a problem with the art and animation. The art was a like jangy to me while the animation didn't particularly pull me in. Furthermore, they did that thing with 3D where you could notice the switch between 2D and 3D. While I understand why they did it (it made the piano playing scenes easier to animate) I didn't like how it distracted me from what I was watching and the music I was listening to. All of that said, it's an anime about classical music and I'm a sucker for those. It tried to be great and while it isn't as great as other piano based anime like Your Lie In April or Nodame Cantabile, it certainly is worth a watch. Episode 12 was especially awesome as the entire thing focused on one performance and I didn't notice till the end because it was just so good. I look forward to seeing S2.
JeliSuli
I really want to give it a higher score... The story is beautiful, the characters... chief kiss ! Kai's progression was a delight to watch from the "feral" prodigy to the serious player. Ajino's story too (past and in-anime) was moving (I love Ajino). And of course, the music was great, heh. I don't know if it's listed as such, but I consider it iyashikei, my favorite genre. The art was fine and fit the atmosphere. But the CGI was too awful to be ignored. And the still pictures... I don't know. I've watched the series, not knowing there was a movie. People should rather watch that one,the animation could be less distracting. It is a good series, though.
PARODY_QUEEN
I was very excited to start watching this anime mainly because it was a music anime. I didn't like it at first because the voice acting and animation really bothered me. But I continued to watch it and it started to grow on me, not the animation of course. The episodes are paced very well and the time skip wasn't rushed, it happened during a good point in the anime.Unlike most anime, the characters in this show weren't cliche. Going into it I wasn't expecting the type of story that this anime gave, which is a good thing. Every episode I didn't know whatto expect, that kept it interesting. I would definitely recommend this anime. Because of this, I give Forest of Piano a 8.
Airtag111
There are minor spoilers in this review! You can practically find an anime about any line of work- sometimes these shows abridge the line of work to have that anime oomph to it, to make it a spectacle, but sometimes they come from a deep appreciation for the subject. This is one of those ones where the show just oozes love for the art of piano and classical music. I have been a casual appreciator of classical music for some time, but never specifically the piano. Before I watched this show, I would probably get bored when I attempted to watch a piano solo on youtube,but with its love for the art form, it really made me appreciate it. The respect this season shows for the piano is inspiringly amazing. There are just moments where you listen to the piece plainly with minimal reactions and you feel what the characters are feeling. Sound-wise the piano pieces are great and this show is deserving of a 10/10 in sound.
The plot of the show is pretty true to reality in the competition aspect, but is gets fantastical when the forest of the piano is concerned. I like this contrast it created, as it makes the references to the piano later in the series hold more meaning. In the show, nothing plot twisty happens, its straightforward in a way. The protagonist Kai Ichinose, the friends he makes along the way, and his platonic rival enter tournaments and discover things about themselves and each other's piano. The realism of the competitions just highlights how much love the show has for the piano world, yet it doesn't shy away from criticizing it either. In fact the criticisms towards the piano competition environment are a huge aspect of the show. Whether a judge's decision was right, or whether biased opinions were at play (they were) music is something you try to improve yourself upon and while disheartening and potentially career breaking- it doesn't matter what a judge declares you as, "winner or loser" it matters that you play a piece that you are proud of and you have the power in you to continue playing no matter what. It doesn't go extremely deep into this aspect, but it definitely is ever present, especially with the character of Karol Adamski. I think I can understand the comments that this show can be boring and nothing much happens- because it really does mostly concern itself with telling things as they are (and hopes that the audience will accept as they are) rather than proving one sure point, just like real life. However, I think there is tremendous value in how the world is presented as very non black and white and I personally found that it has much enjoyable depth.
The characters of the show have the same depth and realism of the world they exist in. Kai Ichinose, while a stereotypical protagonist for a show of this kind by being a child prodigy, can initially seem not very compelling especially by how easily he earns approval around him. Nonetheless, I think if the depth of this world also resonates with you as it did with me, I think you will find that the point of his character is not his struggle with the gaining acceptance but an entirely different journey of self discovery. He practically eases through the piano world (though there is evidence that he works a tremendous amount to get where he is) I think he is not meant to be viewed as an underdog protagonist who is meant to overcome a playing hurdle. I think this also reflects the fact that this can happen in the piano world: a child prodigy can just take the piano world by storm. I personally didn't find his story any less engaging because of this. The other character who has the attention the most except Kai is Amamiya Shuhei. While not a traditional underdog character, I believe he is the one who struggles the most throughout the show with his playing and thus the main person who the audience is meant to root for ro improve. Although he can be incredibly selfish and arrogant at times, I think by the end of this season he reached a very interesting place that is incredibly engaging and sympathetic. To briefly talk about the other characters, most of them also seem interesting and unique. I say seem, because we didn't get to know most of them and they seem like they will be developed much more in the second season. Nonetheless, here, all of their problems and unique attributes have been established, and they have been introduced in an intriguing way. I like that the show didn't rush with them and look forward to what will happen to them in the next season.
Finally, if I had to briefly talk about the art, it took me some time to adjust to the 2D and 3D artwork in the piano sequences, but I think they were really used to their fullest extent. I think the locations were drawn vibrantly and by the end of the season I especially felt well acquainted with the Warsaw Chopin Competition hall. The 2D animation is nothing spectacular but it does the job, and the character designs are pretty memorable for what they are.
Finally I want to give this show an solid 8/10 because it is no masterpiece, however, I also want to encourage other people to watch it and on paper I do think its worthy of a 10. I think a 10 is more striking on MAL reviews too so here you go. Hopefully you give it a try and are pleasantly surprised by it as I was.
Edamame_GP
I've never felt this compelled to write a review and I'm not generally the type to write reviews at all. But this anime made me write it as soon as I finished it. Story: (8 rating) The story of this anime is kind of different from other music anime like no one is reviving dead music clubs or playing because someone precious died. This anime is an inspiring story of a mother his son and his extremely sincere teacher. And also the whole concept of a piano in the forest made the whole anime so magical for me. In the last piece of competition, they showed that howAjino, without giving a single care about himself, supported Kai and lowered his head in front of numerous people just because he wanted Kai to reach such levels in the world that a redlight area boy like him can't even imagine about. This level of dedication really brought tears to my eyes. And for some reason when Kai started playing his third song (in the last episode) my eyes became wet automatically. I don't know what it was but I've never felt like this in any of the anime I've watched till now.
Art: (6 rating)
I gave art a 6 rating because there are a lot of still scenes in this anime but they didn't affect me maybe because it doesn't matter in an anime based on piano. All that matters is sound and playing visuals in my opinion. Many people would argue that CGI makes anime trash but to be honest I felt like CGI was necessary for this anime because let's be real who the hell has got the energy to animate Chopin's pieces frame by frame and for 6 to 7 characters too.
Sound: (9 rating)
Like I said earlier sound is what matters the most in an anime based on a piano so, that's why I gave the sound a 9 because omg they play fabulously. I really like the pieces Kai play of course but I also enjoyed the piano of Pang Wei and Amamiya and the one and only Ajino.
Character: (7 rating)
I'm sorry but I'm not skilled enough to write a whole essay on the character details but I can say that some characters seemed rather o d d, especially those judges named Takeshi Saga and Kotaro Shiba. But I like other characters, specially Ajino because he doesn't become overdramatic in any of the scenes. His realism is what I like about him the most.
But screw those bullies tho.
Enjoyment. (9 rating)
Overall I enjoyed the anime a lot. (Idk what to write here tbh)
Overall: (8 rating)
If you ignore the nitty-gritty details I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy and love this anime as well.
weisskun
You know that feeling of excitement, yet it failed to deliver? Piano no Mori is like that. (Doesn't contain spoilers) First thing I'd like to talk about, this anime is to show the classical pieces, and I get that. When it comes to storyline, it was a bomb, not a blast. The series started off okay, the point of view of the character is pretty normal like the other series. MC starting his journey with his interest in piano blah blah blah, we get that. The portrayal of having one of the famous pianist in Japan just shown up at the start of the episode is justa cliché. I've seen this scene so much at the start of the series, it's just boring and predictable.
Second, the overall story is not exciting but not too boring. You can say fairly, but we have different taste, so you watch what you like. Since it's all about piano and Classical Pieces, I didn't watch some scenes and I just went to skip it. Although, I did watch the full piano performance which is beautiful in my opinion. It's lacking, and those lines wasted some of my time if I were not to skip it.
Third, the art gets good when there's a piano scene. About the overall art, it doesn't stand out much and looks normal like the others. It did look exciting on the cover, but it's just the cover lmfao.
Fourth, the characters too are normal to me. There are rivalries and competitive characters as well which is normal. Some judges who I thought have no sense in judging, which is relatively normal like I said in the others too. There’s really nothing big or bad about these character stereotypes, it just looks boring with the usual ones.
Overall, it's not that bad, but it's not exciting as it looks. I'd say I'm more in the middle one. I didn't like it nor dislike it, it's unbiased, and I don't feel anything in particular about this anime except it's 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. You can watch it because of the performances, but don't get your hopes up on the story.
Raspberihevn
A very relaxing wholesome story. I love how the protagonist is a warm caring individual despite his unlucky childhood. He didn't pick his mom or birthplace but he found a piano in the forest that basically raised him and gave him strength. And he learned to use the piano to put food on the table. Through piano, he understands himself better, and his teacher taught him to believe in himself. The world may want him to become someone else but it is okay that he remains who he is. It is endearing when he shows vulnerability and asks for guidance. And even more heartwarming whenhe returns the love.
Kays90
I am an avid lover of animes in music genre. This anime is no doubt one of the great animes in this genre but I felt some spark missing in the anime due to direction. The story presented in anime lacked the depth that story have. They try to compensate the same by adding the depth during music but failed to reach the full potential. Making a story fast paced is one thing but rushing is just another thing. They somewhat ruined the anime by rushing it. As usual the music is just great as expected and art work is great too. But use of CGIduring music scenes were largely unimpressive.As soon as music starts, they jump to the CG which made the characters less real. They felt more like ballon dummies moving with wind to me. That was the only major issue with the animation.
Rushed direction also ruined the character development of both the main character and the key supporting ones. This is one of the few animes that I felt that character development could have been better.
If you are avid lover of music genre, then do give it a try but don't expect it to be near Nodame Cantabile or Your Lie in April level.
Blu_e616
If you've never played an instrument, you will not understand this anime. I saw a lot of bad reviews here, and this anime did not deserve it. If you love music generally, give this anime a chance and learn more about classical music, competitions, and Chopin. I played piano when I was young, so I know a lot about classical music. The story is about growing up, friendship, rivalry, hard work, tough life but with a happy ending. Kai Ichinose is something like Mozart at a young age and Amamiya, Shuuhei is something like Salieri. The rivalry between them almost destroys their friendship. A good pianoteacher is everything when you are young. He is like another parent and he shows you the world from a different perspective and learn you a lot of new skills. These skills help you a lot when you grow up. You are better with concentration, you have better motor skills, and you practically learning another language through music sheets - you learn a musical language.
I like the first part of the anime the most because it shows fingers and the fingers move exactly as they should move through keys. On the part, with the competition, I miss the showing up fingers but I like emotional character development.
So, this anime is definitely 9 for me and if there were more fingers moving through keys, it would be 10.
50Fiftillididee
🌲🎹A Ballad For The Jerks🎹🌲 °8.5° °Excellent° 💯%🔍£ Here's a quote: "Poland' originated from ‘people of the plains." Did you even know that Chopin was Polish? Many of you surely do. I didn't know squat about him. For me, classical music is like learning Spanish. It's something I would truly love to master, however, I rarely get around to doing anything. Shows like this get me motivated. Okay, focus: “Chopin grew up on an endlessly vast plain with an endlessly vast sky, with endless stars at night.” That's a sample of some of the dialogue viewers hear in between piano music of transcendent quality.More than half the show focuses on a single multi-round competition. They took pains with the soundtrack. The different competitors have distinctive styles of play. It's simply magnificent to look at and to listen to. Fo🎹 massages the ears, and at the same time, it warms the hearts.
Ajino Sousuke loves 🎹, but competitions are long behind him. He lost his Love (fiance) and use of limb (his hand) in an accident years ago. He is able to teach🎹, but life is pretty drab until he stumbles into the forest one day and hears magic coming from an old beat-up piano. Is that a //forest spirit// playing, or a /kid/?
Ichinose Kai is the kid. Kai grew up in the red light district & he is the son of a prostitute. He's also the sun. He's ever optimistic, he's selfless, and he elevates everyone around him. The show holds him up as the spirit-of-the-forest-type, but initially, Kai doesn't want anything to do with Ajino. He can play fine without lessons.
Then Ajino plays Chopin…
Based on a manga, Fo🎹 is a 2018 Gaina Studios release that is rated 7.31 on MAL. It is 2 seasons of 12 25-min episodes each. They also did an alternative movie version. This anime is moving art. Visually and aurally this show is gorgeous, even though the drawing is on the crude side. I believe the art is to reflect Kai and the sound is the other side of Kai. Out of the wasteland, brilliance emerges. No element is lacking. The competitors are fully fleshed out. Top competitors such as Szymanowski Lech, Maruyama Takako, Pang Wei and many more change due to their exposure to Kai. Kai changes everyone he meets. Spirit of the forest, indeed.
Amamiya Shuuhei is actually the one who leads his piano teacher, Ajino, to Kai in ep1. Ajino recognizes Kai's natural genius and decides to coach him. Kai grew up where people portray the most base of human natures. Escaping the worst of the city as often as possible, Kai also grew up in nature. He's experienced the sublime and the sub-prime, and he knows how to put it all into his music. Though the two students’ socioeconomic backgrounds are nothing alike, they become quick friends, regardless of Kai quickly outplayung Amamiya. They remain friends, which speaks to Amamiya's good character. Most competitors are frenemies. Amamiya craves true friendship.
The nature of competition is in view. Two frenemies, who are now just friends, talk about the final round of the competition as one gives the other encouragement and inspiration. It's a beautiful scene. Father and son repeat history. Each has a rival whom they find awe-inspiring ~ One whom they just cannot beat. It's Jordan and Pippin, head versus heart, and Jimmy Johson trying to catch Jeff Gordon. Being around the other players spurs them on, helps them grow, and makes them the absolute best they can be.
Sometimes piano players have exponential growth while at competitions (this is an anime, afterall). Technical specialist, Wei, turned pain into rage & power. The anger comes through in his playing. Lech, more like an accountant, goes for statistical accuracy. They each put 💘 💞💖 into it after being exposed to Kai. One desperate competitor wants his own father's approval. Kai doesn't even have a father. We see many parents pushing the children, cajoling them, & denying them a normal life of any kind. Pei's might be the worst. Compare that to Aryama's father who just stresses out over scores and who's going to advance to the next round. In that way, the father figures are contrasted: Love and hate. Warmth and anxiety. Nurturing and using. Yet Kai, by showing love and optimism, was the one who was able to help many of the other players push through to a new level. One father, in a moment of clarity, says he forgot the true joy of making music. In his desire to win, which gave way to his drive to have his son win, he lost himself.
Ajino simply wants Kai to be free. He says he doesn't care about the ranking or the competition at all. If the people hear Kai's playing, the world will recognize him. Then, the place where Kai grew up will no longer have any hold on him. Then he can be free.
Is it about the kid, or is it about you? Is it for the kid, or is it for you? Don't make parenting, coaching, or teaching about your pride. Freedom is letting it go - Particularly our pride. If we're caught up in our own pride, we can't tell the world the truth about ourselves; but, accepting the truth is very freeing. It's impossible to be perfect. Why do we feel the urge to act like we are? Let it go. Relax. Mastering something, doing your best at what you love, and striving for excellence are all important. None of it matters much, though, if we don't focus on love first. It's deeply painful to think about the parents whose children were involved in the Olympic gymnastics child abuse scandal. They aren't to blame, but that doesn't quell the hurt. Can you imagine what they wish their focus had been now? We can hear a story like that, or watch a show like this, and never apply what we should be learning. Entertainment isn't just for sitting there mindlessly ~ not quality entertainment. Don't turn your brain and your emotions off. Tired as you may be, see if you can learn something ~ and then apply it.
Ajino had a moribund existence. Helping Kai brought him back alive. Forgetting our misery and taking time out to help someone more unfortunate is healing. Fo🎹 is loaded with positive messages that we frequently need to be reminded of. One of the final messages is gratitude. Studies show that people who are thankful lead happier lives.
Fo🎹 is healing. It's uplifting, and it is well worth the time. It's a beautiful story.
Just listen to it.
QUOTES🗣
D@mn it. What is this Euphoria I'm feeling?
I was always, at every moment, surrounded by warm people. That's why I want to play piano.
This was the day I always dreamed for.
This was beyond my wildest dreams.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬8.4 📝 7.7 🎭8 🌞7 🎨8.5 🎵 10 🔚9
Age 12+ for isolated moments featuring content not appropriate for most tweens. The bullies try to scare the new student into going into the forest to play the cursed piano late at night. “If you don't want to do that then you have to show us your w¡lly.” The kid looks stunned. Mild bad language. Prostitutes. Pole dancing (portrayed on stills). Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
👁📺again? ✅ yes
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YOUR LIE IN APRIL-9
Mgnahabastroke
It’s decent. I was skipping through it a lot of the time but I still wanted to know what would happen next. The CGI hurt my eyes. A lot of the characters made me want to die but a lot were also cool. The main guy’s voice after a time skip got higher pitched which was weird. It’s also a really creepy voice to me. The main rival is sometimes pretty annoying. His story is kind of weird and a bit stupid. The less main characters were pretty good and entertaining except for this random annoying girl who is unnecessary in my opinion. I onlywrote this review because the main guy’s voice was annoyingly me lol.
