I'm not really a fan of Mangas' but! Making one into an animated featured movie, is what i really enjoyed watching instead of me reading the comics, and this is because i found it way better for me to know more about major manga stories. This is the case for the movie ''Piano Forest'', which is a Japanese animated feature film directed by Masayuki Kojima. The film, which highlights music through the story of two young pianist friends, is the adaptation of a manga ("Piano no Mori - The perfect world of KAI") which has 26 volumes and ended about 4 years ago.
Movie: Piano Forest (2007)
Genre: Music, Animation, Drama
Director: Masayuki Kojima
Cast: Aya Ueto, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, and Mayuko Fukuda
Synopsis: Two different people - the son of a prostitute, and the son of a professional musician - develop a bond of friendship through their love of playing the piano. (Imdb)
Review: Here is a film that deals with music and more particularly the piano in a fair way. It is also curious to note that, on the one hand, the Japanese director has a fair and thoughtful understanding of a primarily Western music, and on the other hand, that he makes this soundness of tone, not by comedians, but by drawing. Few are the movies where actors performing pianists are convincing, or, should I say, realistic. To illustrate these quasi-educational elements, some comical scenes bring an unexpected lightness and humor. We could regret that the graphics are not a little more neat, but the plot is such a masterpiece.
Thus, the message of the film is based on the teaching of the piano, on the notions of work, stage fright, learning, interpretation and also the place of pleasure and that of constraint in a discipline that is certainly fulfilling. but that requires a lot of rigor and discipline. So stand out the two young children of the film. One has been playing since the age of four and works with iron discipline. The other, wild and self-taught, favors the pleasure and enchantment of the sounds he produces, without worrying about really working his piano technique. Obviously, after watching this animated movie, its safe to say the director, Masayuki Kojima brings magic, madness and a touch of poetry, which sublimates the key moments of the film. Its definitely a recommend for the music lovers.
Movie Url: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/59298-piano-no-mori?language=en-US
My Rating: 6.5/10