Piano no Mori Episode 15 Review: Awakening

The second stage of the Chopin Tournament brings us more great music from Polish composer Chopin. Tensions are high when Shuuhei takes to the stage, but just as he seems to have everything under control, something unexpected happens. Can he pull it together in time or will this be the end for Kai’s greatest rival? Find out in this week’s review of Episode 15, Awakening.

Plot

It’s the second day of Stage Two of the Chopin Tournament, and after Pang Wei’s phenomenal performance, Shuuhei, Kai, and the rest of the tournament hopefuls have a lot to live up to. Shuuhei takes the stage in hopes of showing the world his piano…

Episode Highlights

Artistic Freeze Frames: Unlike Kai and Pang Wei’s animated performances in previous episodes, Shuuhei’s performance is noticeably different. There is a lot more focus on Shuuhei’s expressions while playing as he becomes one with the music, there is less detail on his movements and more emphasis put on particular frames of animation.

Shuuhei’s Piano: After all this time, Shuuhei finally discovers his piano sound making for a much more organic performance. One of the biggest themes in Piano no Mori is discovering your sound, whether that be infusing your music with the pain of your past like Pang Wei or playing music that captures the imagination like Kai. It only took 13 episodes, and a few years, but, Shuuhei finally learned how to give himself over to the music and it is one of his best performances to date.

Character Identification: This week we got to see performances (albeit brief) from some of the non-main character performers. Rather than confuse us with all the new faces they decided to display the names of all the new pianists on screen.

Themes & Trivia

Sonata: In the Second Stage of the Chopin Tournament, participants are required to choose a sonata as part of their program. Sonata comes from the Italian, sonare, which means ‘to sound’, denoting a piece of music that is meant to be played as opposed to sung (a cantata). In the pre-Classical era, sonatas were one of many terms used for defining large scale compositions. However, it wasn’t until the Classical period that the term was used almost exclusively for multi-movement works.

Sonata Movement Layouts:

The Allegro, which is typically played at a quick tempo
A middle movement, known as the slow movement (an Andante, an Adagio or a Largo)
A closing movement or Finale which is a return to the faster paced tempo (ie. Allegro, Presto, or Rondo)

Polonaise: In the second stage of the Chopin Tournament, participants are required to choose a polonaise as part of their program. A polonaise is a Polish dance composition, played in ¾ time. Chopin is one of the best known composers of polonaise.

Mazurka: In the Second Stage of the Chopin Tournament, participants are required to choose a mazurka as part of their program. Like the polonaise, the mazurka is also a Polish dance composed in triple time. They are usually played at a lively tempo, and with strong accents placed on the second or third beat.

Now Playing

I did something similar in my reviews for Tsurune (and I probably should have done it sooner for these reviews), but, since this is a musical anime, there are a lot of musical pieces played. Rather than cram them all into the Themes & Trivia section, here’s a separate section just for the musical compositions in each episode.

Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, No. 7, Op.61: The piece was published in 1846. Fantasias are known for favoring improvisation and rarely follow strict musical form, though this particular work borrows its metre from the polonaise.

Played by Katie Liu in the third stage of the Chopin Tournament: YouTube

Mazurka in A minor, Op.59, No. 1: The first in a set of three Mazurkas published in 1845.

Played by Dmitry Shishkin in Chopin and his Europe: YouTube

Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58, First Movement: Composed in 1844, this is said to be one of Chopin’s most difficult compositions.

Played by Charles RIchard-Hamelin in the Third Stage of the Chopin Tournament: YouTube

Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35: Is a piano sonata in four parts composed by Chopin between 1837-1839 and published in 1840. Of the four movements the third, known as the “Funeral March” is the most famous. *Only the 1st, 3rd, and 4th movements were played in the episode.*

Played by Yundi Li: YouTube

Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op.30, No. 4: The fourth in a set of Mazurkas written and published in 1837.

Played by Yulianna Avdeeva in the Second Stage of the Chopin Tournament: YouTube

Andante spianato and grande polonaise brillante op. 22: Was composed between 1830 and 1834, and published in 1836.

Played by Katie Liu in the Second Stage of the Chopin Tournament: YouTube

Comments

It’s no secret that I’m not really a Shuuhei fan, so an entire episode dedicated to his performance is usually pretty low on my list of favorite episodes. However, Awakening brought something unexpected: some genuine emotion from Shuuhei’s playing! Finally, after struggling to define himself as a pianist, Shuuhei uncovers his own unique sound and it only took THIRTEEN EPISODES!! He is finally shaping up to be decent rival for Kai, and while his newly awakened self is still rather raw, with some polishing he’s more than capable of holding his own.

However, there is still one thing that’s holding him back from being truly great and that’s his one-sided rivalry with Kai. Despite all of his growth, Shuuhei still isn’t playing for himself. Instead he is playing for Kai and his father. He desperately wants his father to acknowledge him and his abilities, as seen when he worries over his father’s reaction (or lack thereof) of his second stage performance. Then during his performance he is more concerned with whether or not Kai is listening to him play. It’s not about Shuuhei playing for himself; it’s about whether or not he is being recognized for his playing and that somehow cheapens the whole experience for me.

I’ll Bet You Think This Song Is About You

Fans of Shuuhei will absolutely love this episode since there is some great growth from the character. However, he’s still being held back by the same old insecurities that plagued him during the first cour. On the flipside, the music in this episode was perfection. There was a great sampling of Chopin’s works!

I’ll be back next week with another Piano no Mori review, but in the meantime, be sure to check out MANGA.TOKYO’s other amazing Winter 2019 reviews!!

The series is also part of our weekly previews! Check them out for a screenshot gallery and synopsis before the new episode airs.