Piano no Mori Episode 17 Review: The Dance of Deliberation

This week’s episode… I am SHOOK! It’s pretty late in the game, but Piano no Mori still has some tricks left up its sleeves. Episode 17 will take your expectations and turn them on their head. So sit back and prepare your heart for one of the most nailbiting episodes of Piano no Mori to date!

Plot

Kai finishes up his second stage performance wowing the crowd with his skill. After hearing all the great and not so great performances, the judges deliberate. But, when scoring bias is discovered, the judges are forced to reconsider the list of participants moving on to the next round of the Chopin Competition.

Episode Highlights

Ajino’s Memories: Since the end of Season 1 Ajino has been used rather sparingly in the second cour with very little screen time and dialogue. However, in this week’s episode we get a bit of insight into Kai’s piano training courtesy of Ajino. At some point in Kai’s childhood, Ajino takes the young prodigy to the ocean (if you’ll remember, ‘kai’ is an alternate reading of ocean) in order to teach him about controlling his energy while playing.

Water, water everywhere: We are treated to a flashback to a trip Kai and Ajino took to the beach and while this isn’t Free! level animation, I will admit that the underwater sequence was beautiful.

Judges’ Deliberation: I don’t think I’ve been this anxious over a final vote since that biased vote in the elementary school piano tournament back in Season 1.

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.

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 Kate Liu in the Third Stage of the Chopin Tournament: YouTube

Comments

I am stunned! Just STUNNED!! I mean, I have to address this… I was never a fan of Shuuhei, I’ll be the very first to admit that, BUT, for him to not advance to the third stage was a huge blow… like a huge blow! I had to rewatch the last few minutes of the episode three times, because the first two I kept screaming ‘Oh, sh*t’ because, despite everything, I never imagined that my fervent pleas for Shuuhei to lose would actually be answered. Yes, I have read the manga, but, I stopped just before the Chopin Tournament, because I wanted my reactions to be genuine… and I am just stunned! This is almost exactly the same as how I felt when the judges snubbed Kai during that Junior Pianist Competition back in Season 1.

Shuuhei is not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, nor was he the worst. He’s a bit raw, still trying to find his way and his sound, and yet, that isn’t why he didn’t make it to the next round… politics were. The Chopin Tournament arc has been plagued by politics since the beginning with some judges wanting to keep the tournament a strictly Polish competition by favoring Polish applicants over foreign ones. But, this… this is where that notion finally came to a head. And then there was another layer to it that the series has been playing around with for awhile now, and that is the culture of the Chopin Tournament and piano competitions in general. Typically these types of venues cater to the rich and affluent, with many of the participants and audience members coming from elite families. The competition isn’t televised and video recording is kept to a minimum, denying access to average folks.

But that doesn’t change the fact that at least two competitors, Wei Pang and Kai, come from normal everyday stock and I think that scares some of the judges. If someone not from their neck of the woods can come in and just win one of the most exclusive tournaments in the world what does that say about piano playing? If non elites can appreciate the beauty of piano, something they have been asserting is a thing of refinement and not meant for mortal ears, then what does that say about their exclusionary tactics?

Another one bites the dust

‘The Dance of Deliberation’ took things to a completely different level, once again playing with our expectations and turning them on their head. The Chopin Tournament is proving to be one of the better tournament arcs I’ve seen in a long time.

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!!

NEXT TIME: Requiem