Piano no Mori: The Perfect World of Kai Season 2

Alternate Titles

Forest of Piano
ピアノの森
The Piano Forest

Synopsis

Piano no Mori is the story of two boys from different upbringings brought together through a shared love for the piano and dream to become the best pianist in Japan. Set in a rural town, Shuhei Amamiya is a transfer student from Tokyo whose father is a famous pianist and Kai Ichinose is poor and fatherless, but raised by his loving mother Reiko who is a prostitute and gave birth to him at the age of 15. While Shuhei has a lesson room with a grand piano in his house, Kai plays a broken piano in the forest which mysteriously only works for him.

Background

Piano no Mori began as a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Isshiki that was serialized by Kodansha from 1998 to 2015, first in Young Magazine Uppers from 1998 to 2004 and then in Weekly Morning from 2004. The series ended after 26 collected volumes. The manga is published in English by Kodansha Comics.

In 2007, the series was adapted into an animated feature film produced by Madhouse and directed by Masayuki Kojima with performances by renowned pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.

The first season of the TV anime adaptation was produced by Gaina with Gaku Nakatani and Ryutaro Suzuki directing, Aki Itami and Mika Abe writing the scripts, Sumie Kinoshita handling the character designs, and Harumi Fuki composing the music. The first season aired from April to July 2018 and lasted 12 episodes. The second season of the anime, also being produced by Gaina, sees Hiroyuki Yamada taking over as director with many of the same staff from season 1 returning. The anime will premiere on Jan. 29, 2019. Netflix has acquired exclusive streaming rights for the series worldwide.

Characters

Kai Ichinose (Japanese: Soma Saito, Ryoko Shiraishi (young) / English: Johnny Yong Bosch)

The son of a prostitute, Kai is able to remember any piano piece he hears and be able to play it perfectly by ear.

Shuhei Amamiya (Japanese: Natsuki Hanae, Yo Taichi (young) / English: Griffin Burns)

A transfer student from Tokyo, Shuhei quickly becomes friends with Kai over their love of the piano.

Sosuke Ajino (Japanese: Junichi Suwabe / English: Kyle McCarley)

Kai and Shuhei’s music teacher, Sosuke was a famous pianist in his youth who won several awards, however his career is cut short after an accident that injured his left hand and killed his fiance. After discovering his talent, he becomes Kai’s coach.

Takako Maruyama (Japanese: Aoi Yuki / English: Cristina Vee)

A participant at the regional piano competition who was inspired by Kai to become a better pianist.

Reiko Ichinose (Japanese: Maaya Sakamoto)

Kai’s mother. She is a single mom trying her best to raise Kai.

Namie Amamiya (Japanese: Mariya Miyake / English: Julie Ann Taylor)

Shuhei’s mother.

Yoichiro Amamiya (Japanese: Hideyuki Tanaka)

Shuhei’s father. He is a famous pianist.

Wei Pang (Japanese: Yuichi Nakamura)

A participant in the Chopin competition. He is an international piano contest winner from China and a favorite in the Chopin Contest.

Lech Szymanowski (Japanese: KENN)

A participant in the Chopin competition from Poland. His father Dimitri is a famous pianist. He entered the Chopin Contest to meet his father’s expectations.

Sophie Ormesson (Japanese: Mariya Ise)

A participant in the Chopin competition from France.

Karol Adamski (Japanese: Katsuyuki Konishi)

A participant in the Chopin competition from Poland. He has been a popular pianist since his youth.

Kosei Hirata (Japanese: Toshiyuki Toyonaga)

A participant in the Chopin competition. He is a Japanese pianist studying abroad in Poland with the hope of becoming the youngest competition winner.

Takeshi Saga (Japanese: Koji Yusa)

A judge in the regional piano competition.

Kotaro Shiba (Japanese: Hiroshi Yanaka)