Piano no Mori

Piano no Mori: The Perfect World of Kai

Cover of the first volume of Piano no Mori: The Perfect World of Kai as published by Kodansha
ピアノの森 -The perfect world of KAI-
Genre Drama
Manga
Written by Makoto Isshiki
Published by Kodansha
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Young Magazine Uppers
Weekly Morning
Original run 1998 – ongoing
Volumes 25
Anime film
Directed by Masayuki Kojima
Written by Ryuta Hourai
Music by Keisuke Shinohara
Studio Madhouse
Released July 21, 2007
Runtime 101 minutes

Piano no Mori: The Perfect World of Kai (ピアノの森 – The perfect world of KAI, lit. "Piano's Forest") is an ongoing manga by Makoto Isshiki, about Shuhei Amamiya, who transfers to Moriwaki Elementary filled with hope and ambition about his new life. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest, leading to his meeting an enigmatic child that goes by the name of Kai Ichinose, who seems to be the only one capable of getting sound out of the thought-to-be broken piano. His ability earns him the respect of Shuhei and his music teacher, former master pianist Sosuke Ajino. At first Kai is resistant to refining his art but after hearing Sosuke play a Chopin piece he just can't seem to play by himself, he relents.

It has been serialized by Kodansha since 1998, initially in Young Magazine Uppers before transferring to Weekly Morning. Serialization is irregular, and went on hiatus in 2002 before resuming in 2006. The serial chapters have been collected in 25 bound volumes to date.

The series was adapted as a 2007 Japanese animated feature film by director Masayuki Kojima and production company Madhouse. The film featured performances by the renowned pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Madhouse Studios and the producers of the Piano no Mori movie (opening July 21 in Japan) have announced that Aya Ueto, best known for starring in the live-action versions of Azumi and Aim for the Ace!, will headline as Kai Ichinose in this adaptation of Makoto Isshiki's manga. Ryunosuke Kamiki (Spirited Away's Boh, Howl's Moving Castle's Markl) will play Kai's friend and piano-playing rival, Shuhei Amamiya. Mayuko Fukuda (live-action Grave of the Fireflies' Hana) will play the heroine Takako Maruyama, and Hiroyuki Miyasako (Casshern live-action, Kamikaze Girls) will play the mentor Sōsuke Ajino.

Development

Makoto Isshiki was inspired to write Piano no Mori when he watched a documentary showing Stanislav Bunin winning the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in 1985.[1]

Media

The series is licensed by Sharp Point Press in Taiwan.[2]

Manga

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBN
01 August 6, 1999[3]ISBN 978-4-06-346030-8
02 August 6, 1999[4]ISBN 978-4-06-346031-5
03 October 8, 1999[5]ISBN 978-4-06-346040-7
04 April 7, 2000[6]ISBN 978-4-06-346056-8
05 August 7, 2000[7]ISBN 978-4-06-346067-4
06 March 7, 2001[8]ISBN 978-4-06-346097-1
07 September 7, 2001[9]ISBN 978-4-06-346118-3
08 May 17, 2002[10]ISBN 978-4-06-346142-8
09 November 8, 2002[11]ISBN 978-4-06-346169-5
10 July 22, 2005[12]ISBN 978-4-06-372449-3
11 December 22, 2005[13]ISBN 978-4-06-372483-7
12 April 21, 2006[14]ISBN 978-4-06-372509-4
13 December 22, 2006[15]ISBN 978-4-06-372554-4
14 June 22, 2007ISBN 978-4-06-372610-7 (normal ed.)[16]
ISBN 978-4-06-364699-3 (limited ed.)[17]
15 May 23, 2008ISBN 978-4-06-372675-6 (normal ed.)[18]
ISBN 978-4-06-362113-6 (limited ed.)[19]
16 August 21, 2009[20]ISBN 978-4-06-372752-4
17 March 23, 2010[21]ISBN 978-4-06-372881-1
18 July 23, 2010[22]ISBN 978-4-06-372917-7
19 November 22, 2010[23]ISBN 978-4-06-372917-7
20 September 23, 2011[24]ISBN 978-4-06-372980-1
21 November 22, 2011[25]ISBN 978-4-06-387022-0
22 August 23, 2012[26]ISBN 978-4-06-387099-2
23 May 23, 2013[27]ISBN 978-4-06-387117-3
24 May 23, 2014[28]ISBN 978-4-06-388324-4
25 October 23, 2014[29]ISBN 978-4-06-388389-3

Reception

Piano no Mori received the Grand Prize for best manga at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2008.[30]

The movie adaptation debuted in 9th place at the Japanese box office the week it came out, unusually high for a non-franchise animated film.[31] By the end of the year, it had grossed the equivalent of $1,555,297, ranking 119 on the overall yearly box office chart for Japan.[32] In South Korea, the film played for 50 weeks and grossed the equivalent of $182,884.[33] The film was nominated for the 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "2008 Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Division Grand Prize PIANO NO MORI". Japan Media Arts Festival. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ 琴之森(01) (in Chinese). Sharp Point Press. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  3. ↑ ピアノの森 (1) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  4. ↑ ピアノの森 (2) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  5. ↑ ピアノの森 (3) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  6. ↑ ピアノの森 (4) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  7. ↑ ピアノの森 (5) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  8. ↑ ピアノの森 (6) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  9. ↑ ピアノの森 (7) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  10. ↑ ピアノの森 (8) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  11. ↑ ピアノの森 (9) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  12. ↑ ピアノの森 (10) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  13. ↑ ピアノの森 (11) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  14. ↑ ピアノの森 (12) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  15. ↑ ピアノの森 (13) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  16. ↑ ピアノの森 (14) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  17. ↑ ピアノの森 限定版 (14) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  18. ↑ ピアノの森 (15) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  19. ↑ ピアノの森 限定版 (15) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  20. ↑ ピアノの森 (16) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  21. ↑ ピアノの森 (17) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  22. ↑ ピアノの森 (18) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  23. ↑ ピアノの森 (19) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
  24. ↑ ピアノの森 (20) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  25. ↑ ピアノの森 (21) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  26. ↑ ピアノの森 (22) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  27. ↑ ピアノの森 (23) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  28. ↑ ピアノの森 (24) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  29. ↑ ピアノの森 (25) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Award winning works – Piano no Mori". Japan Media Art Plaza. 10 December 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  31. ↑ "Japanese Box Office, July 21–22: Piano no Mori at #9". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  32. ↑ "2007 Japan Yearly Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  33. ↑ "South Korea Box Office: October 9–11, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  34. ↑ "Japan Academy Prize (2008)" (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2010.

External links