This was obviously going to be a dangerous episode for Piano no Mori, what with the entire focus being on Kai’s playing.  In truth “dangerous” isn’t even the right word, because it was a given that it was going to be an exercise in excess (as indeed it was).  Hero-worship is not a good look for a narrative – writing needs to be objective about its own characters and once it loses that, it’s like trying to drive down the freeway with the handbrake fully applied.

In truth it’s even worse than that, because Piano no Mori has two characters it looks at with rose-colored glasses, not one.  The forest unites the storylines of Kai and Ajino, and this episode plays up that metaphor to the hilt.  The basic premise is fine, but the series just seems to lose all capacity for restraint where these two are concerned.  If I’m grateful for anything it’s that at least Kai’s performance wasn’t saved for last, as that would have been too much dramatic license to take (as if a blackout in the middle of Kai’s performance weren’t enough).

That leaves us, really, with just the actual performances of Kai and Pang Wei to consider.  Whether it’s more interesting to have them play the same piece or to have had Pang stick to his original plan to play the #2 is debatable – I actually wonder if the conductor and orchestra in the Chopin Competition don’t get burned out on performing the same piece over and over (as I do listening to it).  And it’s not as if the #1 is an especially subtle or profound composition – it’s pretty superficial and somewhat inelegant (in stark contrast to so much of Chopin’s solo piano composition).

Perhaps that’s actually better, I don’t know – with a mediocre piece to perform, it’s really on the performer to inject “specialness” into it.  Pang’s performance did that, I thought, and Kai’s does too – which version one prefers is a matter of personal taste I suppose.  I think Kai’s rendition is a sort of classic virtuoso take – flashy, showy, ingratiating in the second movement (where the forest symbolism is really played up to death).  It’s the performance of a young pianist totally confident in his ability and eager to show the world how he thinks it should be – which is certainly fitting, because that’s actually what Kai is.  Pang’s take had just a bit more regret to it, restraint where it was needed – that’s why I prefer it, though Kai’s bombast may be better suited to the nature of the composition.

What’s going to be interesting is whether Lech delivers up anything that seems on a level designed to make us take him seriously as a competitor, and not just an outsider ready to steal the trophy based on favoritism.  The fact that he’s going last makes he think that Lech is either going to win or his performance is going to be a complete disaster, the latter option seemingly unlikely given how much his backstory has been played up.  Kai is really a winner here, whatever happens – he has less vested in actually winning the competition than either Pang or Lech (and none of the other finalists is even worthy of consideration based on screen time).