Maybe it wasn’t always this way, but it’s gotten to the point for me as an anime blogger where routine is everything.  That’s a major reason the whole Netflix model doesn’t work for me (I haven’t finished any of their shows this year, and I liked all three well enough).  And it’s made it incredibly easy to lose track of Piano no Mori.  It’s not like this series is a masterpiece of anything, but I like it a lot – but the subbed releases have been so irregular that I tend to forget it exists until something reminds me.

We’ve reached the meat of the series now, too, with the Chopin Competition heating up.  Gainax may be saving money with CGI piano playing (if a bear plays the piano in this show, I’m dropping it) but I give them kudos for getting a European – I might even think Polish from the accent, but certainly Central or Eastern Europe – to play the master of ceremonies.  That adds a nice touch of realism to events, which is important in a show like this.  As for the players themselves, the first we meet is Sophie Ormesson (Ise Mariya, who really is quite versatile), a French pianist and model who has a major wardrobe malfunction during her very first piece.  She handles it with aplomb, but it brings out the beast in a gossip reporter who’s come to the cover the event for some reason.

With 30 of the 80 qualifiers set to make it to the finals, I think it’s a safe bet every one we individually focus on here will advance.  That certainly includes Pang Wei (Nakamura Yuuichi), a Chinese 21 year-old who’s being set up as the series’ first real heavy.  He loathes Japanese in general and Shuuhei in specific, and isn’t afraid to make that fact known.  Wei has also adapted the style of Ajino-sensei, which is a considerable shock to Kai when he hears it.  But Wei’s Chopin is darker and colder than Ajino’s was – not mimicry as Shuuhei initially believes, but his own style.

Also of note here is Karol Adamski (Konishi Katsuyuki), the hometown favorite in the Chopin Competition.  The notion that Polish pianists get favorable treatment from the judges has been around for as long as the Chopin has been a prestigious event – some believe it, some don’t.  In any case Adamski is also a major star in Poland, and as such perhaps an unusual fit for a competition such as this.  Apparently he has the chops to back it up, though it seems as if Wei Pang’s playing is the true threat to Kai and Shuuhei in this competition.

One thing I thought was kind of interesting is that Shuuhei, despite being Japanese, chose to play the Steinway while Sophie close to play the Yamaha.  Nothing unusual there I suppose – not everyone loves even the Hamburg Steinway sound, though, and Japan makes some wonderful pianos (many feel the Shigeru Kawai is even better than the top of the line Yamahas).  As a bit of a piano otaku, I’ll be very curious to see if we get a Bechstein or a Bosendorfer for good measure, too…