Air Dates: October 3rd to December 26, 2022 Monday nights at 10:30 pm on BS Shochiku
Thirteen 25 minute episodes, subs once again done by GEO9875 at DA
Also known as Pianist in the Shopping District
Main Cast: Usually have to update this section often but don't think that's going to happen in this series. Most of the action will be taking place at the Kajiwara Music Store which is in the shopping district in an unnamed small city.
Kiita Komagine as Ren Sawamoto.... Young man about 22 or so in age who works as an electrician. He still lives with his mother and about ten years ago his father disappeared, how and why will probably be revealed later on in the series. Ren is so talented at the piano but ten years ago stopped playing, when his father left? It seems so as the family piano was sold at that time and it appears Ren has found it at the Kajiwara music store, will finding it spark his interest to start playing again?
Mio Yuki as Modori Kajiwara.... About twenty in age and works at her father's music store, she seems to run the place. Midori isn't all that talented as far as music goes but has a dream to be a painter and wants to attend an art school. No one seems to recognize her talent except for Ren, the pair never met until the first episode.
Hiroto Yoshimitsu as Yosuke Kajiwara.... Midori's father and seems to be nice man, also a big fan of music and thinks that his daughter doesn't have much talent at painting!
An Hasegawa as Moe Kato.... Daughter of the next woman and is ten years old. Moe loves the piano but has to sneak into the Kajiwara store to play their street piano as her mother hates the the instrument and would rather see her daughter studying 100% of the time. Moe is a beginner but does show a lot of talent and her favorite piece is "Fur Elise" by Beethoven.
Maki Kubota as Masae Kato.... Moe's mother who as explained hates the piano and owns a clothing shop near the music store, she says the piano is way too loud which I think is a lie.
Naho Toda as Sakiko Sawamoto.... Ren's mother and to date don't know much about her.
When it comes to dramas I go to the extremes! My favorite shows are more of the edgy, suspenseful action packed series though there hasn't been as many the last few months. Then going to the other extreme my second fave kinds of shows are ones that are extremely slow, such as this one, and in a way a bit boring. Perhaps boring isn't the right word... slow paced?.... as dramas like this one are always so interesting and it's a show where you learn quite a bit about the subject so am looking forward to this series. Have seen many musical dramas over the years and most have been quite good. My top one is "Do You Like Brahms?" from 2019, it was a Korean show which I really enjoyed and would recommend it.
In this series the main instrument is the piano, in 'Brahms' it was the violin. I need to find more actresses to post about and perhaps Mio Yuki could fill the bill! Have heard of her but only recall seeing her in one other show and it wasn't a major part, But she does have the lead female role in this drama playing Midori and you'll be seeing plenty of screenshots of her. Don't know if it'll be possible but will try to have a few posts for her in the future. These episodes are just 24 minutes in length and don't think the recaps will be all that long or at least at first, we mainly met everyone in this first show and let's finally get to this opening recap.
Most first recaps are the longest but think this could be the shortest of the series and may have to pad it a bit to make it a regular sized post. Above in a few screenshots is the main character Ren, as mentioned he's about 22 in age and works as an electrician. Don't know the name of the electrical company where Ren works but there are two other workers about his age, we saw them in one scene but don't think I'll be discussing them too often. This episode began with Ren dashing through the streets to fix a problem at a store in the local shopping district, he's now the main electrician for the district. As he was passing by the Kajiwara Music Store he noticed a piano and that's going to be the whole key to the story. Ren was in a rush so think he soon forgot about it and arrived at the store where the problem was very minor but he did meet someone very important when he finished.
That's Midori who is also above in a few screenshots. She's the daughter of the man who owns the Kajiwara Music Store and wondered if Ren could come and look at their buzzer which isn't working. So for the first time Ren stepped into this music store, the buzzer problem wasn't too major but he would have to return the next day with new parts. But what silently startled Ren was a piano near the store's entrance, Midori told him it was a street piano which meant anyone could come off the street and start playing it. You can see Ren's question above and we saw a brief flashback scene at that moment. It appears that Ren may have been the owner of that piano until his family sold it ten yeas ago, is this truly his old piano(?) and since the family sold it he's never played another note.
Not everyone is impressed with Moe's playing, the one who is infuriated with it is her mother Masae! She owns a nearby clothing shop and often has complained to Midori how people playing the piano has bothered her customers. If you ask me she's full of hot air and at the beginning of this show has forbid Moe from ever entering the music store again to play the piano. Masae thinks her daughter should be in cram school every day and when ever she has free time should be studying. Some of her thoughts are somewhat reasonable but how often does a ten year old fall in love with a piano so if anything she should be encouraging Moe. That next screenshot shows the two men Ren work with at the electrical company. It was the only one I took of the pair as I don't think we'll be seeing all that much of them and didn't even add their names onto the cast list.
When Masae warned her daughter not to visit the Kawajira shop again it was when Ren had been enjoying Moe's playing and think listening to her has stirred up his passion for the instrument. The following day who should appear back at the music store but Moe! She said her mother has signed up to attend an exercise class three days a week, when you look at the woman you know she needs it! So while the mother is at the gym Moe can sneak off to practice her playing which is why she's back at the shop. A slight tragedy did occur as the mother had forgotten something heading to the gym and had to rush back home for it. Naturally she passed by the shop and who should she see sitting at the piano but her daughter Moe, Masae ran into the shop and blew her fuse! While she was berating her daughter Masae kept pounding the top of the piano, that upset Ren to no end and he told the mother to stop doing that as a piano, to him, is a living thing!
To that Masae had a snicker, a piano is a living thing? Ren is a bit of a quiet man and he's one who will rarely say anything bad to someone. He immediately jumped to the piano and began playing some tune which amazed Midori, her father Tadashi along with Moe and her mother. Don't think Ren's playing was perfect but he was simply superb and he hasn't played the instrument for ten years? Before long the shop had attracted some people walking by who were also taken in my Ren's 'expert' playing. Ren was so concentrated on playing he didn't notice the small crowd that had formed, when he did see everyone he grabbed his tool bag and fled the music shop. Ren running from the store ended this episode, was he embarrassed about playing the piano as now he may have to reveal the story of his past? That I'm not 100% sure of but have a feeling that may be the case, haven't viewed the second episode yet as it hasn't aired but that recap will be the next post.
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