"Shotengai no Pianist" drama: Episode two of thirteen recap

 

 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.

Short promo video for episode two

 

 May be difficult to tell by reading these recaps but this is one series I'm really going to enjoy. Can often tell that when it's so hard to wait a week for the next episode! Think every show may have a certain theme song or composer, perhaps both. In the first episode the main song was "Fate" which I think was written by Beethoven, there was some playing of his "Fur Elise" in that first episode. For this show then main song will be "Canon" by the German composer Johann Pachelbel. He lived from 1653 to 1706 and the life spans for people back then was much shorter. Sure you read the first recap so you know the main 'hero' will be the man above, Ren, who is in his young twenties and is an electrician. 

 At one time Ren's biggest passion in life was the piano but he stopped playing ten years ago and from what he's said it appears he hasn't played a note since. His piano days ended when his father left home and his mother sold the piano, Ren hasn't seen his father in ten years but have a feeling we will be before the series ends. In those ten years Ren had rarely thought about the piano but in a strange occurrence had noticed a piano at the Kajiwara Music Store, could it be the one the family owned ten years ago? Have a strong feeling it is and as the last episode ended Ren played the piano for the first time in almost a decade. It appears he didn't lose any of his talent as a crowd formed around him at the music shop, Ren was so wrapped up with playing he didn't notice them until he finished and ran off slightly embarrassed. So that brings us up to the second episode and will this street piano at the Kajiawara shop also have a short life span? That's because a woman in the shopping district named Masae has started  petition to get the piano removed, you can see her above. She has a very strong way about her and it looks like Masae's petition will garner so many signatures. 

 There's a ten year old girl who you'll be seeing in many screenshots for all of these recaps. Her name is Moe and is a beginner at the piano but has quickly learned how to play well and Ren has been giving her some playing hints but refuses, for now, to teach her more often. Moe is the daughter of Masae who for some reason really hates the piano but does soften her thoughts about it at the end. Moe always has to sneak off to the Kajiwara shop to practice as her mother has forbid her to play. Masae says the piano is way too loud, she's said that her customers and other merchants have complained about the noise which was jut a lie. Masae is the only person who has complained and even then her main motive for wanting the piano gone is that she feels Moe should be spending more time studying. Which I think Moe does and only spends three afternoons practicing at the music store, Masae did get a fair amount of people to sign the petition but she kind of forced many of them to sign it.

 Masae brought this petition to the store and gave it to the owner Yosuke who is right above. Masae said half of the local merchants signed it and when will the piano be removed? 'Not so fast' replied Yosuke who said only half of the local shop owners signed the petition, what about the others? In two days he's set up a performance for Ren to play the piano and he's sure whoever signed the petition will change their minds. Haven't talked about his daughter Midori yet who has the second largest role in this drama. Seems she runs the music shop but has a dream to be a painter, she's failed to pass an art school entrance exam but is practicing hard for the next one and she's close to Ren in age. Midori was able to convince Ren to give a performance as only his playing so wonderfully could possibly save the piano!!!! Of course Ren was quite reluctant but after hearing that the piano may have to be removed consented to playing and after not playing a note for ten years will have done so twice in a week.

 It's quickly become Saturday night which is when Ren will be giving his performance, only a small crowd was there as the music shop isn't that large but think many may have been watching from the street. To everyone's surprise Ren announced he wasn't going to perform solo and invited someone from the crowd to join him. That was Moe and earlier in the episode Ren had given her the music to the "Canon" piece by Johann Pachelbel. He told Moe to practice the piece and had given her some advice on how to play this tune. The song wasn't written as a duet but that's how Ren and Moe performed it. Ren hasn't played the piano in almost ten years and you would think someone would have to practice to get back to the level they were once at, that doesn't appear to be the case with Ren.

 So while the performance wasn't perfect the duo of Ren and Moe played superbly. The small crowd gave them a rousing ovation, that is except for Moe's mother Masae. However she did give a small smile to her daughter as she realized how much she loves the piano and also how talented she is. So that may mean in the future Masae won't be against Moe playing at the Kajiwara shop and Ren just may become Moe's 'mentor'. What made the performance an even bigger success was that all but two who signed the petition withdrew their names and the street piano will be remaining at the shop for all to play! So that was a happy ending but luckily not in a mushy way, in that bottom screenshot above is Ren looking at some paintings. They were done by Midori and Ren seems to be the only person who thinks she's talented, her father doesn't and I may have to agree with him. Don't know if romance will ever pop up in this thirteen episode series but Ren and Midori get along so well, have a feeling she's slightly smitten with him at this point. So that ends this post and it's been an excellent beginning to this drama. Will be back in two weeks with the next pair of recaps and here's plenty more screenshots of what took place.