"Shotengai no Pianist" drama: Episode nine 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? That it did and Ren hasn't lost a beat as he's as good as ever.

 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. She has softened her views about the piano and now really encourages Moe to play.

 Naho Toda as Sakiko Sawamoto.... Ren's mother and to date don't know much about her but seems she's been secretly communicating with Ren's father all these years.

Short promo video for the ninth episode

Previous recaps:

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four 

Episode five .... Episode six .... Episode seven .... Episode eight

 Slightly late on publishing this as I was waiting to see if the tenth episode was part two of this story, viewed this well over a week ago so hope I don't forget too much. EDIT: Wrote this up four day ago and for a change my prediction was correct as this story continued on into the next episode and the following post has the recap. So after this pair of posts there's three more episodes to go, will have them all at once so they'll be done in three weeks or at the end of the year. So will have my hands a bit free as I would write them all up at once. There's a movie series called "Death Forest" that began in 2014 and had five films. It was a low budget horror series and I much prefer B-movies so my goal is to review at least the first two films this month.

 Every story features a famous composer from the past and usually their most noted song. As you can see in the first screenshot Mozart is the featured composer and his song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" though think he has more noted songs. Rumor has it the lyrics were added in after his death, he composed many things but died early at the age of 35 in 1791. At the conclusion of the last episode the above woman made an appearance at the Kajiwara Music Shop, she took one look at the street piano and told Midori.... 'I want that piano back!'. Am writing this up before viewing the next episode, fairly sure this story will continue on into the tenth episode though not 100% positive. This street piano has had an interesting career(!), let's look at it's timeline. 

 Ren's family did own the piano ten years ago but it was sold by his mother Sakiko when his father moved out of the house. Ren discovered it two or so months ago at the shop and has resumed playing after a ten year gap. That piano originally was sold to a different music shop where it was purchased by an older man named Nagasaki who stored it in his warehouse. It was found by his daughter after his death who brought it home with her. This woman eventually sold it to a vendor six months ago, shortly after that the Kajiwara Music Shop bought it and it's certainly done some travelling! That woman above who claims its her piano is the daughter of Nagasaki, her name is Kyoko but her last name is now Ishikawa. Neither Midori nor her father Yosuke knew who this woman was but the ten year old girl who plays the piano often at the shop does. The girl's name is Moe and said Kyoko is a semi-popular pianist in Japan but has slowed down on her playing the last six months. Moe had met this woman a year ago when she visited Moe's school and gave her tips on how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

 While Kyoko was in the shop Midori had called Ren about the piano, he rushed right over. But Ren didn't utter a word while listening to Kyoko's story and sat quietly in the corner where he may have been thinking of a plan for the shop to keep it. The owner of the shop Yosuke has no intentions of selling it even after listening to Kyoko's story, the piano is so popular that it's become the 'landmark' of the shop. Kyoko's story was that after her father died she brought the piano home so her own daughter Yuka could use it, she was about 10-12 in age. Six months ago Kyoko sold the piano and didn't tell Yosuke why, since then Kyoko has regretted her decision and more than anything wants it back for her daughter. But after she left the shop Moe did some checking and found out that Kyoko's daughter had died six months ago in an auto accident, why would she want the piano back?

 Of course not to play it but the piano would be a 'shrine' to Yuka who loved to play it, when Ren heard the news he soon asked Kyoko out for a private conversation which is above. Kyoko told Ren the entire story of the piano and how it had been neglected in her father's warehouse. Like too many parents Kyoko is blaming herself for her daughter's death, Yuka was hit by a car one afternoon when going home from school. At the time Kyoko was playing a concert in Yokohama, if she hadn't then Yuka may still be alive! Ren is a quiet man but when he speaks his words are usually right on the money. He was able to convince Kyoko it wasn't her fault for what took place and needs to return to the way she had been living, since the accident Kyoko has put her piano playing on hold. Ren also told her his story about the piano and there was really no conclusion to this scene, will Kyoko stop trying to get the piano back?

 So because of how that scene ended began to wonder if what I thought was a two episode story will just be in this one show? That I'll find out once the tenth episode is subbed, will this just be another stand alone recap? Meanwhile there is a minor storyline going on which has to deal with Ren's father who left the household a decade ago but said he would be back in ten years, that's why I'm thinking the series will end with the family all being reunited or at least Ren seeing his father again. Ren's mother has been getting some calls which she had been blocking, mainly in case if Ren answered the phone. His mother finally confessed about the calls which she said were about his father but the calls were from a person who knew him and his current activities. 

 Personally think the mother Sakiko has been talking with her ex-husband and we'll see how that sub-story works out. In the final scene the music store owner asked Ren if the street piano truly was his, thought Yosuke and his daughter Midori knew it was. Ren did admit his mother sold it ten years ago and Yosuke said he knew it had been Ren's the first time he listened to him play. Not sure what that scene was supposed to be about but will that be the first step in Ren getting the piano for himself though he doesn't appear too interested in bringing it home. **** Just viewed the next episode and what that final scene was about will be explained, that's the following post.