"Shotengai no Pianist" drama: Episode ten 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? Yes it did and even after not playing for ten years Ren is still a master.

 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. But she has softened her views about the piano as the series has gone on and really encourages Moe these days to play it.

 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 tenth episode

Previous recaps:

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

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

 

 Mozart was once again the featured composer in this episode, we did hear a pair of his compositions but couldn't tell you the title of either. But the main song in this story has been "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" which plays a key part in the predictable ending. The owner of the Kajiwara Music Shop is the older man above Yosuke though his 21 year old daughter Midori seems to run the shop. At the end of the last episode Yosuke had told Ren that he knew the piano was at one time his the first time he heard Ren play it. Yosuke had kept his mouth shut about that fact all that time and don't know why, also figured Midori knew about Ren's family owning it but she didn't know until this episode. Yosuke does know Ren's father a bit whose name is Tadashi, he left the household a decade earlier telling Ren's mother Sakiko he would return in ten years and that deadline is fast approaching.

 Yosuke knew Tadashi as both had gone to the same university though drifted apart after that. Six months ago Ren's father had called Yosuke when he learned he was in possession of the family piano and begged him not to sell, Yosuke had kept his promise. Tadashi had sold the piano ten years earlier to a music professor named Nagasaki who taught at the college both he and Yosuke attended. Tadashi sold it to raise money as his company was heavily in debt, shortly after is when he left the household and Ren was unaware of any of those facts. Nagasaki is the father of the woman we met in the last show who wants the piano back, her name is Kyoko Ishikawa. She had inherited the piano from her father when he passed away, she gave it to her ten year old daughter Yuka who loved playing it. However the girl died six months ago and Kyoko sold it but is regretting her decision. In the last show she begged Ren to let her buy it from the shop, above you can see he finally relented.

 Ren met up once again with Kyoko privately and he told her how much the piano means to the neighborhood. It's helped so many lives out such as Yuki and Mayumi in previous stories, also the ten year old girl Moe who just loves the instrument. But Ren will agree to let Kyoko buy it back from Yosuke on two conditions, the first being that he and others be allowed to play the piano until it's departure day which she naturally said yes to. Ren's other condition was that he hear Kyoko play as he never has and she's given up the piano after her daughter Yuka was killed in an auto accident. That request was much tougher as Kyoko said she didn't think she could ever play in front of an audience again but Ren said she doesn't have to, just in front of him is fine but we never did hear her answer. So Ren has kept up his playing at the Kajiwara Music Shop and the crowds stopping to watch him play has really increased.

 In that bottom screenshot above Kyoko did visit the shop while Ren was playing and hadn't realized what a superb player he was. Kyoko also noticed the crowd there and how Ren's playing has brought such joy to the community, right about now began to wonder will Kyoko change her mind about buying the piano back? No dates have been given but the the fateful day when the piano will be removed is rapidly approaching, it'll be on a Sunday. So the day before, which is the next screenshot, you can see what Midori had asked Ren. That's if when the piano is gone will he still come and visit the music shop? To that he answered yes and while it's never been part of the storyline the two really do like each other plus Ren is the only person to appreciate Midori's (non) artistic talents, she did a painting of him above.

 Not a true Doomsday but it is one at the Kajiwara Music Store as it's Sunday and that's when their cherished street piano will be returned to Kyoko. There was a final performance which was well attended, first off Ren played a Mozart piece so superbly and has he made a mistake in not taking up the piano full time? Next up Moe played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", it's a simple tune but it's more complicated than it sounds. Kyoko was watching this and it brought a tear to her eye, that's when it became obvious what the outcome of this show would be. Ren and Moe then did a short duet which at the time they thought would be the final piece they would ever perform on the piano. Kyoko kept her word to Ren and did play even though there was an audience there, Ren is so magnificent at the piano but Kyoko showed why she's a Master.

 After her performance Kyoko dropped a bombshell and said the shop could keep the street piano! She manly wanted it as a memento or keepsake of her daughter Yuka, when Kyoko saw how much the crowd enjoyed the playing of Ren and Moe she knew her daughter would want the piano to stay where it was. That joyous news brought us to this episode's ending and while all have been happy ones none have gone overboard with the sappiness. There's three shows to go, will have the recaps for all of them at once which should be in three weeks. Biggest question now remaining is will Ren be reunited with his father after not seeing him for ten years?