Piano No Mori Ending

[Hadi Sapre]

DearDr. Trochimczyk,

I really enjoyed reading you words and felt them very close to my heart. I stumbled upon Piano no Mori one sleepless night, compelled by the name I decided to give it a go. I have never followed anime before, but this story and the gentle way it was presented captured me under its spell, making me almost an addict! I keep watching it over and over again and finding little treasures. As a musician I understand the "drama" around performance, competitions, styles and craft. But most of all, I acknowledge the long, and sometimes painful journey to finding our unique voice, to "play your own piano," touch hearts and souls and allow music to transform the world around us. Because I am not an anime follower, the technicalities did not bother me. I would have preferred to have the same approach to "physical movement" of hands and the gestures of season one, in the second season, to follow and match the score in our heads. Nevertheless, the music, performances and the insightful lessons offered by Mr. Ajino, Kai and the other characters are blissful pearls in an ocean of memories and wisdom. Piano no Mori warms my heart, inspires me to be a better artist, to remember what really matters and to put forward my best effort and express what's deeply within and in need to be shared.

I also loved the way it presented Poland, its landscapes, the people and the memories, the reverence to the land and to an incredible music poet, Chopin.

Thank you for sharing Rilke's poem, for your own Chopin with Cherries and this emotive and appreciative insight into the Series. I love it! It's a balm for darker days and an inspiration for challenging practice times. I appreciate learning that Piano no Mori's has left a deep impression in other pianist as well. I feel accompanied now.

All the best.

Dear Dr. Trochimczyk,

Thank you for your article. I am also a great fan of the uplifting Forest of Piano anime series. The playing, in particular, is really inspiring, but it is not, I have to point out, by Ashkenazy. Although he was the pianist for the film, the anime series has different pianists as the models for the various characters in the story and Competition. The pianist behind Kai's creative interpretations and beautiful sound has never been revealed; rumor has it that he may turn out to be an entrant in this year's Chopin Competition. The other pianists are: Niu Niu (Wei Pang), Juliette Journaux (Sophie Ormesson), Szymon Nehring (Lech Szymanowski), Kyohei Sorita (Sosuke Ajino) and Takagi Ryoma (Shuhei Amamiya). The performances by younger versions of the characters are by "junior" pianists. I thought you'd like to know so that you can follow these fine artists.

All the best.

One follow-up to my comment-- I just learned that two of the Forest of Piano pianists are slated to be in the Chopin Competition this fall. They are Szymon Nehring (Lech Szymanowski) and Kyohei Sorita (Ajino). Hoping against hope for the Kai reveal.

SUNNY is the player character and silent main protagonist in OMORI. SUNNY can be controlled and named by the player during the daytime sections, where FARAWAY TOWN and its areas can be explored.

SUNNY looks like an average teenager. He has straight, black, ear-length hair with a fringe that slightly covers his eyes. He also has arched eyebrows and eyes with the same shade of black, in contrast with his paler skin.

In the present, he wears a white-collared shirt with a black vest over it. He wears beige shorts, white socks, and black shoes. He is visibly pale and thin, possibly due to malnutrition from spending four years as a shut-in.[3]

Throughout both his childhood and the game's events, SUNNY is extremely shy and quiet. He rarely speaks and does not like to smile.[4] However, despite not expressing it as clearly as the others, he still appears to care deeply for his friends, as his most treasured memories in MEMORY LANE and the LOST LIBRARY are of his time spent with them. Multiple characters, such as BASIL and AUBREY, describe SUNNY as a "really good listener" who does not mind listening to them vent.[5][6] HERO also states that SUNNY has a great memory.[7]

SUNNY appears to struggle with issues of self-confidence and self-worth. He perceives himself as weak,[8] worthless,[9] and not "good enough."[10] As the "baby of the group," he often falls back on others to take care of him but feels guilty for this as he does not believe he does anything for his friends in return.[11] While these self-worth issues existed before MARI's death, they drastically worsened afterward to the point where SUNNY may become suicidal in certain endings.

Despite being quiet, SUNNY is angered easily, from minor frustrations like the HOUSEFLIES in OTHERMART to much more significant things like his resentment toward the violin. This building resentment ultimately leads to him throwing his violin down the staircase, causing his and MARI's final argument.

SUNNY has also always had a very vivid imagination. He enjoys toys and video games and tends to get lost in daydreams.[12] However, after MARI's death, these daydreams turned into the full-out escapism of HEADSPACE as he became too afraid to face the truth.

SUNNY was born to unnamed parents on July 20th of an unknown year, being approximately 16 years old during the events of the game. He had an older sister named MARI. He lived in FARAWAY TOWN since he was a child, sharing a room with his older sister.

As neighbors with KEL and HERO, SUNNY and MARI quickly became friends with them. Not too long after, they met AUBREY and BASIL and befriended them as well. BASIL's photo album shows the group being close friends: going to school together, celebrating birthdays, and building a treehouse.

When MARI became very invested in playing piano, SUNNY wanted to take up the violin to play with her. His wish was granted when his friends gathered enough money to buy him a violin for Christmas.[13] The next year, SUNNY and MARI began practicing for an upcoming music recital together. However, SUNNY did not enjoy violin as he thought he would - he grew frustrated with practicing and MARI's perfectionism, wishing he could spend time with his friends instead.[14]

On the day of the recital, SUNNY reached a breaking point with his frustration and threw his violin down the staircase.[15] MARI soon saw the broken violin and began yelling at him. SUNNY was too disoriented to understand why.[10] He tried to leave by going down the staircase, but when MARI blocked his path,[16] he pushed her out of the way, causing MARI to fall down the stairs and land on top of the broken violin.

SUNNY panicked when MARI did not get back up, and after dragging her back to bed so she could "rest," broke down upon realizing that she was dead.[17] BASIL, who had witnessed the tragic event, became distraught at the sight of this as well. Attempting to help SUNNY avoid blame, he guided him to hang MARI's body to a tree outside and stage her death as a suicide.

At some point following MARI's death, SUNNY stopped going to school[18] and began visiting WHITE SPACE through a black-and-white doppelgnger called OMORI. He cut himself off from the outside world and lost contact with his friends, refusing to leave his house at all. With the help of OMORI, SUNNY repressed his memories of the day MARI died and instead lived in the colorful world of HEADSPACE, but the truth still haunted him in the form of SOMETHING. SUNNY lived this way for about three or four years until the game's events took place.[19]

SUNNY wakes up after being forced to leave WHITE SPACE. While attempting to get food from the kitchen, he must conquer his fear of heights to go down the stairs, where he encounters SOMETHING IN THE DARK. During the battle, he remembers how to CALM DOWN and uses it to get past his fear. After microwaving and eating the steak in the fridge, he proceeds to get sick and throw it back up. He then hears HELLMARI knocking at the door and possibly opens the door for her (depending on the player's choice). Having enough of these horrific visions, SUNNY heads back to sleep.

SUNNY wakes up in the morning to the sound of yet another door knocking, this time the person being KEL. This is when SUNNY can choose to ignore him and stay indoors, starting the OMORI ROUTE, or he can open the door for KEL and start going down either the OMORI ROUTE or SUNNY ROUTE.

When deciding to open the door, SUNNY is greeted by an older KEL, who wants to hang out with him before the latter moves away. This allows SUNNY to see his old friends and become more active within his waking life. The day goes on as SUNNY and KEL learn that AUBREY stole BASIL's PHOTO ALBUM, so the two of them have to search where she went off to after a confrontation. Eventually, they find her at the CHURCH and, after a battle, she runs out and returns to her home.

As SUNNY and KEL are walking back, they notice AUBREY throwing something into the garbage; only to find out that it is the PHOTO ALBUM she stole. They soon return the album to BASIL when visiting his house. While some of the photos are missing, the three look through the album and reminisce on the memories they shared all those years ago. When SUNNY is looking around in BASIL'S GRANDMA's room, BASIL enters and gives the PHOTO ALBUM to SUNNY for him to keep.

While eating dinner with POLLY, BASIL, and KEL, KEL reveals to BASIL that SUNNY will be moving away in three days. BASIL excuses himself from the table, and when checked on, SUNNY finds that he is having a panic attack in the bathroom, with SOMETHING visible around him. BASIL comments on SOMETHING being behind SUNNY and questions why SUNNY "looks so scared." When SUNNY tries to leave, BASIL cries out to him, begging him not to leave him again. SUNNY ignores him and returns to his home.

When SUNNY returns home, he begins to hallucinate his house being overrun by spiders and spiderlike creatures. The closet door is also visible for the first time. At the top of the stairs, he encounters SOMETHING IN THE WALLS and remembers how to FOCUS to be able to overcome his fear. He then enters his room and goes back to sleep, returning to HEADSPACE once again.

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