Naruse Uta is a "unique" 13 year old child. She possessed the talent to read sheet music even before she could speak, but has now come to the point where she hates playing the piano. Her father was also a piano virtuoso, but mysteriously disappeared from her life at a young age. Because of her father's disappearance Uta's mother had to move out of their posh home and into a far modest working class neighborhood. In this working class neighborhood there is a local grocer. The grocer's son Kikuna Oto happens to be a budding musician, but lacks the drive to truly succeed. That is until Uta Naruse comes into his life...
Acting
Riko Narumi's brittle, furious prodigy—terrifying and heartbreaking.
Direction
Hagiuda lets silence and Chopin do the screaming.
Score
Piano pieces that actually matter to the plot, not just wallpaper.
Director
Koji Hagiuda
Riko Narumi
Uta Naruse
Kenichi Matsuyama
Oto Kikuna
Satomi Tezuka
Mika Naruse
Masahiro Komoto
Kazuo Nagazaki
Hidetoshi Nishijima
Koichiro Naruse
Shihori Kanjiya
Kane Kamogawa
Kazuyoshi Kushida
Professor Mikoshiba
Kazuyuki Asano
Professor Komiyama
Midoriko Kimura
Masako Kikuna
Tamae Ando
Kikuko Mishima
Elisa Yanagi
High School Student
Kento Kaku
Akiko Aitsuki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Reflects Japan's intense 'exam hell' pressure on child musicians, where prodigy status can crush as easily as elevate.
Riko Narumi trained piano for months; Kenichi Matsuyama had to pretend he couldn't play despite being competent.
JP
