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Favorite Episode
I like the one where Miu was buying a gift for Yuuki and decides to give her a CD of her favorite song. She hurries to a music store and runs into Takahashi-sempai, who was buying a CD for himself. Miu gets the same CD along with her present and listens to it. Yup, it's mundane like the rest of the anime, but it's one of those things that's just...nice. Definitely something you'd squee over if it happens to you in real life.

Piano
Synopsis | Review

Piano is a slice-of-life anime that has 10 episodes. I watched as far as the seventh, set it aside, and didn't watch it again for four months. After that, I began to wonder how far I've watched it. So I started over. When I watched this anime again, I realized why I've forgotten, and why I stopped watching it when I only had three episodes left. This anime is boring!

I kind of feel bad grouching about this anime, because its characters are very endearing. Miu, the main character, is such a sweet girl. She's one of those really pretty girls who are quiet in class and doesn't stand out much and just does her work. Her hair is quite unusual. It bunches into two groups that frame both sides of her face. The strands in these groups are much longer than the rest of her hair, and they curl considerably. When Miu is directly facing you, her hair looks weird. But her profile is terrific because of the effect.

Synopsis
Nomura Miu is a normal girl. She's quiet and shy. She has one best friend, Yuuki. In comparison, Yuuki is energetic. Yuuki is also much more outspoken and successfully confesses to her crush early in the series, getting herself a hot boyfriend. Miu, on the other hand, is content to watch her crush, Takahashi-sempai, from afar. Although her crush is also on the track team like Yuuki and her boyfriend, and is good friends with Yuuki's boyfriend, Miu is still too shy to make a move. Any threat of her affections getting discovered stresses her greatly.

After school, Miu goes to piano lessons. Her instructor, Shirakawa-sensei, is a total curmudgeon and often makes his students cry. He's very blunt with Miu, but he's easier on her than others. One day, Miu misplaced her music and showed up to lessons without them. Shirakawa instructed her to just play whatever, and Miu played a tune that she has been composing herself. This took Shirakawa-sensei by surprise. Even though he was impressed, he didn't make a big deal out of it, until the piano school recitals came. He then asked Miu to represent his class and play the song that she's been composing. Miu, due to a lot of other events that shook her shy self, decided to go for it.

Preparing for the recital stressed her greatly, and she learned more about herself and about the people around her. At one point, she decided that she could not complete her song and that she should just quit piano altogether. At the last minute, however, she pulled through and performed at her recital. Presumably, she's successful, because the series ends at her recital.

In-between these major events, there were little dramas between Miu's parents, her sister Akiko coming home and sorting out her feelings about her career, the development of Yuuki's little romance, and the development of Miu's friendship with her Takahashi-sempai. At the end, Miu came out of her shell a little bit. Not a lot, but just a bit.

Review
This anime sounds more exciting than it actually is. It's really very boring. I keep forgetting that I'm watching it and go do something else.

One Piano reviewer called this anime bland, and I have to agree. There's nothing unpleasant about it, but there's nothing exciting about it either. Perhaps the most unpleasant thing there is the cat. It's just not...a cute and lovable kitty. It just...is.

Perhaps Piano portrays real life a little too well. I already have more than enough real life from real life, dammit. Gimme an escape from reality! There's some buildup in the end, when Miu decides to give up piano. Oi, drama galore with Yuuki all furious and crying and Shirakawa-sensei showing some emotion for the first time. But of course, that's only... a pebble thrown in a very, very, very still lake. It's just a mild disturbance before everything is... bland again. There's even no confession from Takahashi-sempai (or Miu, even). Darn.

There are some eyecandy in this anime. Shirakawa-sensei is hot. There's some hint of past romance between him and Akiko and potential for them to hook up in the future. Of course, you don't see any of it in this series. Piano is squeaky clean. It's so clean that you could watch it with your grandma. I think. Unless your grandma is scandalized at the thought of infatuation. But then if she became a grandma, you'll have to admit that she knows about the ways of the world.

But I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, eyecandy. Yuuki's boyfriend is hot too. Takahashi-sempai isn't hot. He's actually pretty unremarkable, both in looks and character. Miu is very cute. She's the type of person who just gets cuter the more you look at her.

Anyway, I really want to love this anime. But considering I couldn't remember a single thing about this anime until I watched everything again, it's safe to say that it's...forgettable. There. I said it. I'm sorry, Miu!