Sixteen months after Kusakabe-sensei first took charge of our concert band,
we made it through the district and prefectural qualifiers
Congratulations Concert Band
for Reaching the Category B Tokai Regionals
and progressed to the Tokai competition, the final stage of the Category B All-Japans.
Don't get sentimental yet, Chika-chan.
We still have Tokai.
Yeah.
Thank you, Serizawa-san.
For what?
For cheering us on through both the district and prefectural qualifiers.
I was just worried my good-for-nothing student would fail.
Why don't you just take the stage with us?
Give it a rest!
Tell me how you really feel, Nao-chan!
You can kiss my private lessons goodbye!
Wait, I take that back!
I'm sorry, Serizawa-sensei!
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BLOSSOM
THE VALLEY OF EDEN
What, you want to join?
I'm only here because Homura-san asked me to listen to the whole band rehearse.
Idle hands are just what I need right now.
Come here a sec.
Kusakabe-sensei said he'd be a bit late...
Some of the first-years are having trouble syncing up, so she's playing the piece for them.
This piano's out of tune.
Is it?
See?
Sure you're not just nitpicking?
Listening to an accurate rendition is the fastest way to get better.
Whatever. We'll get Sensei to fix it.
You're still relying on him for everything?
We're not relying on him.
We're sucking him dry.
You piece of trash.
Say what?
Calm down, both of you.
I didn't know high schoolers these days were so finicky.
A sharp pianist would be able to wring some great notes out of that keyboard, you know.
And who might you be?
Then you do it.
Cheeky brat.
Shall we have a duel, then?
If I win, buy me something to eat.
I haven't had a thing all day.
I don't know who you are, but we have to practise—
And what if I win?
I'll tune that piano for free.
You're on.
If I lose, my friend Homura-san will buy you a jam bun or something.
She called me her friend...
Wait, I'm paying?!
Wow.
She's playing while avoiding the keys that are out of tune.
Oh, she plays the melodica?
She's taking her on with that?
So she never intended to face her fair and square?
She's just as childish as Serizawa-san.
She's so good...
Ah...
That sounded totally different from the pianicas we're used to.
This is a clavietta made in Italy in the 1960s.
It's a bit peculiar for a reed instrument.
She hates loneliness.
So she creates music that you can't forget once you listen to it.
I'd like to know your name, if you don't mind.
Yamanobe Keyboards
It's Yamanobe.
Yamanobe Keyboards
Mail-order melodicas?
Yamanobe Keyboards
Could you be...
You're Snufskin, a lover of true freedom and music, aren't you?
Take me to Moominvalley with you!
There, there.
We've got practice now.
You could declare you won, but you won't, huh?
I'll take back what I said earlier about your being a cheeky brat.
Makoto!
I've been waiting in the staff room ever since you said out of the blue that you were coming.
Please.
You're the one who wanted to see me, Shinjirou.
I wasn't expecting you to show up on my doorstep at school today.
So, what do you want?
I can't talk about it here.
I'll wait until you're done with rehearsal, then.
But first...
Homura-san, one bun, stat!
Please wait just five minutes before starting rehearsal!
W-Wait, Chika-chan!
I'll go with you!
What's wrong, Haruta?
My heart has been torn to shreds.
They're on a first-name basis. Just what is their relationship?
That's what I'd like to know too.
Go by yourself, Chika-chan.
I'll calm myself down here.
What did you even come with me for?
Your conducting style sure has changed, Shinjirou!
Come on!
Okay, okay.
Yamanobe Makoto.
If my memory serves, Kusakabe-sensei's teacher was named Yamanobe Fujihiko.
Yamanobe...
He's deceased now, but he used to be a flutist and a famous conductor.
He had a granddaughter who was called a piano virtuoso.
Could that be her?
I don't know or care if she's the granddaughter of Sensei's teacher.
I'll expose that vixen's true colours!
W-Wait, Haruta!
The reception area and principal's office were originally one room, so the wall is thin.
Principal's Office
And today's Saturday, which means the principal isn't here.
It's locked?
But I don't have time for this! Sensei's in danger!
Should we get the keys from the staff room?
Do you really think they'd give us the key to the principal's office?
Hello? Kamijou here.
I have a favour to ask.
There is no lock in this world we cannot open.
But of course.
Principal's Office
Who are those criminals?
The Hagimoto brothers, of the inventor club.
Thank you!
Graham Bell must be smiling down on you from heaven!
As if!
It's only a matter of time before the Yamanobe family goes bankrupt.
You reap what you sow.
It's all my father's fault for recklessly dabbling in real estate.
Yamanobe-sensei's beloved Bösendorfer imperial model was found at his German villa.
Your father is trying to auction it off.
A Bösendorfer imperial model?
To think that the piano was at the villa in Germany...
Impala?
I guess at least it wasn't here in Japan, what with the humidity and all.
Imperial. Means "majestic".
It's at your parents' house now.
The emperor of pianos.
It's a 1912-make 97-key imperial model.
Designed by architect Josef Hoffman,
it has an ivory keyboard, which is extremely rare nowadays.
If auctioned off, it could probably fetch upwards of twenty million yen.
Twenty million?!
They can do what they want.
I've been disowned by my parents,
so I couldn't care less.
There's just one problem.
That's why your father contacted you through me.
What?
They found the Bösendorfer, but not its key.
If they had to replace the lock, it would lose millions in value.
So that's what this is about.
How ridiculous.
Yamanobe-sensei wrote in his will that he told the key's whereabouts to you and you alone.
What? I have no idea where it is!
He left you the clavietta.
I've disassembled it plenty of times. There was no key inside.
Well, that's a problem.
Giving me trouble until the very end...
It's just like Grandpa to write such a selfish will.
Yamanobe-sensei made too many enemies due to his honesty,
and you were his only ally.
But...
You were the only one he allowed to touch that Bösendorfer.
Makoto?
I was always left with the thankless tasks.
How many times do you think I had to apologise in his stead?!
Overdue pay, lawsuits from his students...
Even when Grandma left him!
He made me say all the things that were too hard for him!
I understand what you went through.
Excuse me? You're one to talk!
Your disappearance is the worst one on my list!
How could you walk away from conducting the Berliner Symphoniker without any explanation?!
Grandpa refused to apologise even then,
so I had to kowtow to everyone involved.
I'd taken such good care of my fingers so I could play the piano,
but I had to stick them in the ground over and over.
I'm really sorry about that.
There you go again, apologising without actually saying anything.
Whatever.
I'm sick of all these tongue-tied people.
We shouldn't have listened to that.
He walked away from conducting the Berliner Symphoniker and disappeared.
Call for you, Kusakabe-sensei.
I'm busy with a guest right now.
Go.
I want some alone time to think.
All right.
BLOSSOM
Tell me your names.
Serizawa.
Yamada.
Tanaka.
They're Kamijou-kun and Homura-san.
Ah, from the concert band?
I'm not.
I'd realised partway that someone was eavesdropping on that conversation.
Guess we can add trespassing to the charges too.
A-Are we going to be arrested?!
I'm kidding. I'll keep this just between us.
You talked about Sensei, fully aware that we were listening?
Shinjirou hasn't told you anything, right?
Why play the melodica when you've had such an elite music upbringing?
You're Serizawa Naoko, yes?
Come with me. I'll show you.
Melodicas are delicate instruments that adapt to your breathing and fingering,
which allow you to express the ideas in your head immediately in music form.
Are the bumps on the back to prevent slippage?
That's right, though those aren't a standard feature.
Back in sixth grade, I had surgery on my sweaty fingers to help me better play the piano.
Now my skin gets dry very easily.
If you went that far, why'd you give up on going pro?
The talent and luck both eluded me.
You say that when you placed so many times in international piano competitions?
In order to make a living as a pro, you need to ride the winds of change
and wait for Lady Luck to smile upon you.
But you gave up without waiting for either.
You're having doubts, aren't you?
I heard about your hearing loss.
We are weak beings.
Whenever we're faced with adversity, we blame it on what we've lost.
And even if we eventually recover our former skills,
all our praise will be offset by the caveat of "despite what you've lost".
Would you be able to take feedback like that?
Would you still love music and desire to go pro?
There are two types of applause.
The type that's steeped in pity and kindness,
and the type sparked by emotions that can only be expressed using one's body.
You chose to go pro because you've experienced the latter.
Am I wrong?
Why do you want to go pro, anyway?
Why...?
Do you want to reach a place where you can focus on music, and music alone?
Do you want to reach musical Eden?
I...
What're you doing here?
I told her what you would've found too hard to.
Makoto...
Ever since you started teaching, you've grown too soft on others.
Give me back my clavietta.
Mind helping me out a little tomorrow?
There's something I want to check.
Don't drag students into anything—
It's all good. They owe me.
I'll see you at noon tomorrow, then.
Wait for me with some tasty bread.
What music should I listen to in order to improve?
If you want to go from zero to hero in a couple of years, I recommend enka.
What? Seriously?
What kind of place is Moominvalley?
They've all taken to her so quickly.
Well, we've never had any alumni come to teach us.
There you are.
Can we use the room next door?
Of course!
Go right on ahead.
He's gonna have a lot of trouble with women in the future.
Yep.
What are you doing?
Oh, Nao-chan. What brings you here?
I was asked to...
Same here.
Come on, Hiyama. Hurry up and grab some lunch.
Sorry for disturbing you.
Oink!
Band
Piggybank
Band
Piggybank
The whereabouts of the Bösendorfer's key?
Yeah. I don't recall him ever telling me.
And the only thing Grandpa left me is this clavietta he gave me just before he died.
Is this an ivory keyboard too?
No way. It's a substitute that's made of natural casein.
But it's just like an ivory keyboard in that it discolours with sweat,
so it's difficult to maintain.
This clavietta was custom-made for me.
It's an inheritance that symbolises my Grandpa's pity.
Pity?
You see, there was just this one time when I lashed out at him,
asking him why he would only let Shinjirou play the Bösendorfer.
He probably remembered that
and swapped this clavietta's keyboard out for one made with an ivory substitute.
Why didn't you ask Kusakabe-sensei for help
instead of Serizawa-san?
Shinjirou has grown far kinder than I remember him.
If Grandpa left any unkind words for me in the clavietta,
there's no guarantee Shinjirou will read them out for me as they are.
Because you can't read them by yourself, you mean?
When did your eyesight go so bad that it became impossible to fix?
Yamanobe Keyboards
You have one corner of your business card cut
Yamanobe Keyboards
so you don't mistake the front and back.
Yamanobe Keyboards
The reason you gave Serizawa-san all that tough love
was because you saw yourself in her, was it not?
And when you came to the principal's office yesterday,
you couldn't tell who we were until you heard our voices,
and that's why you asked for our names out of the blue, right?
I was a college freshman when a disease weakened my eyesight drastically.
Now I can't even read anymore.
That includes sheet music, of course.
The doctors have told me I might go totally blind someday.
No way...
When the disease came to light,
my family and friends, with tears in their eyes,
tried to cheer me up by saying I still had a life in music even if I couldn't see.
But Grandpa and Shinjirou alone told me to give up on music.
Sensei did?
Their words were beyond cruel.
But I could tell they spoke them out of genuine concern for me.
Serizawa-san,
I don't pity you for your hearing loss.
When faced with adversity,
we're not the only ones who blame it on what we've lost.
Don't give in to their pity, okay?
It's entirely up to you whether you see it as a curse or a blessing.
Right...
Right!
Oh, well. Guess we couldn't find the key after all.
Hold on a second.
Don't you want to know the last words Yamanobe Fujihiko left you?
Of course I do.
If I could hear his voice one more time, I'd love to.
You said earlier that maintaining this clavietta was difficult, right?
Yeah. Bleaching the discoloured keys takes time and effort.
Do you only bleach the keyboard?
What else would I bleach?
I just noticed earlier that some of the bumps on the back are of a different colour.
It's true!
Try touching them carefully with your fingers.
Are there any parts that feel different?
I think Yamanobe Fujihiko left his dear granddaughter a message in Braille.
"I... lo...
st... the...
ke... y..."
"I lost the key"?!
Making me say what he found too hard to until the bitter end...
These are definitely Grandpa's words.
I guess I'll clean up after that geezer one last time.
I'll go tell Shinjirou.
Thank you!
I owe you one!
Minato Festival
So when they dismantled the Bösendorfer's lock,
they found the entire keyboard replaced with brand-new ceramic.
Wait, so what happened to the ivory keyboard?
It was put on the clavietta.
That was real ivory!
What a waste!
He obliged his sick granddaughter in her one and only selfish wish.
Such a touching story.
Such a waste!
Let's go see the fireworks, Chika-senpai!
Minato Festival
Naru-senpai and Maren-senpai are here too!
Minato Festival
All right!
Minato Festival
Will you be okay with the noise of the fireworks?
I've heard that loud noises aren't good for people with hearing loss.
But you still came to hear us perform at both the district and prefectural qualifiers.
And you could hear us well enough in all this hustle and bustle.
My right ear is a lost cause,
but it looks like I can regain nearly all hearing in my left ear by fall.
I haven't taken my hearing aid out yet because I'm still afraid, though.
That's great news.
The doctor was really shocked, too. Said there might be a psychological cause behind it.
I wonder if it's because she freed me from my curse.
Have you told Chika-chan?
Not yet, because I haven't decided on what I'm going to do.
We won't take no for an answer, you know.
I'm aware.
Let's go, Haruta, Nao-chan!
Don't call me that!
I'll go and tell him how I feel.
Give me some of your energy!
He wouldn't abandon us and leave, right?
Youth is a one-way ticket.
THE TRIANGLE OF RESONANCE
Let's put on a good performance.