Piano Duo for the Left Hand Vol. 5

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What really made this volume memorable was the unexpected emotions that constantly bombarded the reader due to the sudden twist and it’s impact on multiple characters. If the story has continued on as a contemporary exploring grief without the fantasy element it would’ve been an automatic five stars and perhaps a manga to remember. The fantasy element didn’t necessarily detract from the story so much that it took the story in a completely different direction, one that seemed sceptical at first but slowly grew into its own and, by the end, the idea of another person living in someone’s hand didn’t seem so odd.

Piano Duo for the Left Hand, Vol. 1 by Kenta Matsuoka is an amazing shonen manga about a boy who wants to learn the piano after fatal accident. Shu is a tough guy and not inclined to the arts at all. One day, he meets Akari, a girl who is famous for being a piano-playing prodigy. When tragedy strikes, Shu finds that his left hand is being haunted by Akari's spirit. All he can do is try to fulfill her piano-playing dreams. I don’t really want to have to take this off my reading list, but I honestly can’t justify spending the money on something that’s coming off so aggressively mediocre at best and irritatingly turgid at worst. It’s a situation I have rarely found myself in - rooting for the leads, but not wanting to see any more of their story.

Comments

English translation and facsimile of French original in Sachs, Harvey (1987). Arturo Toscanini from 1915 to 1946: Art in the Shadow of Politics. Turin: EDT. p.50. ISBN 88-7063-056-0. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.* Shu is nothing but a delinquent with no future to speak of, until a chance encounter with Akari, a piano prodigy. They have a wild adventure together that threatens to change Shu’s life… and it does, but not as much as Akari’s… Now Shu’s left hand doesn’t know what his right hand is doing and possession might be more than 9/10ths of the law in this case. Shi is a delinquent, but when he meets one of the top middle school piano players, Akari, he starts to find friendship in an unexpected place. After a tragic accident, Akari's spirit lives through Shu's left hand, controlling his every action and playing the piano with finesse. As Akari's wish is to make people smile with music, so then becomes Shu's goal.

Even before the premiere, in 1931 Alfred Cortot made an arrangement for piano two-hands and orchestra; [11] however, Ravel did not approve of it and forbade its publication or performance. [12] Cortot ignored this and played his arrangement, which caused Ravel to write to many conductors imploring them not to engage Cortot to play his concerto. After Ravel's death in 1937, Cortot resumed playing his arrangement, and even recorded it with Charles Munch leading the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra. [13] Roger Muraro also played this piece during the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Competition, earning him fourth place in the piano competition. Death, bullying and mistreatment are some of the issues that the protagonist is forced to face. But Akari will become his bright sunshine and hope to completely change his life. If you were to try and describe something so insane that it felt quintessentially manga, then doubled that, you might end up with this story. This narrative takes a love of classical music and a lot of crazy and mashes it into a real jaw-dropping spectacle of a book.On another hand, I found Akari's father very interesting. The close link between father/daughter was amplified with music, and I thought it beautiful that the father was able to recognise his daughter's playing even though someone else was standing in front of him. The art is beautiful, and especially the scenes where we have Shu and Akari playing together. In general, the composition was always creative and compelling, and the art style was just a treat to look at. However, one of my favourite things about music manga is how the art represents the sound. Aside from with Shu and Akari, I feel the art could have done a bit more to aid us in picturing how the music sounds and should make us feel. Throughout the piece, Ravel creates ambiguity between triple and duple rhythms. This example highlights one of the more notable instances of this.