A piano prodigy who lost his ability to play after suffering a traumatic event in his childhood is forced back into the spotlight by an eccentric with a secret of her own.
The autumn he was eleven, piano prodigy Kosei Arima suddenly found himself unable to play the piano after his mother's death. Ever since then, it's like he's been frozen in time. His childhood friend, Tsubaki Sawabe, watches over him with concern; one day, she invites him on a double date. Kosei's other childhood friend, Ryota Watari, is being introduced to a certain girl. Kosei reluctantly heads over to the rendezvous spot. There, he sees a girl playing a melodica.
The autumn he was eleven, piano prodigy Kosei Arima suddenly found himself unable to play the piano after his mother's death. Ever since then, it's like he's been frozen in time. His childhood friend, Tsubaki Sawabe, watches over him with concern; one day, she invites him on a double date. Kosei's other childhood friend, Ryota Watari, is being introduced to a certain girl. Kosei reluctantly heads over to the rendezvous spot. There, he sees a girl playing a melodica. This girl, who allegedly has a crush on Watari, is Kaori Miyazono.
On his way home from school, Kosei Arima runs into Kaori Miyazono and accompanies her to a cafe as Ryota Watari's substitute. There's an old upright piano in the cafe and some kids are attempt to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on it. Kaori orders Kosei to perform, and the sound of his playing soon resonates around the cafe.
It's the day of the second round of the preliminaries. Kaori and Kosei await their turn in the hallway of the venue. Noticing that Kosei is a bundle of nerves, Kaori head-butts him. Looking Kosei in the eye, she encourages him by saying, "I know you can do it." And their musical journey, with no clear destination, begins.
The trio of childhood friends, Tsubaki, Watari, and Kosei rush into a hospital room. Kaori has been hospitalized, following her performance in the competition.
From the music room at school, the sound of a piano is heard. It's a recording of Kosei's playing, and his friends are giving it a second listen. Hearing his own performance, Kosei is in shock. Without giving a thought to Kosei's feelings, Kaori informs him that she's already sent in his submission form for a competition.
It's the day of the second round of the preliminaries. Kaori starts playing the violin with her whole body. In order to keep pace with her, Kosei plays precisely, never hitting a false note. But the more Kosei focuses on their music, the more the notes disappear, and the less he is able to hear the sound of the piano.
Takeshi, the favourite to win the competition, has been waiting for Kosei for two years. Aspiring to play like Kosei, he has worked tenaciously to improve himself so that he can reach even greater heights. His performance is met with thunderous applause.
In order to convey her feelings to Kosei, the pianist she once looked up to, Emi gives a passionate performance. She heads straight for Kosei right after leaving the stage, only to find herself bereft of words. After all, she had just poured all of her feelings into her playing.
Kosei's performance begins. He starts off on a roll, but then midway through, his playing begins to fall apart. Hearing this uneven performance, the audience starts to buzz. In their hearts, Kaori, Tsubaki, and Watari cheer Kosei on from the audience, while Emi and Takeshi, who've just finished performing, look on with concern. Onstage and alone, Kosei confronts his own trauma regarding his mother.
Kosei's performance ends. When he returns to the waiting room at the competition venue, his late mother's friend, Hiroko Seto is there. Hiroko, Japan's leading pianist, has picked up on the emotion in Kosei's playing. Kosei is perplexed by her words. Finally, the results of the competition are posted, but Takeshi and Emi, seeing the strangely cheerful look on Kosei's face, are struck by how he's changed and matured.
Kaori has been selected to perform as the Promoters' Choice at the Towa Music Competition gala concert, and at her invitation, Kosei sits before the piano once again. The piece Kaori has chosen is Kreisler's Love's Sorrow. The sheet music was stuck in the bookshelf when Kaori visited Kosei's home.
It's the day of the gala concert, and it's time for them to go on, but as Kaori is a no-show, Kosei takes the stage alone. The venue is abuzz over the strange situation of the accompanist, Kosei, showing up onstage by himself. And so Kosei starts playing the song his late mother loved, Kreisler's Love's Sorrow.
Hearing that Kaori, who was a no-show at the gala concert, had collapsed at home and is now in the hospital, Kosei and the others rush over to see her. Kaori is acting cheerful, but she's obviously not well. Meanwhile, Tsubaki is trying to ignore the fact that her easygoing relationship with Kosei - dating back from childhood - has changed with the arrival of Kaori, and the fact that her own feelings for Kosei have changed.
Learning of Kosei's plans to leave home in order to attend a high school with a music course, Tsubaki can't hide her feelings of confusion. It's clear to those around her, especially Kashiwagi, that deep down inside, Kosei has become much more than the "kid brother" she's always seen him as, and Saito-senpai, Tsubaki's boyfriend, is no exception.
Kosei is now teaching Nagi, Seto-sensei's newest apprentice. Though at first he seems intimidated by having to teach for the first time, he soon grows into the role. Around that time, Kaori suddenly appears before Kosei, though she's still supposed to be in the hospital. Kaori appoints him as Watari's substitute, and the two head off to go shopping, and then to the school.
Tsubaki is going to visit Kaori in the hospital, and invites Kosei to come along, but he doesn't feel up to it. Not knowing what he should say to her, or how he should act when he sees her, he just can't take that first step. Worried to see Kosei unable to apply himself to practice, Nagi tries to encourage him in her own way by opening up about her own school.
Kosei asks Nagi to let him perform at the Kurumigaoka Junior High culture festival. He wants to reach Kaori through his music. With that in mind, he and Nagi take the stage, and their performance begins. But unlike during practice, Kosei, the supporting player, in a complete switch of gears, begins playing at an incredible pace, filling the music with an aching atmosphere, pressuring Nagi. And Nagi, unwilling to give in to Kosei, tries to hold her own.
After hearing Kosei and Nagi's duet, Kaori opts for surgery, so that she can perform with Kosei one more time. Even as she verbally exhorts Kosei, who's begun practicing for his next competition, to work harder, she herself is undergoing rehabilitation so that she can once again take the stage.
Kosei is on his way to see Kaori in the hospital as usual, but when he realizes that Watari is already there, he backs out. Seeing this, Tsubaki finds herself irritated by Kosei's inability to admit to his own feelings.
The shock of seeing Kaori's condition suddenly take a turn for the worse causes Kosei to once again turn away from the piano. His past trauma flashing through his mind, Kosei finds himself all alone again.
Kosei realizes that he's onstage now because of the people in his life - the same people who support him. Playing the notes that they all gave him, Kosei pours his entire soul into his performance, so that it will reach Kaori.
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