Kousei and Kaori make it to the competition and have a hard time. They get out of sync and Kousei stops playing then Kaori stops playing and tells Kousei that they will start over.
Before they go on stage Kousei says that Kaori is freedom to him but she corrects him, “Music is freedom.” I loved that.
I also loved that we got a visual representation of what was happening in Kousei’s head. The notes on the sheet music disappear and he’s underwater and can’t hear the piano because the water muffles the sound. It’s dark and he’s scared. There’s also abandonment. Before he just said that he couldn’t hear his piano playing after a certain point and that confused me but this visual sequence helped me understand what was happening to him mentally.
From the Deck of the Matcha Latte 