Hi no Tori: Houou-hen (Phoenix: Karma Chapter)

Akanemaru, a skilled sculptor, sets out to find the muse for his masterpiece, the legendary immortal bird Phoenix. However, on his journey, he encounters unexpected trouble when he runs into Gaou, a one-eyed, one-armed bandit. Despite Akanemaru's friendly demeanor, Gaou, who harbors animosity toward the world as a ruthless man, attacks and robs him.

As they go their separate ways, the unfortunate incident fades into oblivion. Years later, Akanemaru is forced to accept a new assignment and abandon his dream, while Gaou is stricken with sudden misfortune—a twist of fate that will change both their lives forever. But little do they know that these new circumstances will eventually lead them to cross paths once more: this time as rivals.

Set in Japan's Nara period, Hi no Tori: Houou-hen explores the fragile balance between action and consequence as it follows the lives of two men who must inevitably confront the responsibilities of their choices.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Released in 1986, Hi no Tori: Houou-hen is an anime adaptation of the fifth volume of the Hi no Tori manga series, written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. The fifth volume is widely considered the masterpiece of the manga series. The anime is not officially available in the U.S. It was shown as part of a double bill with Toki no Tabibito: Time_Stranger, also produced by Madhouse.

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Related Entries

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Characters & Voice Actors

Gaou

Main

The Phoenix

Supporting

Hayame

Supporting

Buchi

Supporting

More staff

Staff

Maruyama, Masao

Producer

Rintarou

Director

Takayashiki, Hideo

Script

Aku, Yuu

Theme Song Lyrics

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Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

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Ending Theme

"Hi no Tori" By Noriko Watanabe

Episode Videos

Reviews

Dec 9, 2019

nazsa

Recommended

This review is written in both Bengali and English. It reviews all three OVAs without any spoilers.

বাংলাঃ
কিছুদিন ধরে আমাকে এক নেশায় পেয়েছে। ৮০-৯০ দশকের Madhouse এর OVA দেখছি। তখন খুজতে গিয়ে এই OVA সিরিজটার সন্ধান পাই। এটি বিখ্যাত মাঙ্গাকা Osamu Tezuka রচিত মাঙ্গার আডাপ্টেসন। মাঙ্গাটির প্রতি ভলুমে একটি করে গল্প আছে। একেকটি গল্পের সেটিং সম্পূর্ণ আলাদা। তবে গল্পগুলোর মধ্যে যোগসূত্র স্থাপন করেছে "Hi no Tori" বা "Immortal Phoenix" এর আবির্ভাব।
এর আগেও অবশ্য এইটার খোঁজ পেয়েছিলাম, তখন ম্যাল এ লো স্কোর দেখে আর আগাই নি। এবার সাহস করে দেখলাম। ভাগ্যিস দেখলাম!! এটার স্কোর এত কম হতেই পারে না। কেন?? কারন এতে আছে দৃষ্টিনন্দন আর্ট, সুথিং মিউসিক, ... আর সর্বোপরি চিন্তা উদ্রেককারী ম্যাচিওর গল্প। একেকটি OVA শেষ করার পর আপনি অবশ্যই কিছুক্ষণ গভীর চিন্তায় ডুবে যাবেন, গল্পের পিছনের অন্তর্নিহিত দর্শনের খোঁজে।
OVA 1 [Houou-hen (Karma Chapter)]: সারাজীবন দুষ্কর্ম করেও একটিমাত্র ভালো কাজের সুফল যেমন পাওয়া যায়, তেমনি একটিমাত্র অমার্জনীয় অপরাধের সাজা থেকেও মানুষ মুক্তি পায় না। এই শিক্ষাটি আপনি এই OVA থেকে পাবেন। ৩টির মধ্যে এইটা সবচেয়ে বেশি Thought provoking।
OVA 2 [Yamato-hen (Chapter of Yamato)]: রোমান্টিক ফ্যান্টাসির আড়ালে পাবেন আরেকটি অসাধারন দর্শন। এটার এন্ডিংটা আমার খুব পছন্দের।
OVA 3 [Uchuu-hen (Space Chapter)]: স্পেস ড্রামা। ৩টার মধ্যে আমার সবচেয়ে প্রিয়। অসাধারণ সাসপেন্স আর এন্ডিং আছে এটাতে।
যারা হাল্কা স্বাদের আনিমের খোঁজ করেন, এই জিনিস তাদের জন্য নয়। বাকি সবাইকে আমি এই ৩টি OVA দেখার অনুরোধ করব।
এই ৩টি OVA ছাড়াও TV series আছে, মুভিও আছে। টিভি সিরিজটা Tezuka Productions এর বানানো, আর্ট কোয়ালিটি অত ভালো নয়।

English:
For a while I've got an addiction. I'm looking for OVAs of Madhouse in the 80s-90s era. Then I came across this OVA series. It is an adaptation of the manga composed by the famous mangaka Osamu Tezuka. There is a story in each volume of the manga. The setting of each story is completely different. However, the stories are linked up by the advent of "Hi no Tori" or "Immortal Phoenix".
Actually I came across these before. Then I dared not to try these out, looking at the low scores. This time I dared. Thank God I did!! The score cannot be so low. Why ?? Because it has wonderful art, soothing music, and above all, thought provoking and mature story. After completing one of the OVAs, you will surely be in deep ponder for some time, looking for the underlying philosophy behind the story.
OVA 1 [Houou-hen (Karma Chapter)]: A single good deed may save a human immersed in a lifetime of evil deeds. On the other hand, humans can't escape from the punishment of a single unforgivable crime. This is the lesson you will get from this OVA. This is the most thought provoking of the 3.
OVA 2 [Yamato-hen (Chapter of Yamato)]: Behind romantic fantasy lies a spectacular philosophy. The ending is my favorite.
OVA 3 [Uchuu-hen (Space Chapter)]: Space Drama. This one is my favorite of the 3. It has excellent suspense and ending.
This is not for those who seek light anime. To everyone else, I would request to see these 3 OVAs.
Apart from these 3 OVAs, there are TV series and movies. But the art quality of the TV series made by Tezuka Productions is not that good.

Check this eargasmic ending theme :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HTM8WIumXc

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Gift

Mar 25, 2022

Spirit_Tree

Mixed Feelings

Not sure how some call this the greatest arc in all of Phoenix tbh. It was good, just not sure it was even holding a candle to arcs like The Dawn, Future, Transformation and Resurrection.

I don't know what more to say other than that.it could have been better in a lot of varying departments. Nothing stood out. I'm lying. It stood out in its ability to kill of characters and Tezuka pulled nk punches with that in general lol. That made it more grounded.

But everything else failed to impress. How many more characters to write for a full review here? I'm feeling sleepy ...

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Mar 21, 2022

Phat-Hamburger

Not Recommended

This review may contain spoilers, read at your own risk.

Before I start this review I just want to state that I have not read the manga, and that this review is based purely on the movie adaptation. I realise that not reading the manga beforehand means I most likely do not 'fully comprehend' the context, history and motivations of certain characters, but like I said, this review will focus on the movie as it is, a standalone from other adaptations.

Story
Reincarnation is a fascinating subject, combined with Buddhism's perspective of karma, and you have an interesting combination of the two; especially when it's used as a ... plot device to further the story or a character's development. Sadly however, 'Houou-hen', does not adequately portray this plot device as much as I hoped it would. We're introduced to the 'Phoenix', the embodiment of reincarnation and overseer of karmic retribution, yet the all too convenient timings of its appearance honestly lessen the impacts of certain events in the story. For example, a certain character being visited by the 'Phoenix' to motivate them to do their duty for whatever banal reasoning is a pretty lame way to move the plot forward.

The story for the most part was easy to follow, however, it just was not as engaging as I thought it would be. There are constant time skips and we're not given enough background information on our two protagonists to really comprehend their situations.

Characters
The 'Phoenix' is portrayed as an enigmatic, awe-inspiring deity, however, the motivations or should I say, judgements handed down by the 'Phoenix' followed no reasonable or logical reasoning. I realise that this story is a take on Buddhist beliefs of reincarnation and karma, but I honestly could not understand any of the reasonings behind certain decisions of the 'Phoenix'. To illustrate, we have a character who's possibly killed dozens or hundreds of innocent people, why? Who knows, the movie does not go into depth, but because of a certain incident with his lover (who might I add, he raped and captured her), he all of a sudden has a change of heart and goes on some sort of 'disillusioned pilgrimage' to change his ways. All the while, we are made to feel sympathetic towards this scumbag of a character, while on the opposite end, we have our second protagonist, a wood carver who by all regards is literally just a normal person with normal aspirations but instead the movie paints him out to be a villain lmao.

As I am not a Buddhist, I do not fully comprehend the cause and effect of the karma system, however, I do realise that the moral or theme this movie tries to portray is that no matter how many wrong deeds one has committed, there will always be a way for them to repent? Or maybe not, because as I recall in the movie, when the 'Phoenix' is talking to Gaou, our reformed mass murderer, it informs him that he will "suffer eternal pain, sadness, and hate for all eternity" despite him already changing his ways. As for our second protagonist, the woodcarver, he is reborn into a "small fish" lmao just because he didn't follow his original dream of finding the 'Phoenix' and because he outed the mass murderer for being well, a mass murderer.

All in all, I fail to see any sort of deep meaning or message behind the movie. If repentance gets you nowhere, then why even bother, and if a momentary lapse in moral judgement dooms you for eternity, then I guess we're all doomed. The only take away from this I can really surmise is that the 'Phoenix' is an all around dick to everyone.