Heike Monogatari

The Taira clan, also known as the Heike, holds immense authority over Japan. When a young girl, gifted with an odd eye that allows her to see the future, foolishly disrespects the clan, her father pays the price of her crime with his life. Soon after, as fate would have it, Taira no Shigemori—the eldest son of the clan leader—stumbles upon the same unfortunate girl, who now calls herself "Biwa." Biwa informs him that the downfall of the Heike is imminent. After learning of the great injustice Biwa suffered at the Heike's hands, Shigemori vows to take her in and care for her rather than let her be killed.

In an era of rising military tension, the Heike are in the midst of a cunning struggle for power, and bloodstained war is on the horizon. Shigemori, whose eyes allow him to see spirits of the dead, is both anxious and hopeful to prevent his clan's demise. Biwa, however, is reluctant to reveal the future to him and must adapt to her new life filled with both happiness and sorrow in this pivotal chapter in Japanese history.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Biwa Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Taira no, Tokuko Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Taira no, Shigemori Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Taira no, Atsumori Supporting

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Taira no, Sukemori Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Taira no, Keishi Supporting

Honna, Youko Japanese

Giou Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Minamoto no, Yoshitsune Supporting

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Mongaku Supporting

Sasaki, Mutsumi Japanese

Fujiwara no, Tadakiyo Supporting

Kusunoki, Taiten Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Choi, Eun-Young Producer, Production Manager

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Sakita, Kouhei Producer

Reviews

Mar 14, 2024

kerr_caprices

Recommended

LIFE IS INDEED LIKE A FALLING AUTUMN LEAF. BEFORE IT CAN TOUCH THE GROUND, IT IS BLOWN AWAY BY THE WIND
... -Heike Monogatari

(MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS)
A man's glory may last for a lifetime, but it is the deeds of his descendants that truly determine his legacy.

'The Heike Story' or locally known as 'Heike Monogatari' is the studio Science SARU's adaptation of the timeless classic of Japanese literature of the same name.

The story is set is feudal Japan during the late 12th century which is a period known for its cultural transformation, military conflicts and the ever changing political strife. It's set towards the end of Gempei War of 12th century in Heian period when 'Taira Clan' and 'Minamoto Clan' were struggling for dominance over Japan which lead to eventual downfall of 'Taira clan'.
It's a show which reveals its ending even before it found itself a proper footing to build up the introduction to this timeless epic which might not to be that surprising for the Japanese audience who are well versed with this tale cause they can find it in their history textbooks and literature classes but for us, the non Japanese viewers where the majority don't even have a clue on how the feudal Japan impacted the richness of the history of this nation we all love so much.

The main character, Biwa is an anime original who wasn't present in the original novel but in some different versions of the story, overtime some of the biwa players who performed the tale began to refer a character, biwa (a personification of the Japanese instrument biwa used by biwa hoshi to tell tales of past to masses) as travelling bard who sings of the heike's tale of rise and fall which also showed the historical importance of 'Biwa Hoshi' in Japanese culture and in some later versions, she took the mystical spirit form of the epic itself . Biwa acts as a point of reference for the audience for the best as her sole purpose for the majority of the show's runtime is to ask the major plot details and character background of the epic from the secondary characters which might be a good thing for the people who aren't familiar with the story and going in blind. Her foreknowledge of the fate of the Taira Clan makes the ending even more crucial from the fact almost how much it is constantly reminded through her. The very first episode shows how she promises another major character 'Taira no Shigemori' that she would stay with him to act as an observer to view the end of his clan which gives her the role akin to 'the mouthpiece of the creator'. In the story, Biwa at time acted more than just a mere observer which often at times emphasized on the "inevitable predetermined fate" and even got a conclusion to her own story.
Rest of the characters present in the story are bounded by their inevitable fate and the ruin of their clan where they all their part for the best or worst, with will or with reluctance only to accept the rigidness of the fate in their own terms. Remembering all of these characters and their purpose in the story would require a little bit of attention to the plot details.
The show accomplishes in creating characters developed in order to to contribute to the greater role of the story in compelling ways showing their struggles, relationship, triumph, happiness, vulnerabilities and everything that makes these characters similar to real humans.

Studio Science SARU never fails to accomplish its artistic vision whenever they decide to animate something and 'Heike Monogatari' was no exception blending in the subtle details of Japanese culture in this historical epic with its minimalist looking art choice where most cinematic frames skillfully takes advantage of its fluid animation style and Japanese aesthetics complimented by the impeccable direction of Naoko Yamada. Each character has a distinct character designs drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese art.

Heike Monogatari explores a multitude of several themes spanning from the uncontrolled desire for power and ambition to the importance of legacy in the fleeting time of humanity to the transient nature of life which would explain why the original source is considered a timeless classic which resonated through different generation and cultures upholding the never changing human nature and emotions.
The loyalty and betrayal is common recurring theme where characters show shifting loyalties to look out for their own benefit with the changing political control over the territories. The story also shows depicts the complex relationship of the warriors and their lord testing their pride associated with their idea of honor and selfless sacrifice for their masters which showcased one of the very integral concept of Japanese culture.
War forms the integral backbone of the story as all the political strife and dispute eventually lead to an era of tumultuous strife and eventual foreshadowed ending which didn't only affected the Taira clan for the worse but also the common populace.

"Though the powerful may boast of their prowess, it is the weak who truly suffer in times of war."

This show particularly shows an keen understanding of historical context and its making with a bit of flaws here and there which are to be expected from a historical show. It also expresses its character's depth and nuances with traditional style of Japanese poetry.
In all these mess of conflict and emotions, Biwa explores the themes of forgiveness, redemption and kindness as she confronts her past.
There is use of traditional Japanese instruments such as biwa, koto and shamisen which tries to create an authentic sound to describe the fleeting feudal Japan presented in the anime.
It also has melodies that can be considered haunting capturing the melancholy and despair of its characters
Music is used as medium to give emotional depth to its characters

One of the major flaw present in this anime is its expectations. The show expects the viewers to be familiar with the original tale of Heike which won't really pose a real problem as you can still enjoy this show even if you went in blind without any foreknowledge about the source and historical context of this show as it can be solved with a little bit of keen attention on the plot details it will provide you. Unfamiliarity can also make show less appealing for some watchers.
Another major flaw of the show is its extremely short length which is just 11 episodes which makes the show rather fast paced for many people and make it harder to keep up with plot developments which also makes some character undercooked without giving them an ample amount of character development that they deserved.
Also, some nerds might also take issues with historical inaccurate things shown in the anime. Deal with it(uwu).
It also depicts some questionable practices such as 'child marriage' which might offend some viewers but it doesn't mean that the show itself isn't promoting those practices but trying its best to make itself as much historically accurate as possible so that it can depict the questionable power play in that period.

In conclusion, Heike Monogatari is an anime that is result of the appeal of classic literature that has conquered the testament of time and Science SARU's ambitious storytelling bringing this timeless epic to new viewers flawed by its short length and expectations from its viewers which doesn't let it hold itself back from becoming a must watch celebrating the fact that anime is a medium which can bend the all preconceived notions about it with its narration and limitless space for innovation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 4, 2024

Hydre_Ito

Mixed Feelings

This is an adaption of an ancient Japanese tale about a war between two great clans that ruled the country during the 12th century. The plot mainly entails the different battles that took place and the gradual downfall of one of the clans, with an anime original protagonist and supernatural aspects that didn’t add much to the story; her and another character inherit abilities to see into the future and see souls of the dead respectively.

After tragically parting with her biological father, Biwa, our protagonist (apparently) meets the compassionate leader of the Hieke (Taira) clan, Shigemori. He decides to take her in as he ... feels responsible over what she had to endure. In the first few episodes, we witness a wholesome relationship between him and Biwa where they both relate to eachother due to their supernatural abilities, or otherwise curses; she sees him as somewhat of a father figure, and in his case as a daughter. This development helps the viewer form some level of attachment to them. However, Biwa’s failure to actually age, both visually and mentally, does unfortunately reduce the impact: we do not see any further progression from her or in regards to Shigemori’s feelings towards her, or vice versa. Its quite vexing how this is never once explained or alluded to, especially considering both her parents look like normally developed adults. I could not help but think it was lolicon bait, moe fanatic bait, or both, because at least 50% of anime has to appease the pedophiles I guess, a trend that refuses to die.

I went into this excited to see how Biwa would grow up, what she would become as a young adult, the influence she would have and actions she would take, especially within an ancient culture where women had little to no influence. Only to realise that in fact, none of this was about her in the slightest.

Soon, its fairly clear that her role as a spectator within the show was intentional. However, this was executed pretty badly and we are left with a very strange situation that I have not witnessed in any other anime before: A situation where no single character is possible to form an attachment to because no one actually matters, seems important or receives much development. The only two characters that came close to refuting that, could be argued to have been Shigemori and his sister Tokuko. The sister is meant to embody strength, patience and kindness on behalf of others in the story, this is reiterated throughout and we see her go through different stages in life; you could even say she had more depth than Biwa.

Biwa doesn’t get any meaningful character development beyond episode 4 and she is essentially a side character. Even as a spectator or future storyteller, she still could’ve had more of a presence rather than only being in the backdrop. It didnt quite feel like the story was being told from her perspective, she felt almost completely out of place, so I was left wondering: what was the point of her existence in this at all? it made no difference; she did nothing, had nothing done to her, no one bothered her, no one interfered with her, she says nothing meaningful ect. Yes, the anime was trying to capture the feeling of helplessness, but she could have gone through certain events or treatment to illustrate that even further. Is not that im asking for her to change the future, not at all, in fact, reinforcing the tragedy of her ability is a good thing, but its low impact when shes completely passive and practically invisible.

Most of the battles were very redundant, rushed and quite boring; despite getting the most screen time, they had less effort put into them than low-tier battle-shounen series. There was also too many long titles and names that came as fast as they went; this is another aspect that made the series feel more like reading a summarised history textbook re-telling with ADHD than watching an animation project with creative storytelling. While these battles took place, there are glimpses of a grown-up version Biwa narrating the events as she plays her instrument; you could argue that this way, she had some presence, especially since those shots roused mysteriousness and interest, but as it became apparent that we weren’t going to learn any more about her, those scenes started to lose impact.

Despite all of that, this show certainly has a strong Iyashikei factor sprinkled throughout several scenes in every episode, it is very aesthetic and sometimes very calming. It had some beautiful messages pertaining to forgiveness, prayer, hedonism and so on.

Buddhism is a prevalent theme in this anime with several characters choosing to become monks or nuns to either escape hardships or cope with losses. I found this to be quite interesting. Sadly, we do not get much depiction of any character’s life after they’ve made that decision or how it really makes them feel.

This anime had the potential to be great, seeing as how its a rarely represented sub-genre within anime, I so badly wanted it to be. It could have been emotionally impactful and even thought-provoking, but ultimately, it was too short and therefore did not have enough time. Due to the clutches of overproduction within late-stage capitalism, this is the final product that we are presented with.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 5, 2021

grr_mal

Not Recommended

A beautiful anime, wasted on a crap story. And no, I don't care for the excuse that it's a "documentary" for actual history or whatever. Keep it in the history textbooks instead of putting it on my screen if you don't want me to be critical of it. It simply does not work as an anime, or any form of entertainment for that matter. It is full of stupid people following stupid leaders and doing stupid and illogical things. For a while I thought it was a bearable amount of stupid, but the last episode pushed the limits beyond the acceptable.

There is no character whom ... you can empathize or root for, or at least understand their situation and reasoning. The minute you may start to think there is, they go off doing something stupid and leave the story. Even the "main character" is just a "storyteller" or rather "story seer" and never does anything, despite having paranormal superpowers. It's clear she was not part of the story but just made up addition. There are plenty of other obviously made up elements - probably not by the anime authors but by the people of Japan in the form of legends and such - but they can not help the otherwise bland story become interesting.

The only way in which this anime may be interesting is for studying that part of history, or studying that folklore and legends - though if that's your goal then the given content will be insufficient, and mixing the two certainly does not help either. Its definitely no good as a story.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Heike Monogatari Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) KANLen09 - Sep 15, 2021	114 replies	by Ui »» May 27, 4:07 AM
	Poll: Heike Monogatari Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Nov 24, 2021	90 replies	by GlacioD »» Apr 27, 6:14 AM
	Why have the dates when this series aired been changed from the autumn of 2021 to the winter of 2022? WatchTillTandava - Nov 16, 2022	5 replies	by Rexnihilo »» Apr 19, 7:22 PM
	Poll: Heike Monogatari Episode 5 Discussion KANLen09 - Oct 13, 2021	35 replies	by Andrzej2 »» Apr 10, 5:07 PM
	Poll: Heike Monogatari Episode 7 Discussion KANLen09 - Oct 27, 2021	26 replies	by L01MK »» Jan 14, 11:16 AM