The Heike Story

I will go on record saying that I don't think I've ever been more hyped for a new TV anime. To Your Eternity, Violet Evergarden, Kids on the Slope and... Charlotte are the only ones that I can even compare to how much I'm looking forward to this anime (let's hope it's not like Charlotte). Even if it isn't a 5/5 I'll be watching this show with great interest, simply because of the intrigue of Naoko Yamada starting a new phase of her career at Science SARU, as well as Science SARU welcoming a new director who is very much not Masaaki Yuasa.
 
It is not just some random anime about some random events.

tl;dr
The Tale of the Heike focuses on the struggle for power between the Heike and Genji houses in the late twelfth century.

Longer version:
The Tale of the Heike focuses on the struggle for power between the Heike and Genji houses in the late twelfth century. It is considered one of the most influential literary works in Japanese literature. The Tale of the Heike gave birth to a number of other Japanese literary works. In fact, there are so many of them that no one will be able to name them all.
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Buddhism also had a great influence on the tale. In fact, there are two main Buddhism themes in The Tale of the Heike. The first being is that your present actions affect what will happen to you in the future and eventually you will be punished by a series of misfortunes for evil deeds. And the second being, impermanence, which means that everything changes and nothing lasts forever. (Karma is endless, only a handful of people are able to escape it and reach nirvana; it is nearly impossible to escape karma and reach it without the help of Buddha).
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The Tale of the Heike was mostly told by the biwa houshi. Usually, they were blind and earned their bread by reciting vocal literature to the accompaniment of biwa music. They were pretty much like Sara from Samurai Champloo. But she is not a biwa houshi. Anyways, that is why biwa is the main focus of this anime.
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*It looks like Sonny Boy, but in different eras.
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*I really love heterochromia and I really love that the main protagonist has it.
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*Well, yes, Biwa is a girl. It was kinda obvious, was not it? But her dad made her pretend to be a boy for a very obvious reason.
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*Biwa playing biwa, heh.
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*Listening to some guitar pieces was kinda weird, ngl. I was hoping for a more traditional Japanese music. But I guess this also works.

Already hyped as hell for episode 2.
 
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Episode 1 certainly lived up to the hype! I thought the trailer was a good primer for what the show ended up being (which has its advantages and disadvantages) but for anyone on the fence about watching this show, PLEASE WATCH IT. And not just so I have people to talk to about it :P

I'm amazed how in such a short time I can already feel empathy for these characters. It's a testiment to the voice acting and the overall aethetic, which while a unique and stylized take on the human figure, is nonetheless expressive and emotional.

Trying to keep track of all these characters is gonna be a nightmare, but its evident that the writers are dedicated to developing them properly, having their desires and motivations clearly outlined from the start (or at least implicit in how they're portrayed).

For such a serious show, I'm also glad they took time to breathe and had a few funny moments as well.

I'll link some relevant Twitter threads I've come across (spoilers obviously):

"Yamada is a genius. Stunning first episode of Heike Monogatari. Just the most insane mix of delicate quietness, dramatic intensity, and somehow perfectly natural comedic interludes all wrapped up in one immaculate package. Wildly different from her KyoAni work and yet not at all."

"I've spoken about Art Director Tomotaka Kubo a lot before, but as it relates to Heike Monogatari, I would consider him the most important creative piece after Naoko Yamada herself. Here, his Ghibli experience is met by the soft pastels of Promare in a remarkably sophisticated way"

"NAOKO YAMADA................" (image thread)

"Naoko Yamada mobs"
 
Wow. Just as with Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! I can feel the love and passion for their work through the episode (had to check if it was the same studio, since I got a similar feeling when I started that). It's not often I'm stunned after a first episode like this, of course that'll just make me have even higher expectations for the future of the show.
 
-Finally, an anime about Japan that has not been influenced by the west. An anime that has beautiful art, history and everything about it is just flawless. I guess I have found my most favorite anime from fall.

-Looks like Heike will soon see huge changes among their ranks. It was really interesting to find out more about Shigemori’s backstory. Poor man, had to give up on his son and might soon lose his daughter.

-Biwa was a bit arrogant and should learn how to behave for her not to cause troubles for Shigemori. The ending was really tragic, such a power is terrifying, because there is nothing you can do, especially when you are just a child.

-These lanterns are truly beautiful.
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-Someone should have said that long time ago.
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Episode 2 slowed down quite a bit, but it gave us plenty of beautiful art to look at. I'm probably going to need to go back and look at some family trees at some point to keep from getting lost. It's clearly evident that time can pass very quickly between scene changes.

The overall aethetic reminds me a lot of Miss Hokusai, even though from a much earlier time period. The story is told from the perspective of someone relatively uninvolved in the world altering events around her. The things that happen aren't necessarily part of a narative whole (yet) but are just there to record history.

I kind of wish the OP weren't so modern sounding. It doesn't do a great job to set the mood for the show.

Some images
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Also, someone on Reddit made a really useful character chart (episode 2 spoilers)

https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comm...medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
 
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I love how every episode of Heike starts rather laid back and then it just has so many things going on that you do not even have a single second to cast your glance somewhere else. Hell, sometimes I even have to hold breath.

Poor Tokuko. She might drown soon, her husband is a dickhead that openly cheats on her and, well, she might also die soon, since her father is planning to punish those plotting to dethrone the Heike and favour the Genji instead of them; well, like Tokuko said, women had it hard back then.

And Biwa might actually lose her second father, poor girl.

Yet another 10/10 episode, I am in love with this show.
 
One of those episodes that really leaves you hanging.
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After a relatively calm episode 2, things caught fire (literally) in this episode. Conspiracies and revenge, plots and coups. It's tough to keep track of everything, but thanks to the previously posted chart I at least know how the major characters relate to each other so it's easier to fill in the gaps. Not to sound too "big brain," but I enjoy the challenge of trying to keep up with the story every week. It makes every moment, every line of dialogue meaningful because it might reveal something that's important later. And despite the massive number of characters and complex relationships between them, the story itself isn't too hard to follow. Ultimately it's the tale of the rise and fall of a powerful family, basically Game of Thrones in Japan :P

Images from this episode (there were more but if I went through and shared every frame that I liked I may as well share the whole episode)
Someone on Reddit shared a more complete album (because of course)
https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/pxx9a0/heike_monogatari_episode_3_discussion/heqgu5u/
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When watching the op, I'm feeling the same vibe as in Urasekai Picnic, despite all the differences, is it just me?
I can definitely see and hear the similarities. Both have similar sounding singers and instrumentation and the animation has a lot of similar colors. Watching both side by side made me realize how upbeat and zany Urasekai Picnic's OP was. Heike Monogatari is (relatively) calmer, almost melancholic.

I think Urasekai Picnic's music goes better with Heike Monogatari's animation than the other way around.
 
I can definitely see and hear the similarities. Both have similar sounding singers and instrumentation and the animation has a lot of similar colors. Watching both side by side made me realize how upbeat and zany Urasekai Picnic's OP was. Heike Monogatari is (relatively) calmer, almost melancholic.

I think Urasekai Picnic's music goes better with Heike Monogatari's animation than the other way around.
Honestly, I am surprised that neither the opening, nor the ending have biwa music.
 
This was just too painful to watch.
Even though, you knew this moment would come eventually come, the inability to influence what is happening, it is truly the real desperation. It is not that Biwa does not want to use her power because of what her father told her, it is because of one simple fact: even knowing what future is going to bring you, you are still but a powerless grain in an hourglass.

Tokuko manages to give birth to a healthy boy thanks to her father. But now her fate shifted from her to her kid, who is now to drown. Shigemori, just like the emperor Go-Shirakawa said, should have outlived his foolish father to bring the heike and its people to glory. I mean, he is his father and Shigemori could not just kill him, or send him into exile. He could not bear his father’s actions anymore and asked the God to shorten his life for the sin the heike committed.

Poor Biwa. She now lost her second father.
 
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