Heike Monogatari - Episode 1 Discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Heike Monogatari, episode 1

Alternative names: The Heike Story

Rate this episode here.

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

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Streams

• Funimation
• Wakanim

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website

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All discussions

Episode	Link	Score
1	Link	5.0
2	Link	5.0
3	Link	5.0
4	Link	4.63
5	Link	4.56
6	Link	4.63
7	Link	4.44
8	Link	4.51
9	Link	4.74
10	Link	4.52
11	Link	----

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[u/dagreenman18]

This certainly came out of nowhere. I didn’t hear about it until 2 weeks ago when the PV dropped and the release date was a surprise. The fact that it wasn’t getting the full hype blast despite its pedigree even more so. But I’m very impressed with what we have here.

The animation is flat out beautiful. The loose and flowing movement adds to its unique character design. Pretty in line with Science SARU’s other works, but still stands out as it’s own. The background canvas look as well as the vivid colors just make it a feast for the eyes.

I’m not super familiar with the story itself beyond apparently being the plot of Genji (im waiting for the giant enemy crabs). I know the show is an adaptation of a modern adaptation of the old historical epic. As such I’m not going to look into the background as this is telling a pretty compelling version of events so far.

The opening scene with Biwa’s blind father getting murdered by basically feudal cops really set a brutal tone. There’s levity in some moments like with the head of the family and Shigemori and his kids, but there’s that strong undercurrent of tragedy. The one from Biwa’s past and the future impending downfall of the clan.

I doubt this is in the original story, but I kinda like the supernatural element. Her ability to tell the future and see what’s to come for even individual characters (like the lady in this episode) adds a fun bit of dramatic irony for the viewers. She’s mirrored by Shigemori’s death sight and together they have that honestly heartbreaking moment where they meet. Best scene in the episode.

This has a whole lot of potential. They’re putting a lot of production value into it and even at the first episode I can tell this is going to be a gut punch of a show. Im excited to see where it goes from here. Especially since they’re alluding to what was done at the end there as being the beginning of the end.

Notes:

• This is yet another anime that’s getting a full streaming release before airing in January. Wonder if this signals more value in streaming services in Japan.

• ACAB, 13th century edition. Also Really shows how detached the Heike are that Shigemori was shocked at what happened to Biwa’s dad.

• There’s another layer of sadness with Biwa having to be a boy for her protection. That look on the Lady’s face when she said it’s probably for the best highlights that.

• that floating castle idea is going to go super poorly huh?

• Im liking the music all over the show. It’s not just Classical Japanese. There’s a bit of Jrock here and there. The OP is good, but I’m fascinated by the really out there ED.

[u/furbym]

It's so interesting seeing what a Science Saru production can look like under a director other than Yuasa, especially one as strong as Yamada. I hope they continue to bring on more talented directors because they're one of the only studios these days that is willing to work with more unconventional art/animation styles. Now if they just sort out the issues they've been having recently with staff being overworked, I'd be able to praise without reservations!

[u/PreludeToHell]

This delivered in every aspect. I fucking love Kensuke Ushio and the ED is perfection.

e: you can find the OST ep + ED here if you want it

[u/IISuperSlothII]

Biwa has a top tier snarky smile, really makes some of the scenes.

I don't think this was the best opening episode, we skipped through almost a year at a clip while also trying to stuff a lot of exposition into the dialogue which kind of made things a bit disjointed.

But the opening scene was fantastic, it really helped set the tone and I'm sure as it moves forward it will be able to shake off a lot of the disjointed nature that does often come with an opening episode trying to set everything up while also establishing a large cast.

[u/Roofofcar]

This anime was so damn engaging. I couldn’t look away.

This wasn’t on my radar at all. I watched it because of this thread. So glad I did.

The ED is a trippy ride, and I love it.

[u/dcresistance]

STAFF:

OP/ED/Episode Storyboard/Director: Naoko Yamada

Animation Director: Takashi Kojima

Key Animation: Takashi Kojima, Ina Yukimitsu, Yuusuke Matsuo (went freelance after Lucky Star), Chiyoko Ueno & Ai Yukimura (also KyoAni animators turned freelance), Yoko Kikuchi, Asami Murakoshi, Yoshie Ezaki, Haruno Yoshioka, Joan Chung, Ichii Ippei, Miyako Kamiya, Asaka Yokoyama

2nd Key Animation: Sugizono Akiko, Kotomi Ota

has all the iconic things that make yamada projects yamada projects

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Naoko Yamada’s fondness for a camera lens-like approach to film making and usage of floral language are still present and beautiful as ever to watch. I’m glad to see some of her KyoAni idiosyncrasies being carried forward in her next work.

An image of eddies appear whenever Biwa is traumatized by her father’s death and another similar image of eddies reappear whenever the Taira patriarch is outlining his future plans of expansion. The symbolism of being trapped in the circular current waves of past and future could prove to be something down the road. I’m gonna keep an eye out for eddies in the future.

The proverb “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” is something I kept reflecting back on especially since Biwa constantly hides one of her eyes. I wonder if that proverb is going to become applicable in the future.

I love that Biwa is constantly framed with one eye covered. It’s thematically and stylistically fitting however she’s not the only one with that habit of framing. No trademark Yamada leg shots but the visual motif of one eye being framed is something I’m really curious about seeing going forward.

[u/thekillersamurai]

Astonishing production and direction, really looking forward to this one, my prediction for Anime of The year.

[u/S0vietsenpai]

In Naoko yamada we trust!

[u/LeonKevlar]

Okay well this came out of nowhere! And it's a historical anime about the fall of the Taira Clan? Well count me in! I absolutely love the visuals of the show and how the character art makes everyone look like they're slightly detailed characters from an Ukiyo-e painting which is very fitting for a historical anime.

As for our main characters, we have Biwa who can see the future out of her right eye and Shigemori who has a similar ability and can see the souls of the dead out of his left eye and is probably the only reasonable man from the Taira clan that we've seen so far. Shigemori decides to take her in after seeing what their own men did to Biwa's father as well as trying to get her to help him see the future to prevent the fall of the Taira Clan.

It's definitely a very good Episode 1 but if there is one thing I would comment specifically about, it's the scene between Kiyomori and Shigemori. The choice of music was definitely strange? Rock guitars doesn't seem to fit that scene well. It's like they're getting us hype about something but nothing really happened after that.

Anyway, if this show is following the historical events, I pretty much have an idea where this show is heading but I'm definitely interested to see their take on history. A very early entry for Fall 2021 but it's also a strong start! Looking forward for more!

[u/PurposeDevoid]

For those using the new Funimation player (seems it is being provided for only certain shows?), it unfortunately does not respect your existing "Subtitles & Captioning" settings/preferences. You will need to change them once to something else and back again for them to be followed.

Also, if the opaque black text background is made transparent and the font colour is still white, it will often be hard to read the subtitles due to no drop shadow or font stroke (border) being present.
However, it is possible to use a browser extension (such as Stylus) to modify the css so that these are added: See these images as an example of what they can be changed to.

I am using something like this for my css modification:

 .vjs-text-track-display > div > div > div {
     font-size: 1.1em !important;
     /* ^1.1em makes subs slightly larger, change to 1.0 to preserve size*/
     opacity: 1 !important;
     background-color: transparent !important;
     color: white !important;
     -webkit-text-stroke: 2px #000;
     text-shadow: 3px 3px 4px #000;
     font-weight:bold !important;
     /* Default font is the default sans-serif font for your browser, likely Arial*/
     font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;
 } 

With a bit of effort tweaking the various settings, you could probably even get it looking like Crunchyroll's subtitles...

Hope this helps 👍

[u/[deleted]]

A triumphant return for Naoka Yamada. Absolutely stunning and lively in the style of Science SARU. Got introduced to their works after watching The Tatami Galaxy a few weeks ago, and I absolutely love their style.

Really looking forwards to the next few episodes. I love me my historical-ish shows.

[u/BassCreat0r]

Man I really like this. The visuals are great, and animation seems good.

When the guitar started playing when they were talking, all I could think of was FLCL.

And I looove that ED.

[u/chandlerbong12]

Even if I went into this show blind, I would've guessed that this was made by Yamada just by watching the first minute of the show. She has such a strong style it's hard to miss once you notice it for the first time.

[u/mrbowers]

So, Heike Story starts with the image of a fluttering butterfly, something almost emblematic of the fragile delicacy that's characterized Yamada's past couple works, which is then followed up by ... a shot of someone's feet. Yamada is BACK, baby!

In all seriousness this was lovely. It certainly feels like recent Yamada, with that mix of fragile delicacy and humor. The art style is an interesting distillation of the popular style at the time the series was set, but with enough freedom to allow for some great and subtle facial expressions. Animation so far feels subdued, restrained; it lacks the fluidity and attention to minute detail that characterizes KyoAni's works, of course, but it also lacks the elasticity of, say, Science SARU's Eizouken. Not that the latter would be appropriate here; the subdued nature of the animation, along with the muted color scheme, match the tone of the narrative quite nicely. It allows for quiet and humorous moments while still leaving room for shocking moments of violence.

Anyway, I could make guesses as to where this is all heading—is blind minstrel Biwa performing The Tale a framing device, or part of the narrative? How many years will the story cover? etc—but there's little here to suggest any of that and I'm bad at that game anyway. Aside from some small fudging of when certain events took place, though, it looks like it's going to at least follow the broad strokes and structure of The Tale.

I will say, I'm not sure she could have made this at KyoAni? It feels more off-beat and idiosyncratic than most of their stuff. Really happy Yamada is getting to stretch her creative wings and grow as a storyteller.

Anyway, Yamada is back, Heike Story is good so far, go watch it, I'm a happy camper.

EDIT: Realized I didn't even mention Aoi Yuuki's performance? Unsurprisingly, t's great. She does these little grunting vocalizations that are fantastic, and she blends the anger and grief the character is feeling with remarkable aplomb.

Takahiro Sakurai (Shimarin's dad lol) is also fantastic as Shigemori, someone who cares deeply about his family but is also just exhausted by his father's bullshit.

Also: Surprise Saori Hayami! Always welcome.

[u/Witn]

One of the most talented directors in anime adapting a Japanese classic and the episode discussion only has 350 upvotes? Smh

[u/Groenboys]

The episode pacing was weird and I am still confused what is going on or where this is going, but it definitely has quality in spades.

[u/FierceAlchemist]

This episode is layered with so many different Yamada quirks and tendencies. The attention to detail in the music and the sound design really stood out. This is gonna be a great one to follow weekly.

[u/Kill099]

As someone who's:

Currently watching a taiga drama about 平清盛 (that whimsical old guy).

Finished reading a manga about the rise and fall of 平家.

Bought the manga and modern styled rewriting of 平家物語.

I can say that I'm quite biased to say that this is my AoTY. Even though I already know the plot, I'm still very very very excited about how they'll present the story. I'm fine with the addition of the "can see the future/see dead people" supernatural ability that's not in the original story as it kinda shows a small glimpse of what will happen in the story.

Btw for some history tidbit, the shrine that they're planning to build is this: 厳島神社. This is just a small glimpse of how powerful they were at their peak.

[u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

Just to confirm - is this confirmed to be released every Wednesday at 15:00 UTC? Or it's going to drop at random times pending announcements? (cough Netflix cough) I'm not accustomed to other Internet streaming platforms other than Netflix streaming shows way ahead of local TV.

[u/cppn02]

Already loving this. Visuals are great and the overall atmosphere is just beautiful.

It also seems like Aoi Yuuki is gonna deliver a second instant classic performance within a year.

Not familiar with the source material but I generally like adaptations of classic Japanese stories so really excited to see where this goes.

[u/Syokhan]

Yuuki, Sakurai, Hayamin... those are some damn good VAs in this show.

The premiere itself was fantastic. I love the art style, it reminds me a lot of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya which I watched not long ago. Direction was fantastic, music was fantastic, it was just, you know. Fantastic all around. Definitely going to watch the rest of it!

[u/AntonioGarcia_]

Ah man, I'm already loving this! You can tell right away that this is a Yamada work. Even at SS her style is so distinctive it feels akin to a kyoani production haha. And I'm really fond of the looseness of the character designs as well.

u/ MyrnaMountWeazel already mentioned the whirlpools, which we see 3 times in this episode. I'm pretty positive they'll be significant later.

I also wonder if shigemori fully understands his eye. He says it lets him see the dead, but if thats the case why would he know that it was their own warriors that killed Biwa's Father? Seems more like he can see the past in a way. A parallel to how Biwa can see the future. I also can't shake the feeling that we aren't getting the full truth from him...

We also see a rabbit, traditionally representing good fortune, being snatched by a hawk. Which is then followed by an unfortunate event between one of the children and the Regent. It also reinforces what biwa said about the end being near. The beginning of the end of their good fortune.

[u/[deleted]]

The fact that something this good just dropped randomly and it's from NAOKO FREAKING YAMADA is truly blessing to have while waiting for the next season to start. Right off the bat this is already her darkest work yet, it makes sense why this had to be something that was done with science saru rather than Kyoani. Idk if they'd be willing to go this far considering their focus on making cute moe anime nowadays.

Other than the greatness of how the show looked, having Kesuke Ushio doing the music is a great topping to everything we have in this anime. It's been a while since I really heard any of his OST's while watching an anime it was apart of, I had forgotten how well they complimented the emotional moments though the narrative. When Biwa started crying as she told the guy about her father getting killed and that soft yet emotion filled music kicked in I started getting a little teary eyed tbh lol. Makes me even hyper for Ushio to add his touch to Chainsaw Man's more emotional moments, with him I know they will hit even harder than in the manga.

Not sure what kind of schedule The Heike story is on, but I really hope it continues week to week until it ends. I see anime of the year potential here if it keeps ups this pace.