The original Tale of the Heike Heike Monogatari is a Japanese literary epic detailing the fall of the Taira clan aka the Heike family in the Genpei War. Its basically Japans version of something not unlike the Iliad Odyssey or Epic of Gilgamesh. Different people throughout the story rise and fall through the last generation of the clan and central characters in the story switch from one to another. The concept of this adaptation caught my interest and I was more surprised to hear that it was being directed by Naoko Yamada best known for directing KyoAni productions such as KON or A Silent Voice. From the getgo however I noticed that something about this adaptation was off. Everything that is wrong about this adaptation is present from the very first episode it doesnt really sink in until a couple episodes later but eventually you start to realise the show kind of just expects you to know the story already. This is the shows biggest cardinal sin and most of the shows problems derive from this: the pacing is completely rushed. Being an adaptation of a historical epic character death surrounds Heike Monogatari but because of the pacing new characters are introduced quickly just fully expecting you to know them before they are killed off an episode or two later. Political intrigue is quickly spat through before being dropped random parts of the story are sped through while others are slowed down etc. https://static0.cbrimages.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2021/10/heikemonogatariheader.jpg To counter this the shows sole addition of note Biwa she is not in the original story is meant as a permanent pointofview character one who remains throughout the entire narrative to make it different and stand out but instead really damages it. To add a twist on the story Biwa can see the future and pretty much everything that happens to every single character. From the getgo because of this we are shown exactly who dies so there is next to no tension present at all. While this might have been an attempt at a reliable anchor throughout the story this approach basically just falls flat on its face. The thing is that while Biwa is introduced they obviously cant change any of the story beats so because of this Biwa calls out for every single character just as they are about to die despite the fact she never warned them in the first place how and when they were going to die when she had perfect knowledge about each death. You could dispute this as a nitpick except for the fact that in the final episode Because of this Biwa is not only a useless character but a despicable one one who contributes absolutely nothing to the main story also she kind of just forgets about the Heike killing her dad after the first episode. I was glad halfway through where Biwa was seemingly about to disappear from the story but then they also decided to add a side plot concerning Biwa and the search for her mother which really didnt add anything either and had next to zero payoff. She then rejoined the rest of the main cast anyway. And speaking of the cast apart from maybe Taira no Tokuko and Shigemori every single characters qualities is just sort of glossed over. They feel like mannequins to keep the story moving instead of actual characters. The one thing I liked about Biwa were the scenes where she played the biwa and recited passages from the actual story. This makes sense Biwa herself is based off biwa hshi performers who basically recited passages from the Heike Monogatari and the art became popular for the next several hundred years but did she really need to be central to the narrative? I would have rather just read the original. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/11/HeikeMonogatari8.1.jpg who are these guys? Because of Biwa being front and center you can expect moelike scenes with Biwa playing with a cat while the actual characters progress the story in the corner of the screen. Its like its trying to be Yamadamoe but its completely out of place in an adaptation of a historical epic. A lot of Yamadaisms like that are in here and they just dont fit at all. KyoAnis flashy lens flare and artsy background panning is still bizarrely here and its extremely out of place since Science SARUs animation is very very minimal. Its not like their other shows at all it feels almost lowbudget. Theres nothing really wrong with the animation when its functioning but theres nothing great there are a lot of stills where there really shouldnt have been. A crucial fight scene in the latter half of the show is reduced to a slideshow. Another is the equivalent of a panning image. Its really strange. This type of show really isnt Yamadas. The music is also bizarre. The OP both visually and audibly makes you think youre watching a slice of life anime with everyone laughing and being friends with Biwa being all cutesy. The clash between the OPs style and the actual show feels almost funny in later episodes. The backing soundtrack also does not fit a show like this whatever with some scenes having Ushio Kensukes modern guitar or synthesizer present in the background delivering a harsh beat. Its offputting and out of place and I guess it doesnt really make sense to have the composer of Devilman: Crybabys soundtrack here as much as I loved how that OST sounded. Its like he was called to fulfill a contract. Mushishi was an example of an anime soundtrack that fully immerses you in the traditional Japanese setting but here you get electroindustrial at points. Do admit I like the ED though. The show also doesnt adapt the whole story which makes me wonder why there are so many scenes of Biwa pondering obvious things. Some important details of the main story that is adapted are completely skipped or dismissed off screen some battles are missing most of chapter 10 is completely missing the storys climax chapter 11 only goes as far as the end of the Battle of Dannoura loosely using content from The Initiates Book to end the show and the storys real end chapter 12 is completely missing too. This show is the kind of show that just exists. Its like a weird vacuum. I learned far more about the story from reading Wikipedia articles and enjoyed reading passages of the actual story far more than actually watching this because of the script and pacing. Heike Monogatari feels like I just inhaled 11 episodes of nothing.