Some of the anime industry's top talent is coming together for a new series, The Heike Story.
Based on the famous Japanese epic poem, The Heike Story is being directed by Naoko Yamada, who directed both seasons of the popular slice-of-life anime K-ON!, as well as the acclaimed Sound! Euphonium. During her time at Kyoto Animation, Yamada also worked in various roles on many of the studio's other shows, including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. Reiko Yoshida, who previously worked on shows such as Violet Evergarden and Digimon Adventure, will write the series. The series is being produced at animation studio Science Saru, which is best known for its 2020 hit series Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, as well as the movie The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl.
The new series will be a loose adaptation of one of Japan's most famous classical epic poems, The Tale of Heike. The story was first compiled in the 1300s and tells the story of the conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The anime shows the war's events through the perspective of Biwa, a young girl who makes a living as a traveling musician. Though blind, Biwa is gifted with the ability to see the future. She meets Taira No Shigemori, one of the patriarchs of the powerful Taira family, and tells him about a prophecy that may change the future of his clan.
Funimation has already licensed the series, which will also air on the Fuji TV network in Japan.
In addition to The Tale of Heike, Science Saru is also working on two of the shorts for Disney and Lucasfilm's upcoming anime anthology series, Star Wars: Visions. Set in the galaxy of George Lucas' famous sci-fi franchise, each episode of Star Wars: Visions tells a self-contained story from Japan's most acclaimed animation studios. Science Saru's shorts for the series are tonal opposites: the first, Akakiri, tells the story of a Jedi who meets a princess. The story will be inspired by the works of Akira Kurosawa and will be directed by Science Saru's founder and CEO, Eunyoung Choi. The second short, T0-B1, will be a more colorful story about a droid. Additional stories in the series will be produced by Ghost in the Shell's Production IG, Promare's studio TRIGGER, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Kamikaze Douga and more.
The Tale of Heike is scheduled to premiere on the Funimation streaming service on Sept. 15.
Source: YouTube
