The Heike Story: a 13th-century epic, retold by Naoko Yamada

What it is

The Heike Story is an eleven-episode series from Science SARU, directed by Naoko Yamada, with series composition by Reiko Yoshida and music by Kensuke Ushio.¹ It streamed from September 2021 on Funimation and Fuji TV’s FOD service, and reached Japanese TV in January 2022.¹ Aoi Yuki voices Biwa and Takahiro Sakurai voices Taira no Shigemori.² Science SARU also made Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, which we cover separately.²

The source is Hideo Furukawa’s modern-Japanese version of The Tale of the Heike, a 13th-century epic about the rise and fall of the Taira family, the Heike, around the time of the Genpei War.³⁵

It opens in the late Heian period with the Heike at the peak of their power. Taira no Shigemori, who can see the dead, meets Biwa, a biwa hoshi who can see the future. She tells him that they will all perish soon, and the story follows fifteen turbulent years in which rule passes from aristocrats to samurai.² The history is public and the series is upfront about where it is heading, so we describe only the premise.

Why it is worth your time now

It is finished, short and easy to find. As of October 4, 2026 it streams on Crunchyroll in the US, with English and Japanese audio.⁴ Eleven episodes of 23 minutes add up to about four hours, so there is no season to wait for.¹

Who it is for

It is for people who like a serious drama about how power fades, and for anyone who watched the work of this director and composer elsewhere. Crunchyroll’s interview with Ushio notes that he worked closely with Yamada on A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird.³

Expect a tragedy, not an adventure. The premise tells you the family’s fate in the first episode.² If you want a battle epic with a winner to cheer for, look elsewhere. The US listing shows a TV-14 rating.⁴

What makes it different

A very old story gets a very modern frame. The central figure is Biwa, who can see the future and tells the family what she sees.² The audience knows the history, and so does she, and the tension is in how people behave when someone says it out loud.

The music is part of the point. Crunchyroll’s interview with Ushio is titled around mixing modern and traditional Japanese music,³ and the opening theme, “Hikaru Toki”, is by Hitsujibungaku.¹ The interview describes his influence on the story and its core concepts as uncommon for a composer.³ The same interview points out that the epic is huge in scope and far-reaching in its cultural presence, which makes adapting it a big task.³

The one thing to watch for

Watch the pacing. Eleven episodes cover fifteen years,¹² so the series moves by leaps and moments rather than by every event. If you want a full account of the history, read about it afterwards. The series is about how it feels to watch it happen.