Biwa.
The color of your eye changed.
Perhaps Biwa has inherited Father's eye.
Freaky!
Maybe you're a specter.
I mean, you never get any bigger.
What?!
Why, you little...
Sukemori!
See, she's a bakeneko!
Stop it, Biwa!
Biwa, enough!
Brother!
What a lively bunch.
Lord Munemori.
I though surely you would be in low spirits.
Or is this just how you behave with your strict father no longer around?
Munemori.
I have come today to inform my late brother,
that I shall take firm hold of the reigns.
As head of the Heike!
"The Heike Story"
"Episode 5"
Oh, you're so cute!
Good job!
There, there!
Tokuko.
Tomomori, dear brother.
My, His Highness is standing splendidly!
And here we have... one of Shigemori's attendants...
Biwa.
Your eye is the same as his!
Did Brother have a love child?
You are mistaken.
Oh, sorry!
I just assumed. You know, even the emperor has his other child...
Forgive me!
I've stuck my foot in my mouth twice in a row!
My son has a little brother now. Through a different mother.
Kogo?
No, someone else. Lady Shokuko.
So your wife has become that child's wet nurse?
Yeah... she has.
And you have become Munemori's adjunct, right?
Yeah. Alongside our little brother Shigehira.
Is Munemori actually ready to be clan head, I wonder?
Hmm, well, uh...
How is Father?
I hear that he's been holed up in Fukuhara since Shigemori passed.
The shock must have hit him hard.
Anyway,
we can't feel down forever.
Even without Shigemori, we must carry the Taira clan forward.
We'll combine our brotherly strength and work heartily and nimbly!
What a vexing bug.
Now then,
you say that damned Kiyomori is still out of it?
Yes.
Then he's just a senile old man now.
What a great opportunity.
It was Emperor Go-Shirakawa?
Yes.
He seized the province of Echizen that Koremori inherited...
and the Fujiwara assets that Moriko had taken possession of were also seized...
And lately...
he has also been meddling with regard to court positions.
Curses!
Father?
How dare he? Curse him!
Father?
F-Father!
F-F-F-F-Father!
Munemori, gather troops!
I'm returning to the capital.
I'm not senile yet!
You! Make way! Make way!
It's Lord Kiyomori.
He intends to retaliate.
Father, welcome back to the capital.
Munemori!
Yes!
Tomomori!
Sir!
Shigehira!
Yes.
Beginning today,
we dismiss the regent, the chancellor, and 41 others from their offices.
Afterwards, the positions will be filled from the Heike.
And as for Motofusa, who took away Shigemori's territory,
exile him to Hyuga!
Move out! Go! Go!
Open the gate! Circle there too!
Capture them all!
Don't resist!
I beg your pardon!
Spare me exile to Hyuga! For I have taken vows and renounced the world!
In that case, I shall let you off with exile in Bizen.
Munemori!
Yes, Father!
Go to Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
We will have His Majesty reside at the Toba Palace.
You mean to confine His Majesty?
To go so far seems...
I shall go at once, Father!
Even me?
What gall. For the Heike warriors to bare their fangs at me...
It's outrageous!
I'll never forgive this, Kiyomori!
The Yata Mirror, the Ama-no-Murakumo Sword, and the Yasakani Magatama.
The Three Sacred Treasures are proof that you are the emperor!
The youngest in history to accede to the throne!
I'd say "infantile" rather than "young."
Tokuko, you should rejoice.
Your child, my grandson has become the emperor!
Haven't you?
His Majesty understands this is a happy thing.
Now then...
Retired Emperor Takakura!
I would love for you to visit my Itsukushima Shrine!
Uncle Shigehira, you play so well!
High praise from you, Kiyotsune.
Should you really be standing around playing the flute?
Brother! Uncle is visiting out of concern for us after the loss of Father!
Yes, but I also wanted to get away from Munemori.
It's still so cold.
Hm, this one.
The other day, he demanded Lord Nakatsuna of the Genji's prized horse,
despite repeated refusal.
So this is the famous horse you treasure so much.
I shall give this horse the name Nakatsuna.
Run, blasted Nakatsuna!
Blasted Nakatsuna, feel the sting of my crop!
Tomomori and I remonstrated with him later.
Such behavior from the head of the Heike...
And if Father were alive,
Emperor Go-Shirakawa would never have been confined either.
Given Emperor Takakura's visit to Itsukushima Shrine despite opposition,
I expect the confinement will end soon.
I imagine Emperor Takakura went along with Father's request with that goal in mind.
Father is too high handed.
Anyway, your concern is understandable, Sukemori.
But going forward, we will be leading the Heike.
In preparation, we must take an interest in governance as well as the flute,
and develop our fighting skills.
Yes, Uncle!
You're not a bakeneko, but a puppy.
"Bakeneko?"
Yeah, her.
What with her eyes and all, she's suspicious.
Sukemori, if you don't fix the way you speak, the court ladies will dislike you.
As will the girl you fancy.
I hear you were quite a help to my brother Shigemori.
If you ever have a problem, come to me.
I shall assist you any time.
That's how he treated your prized horse?
And they even branded it with the name Nakatsuna!
To think of my son Nakatsuna's pain fills me with frustration and misery!
The late Lord Shigemori was a considerate man of the utmost courtesy.
But now, a great many dislike the Heike, and even despise them!
Prince Mochihito, Your Highness is Emperor Go-Shirakawa's second prince.
You are exceptionally learned and of fine lineage.
There was even talk that you would accede to the throne.
True, that did not happen and your talent has long gone unrecognized.
But now, your abilities are needed!
Bring down the Heike, depose Emperor Antoku,
and become emperor yourself, Your Highness!
I beg you, harden your resolve!
Give us your command!
Prince Mochihito ordered the downfall of the Heike?!
I hear the command is presently circulating to the Genji in all quarters.
Inform my father in Fukuhara at once!
Yes, sir!
Seize the prince immediately and exile him to Tosa!
I'm returning to the capital!
Speak! Where is Prince Mochihito?
Search the entire estate!
Capture them all!
I never expected word would get out this early.
It is all right. The coast is clear.
Your Highness, hide at Onjoji Temple until the Genji forces have gathered.
Father! We awaited your arrival!
I am told Prince Mochihito narrowly escaped to Onjoji Temple dressed
as a woman.
But if the Heike attack...
Onjoji's strength will not suffice,
so they sought help from Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei and Kofukuji in Nara. But...
This rice is ours!
You already took plenty!
I sent 20,000 koku of Omi Province rice to Enryakuji.
Wow, Father. What a brilliant move!
Now Enryakuji will side with the Heike.
But what about Kofukuji?
We don't need both. A bird cannot fly with one wing plucked.
Prince Mochihito apparently left Onjoji to head for Kofukuji.
He must intend for them to harbor him.
A report arrived! Prince Mochihito has entered Byodoin Temple.
Byodoin, you say?
Word is he was exhausted on the road and fell six times from his horse.
He is currently resting at Byodoin.
This is our opportunity! Attack Byodoin!
Tomomori, you go as a general.
Yes, Father!
You, too, Shigehira.
Yes, sir.
And lastly...
Well, Mother, I must depart now.
Koremori.
Brother, may you have fortune in battle.
Brother, you can't defeat the enemy if you're poised to run like usual.
I can't sleep with the racket you're making.
I'm surprised you could hear it over the rain.
Brother has been a scaredy-cat since childhood.
He's more suited to dancing than swinging a sword.
Do you think he'll be all right?
28,000 riders for the Heike
crossed the Kowata Mountains and advanced on Uji Bridge.
Behold!
Attack! Attack!
However...
They've removed the bridge! Be careful!
the rear troops did not hear this
and in their race forward
200 riders were pushed over the edge and swept away.
Then, both sides stood at opposite ends and exchanged volleys.
Into the fray advanced Tajima of Gochiin Temple,
wearing no armor, holding no shield.
The arrows flying toward him he sliced from the air!
Sliced them from the air!
Thus did he become known as Tajima the arrow slicer.
K-Keep it together!
Brother, we can't make use of our numbers on this bridge.
We should retreat.
Retreat?!
Yes. Rather than do bridge battle,
let's cross the river and fight.
How?
Ah, I see!
So this is how we can withstand the current.
No need for heroics.
Just stay calm and defeat who you can.
Save any who fall in! Leave no one behind!
Yorimasa and Nakatsuna of Minamoto, who urged Prince Mochihito to raise an army,
were cornered and killed themselves at Byodoin!
Prince Mochihito was hit with an arrow as he fled and perished!
To top it off, Onjoji Temple...
why, Shigehira, you set it ablaze!
The battle lasted into nightfall. The risk of friendly fire forced me to.
The blaze just spread so quickly!
Why, I find myself having to praise my younger brother!
We had no other choice, right?
Fighting is the warrior's way.
When you fight, losing is not an option.
After all this, the Genji will think twice.
There should be no more battles for quite some time.
So cute!
Tokuko?
You seem down.
Emperor Takakura spends little time with my son lately.
I am told he had another child with Lady Shokuko...
To think about it pains and distresses me so...
I thought you didn't want this marriage.
No, not at first.
I wonder when that changed.
Once, servants used the fallen leaves of his beloved maple trees
as kindling to warm their saké.
Everyone was aghast.
"Warming my saké on fallen leaves in the forest."
How elegant.
That was his response. He didn't rebuke them.
He is a kind man.
But...
Emperor Takakura must find it more comforting to be with someone else
than with me.
A daughter of Kiyomori, of the Heike...
Though they had different mothers, Prince Mochihito was his older brother.
Father... the Heike killed him.
It's all so awful.
But I choose to forgive.
Father, Emperor Takakura, Emperor Go-Shirakawa. All of them.
Maybe that sounds presumptuous.
But... someone has to forgive,
or there will be only hatred and conflict.
But I'd like to think the world isn't all pain and suffering.
So I'll forgive, and forgive,
and forgive.
Pa?
Did you forgive, Pa?
Shigemori,
did you forgive?
Did you forgive, Biwa?