The clip shows a duel between Taira no Atsumori virsus Kumagai no Jirō Naozane shortly after the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani which took place 20th March of 1184 at Settsu province (modern Hyōgo Prefecture) which Taira (alternative reading of Taira's kanji is Heike) lost to Minamoto (Genji) clan under a command of a legendary Minamoto no Yoshitsune, brother of a shogun of first bakafu (shogunate/samurai government) - Minamoto no Yoritomo.
According The Tale of the Heike (Original source material of the series), the Minamoto were scattered by Yoshitsune's attack from the Ichi-no-Tani cliff. Kumagai no Jirō Naozane, while scouting the beach for fleeing soldiers, spotted the young Atsumori swimming towards the fleeing vessels ot Taira clan.
Ukiyo-e of Kumagai Naozane and Taira no Atsumori
Kumagai beckoned Atsumori with his fan, taunting Atsumori by saying, “I see that you are a commander-in-chief. It is dishonorable to show your back to an enemy. Return!”
Atsumori returned and they dueled, Kumagai eventually grappled when Atsumori made an error. Kumagai was stronger. He knocked off Atsumori's helmet to deliver the finishing blow, only to be struck by the beauty of the young noble. Atsumori was “sixteen or seventeen years old, with a lightly powdered face and blackened teeth-a boy just the age of Naozane's own son..."
Kumagai, wishing to spare the boy, asked for Atsumori's name, but the youth refused. He simply said that he was famous enough that Kumagai's superiors would recognize his head when it was time to assign rewards. At that moment, other Minamoto warriors arrived, and Kumagai knew that if he did not kill Atsumori, the other warriors surely would. Kumagai reasoned that it was better if he was the one to kill Atsumori, because he could offer prayers on his behalf for the afterlife.
Kumagai while cyring decapitated the youth. Searching the body for something to wrap the head in, he came across a bag containing a flute. He realized that Atsumori must have been one of the soldiers playing music before the battle and thought, “there are tens of thousands of riders in our eastern armies, but I am sure none of them has brought a flute to the battlefield. Those court nobles are refined men!”
It is said that the beheading of Atsumori is what led Kumagai to take priestly vows and become a Buddhist monk. [he appears as a monk in the end of 11th episode]
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original title: Heike Monogatari (11 part anime series)
Year: 2021
Country: Japan
Studio: Science SARU
Director: Naoko Yamada
Screenwriter: Reiko Yoshia, Novel: Hideo Furukawa
Music: Kensuke Ushio
Cinematography: Animation, Kazuto Izumita
17 янв 2022
