[Orphan] Animated Classics of Japanese Literature E16 - A Ghost Story (DVD)

Orphan is redoing as many of the stories from the 1986 anthology series Seishun Anime Zenshuu (translated as Animated Classics of Japanese Literature for its English release) as we can find sources for, starting with the twelve episodes released in North America on DVD. We’ll be releasing the show as individual stories; today’s is A Ghost Story, subtitled "The Story of Hoichi." This classic Japanese legend is taken from a book by Lafcadio Hearn, a Greek-Irish orphan who emigrated first to the United States and then to Japan, where he wrote the first widely read English-language books about Japan. See this blog entry for more details.

A Ghost Story retells the tale of a blind minstrel named Hoichi. He is a master of the biwa, specializing in The Tale of the Heike, a long poem about the Genpei war between the Minamoto and Taira clans. One night, a gruff samurai invites him to play the climactic chapter, "The Battle of Dan-no-Ura," for a noble lady. All of the listeners are moved to tears, and Hoichi in invited back to play again the following night. But his talents have put him in mortal peril, and he is lucky escape mostly intact.

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This a moody and atmospheric story, slowly building a sense of dread without relying on the jump scares and bloodshed of most anime ghost stories. The best episode of this series so far; highly recommended.

Information:
https://collectr.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-ghost-story-hoichi-earless.html