Humor

Despite Chapter 9 consisting mostly of battles and death, there are a handful of instances in which something humorous occurs amidst all the fighting. Right from the start, some level of comedy can be found in the discussion of horses during Episode 1, Ikezuki. The serious conversation between Kajiwara Kagesue and Sasaki Takatsuna about who Yoritomo favors judging by which horse he gave each of them comes off as a little bit silly. Even in the end, when Takatsuna decides to lie to Kajiwara and say he stole the horse, it is specifically for the purpose of making Kajiwara think he is important so he’ll continue to fight for Yoritomo, making the situation just a little bit more ridiculous. In Episode 2, when the Battle at Uji River actually begins, even more antics ensue, as the warriors make fun of and trick one another in order to be the first to cross the river.

Another example of humor found much later in the chapter comes in Episode 18, as the Heike are fleeing from the Minamoto. A warrior of the Heike, Seimon Kinnaga, is trying to find a boat so that he can escape. Upon finding one, Kinnaga climbs in, but since he is such a large man, the boat capsizes due to his weight. Unable to escape, Kinnaga, as well as everyone else that was in the ship he overturned, is captured and killed, to bring an end to a slightly dark scene of visual comedy.

Of course, since the concept of what is funny and what is not is for the most part subjective, the humor found in this chapter is very likely to change from person to person. Furthermore, what was originally intended to be a joke in Tale of the Heike might not be viewed as humorous now, or vice versa. Regardless, Tale of the Heike is not without its fair share of jokes, and Chapter 9 is certainly no exception.