Historical Puppet Spectacle: The Tale of the Heike ( Air Date 1993-12-10 ) Genre Drama, War & Politics category. Overview "A stop-motion animated TV series based on the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, featuring puppet art by Kihachirō Kawamoto. This is a historical picture scroll depicting various human characters, breathtaking battles and political struggles from the rise to fall of the Heike clan.".