MEME: Lu's Anime Q & A

Pick 5 of your anime (in no particular order) and answer the following questions about them:

1. Arakawa Under the Bridge
2. House of Five Leaves
3. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (Ano Hana)
4. Bleach
5. Claymore

Who is your favorite character in #2?

Yaichi

Who is your least favorite character in #1?

Stella

What’s your favourite episode of #4?

Episode 48: Hitsugaya Roars! (Season 3: The Rescue)

What is your favorite season of #5?

There is only one season of Claymore. But if we're talking about story arcs, I have to say it's the Teresa of the Faint Smile arc.

What’s your favorite relationship in #3?

The friendship of the Super Peace Busters

Who is your anti-relationship in #2?

Uh...Yaichi and Masa? Although I can see a lot of possibilities there.

How long have you watched #1?

When it came out in spring 2010.

How did you become interested in #3?

I picked it up on a whim, without knowing what it's all about. It aired in the noitaminA time-slot.

Who is your favourite actor in #4?

Paku Romi as Hitsugaya Toushirou.

Which show do you prefer out of #1, 2 & 5?

Claymore

Which show have you seen more episodes of, #1 or 3?

#1

If you could be any character from #4 who would you be?

Well, I would not be Hitsugaya although I adore him. I think I may make a more convincing Soi Fong.

How would you kill off your favorite character in #2?

Yaichi, saving somebody's life. It doesn't even have to be a member of the gang.

Give a random quote from #1

First, we are born in the same galaxy. Born of the same spe­cies. Our life­times over­lap. The meet­ings between humans are so unlikely as to be mira­cu­lous. To laugh, to cy, and to fall in love. Every­one is made up of a col­lec­tion of 1% chances. Thus, I am dazzled by the fact that there are so many mir­acles in this world.

Would a #3/4 crossover work?

It could work.

Overall, which show has a better cast, #3 or 5?

#3 has some pretty solid characters but #5 has some of my favorite characters. Ultimately, the difference is that #5 has a huge cast but not all of them are finely developed. While #3 doesn't have the handicap of having a too-huge cast. Each character gets his/her own time to shine.

Which has better music, #2 or 4?

#4 Bleach had some pretty awesome BGM and op/ed themes.

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House of Five Leaves OST

RELEASED: 07.21.2010
LABEL: Sony Music
TRACKLIST:

1. Saraiya Goyou
2. Edo Sarasara
3. Taiji
4. Fugaku
5. Hisoyakani
6. Edo Kousaten
7. Nasake
8. Kono Mune de Oyasumi
9. Kadowakashi
10. Amayo
11. Shissou
12. Choko Tokkuri
13. Shiroi Unaji
14. Umaku Ikusa
15. Iikagen
16. Mujou
17. Semari Kuru Kage
18. Sassou
19. Mekakushi
20. Warabe Jidai
21. Konya no Tsukemono
22. Yudan mo Seki mo
23. Nakama
24. Tsuya Iro Emaki
25. Makuai
26. Shibashi no Wakare
27. all I need is... (TV size)
28. Sign of Love (TV size)
BUY @ Play-Asia | Yesasia

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immi - Sign of Love (House of Five Leaves ED Single)

RELEASED: 05.19.2010
LABEL: Sony
TRACKLIST:
1. Sign of Love
2. FIGHT BACK
DDL: MF
BUY @ Play-Asia | Yesasia

This is the ED single for the anime, House of Five Leaves, performed by immi. Enjoy ~

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Final Thoughts: House of Five Leaves 08-12

Matsu gets caught

I came into this show without any real idea what it's about. All I really know about House of Five Leaves is that it's vaguely about samurai and like I said in my first impressions post of this series, I'm not a huge fan of that. Then I saw the first episode and thought yes! the premise of a cowardly swordsman thrown together with a bunch of gangsters is definitely a recipe for pure comedic gold. So I stuck with it, just to see how it all plays out.

as if Masa's life isn't complicated enough...

I wasn't wrong in that department. House of Five Leaves does have its funny moments. It's only to be expected, considering the situations that the show's bumbling, cowardly protagonist Masanosuke frequently finds himself in. However, unlike Arakawa Under the Bridge, another funny anime that I've been following and which just finished airing, House of Five Leaves isn't on the air only for the gags. Rather, it's a serious anime -- character-driven, slow to unfold and softly dramatic.

it's strange how much we know about Yaichi and Otake's relationship and still it remains vague

House of Five Leaves is really a show about two people: the aforementioned Masanosuke, a former castle samurai turned ronin and freelancing bodyguard; and Yaichi, the leader of the Five Leaves gang with the mysterious past. As audiences, we are watching the whole show through Masanosuke's eyes so while we feel that Masanosuke's character is changing the more he interacts with the gangsters, we are at the same time witnessing the fascinating unfolding of Yaichi's life story. The realistic approach of this anime, from its treatment of the characters to its overall design, ensures that irony is pervasive. After all, life is supposed to be ironic, isn't it? But also full of wonders.

you can't run away from your past

The other members of the gang, side characters really, are also given sufficient airtime for us to get to know them a little better. Their sob stories, after all, are what makes them who they are at present. But an interesting thing: out of all five, Otake is the only one who doesn't get her own episode. The only thing we really know about her is that she used to work at a brothel (it's a sad yet common enough situation for girls during that time; fathers would sell their daughters in order to pay off their debts), where a young Seinoshin met her, until someone bought her freedom. I like to think it's romantic and maybe it is but you know, it's probably just two people who are so miserable in life they are naturally drawn to each other.

and he is human

As a character-driven story, House of Five Leaves may be slow to unfold. Some people might find the lack of anything happening in each episode to be frustrating and tiresome. But this is how this anime is meant to be and it's not for everybody. Even the oft-commented art style ought to give you a clue. Word: this isn't Rurouni Kenshin with the gentle and polite former assassin and his merry band of friends and how they all work together to make Japan a better country. House of Five Leaves is a small, encapsulated story about a group of people who are just beginning to become friends. It could be a story about anybody, set anywhere in the world and in any time period.

life comes full circle for these two

IN SUM --

House of Five Leaves is a softly dramatic anime with a quirky premise and unexpected depth. The character designs can take some getting used to but the overall production values are sufficiently consistent to leave any nit-picking audience satisfied.

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House of Five Leaves 4-7

The first three episodes of House of Five Leaves has Masanosuke acquainting himself with the less than savory life of his new friends. He's not doing so well as he waffles between two world views. On the one hand, his samurai honor and self-righteousness keep him from getting in too deep with Yaichi's gang, whom he suspects to be, if not cutthroat, then hardened criminals. On the other, he needs the money, and the gang members don't treat him too bad either. In the end, Masanosuke doesn't make a conscious decision to join the gang but ends up being absorbed by the group anyway.

With Masanosuke's membership in the gang pretty much set, the series next puts its focus on the backgrounds for each character. As expected, all the members of the House of Five Leaves have checkered pasts. The tavern owner, Ume, used to be a member of a band of thieves, led by the strongman Demon Spider and his charismatic partner, Saint Soji (the mysterious Elder whom Masanosuke meets on one of his trips with Ume to the countryside). But Ume was not fit for that kind of lifestyle and, recognizing this, Saint Soji allowed him to leave their group without consequence. Ume's fellow gang member, Senkichi, did not fair so well and Ume's sense of responsibility for this has him choosing to remain with the House of Five Leaves in order to financially help his former comrade. Later, Ume's past comes back to bite him in the form of Denshichi, another member of his former gang, who extorts money from Senkichi and even tries to go after the retired Saint Soji. Masanosuke proves a loyal friend, despite the fact that he is recuperating from Edo Disease, and protects both Saint Soji and Otake from the murderous outlaw.

The other character on whose background the series decides to shed light is the silent and elusive, Matsu, full name Matsukichi. He's not a former spy, as I fancied, but a former lone thief. Unlike Ume, who doesn't seem to trust Yaichi, Matsu is extremely loyal and faithful to the leader of the House of Five Leaves. The reason is revealed in a flashback of his past. It turns out that Yaichi literally saved his life when the authorities were alerted to his criminal activities and pursued a wounded Matsu all over the city. Since then, Matsu has worked for Yaichi, doing all his biddings without question. The perceived rivalry between him and Ume can be explained by the fact that one is a lone thief and the other is a member of a band of robbers; they inherently distrust each other.

Interspersed with Matsu and Ume's story are details of Yaichi's past, based on his own accounts and other people's accounts, which may or may not be true. Out of all people, Otake and Saint Soji are the only two who seem to know some truth to Yaichi's real identity. From Otake, we learn that she knows more about Yaichi than she lets on and that somehow the name "House of Five Leaves" is intimately connected to its leader. From Saint Soji, we learn something more solid: Yaichi used to be a follower of Kuhei, the leader of a band of robbers. Connect this to the flashback of young Seinoshin taken hostage by a gang of criminals and all evidence seem to point that Yaichi must be that boy Seinoshin and the kidnappers' leader must be the famed Kuhei. Somewhere along the way, Seinoshin must have joined Kuhei's gang and became the present Yaichi.

Aside from the obvious members of the House of Five Leaves, the other interesting character in the series has been introduced early on in the show though his presence was not immediately felt until Episode 7. He is Yagi, a son of a hatamoto who may or may not have an agenda against Masanosuke and his new friends. The interesting thing about it is that Yagi seems genuinely fascinated by Masanosuke, or his personality rather, a reaction that is also mirrored by Yaichi, although I suspect for entirely different reasons.

With all these players firmly in place, I wonder where this series is heading and how the story of Yaichi's past eventually unravels.

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House of Five Leaves 2-3

EPISODE 02: Make Love To Me
EPISODE 03: Gradually Get Him Involved

The House of Five Leaves: (left-right) Yaichi, Matsu, Otake, Akitsu, Okinu, Ume

Akitsu's life in Edo becomes more interesting as he gets more and more mixed up (often without his own volition) with Yaichi's gang of kidnappers and thieves. In a desperate attempt at keeping his life straight, Akitsu accepts a job as a day laborer but he sucks at it so much that his boss ends up doing the work for him. Pretty soon, he finds himself back in Ume's shop in order to freeload some more from Yaichi. While there, he meets Matsu, the fifth member of the gang, although he doesn't know it yet and gets a most unexpected and welcome job as a bodyguard for a rich rice merchant.

Yaichi's motive in getting Akitsu involved is pretty hazy at the moment. Even his gang members are puzzled by his action, but Yaichi explains himself away by saying that Akitsu is an interesting fellow. To be sure, Akitsu's personality quirks makes him a walking entertainment but hardly anyone that would catch the attention of someone like Yaichi. I'm guessing there's some deeper motive here that's going to be revealed later on and make things complicated for our group of wayward friends.

House of Five Leaves is only 12 episodes long. Considering that length, I don't think the plot is going to get too complicated. I guess the thing that needs to be solved is Yaichi's connection with that child Seinoshin. I'm pretty sure they're the same person. Moreover, in Episode 3, we get a huge clue how Seinoshin's life turned from bad to worse.

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First Look: House of Five Leaves 1

EPISODE 1: In Name Only

Yo! Lu here to blog about one of Jute's Spring 2010 anime line-up. House of Five Leaves (Sarai-ya Goyou) is based on the manga of the same title by Natsume Ono. Now I'm not familiar with the author nor am I a huge fan of samurai dramas but we'll see. The anime is produced by Manglobe, the same studio responsible for Ergo Proxy, Michiko to Hatchin and Samurai Champloo. Not a bad set, if you ask me. Already this is sounding good. Now the first episode. Mm, don't like the opening theme so don't care to mention what it's called. One thing I can say about the music though is that the BGM really, really fits the time period. I wouldn't buy the soundtrack because why the hell would I listen to Japanese musical instruments? But in all objectivity, the BGM is probably great, just not something I would listen to on normal days.

Akitsu Masanosuke is a down-and-out ronin in desperate need of a job

House of Five Leaves has a potential to be a comedy. That's good news. Otherwise I don't know how I will be able to stand blogging a show about something I'm not that much into. It's a story about this wimpy ronin, Akitsu Masanosuke (voiced by Namikawa Daisuke), who keeps getting fired from his job as a bodyguard. From this, you might assume that maybe he's just not suited as a bodyguard. Well, yes and NO. Yes, he is wimpy and when was the last time you've seen a wimpy guy fill up the role of a supposedly intimidating bodyguard? Never, right? The funny thing about it is that Akitsu has absolutely NO CAUSE for being wimpy. He is in fact incredibly strong. It's just that he is so painfully shy and oddly cowardly for someone so strong that makes him a total mess.

The House of Five Leaves' Umezo (left) and the leader, Yaichi (right)

Enter the charismatic and laidback gangleader of the House of Five Leaves, Yaichi, seductively voiced by Takahiro Sakurai. I have never heard of this seiyuu because I'm not usually interested in the voice actors/actresses, but this one I had to look up. He has such a hot voice, I just had to.

the burn scar on young Seinoshin's back, the source of the name 'House of Five Leaves'

Yaichi has a sob back story. He's apparently the adopted son of the wealthy samurai Saegusa family but may have been neglected later on when his adoptive mother gave birth to the true heir of the family. Yaichi is not even his real name. It was Seinoshin and Yaichi is merely the name of the manservant who was closest to him as a child.

Yaichi and Akitsu's first meeting

So Yaichi becomes a gangster and one day he finds that he is in need of a bodyguard so he strikes out to hire one in name only. He finds Akitsu, whose cowardly appearance is just what he needs, only to be surprised when he discovers the man's true strength. After that, he wants to retain Akitsu's services, relying on the principle that a samurai's word is his bond. Akitsu is in a bit of a pinch because his sense of honor prevents him from accepting Yaichi's offer. Then he hears about the House of Five Leaves' real dealings from member Umezo's daughter. It turns out that Yaichi's gang is a bit into Robinhood types of crimes. By that, I don't mean they steal money from the rich to give to the poor, but they kidnap rich merchant's misbehaving sons and ransom them off. It's kind of like what a vigilante does and this strikes a chord in Akitsu. Yaichi himself doesn't believe for once that he's doing something right. He's just making a living. This disparity in their world views is going to play a huge role in their characters' dynamics and that's something I'm interested in seeing more of.

Overall, seems like a pretty interesting series. The odd art style may take some getting used to. The character designs are almost ugly in that semi-realistic way. Hm. It fits the show though so there's that.

MORE INFO:

OFFICIAL (JPN) 

House of Five Leaves @ ANN 

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Spring 2010 Anime Preview

From AnimeSuki and Chartfag's Spring 2010 Anime Line-Up. Looks awesome:

Iron Man

OFFICIAL (Marvel) | OFFICIAL (Madhouse) (JPN) | MAL | Teaser Trailer

We all know the story so no need to elaborate. What we do need to know is that this is the first of Madhouse's collaboration with Marvel to bring the latter's more famous titles to the Japanese audience. Next summer, we have Wolverine. I'm more excited about that (Madhouse's treatment of Wolverine's character design looks so strange) but I'd like to see this one to get a feel for the other. :) I'm sure a lot of people are also looking forward to this.





Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei

OFFICIAL (Noitamina) (JPN) | AniDB | ANN | MAL

Another Madhouse number and it's Noitamina, a word that has become synonymous with "quality anime." I don't really know what it's about. It's apparently an adaptation of a manga by Morimi Tomohiko and it looks josei. The picture looks interesting though. It looks funny, eclectic and quite eye-catching. If this turns out to be of the tone of Solanin, I am going to like it.






House of Five Leaves

OFFICIAL (JPN) | AniDB | ANN | | MAL

This is the story about a ronin (masterless samurai), Akitsu Masanosuke who becomes the bodyguard of the leader of a criminal gang, Five Leaves. Yes, I know, the story doesn't seem to amount to much but the character design is appealing, it's by Manglobe, and samurai, yo! So this one is definitely in the basket. Out of all titles, I'm probably most looking forward to this.




Hero Man

OFFICIAL (Stan Lee's production company) | OFFICIAL (Square-Enix) (JPN) | ANN | MAL

The story follows a boy, Joey, who finds a robot that transforms into a giant robot, Heroman, which Joey uses to fight evil. (from ANN)

One word: Bones. Also, in tiny fonts: stan lee. The man is so big, he doesn't need big letters for his name. I'm still reeling over the wow-ness factor of Xam'd: Lost Memories. Now, this...yes!





Hakuoki Shinsengumi Kitan

OFFICIAL (Otomate Game) (JPN) | ANN | MAL

Oh my god, pretty boys! With swords! And look at the detail of that costume.

Hakuoki is a PS2 game and is reverse harem. Ugh. I have bad experiences with games turned into anime and hate girls surrounded by pretty boys. But this one comes with a no-fail safety button: Shinsengumi.

It follows the story of a Dutch girl who comes to Japan to look for her father. While searching for her father (who is a doctor), she stumbles upon a Shinsengumi member (I don't know which one) just as he is turning into a monster. Trouble ensues when she realizes that this weird transformation may have something to do with her father's works and that in order to find him, she has to disguise herself as a man and become part of Shinsengumi.


That's all for now.

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