House of Five Leaves
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga
written and illustrated by Natsume Ono
and serialized in Shogakukan's seinen magazine Ikki
. The series began in 2006, and has been collected into 8 volumes
by publisher Shogakukan
. The manga was licensed for distribution in North America
by Viz Media
.
The manga series was adapted into a twelve-episode anime television series by Manglobe
. The anime aired in the noitaminA
timeslot on FujiTV. The anime has been licensed by FUNimation
as a part of their deal with Fuji TV that allows them to simulcast series from the noitaminA block. This agreement allows FUNimation to show the anime on their website at the same time it airs in Japan, and then at later times on the same day on both Hulu
and YouTube
.
Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled swordsman, but his personality often causes him to be let go from his job. One day he encounters Yaichi, the leader of a group calling itself "Five Leaves" and takes a job from him as a bodyguard. Though he is worried about the intentions of the group, he feels there is something more to the group and agrees to work with them.
magazine by Shogakukan. The series will be ending in the September issue of the magazine, which is to be released on July 24, 2010. The series is published in North America by Viz Media
as part of their Ikki imprint. The series is released online on their Sigikki site and then published in book format. It is also licensed in Taiwan by Taiwan Tohan Co and in France by Kana
.
and directed by Tomomi Mochizuki
, and aired on the noitaminA
time slot on Fuji TV. The series began on April 15, 2010, and ran for 12 episodes. On April 16 Kouji Yamamoto, the Editor-in-Chief and script writer for the series, apologized to the staff via his twitter
account for the low rating for the first episode. The episode's TV rating in Japan was 1.5%, a third of what many series in the noitaminA
timeslot earn.
The anime has been licensed by FUNimation
as a part of their deal with Fuji TV that allows them to simulcast series from the noitaminA block. This agreement allows FUNimation to show the anime on their website at the same time it airs in Japan, and then at later times on the same day on both Hulu
and YouTube
. The anime has been picked for a UK release by Beez Entertainment
.
, and the ending theme is "all I need is..." by Rake.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
written and illustrated by Natsume Ono
Natsume Ono
is a Japanese manga artist. She first gained prominence through her 2003 web comic La Quinta Camera, which was subsequently published by a Japanese publisher. Several of her works have been published in English by Viz Media. She is due to have a new series released in Ikki Magazine in 2011, with a...
and serialized in Shogakukan's seinen magazine Ikki
Ikki (magazine)
is a monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It tends to specialize in underground or alternative manga, but has had its share of major hits as well. Notably, both Bokurano and Ride Back have received anime adaptations....
. The series began in 2006, and has been collected into 8 volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
by publisher Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
. The manga was licensed for distribution in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
.
The manga series was adapted into a twelve-episode anime television series by Manglobe
Manglobe
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It was formed on February 7, 2002 by Sunrise producers Shinichirō Kobayashi and Takashi Kochiyama.-Works:*Trip Trek *Samurai Champloo...
. The anime aired in the noitaminA
Noitamina
– "Animation" written backwards – is a Fuji Television programming block, devoted to anime, originally broadcast each Thursday night from 24:45 to 25:15 . It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical young male demographic...
timeslot on FujiTV. The anime has been licensed by FUNimation
Funimation Entertainment
Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...
as a part of their deal with Fuji TV that allows them to simulcast series from the noitaminA block. This agreement allows FUNimation to show the anime on their website at the same time it airs in Japan, and then at later times on the same day on both Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Plot
RōninRonin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....
Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled swordsman, but his personality often causes him to be let go from his job. One day he encounters Yaichi, the leader of a group calling itself "Five Leaves" and takes a job from him as a bodyguard. Though he is worried about the intentions of the group, he feels there is something more to the group and agrees to work with them.
Characters
- Masanosuke is a skilled swordsman hailing from a prominent family. He is very shy and despite his incredible talent, he is often fired because of his shyness around other people. He left home because he initially felt he didn't belong in his hometown. He works with Fives Leaves after Yaichi hired him as a bodyguard; however he was unaware of the group's illegal activities, which involved kidnapping. He admires parts of Yaichi's carefree personality and even idolizes him somewhat, but is curious about his leader's past. Eventually, during the course of the series, Masanosuke sheds parts of his shyness and becomes more mature than he was in the beginning, which by example is shown when he comforts a depressed Yaichi after he finds him alone in a graveyard. In the beginning Masanosuke was found by Yaichi at a shrine, who offered him rice balls. Towards the end it is Masanosuke who assumes Yaichi's position, offering his friend the same rice balls.
- The charismatic leader of the "Five Leaves." A mysterious person, he dislikes telling about his own past and lives in a local brothel, protecting and flirting with the women working in there. Distinguishable by his light colored hair and his tanned skin, he is often seen smoking a pipe. At the beginning of the series he is calm and carefree, seemingly living life to the fullest and intent on living in only the present, as he says to Masanosuke. He even does him a favor by recruiting Masanosuke into the Five Leaves gang at the point where he is at his weakest socially (because he is very shy) and financially. His reasons for befriending the samurai at first was because he was so naive, but over the course of the series Yaichi has a sort of falling out with him because Masanosuke was "annoying. Yaichi eventually becomes the subject of Masanosuke's personal investigation of his past, something Yaichi has long repressed.
- It is revealed through flashbacks that Yaichi was actually born as "Seinoshin", a young child who was adopted into a prominent Japanese family, but was rejected by his adoptive parents. As a result he became quiet and withdrawn, with a family servant named Yaichi and Yagi, another heir from another family, as his only friends. He was kidnapped by a bandit named Jin, and believed that Yaichi will protect him but was told that Yaichi was the one who arranged his kidnapping, traumatizing Seinoshin. When he grew older Seinoshin worked under the moniker of "Sei", a bandit and a merciless killer who during this time (under implication) killed his old servant Yaichi and dumping him in a well for betraying him. But then for reasons unknown Sei betrayed his old gang by selling them out, and fled to Edo where he became "Ichi", forming the Five Leaves gang with a woman named Otake, a woman he payed out of bondage from a brothel.
- When Yaichi's past catches up to him, he stumbles into a graveyard and mourns at his servant's tombstone until morning, when Masanosuke arrives and comforts him. He is last seen at the shrine where Yaichi found the samurai in the beginning of the series, accepting the offer of cooked rice balls and coming to terms of closure with himself.
- Once a lone robber he is now a member of Five Leaves as a spy and gathers information about their targets. He creates metal hair ornaments for women as a business to generate money outside of the Five Leaves gang. Calm and collected, Matsukichi usually does his job, but once he has a goal he doesn't stop until he achieves it, making others think he is reckless. It is revealed that Matsukichi works for the Five Leaves because he is indebted to leader Yaichi, who in the early days saved him from a group of pursuers who caught him trying to steal money as a sneak thief. He also stole money in order to support his wife and son, who he never knew he had, when the son was injured.
- Owner of a tavern where the members of Five Leaves meet and discuss their plans. Umezou was a former criminal and member of a notorious gang of robbers, but he wanted to take leave and fortunately the gang leader was kind enough to let him go. After that Umezou got married and had a daughter named Okinu through his deceased wife, who died from an illness. Umezou had since left his criminal ways to care for his daughter alone. He is quite overprotective of Okinu as he holds grudges against anyone who makes her cry, and his gruff manner seemed unfriendly to those who first meet him. At first he is not accepting towards Masanosuke because of his timidity and "soft heart", but gradually warms up to him.
- Otake is the local geisha of the Five Leaves. She is revealed as having used to work in a brothel until Yaichi paid her way out of bondage. Out of gratitude, he then began working together with Yaichi and formed Five Leaves, which she also named. Cool-headed and sultry, she is among the first of the Five Leaves gang to accept Masanosuke upon his first arrival. She later moves into Masanosuke's old apartment because she wanted a place of her own to live in, and later is accompanied by a cat that used to visit Masanosuke frequently.
Manga
Written and illustrated by Natsume Ono, House of Five Leaves is serialized in Japan in IkkiIkki (magazine)
is a monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It tends to specialize in underground or alternative manga, but has had its share of major hits as well. Notably, both Bokurano and Ride Back have received anime adaptations....
magazine by Shogakukan. The series will be ending in the September issue of the magazine, which is to be released on July 24, 2010. The series is published in North America by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
as part of their Ikki imprint. The series is released online on their Sigikki site and then published in book format. It is also licensed in Taiwan by Taiwan Tohan Co and in France by Kana
Kana (publisher)
Kana is a French publisher affiliated with Les Éditions Dargaud. Kana was founded in 1996 by Yves Schlirf. The company publishes manga in French and Dutch. Its headquarters are in the Dargaud offices in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.-External links:*...
.
Volume listing
Anime
The anime series of House of Five Leaves was produced by ManglobeManglobe
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It was formed on February 7, 2002 by Sunrise producers Shinichirō Kobayashi and Takashi Kochiyama.-Works:*Trip Trek *Samurai Champloo...
and directed by Tomomi Mochizuki
Tomomi Mochizuki
, sometimes incorrectly romanized as Tomomichi Mochizuki, is an anime director and producer. He is married to animator Masako Gotō and sometimes uses the alias when writing screenplays or working on storyboards...
, and aired on the noitaminA
Noitamina
– "Animation" written backwards – is a Fuji Television programming block, devoted to anime, originally broadcast each Thursday night from 24:45 to 25:15 . It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical young male demographic...
time slot on Fuji TV. The series began on April 15, 2010, and ran for 12 episodes. On April 16 Kouji Yamamoto, the Editor-in-Chief and script writer for the series, apologized to the staff via his twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account for the low rating for the first episode. The episode's TV rating in Japan was 1.5%, a third of what many series in the noitaminA
Noitamina
– "Animation" written backwards – is a Fuji Television programming block, devoted to anime, originally broadcast each Thursday night from 24:45 to 25:15 . It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical young male demographic...
timeslot earn.
The anime has been licensed by FUNimation
Funimation Entertainment
Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...
as a part of their deal with Fuji TV that allows them to simulcast series from the noitaminA block. This agreement allows FUNimation to show the anime on their website at the same time it airs in Japan, and then at later times on the same day on both Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The anime has been picked for a UK release by Beez Entertainment
Beez Entertainment
Beez Entertainment is a European anime distributor, and they also distribute anime soundtracks. They mainly act as the European branch for Bandai Visual as it is owned by Namco Bandai Holdings...
.
Episode list
The opening theme is "Sign of Love" by immiImmi
Mayu Nakazawa , currently known by the stage name immi, is a Japanese Electronica singer and songwriter. She is currently signed onto DefStar Records. While she writes and composes her own music, she is also regularly produced by N.A.i.D. and JETBIKINI.-History:Nakazawa has had experience with the...
, and the ending theme is "all I need is..." by Rake.
| # | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|