House of Five Leaves

"When you're hungry, anything tastes good."

House of Five Leaves is a manga by Natsume Ono (Not Simple, and Ristorante Paradiso) about a washed-up Ronin named Akitsu Masanosuke (nicknamed Masa), who possesses great skill with a blade but also a timid personality that often causes him problems. After continually failing to find work in Edo, he meets a mysterious man named Yaichi (nicknamed Ichi) who takes a liking to Masa and offers him employment as his bodyguard. Yaichi is leader of a group called the "Five Leaves", which kidnaps the heirs of wealthy businesses and holds them to ransom. Though initially reluctant to participate in their shady activities, Masa finds himself becoming more and more involved with the other members, all of whom have their own secrets to hide.

Recognisable for its distinctive art style, it is a very beautiful manga with an intricate plot and fascinating characters that teach you that people are often far more than they first appear.

It was later adapted into a Twelve-Episode Anime by Manglobe in April 2010.

Not to be confused with House of Leaves.

Tropes used in House of Five Leaves include:

• Bait and Switch Credits: Makes the story seem much more cheerful and happy than it really is.
• Black and Gray Morality: The "heroes" are not exactly what you'd call nice but the "bad guys" are far worse.
• Book Ends: When Yaichi and Masa first meet in episode one, Yaichi offers a dango to him while saying the page quote. In the last scene of the last episode, Masa offers a dango to Yaichi repeating the same line.
• Completely Missing the Point: Masa constantly misunderstands what is really happening around him and other people's intentions, especially Yaichi's. But in the end, he often does get it right, and he has a way of speaking out uncomfortable truths out loud.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Everyone, particularly Ume and Yaichi.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Everyone except Yaichi.
• Five-Man Band: The Five Leaves
  • The Hero: Yaichi, though he's more of an Anti-Hero.
  • The Lancer: Matsu, The Quiet One.
  • The Smart Guy: Masa, savvy and Adorkable.
  • The Big Guy: Ume
  • The Chick: Otake
• Fourth Wall Talking Animal: The preview voice in episode eleven. Nyao.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Played with.
• Gory Discretion Shot: In the last episode.
• Gratuitous English: Both the Opening Theme (sign of love/ show me your soul) and the Ending Theme (everytime I breath/ I wanna hold you in my arms/ every word you whisper/ makes my heart beat up and down).
• Heroic BSOD: Yaichi does not take it well when Jin tells him that he lied about the original Yaichi betraying him.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold
• Kabuki Sounds: Used to punctuate important moments.
• Keigo: One of Masa's charming points. He refers to himself as "sessha" or "soregashi" and ends his sentences with "de gozaru". He also adresses everyone with the suffix "-dono", whatever their social standing.
• Manly Tears: Yaichi, in the last episode.
• Melancholy Moon: In the last episode. Averted in the sequence, when the moon disappears and it starts to snow.
• My God, What Have I Done?: It's heavily implied that Yaichi/Seinoshin killed the original Yaichi for his involvement in his kidnapping/attempted murder. Thus, when Jin reveals that the servant involved in the incident probably wasn't Yaichi, Yaichi snaps.
• Names to Know in Anime
  • Daisuke Namikawa as Masanosuke
  • Takahiro Sakurai as Yaichi
  • Fuyuka Ooura as Otake
• Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer makes looks like is some kind of happy love story between two samurai (one of them, Pretty in Pink). Don't believe it? Check for yourself.
• One-Liner: One of the characters always says the episode's title in the beginning of each episode.
• Purely Aesthetic Era: Just as a few examples, Yaichi has white hair and there is a French tango in the soundtrack.
• Ronin
• Samurai
• Scars Are Forever: Seinoshin has a burn scar in the shape of a maple leaf on his back. Yaichi has the same scar on his back, revealing him to be the boy in question.
• Scenery Porn
• Slice of Life
• Snow Means Death: In the last episode.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: And how?! In the most intense and troubled moments you can nearly always hear some happy song.
• Title Drop
• Troubled Fetal Position: Yaichi, in the last episode.
• Verbal Tic: Masa's "de gozaru", an archaic form of "desu".
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Yaichi, which is strange, as everyone else has dark hair and Yaichi is by no means old.
  • Considering the story happens in a Purely Aesthetic Era, maybe he bleaches his hair to helps him in his disguise.
• Yakuza
• You Are Not Alone: In the last episode, Masa appears when Yaichi is on the verge of despair to offer an umbrella and his support. Yaichi finally drops his tough face and cries leaning on his lap.
• You Can Keep Her: One of the House of Five Leaves' kidnapping plots go awry when one of their targets decides to pay only half the ransom... and tells them to kill the kidnapped heir in secret. This hits a little too close to home for Yaichi.