House of Five Leaves 5

Since there's no Cat this week...........Turtle!

I’m impressed, this was the first episode that didn’t have development for Yaichi’s character, and it is my favourite episode so far. I really enjoyed everything about this episode; from the explanation of the Five Leave’s origin to the development of Ume’s character. Ume is my favourite character, I like Masa a lot but he has a timid, likable honesty, whereas Ume has a tough, sheltered honesty. I have a lot of respect for single parents that manage to raise and love their children, it takes a lot of sacrifice but most parents will say it was worth it. I have even more respect for a single Dad raising a Daughter. I’m making assumptions here but I believe that there are more women that have motherly emotions then there are men that have fatherly ones. It is especially tough for a grown man to understand a growing girl. Okinu clearly loves her Dad a lot and he would give the world to her, this is the reason why Ume is my favourite character; because underneath the tough exterior left by a hard past lays a caring father who does what he believes is right.

Apparently, Yaichi is a little annoyed about his lack of appearance this episode.

Summary:

Starting off where last episode ended we discover how the Five Leaves (currently four) came to be. Ume wanted revenge, Otake wanted money, and Yaichi’s prerogative is up for discussion. Yaichi brings Matsu in who simply wants to work for Yaichi, his reasons were made clear in the previous episode. The plan is to lure the victim with Otake and then kidnap him, receive the money and then return him. Everything goes as planned. Ume tells Yaichi that he doesn’t need the money; he simply wants to get one good hit on the kid and leave him tied up in front of the house of the women he’s meant to marry. Yaichi says that they wait for the money, split it between them and go with Ume’s idea. Keikaku Doori.

Present for you!

Back in regular time Ume is going to visit Masa taking a soft-shell turtle (quite expensive) with him. The only regular time Yaichi exposure we get is him talking with the madam about how people who get Edo disease go back to their home town, since Masa can’t really do this he has instead gone to stay with Elder on the outskirts. That night Ume explains to Masa over turtle stew that the Elder used to be a big deal among gangsters; he was the leader of a gang that Ume was a part of. Ume met a woman and together they had Okinu but she died of a disease before Okinu was three. Ume needed to leave the gang in order to take care of Okinu, so Elder helped him leave at which point Ume went to Edo and started his Tavern.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Ume returns to his Tavern and reminisces about his reason for joining the Five Leaves. He did not want to continue after the first kidnapping. He tries to give the money from the job to Elder as thanks for all he has done for him but Elder tells him to keep it. When he leaves he walks past Senkichi; another member of his old gang. Senkichi visited Elder in regular time when Masa was there but Ume didn’t talk about it, when Senkichi asked Ume if he could go visit his Tavern Ume replied: “As a customer…anytime.” Back in the past Ume eavesdrops on Senkichi asking Elder why he turned his back on him when he asked to go legit.

Hey, perk up! Knowing this series bromance is in your future.....

Senkichi stole money from the gang and left not long after Ume had left. Elder explains that Senkichi was the only lock picker they had and therefore needed him, Ume was only a large man so he was more expendable, also Ume had asked first and Elder couldn’t just get two people out in such succession. Senkichi explains that he stole the money to free a woman from a brothel; thirteen years later he is married with a daughter and a small store in Edo. However not long after Elder left their gang the other leader died and the gang disintegrated. One of the youngsters, Denshichi, is now in another gang and is harassing Senkichi to join. Senkichi does not want to join and is worried that his wife, daughter and his reputation are all in danger if he doesn’t. Therefore he asks Elder for money to pay Denshichi off, but Elder tells him that he made his bed, and now he has to lie in it.

It's a rich man's world.

Ume is visually moved by his involvement in how his circumstances are so similar to Senkichi, but because of him Senkichi didn’t have an easy time leaving the gang. Ume runs after Senkichi and gives him the money from the kidnapping. Elder tells Ume that Senkichi will need more and more money and that he shouldn’t give it to him out of sympathy, to which Ume replies that he is doing it because he wants too. The episode returns to regular time and ends with Elder telling Masa not to worry about things that don’t concern him.

A quiet night for good old Masa.

Thoughts:

What an episode! I have been really lucky this season; all three of the shows I blog are still going strong with no signs of holding back. This episode really impressed me though, the visuals were amazing. The way that shadows were used in this episode showed both how characters felt and how you as a viewer felt seeing them that way. The music was also incredible; the song at the very end of the episode gave me chills. Ume drinking alone and Masa sitting staring at the stars all gave this feeling of encroaching darkness, suggesting that there could be some shadows in the future. The best visual of the episode was when Ume said: “Well… I didn’t grow up clean in the first place.” The line conveyed his feelings over getting involved in crime again, but the way his face was darkened in the rain gave this feeling of sadness that I still can’t get over.

...nuff said.

Ume’s reason for joining the Five Leave’s was revealed in this episode; every time he earns money from kidnapping, he gives the money to Senkichi to keep Senkichi from being pulled into crime again. This is probably the saddest part, it is Ume’s paradox. He has been pulled back into crime in order to keep another of similar circumstance from doing so. This gave me a whole new respect for Ume’s character, he doesn’t do it because he has to; he does it because he wants to. I have been unable to confirm this but Senkichi sounds as though he is voiced by Nakai Kazuya, who played Mugen in another little known Manglobe anime based in Edo. I personally really like him as Doumeki in XxxHolic but Mugen was good too. Of course I might be completely wrong, in which case I have just wasted sixty-one words.

Sometimes being right is a chore, also, Ume is definitely a "seme".

The scene after Ume finished explaining his past to Masa was interesting. Ume told Masa that asking about someone’s past is something that a thoughtless person would do, but that he couldn’t hate Masa because he asks not knowing that it’s thoughtless. It should be mentioned however that the only question relating to Ume’s story that Masa ever asks is if he knows Senkichi, I think that Ume might have been a little tipsy. The preview has Denshichi getting rough with Senkichi so next week may hold some interesting developments. I look forward to it.

/ One Commentleave a comment /

• Vivi says:

  May 15, 2010

  ffffffff- get off the stage Ume/Senkichi, as sweet as your story is, I want moar Yaichi/Masa ):<

  Natsume Ono's yaoi-mangaka background really seeps through Ho5L haha

  Reply