House of Five Leaves 11

As you can see...this is a serious episode.

Well, to be completely honest I don’t really like Yaichi very much anymore. On the other hand I like Jin quite a lot now; he shows people respect and has a clear set of values, despite being a thief. Yaichi on the other hand is the definition of a loose cannon; he doesn’t seem to believe in anything and acts with impunity. As a set-up to the finale this episode answered most of the remaining questions, certainly the ones about Yaichi’s past. Questions to do with the original Yaichi’s death and current Yaichi’s feelings are all up in the air heading towards the cliff here. From what we saw in this episode, if it came down to a fight between Yaichi and Jin, Jin looks like an easy victor. Our adorable protagonist is going to have a hell of a choice to make in the last episode.

I thought this looked pretty cool.

Yaichi is definitely starting to lose it. I was almost holding my breath when Yaichi was telling the most recent kidnap victim that the family paid to have him killed. It was also very creepy to then see him walk outside and laugh at the similarity between the victim and himself. From what I can tell from Masa’s deductions perhaps Yaichi was kidnapping people this entire time hoping to find someone who would have to go through the same thing that he did. Yaichi was completely breaking down this episode and it is hard to guess how he will be redeemed in the next one. Jin never drew a weapon, even after Yaichi did so it seems that he wants to talk with words rather than with knives; which makes his intentions even harder to place.

...a lot of this episode was dark, okay?

The flashback was pretty intense. Yaichi showed zero hesitation towards killing someone who was like a brother, even when he also had the option of just cutting a single finger off. It will be interesting to see the other members of the Five Leaves reactions to Yaichi’s discarded mask; certainly now that the Five Leaves are to be disbanded. I enjoyed that Masa told Yaichi his own past because he planned on asking the elder about Yaichi’s. Seeing Yaichi then hit his biggest fan really strained my caring for him has a character. Surprisingly Masa is going to be the wild card in the last episode, anything can happen at this point and from the preview it looks as though Yaichi will visit his grave in a shot which reminds me of A Christmas Carol.

...the flashbacks were.....especially dark.

In random news I am really happy to see that Arakawa has been confirmed for a second season. That was easily one of my favourite shows of the season so it’s good to know that while shows like Ikki Tousen and Koihime Musou can be endlessly green-lighted, that sometimes good shows get more air time too. Now I just have to hope that Durarara!! And Bakemonogatari will get more air time as well. Before this year I would have been able to list a great deal of manga that I wanted to be turned into anime, however with fall season packed with a lot of those adaptations I’m actually finding it hard to think of a manga that would make a really good anime.

Yaichi looks really Tsundere here.

With Deadman Wonderland, The World God Only Knows, Shinrei Tantai Yakumo and Bakuman making the rounds this fall, my list of manga to become anime grows thin. It’s almost infuriating; how much better fall looks compared to summer, Mirai Nikki is even being OVA’d at around that time. My top anime that I want made probably consists of Kizumonogatari and Nisemonogatari; got to get those sequels and prequels in Shaft! However the one thing I want to see be made into an anime most, and at the same time I’m scared of it being animated is the one and only; Fate/Zero. If Ufotable or another good studio got that, it would make one of the best animes ever. I am a huge Type-Moon fan, and I still can’t forgive DEEN and JC Staff for their awful jobs on Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime respectively. But Fate/Zero done by Ufotable would be LEGENDARY!!

/ 3 Commentsleave a comment /

• Kyokai says:

  June 30, 2010

  Aww, don't be so hard on Ichi. There's always a reason for being tsundere and he has more than enough. Imagine being not recognized by his family to the point that he was abandoned after getting kidnapped. Person's life changes without familial love, however little or big it is. He could kill someone so easily because he's devoid of emotions that makes a normal human being. To him, he doesn't deserve to live because he's not wanted by anyone. As if the other members of Five Leaves weren't enough, Masa's presence in them have affected each of them in different ways to show their softer side and thus making Sei run from emotions like a scaredy cat. If Jin is after him as a member of Bakuro, he either has an axe to grind with Sei or final reconciliation to happen in next episode.

  Btw, Gaaah, you!!! I was so sure Shinrei Tantei Yakumo would be my discovery but oh well! =P

  Reply
• chudleycannonfodder says:

  July 13, 2010

  I suppose that even though it's had a short, Toriko might qualify. I thought the first volume of the manga was fun and that it could work as an anime, but it would probably end up being more of a kid's show.

  I know there were feature length films, but I'd like to see 20th Century Boys as an anime. The early volumes of 20th Century Boys remind me of LOST and it would work well serialised as an anime.

  Oh, and since I'm talking about Urasawa, I'll throw in Pluto. Like 20th Century Boys I haven't gotten very far into it, but it would make a fun anime. Problem is that it features Atom, which might complicate things.

  I'm really hoping that Iron Man FINALLY debuts in the fall and is followed by a different Marvel anime each season. Depending on how they turn out, there could be a lot of fun Marvel properties to work with (Iron Fist and Daredevil jump immediately to mind).

  Oh, and check out the formula I just made

  Deadpool + anime = greatest fan service series ever

  Reply
  • chudleycannonfodder says:

    July 13, 2010

    Oh, and how can I forget Urasawa's current series. Billy Bat would be great as an anime, but I think I would want to wait longer before it's made. There are only 3 volumes or so out and it might be better to wait until the end or for when there's more material.

    I'd also like to see a noitaminA adaptaion of Uzumaki. Heck, a lot of Ito's short series could be adapted for noitaminA.

    Reply