Reviews

The story is set in Edo period Japan, where a highly skilled but highly gullible and unreliable samurai is finding trouble securing a job as a bodyguard. The starving "ronin" soon catches the attention of the misterious and charismatic leader of a local criminal gang known as the "Five Leaves Gang" who hires him to serve as his bodyguard and soon, starts persuading him into officialy joining the gang. Though reluctant at first, the samurai ends up joining the gang, partly due to his critical financial situation but also due to his growing interest in the gang and its members; as time goes by and their relationship deepens he discovers that there's more to each member than meets the eye, especialy the always elusive and misterious leader.
The beauty of this anime isn't in its art style which accurately depicts the landscapes of feudal japan to the tiniest detail; or in the beautiful music which is a perfect mixture of contemporary and classical japonese; its in the characters and their development. That is the keyword in this anime, development. The pace in which this anime progresses is absolutely perfect, the pieces start falling into place at the perfect timing, resulting in a smooth and crescent experience that, just like a roller coaster, will carry you softly to the top only to send you crashing down to the floor.
Those are the strongest points of animes such as House of Five Leaves, and don't misjudge, I'm not saying that crazy fantasy, battle, oriented, superpower, samurai stories aren't good; most of my favorite animes fall into those categories. What I'm saying is that there are such a vast collection of these types of manga already, and that is precisely what makes more obscure, down to earth animes like House of Five Leaves such a special and unique genre. So give it a chance, you won't fall in love with it at the first sight, but talk to me once the ride is over.