This series just continues to amaze me. At first the plot of this series seemed a bit mundane, about the every day lives of a band of criminals, but the situations here just sparkle with creativity here: everything just fits, and it takes full advantage of the fact that the characters here are criminals. They don’t present them as some kind of chivalrous thieves (even though they started out that way), and stress that the creators are fully aware of their actions. This especially shines through Masa, who still isn’t sure about whether or not to turn them down, especially since they treated him so genuinely nice.
I also loved how this episode comes to bite back at Ume, when the creditor of the guy of the previous episode started wondering where the hell he could get all that money from. I really love how the antagonists here aren’t stupid: they can think for themselves, and if it wasn’t for Masa he would have caused a great deal of trouble. By the way, I loved that shot in which Masa pointed his katana to his neck. That was so incredibly well animated.
Then Yaichi. He was a bit absent during the past two episodes, but the end of the episode came with a very interesting revelation: he and the old man knew each other. I suspected that something was fishy when it turned out that Yaichi never even once visited him, but to think that they were so much of an acquaintance. This does explain why he became involved with five leaves, though. Another very sneaky way.
I really like how this episode also forced Ume to think about his commitments to Five Leaves, especially since this indirectly caused so much trouble in this episode. At the same time you can also guess that Yaichi also put a lot of time into thinking whether or not to visit Masa. In this way, nearly every character here is forced to make certain choices.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
I really liked this episode as well! To me, Masa seemed to show a more happy and assertive side towards the ending, which I liked. He also seems a lot more comfortable around his buddies. xD Plus I like to see him in action, even if just a little.
Must admit that despite my initial complaints about the character art this show is really growing on me.
I’m with you. This is a great, mature show. Not “mature” as in shows lots of blood and nudity. I mean mature in the sense that it feels like the weight of the world is on its shoulders. As you said, the characters are imperfect. Only Masa and Okinu are idealists. The others know full well that what they are doing is wrong and dangerous.
I also mean “mature” in that the artwork is refined, and quite beautiful, but not as easy to appreciate as other shows that feature bright colors and cute character designs.
Five Leaves is a great show, and I feel really fortunate to be able to watch it.
The first 6 episodes cover about a quarter of the original story. I just wonder how creators finish Saraiya goyou with 6 more episodes.
So far, they faithfully follow the story of the original comics except two flashbacks, one is in the beginning of the first episode and the other is at the end of the third episode. In the original comics, these two flashbacks appear much later. Judging from these modifications, I guess they have ideas about how to abridge the scenario… though I don’t want them to hurry too much.