House of Five Leaves, Vol. 4

House of Five Leaves #4

by Natsume Ono

With Masa having joined the crew, the fragile bonds between the members of the Five Leaves begin to change. Further changes are promised by the arrival of Ginta, a self-styled “negotiator” who learns of the existence of the Five Leaves and offers them his services. Meanwhile, the pressure on Yaichi increases as the members of his old gang continue to track him down. Burdened by the weight of his hidden past, his impervious façade begins to crack.

Genres: Manga, Historical Fiction, Seinen, Historical, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2008

About the author

Natsume Ono (Japanese name: オノ・ナツメ) made her professional debut in 2003 with the webcomic La Quinta Camera. Her subsequent works not simple, Ristorante Paradiso, and Gente (a continuation of Ristorante Paradiso) met with both critical and popular acclaim. In 2009 Ristorante Paradiso was adapted into a TV anime series. Her current series House of Five Leaves (Saraiya Goyou), also adapted into a TV anime series in 2010, is running in IKKI magazine.

(http://www.sigikki.com/creators/natsu...)

She also writes BL under the pen name of basso.

Reviews

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

New characters, more drama! Interesting and sketchy in an alluring way. Love the art style.

[kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are easily some of my favorite printings of any manga, the covers and backs of every volume are bold and stunning!

The art is brilliant, very fitting to the material and time period, it’s like brush strokes (maybe it is?). With the accompanying material, it has a comforting yet sinister quality I really dig. The style, the use of color tone, the storytelling communicated through the panels… is cinematic, its natural and intuitive. We get the full story without being overwhelmed. I kept stopping mid-scene to rave at my partner about how glorious the art is.

The characters are so expressive, the gradual changes in their appearances as they experience internal change is masterful. It’s easy to fall for the members of the gang, each have their own tightly held backstory, skillfully revealed as you move through the series. This isn’t high action, or a bunch of crazy heists, it’s more about the solitude and connections the gang forge in their ragtag found family.

[Noninuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the gang just started to get the right momentum of their side job, came a young man wanting to be part of the group. Claiming to have high skill in negotiation, he has been a middle man in all sort of disagreement as a job. On top of that, he dares to blackmail them as part of the request to join in. Then, a rumour floating around that there's a gang that kidnapped people & demand for ransom. These ruffle a lot of feathers in the Five Leaves.

I might binge read all the volumes back to back! It's that good and with that comes the fear of disappointing ending. Hope things tied up nicely.

[Alexis Hubsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Character 3.5| Setting 3| Plot 3.5| Art 5| Enjoyability 4

Overall rating: 3.8

Got some violence in this volume. Also got a character who kind of looked like another of Ono's characters from a past novel.

I kind of don't like Ginta's kind of nosy loud mouth. It's cute in a way, but also kind of super annoying.

It does bring a cool dynamic to Masa not being the new guy anymore.

The mystery about Yaichi just keeps on getting stranger and stranger. I want to know what's up my dude!!

[Forthright . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, now this was interesting! The anime skipped over the content of this volume almost in its entirety. Not only do we meet a brand new character in "The Negotiator" arc, we see a darker side of Yaichi ... and a past he clearly Does Not Want to come to light.

[Volkan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gittikçe çemberin daraldığıni hissetiyorsun, aynı zamanda rakipler, yeni partnerler, entrikalar devam.

[IneloquentAF · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

[Anaika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Utku Atasoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

yeni gelen karakter ginta’nın çete dengesini değiştirdiği ve ele başı yaichi’nin kirli geçmişinin ortaya çıktığı güzel bir bölümdü

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot thickens as protagonist Masa gets to see more of the way House of Five Leaves is connected to the politics of organized crime. We get a new character with mysterious motives and connections to the league, and a plot that carries strong throughout the volume. Still I find myself less than fully engaged by this tale. There’s something in the characters that make them elusive and distant. The drama in the plot doesn’t have an impact when the experience is conveyed through a veil of hazy characterization.

[Lissibith · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so enters the first character in this story I kind of don't like. I can't get a handle on who he is or who he's trying to be and what he'll mean for the group. But around him, the changes in the Five Leaves are picking up steam, while Masa tries to hold on to his faith in the inherent goodness of his friends.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit more backstory and and little more
intrigue. I was worries that a new, young character might detract from the story, but Ginta's plot line is excellent.