Manga of the Month: House of Five Leaves

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House of Five Leaves (さらい屋五葉) by Natsume Ono

House of Five Leaves introduced me to the incredibly talented Natsume Ono. In this quiet and dark tale, she weaves together a character-driven story of family and morality with an unlikely group, a gang of kidnappers, during the Edo period.

Masa is a talented swordsman, but awkward and shy, who can’t keep a job despite his best efforts. One day, Masa meets the charismatic criminal Yaichi and before Masa knows it he is swept up in a kidnapping plot and the lives of the other members of the gang.

Masa’s dilemma and change over the course of the story has an odd air to it because his growth you want to applaud and yet the undercurrent is so dark. The story really began to weigh on me as Yaichi’s past slowly unfolds and things go from bad to worse for the Five Leaves. The characters all possessed such a pull on my heart and mind that when it came to its final conclusion I was emotionally exhausted.

Natsume Ono’s art style is always a treat, but with House of Fives Leaves it is particularly special. The brush work (reminiscent of calligraphy) combined with the flatness of her designs and shadows (reminiscent of woodblock prints) click perfectly with the time period. It actually seeps you even deeper into the setting.

Natsume Ono transforms a story starring a kidnapping ring into a compelling character drama that whispers suspense.

NYICFF 2013: From Up On Poppy Hill

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The NYICFF was over the moon for their screenings of From Up On Poppy Hill, but I had a much more dubious reaction. After all, Goro Miyazaki left a terrible first impression on me with Tales from Earthsea so I wasn’t going in with anything akin to expectations for his newest work. Still, a tiny bit of my heart was hoping he’d redeem himself; I love a good comeback story!

I’m happy to report that From Up On Poppy Hill was able to surprise me over and over again.

Recently Joel White from Fast Karate for the Gentlemen was mentioning on twitter that Studio Ghibli seems to get nothing but hate recently. I have to say that we will just have agree to disagree on the merits of Ponyo as I saw it as a very weak work with some moments of brilliance. But thankfully Joel did not bring up Tales from Earthsea. While Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo might have been weak Goro Miyazaki’s Tales from Earthsea was just a train wreck. It made Goro’s name mud in the eyes of many anime fans. So I had fairly low expectations with From Up On Poppy Hill.

But much like The Secret World of Arrietty it seems that Studio Ghibli is recently been releasing movies to prove that Joel’s theory that the idea that Studio Ghibli is over is a bit premature. From Up On Poppy Hill did quite a bit to make me reassess Goro Miyazaki as a director. Do I think he has hit the heights that his father had in his heyday? No. But he is gone from a director I would actively avoid to someone who I am genuinely interested in. If his movies can remain at this level or even improve I think he actually has a pretty bright future in front of him.

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The March Line-Up 2013

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I feel as though this month was one of unexpected (sometimes exciting, sometimes head-scratching) announcements.

Being between seasons this is a slower line up. As Narutaki mentioned this seems to be the month that Sentai Filmworks just stuck their hands in a hat and randomly pulled out titles to license. I half expect them to announce the Japanese dub of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic just to round things out with titles no one expected.

The Line-Up is a monthly rundown of newly licensed in the U.S., newly streaming in the U.S., and newly announced anime and manga projects.

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