Series · 2010
House of Five Leaves
さらい屋五葉
Masanosuke Akitsu is a skilled swordsman whose shyness keeps costing him work. In Edo, a relaxed stranger named Yaichi hires him as a bodyguard. The job draws him into Five Leaves, a group that earns its money through kidnapping.
The troubling part of the offer is its apparent kindness: Yaichi values the very man other employers reject. Masanosuke needs a livelihood, but protecting his new employer also means protecting a criminal operation. That conflict gives the small group’s conversations a practical stake beyond solving a crime.
Five Leaves also connects people with ordinary trades. Umezo runs a cooking shop with his daughter, while Matsukichi makes ornaments; both have histories as thieves. Work and criminal association are consequently woven into the same small circle, making it harder for Masanosuke to draw a clean boundary around the job he has accepted.
Complete television anime · Approx. 4.6 hours · 12 episodes
Complete 2010 television anime, 12 episodes; not the complete manga.