Anime Summer 2024: THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI, Reluctant Hero

Run! Run away! OK, now fight!

The Elusive Samurai
The first three episodes are now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut every Saturday.

Faced with the loss of everything he knew and loved, Hojo Tokiyuki turns into the fighting warrior he never wanted to be.

In 1333, young Tokiyuki constantly runs away from the training exercises that have been arranged for him as the son of the Shogun. His father is known as a puppet ruler. Aware that he is expected to follow in his father's footsteps, Takiyuki has accepted his fate as a lazy coward, idling away his days until his father dies and he ascends the throne as the next puppet ruler.

Except that Ashikaga Takauji, a "trusted vassal," has other plans. In a single night, he betrays the Shogun with an army he has raised in secret and slaughters the ruler, his family, and everyone living in the city that is his capitol, burning it to the ground. Having sneaked away to hide from his training, Tokiyuka learns of the evil deeds that have been perpetrated and prepares to die.

Except he can't. Faced with death when he stalks through the smoldering ruins of the capitol and encounters enemy combatants, he springs into action and displays the traits of the mighty warrior that he will become.

Except he isn't such a mighty warrior. Instead, his strength lies in his ability to elude blows from his opponents, a quality that Suwa Yorishige, a supposed shaman who claims foresight, seizes upon for his own, mysterious purposes, helping Tokiyuki to escape and then beginning a training program of his own.

First published in 2021, the manga series, written and illustrated Yusei Matsui, is literally titled in English "The Young Lord Who Is Skilled at Escaping." It's based on a real-life historical figure, per Wikipedia, and the series occasionally makes use of a narrator to set the scenes and explain what happened to some of the real-life people who are mentioned.

Shimmying back and forth from a full-blown 2D animated comic adventure to a starkly-drawn tragic drama to a simple-minded cartoonish comedy, The Elusive Samurai hides its true intent through three episodes so far. Its unsteady tone and lightning-quick change in moods and artistic styles can be maddening and feels quite random and unreasonable.

Something more elusive -- *cough cough* -- is afoot, though. I wish the quicksilver tonal changes would slow down a bit, but I like how the adventure has widened out a bit more, as the shaman shows he has something more up his sleeve than his silliness, and his young daughter and two other youngsters become Tokiyuki's retainers and demonstrate their readiness for battle. All in all, the show feels like a refreshing twist on a venerable sub-genre.

Summary: Lightly recommended.