Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi

Tokiyuki Houjou, a carefree eight-year-old noble, is content with the serene life in Kamakura and shows little regard for the serious responsibilities that come with his eventually succeeding his father as the next shogun. Instead of dedicating himself to rigorous training in swordsmanship or archery, Tokiyuki excels in the art of evasion, skillfully dodging his advisors and discovering perfect hiding spots. However, his peaceful existence is shattered when a sudden coup brutally wipes out his clan.

Overwhelmed with guilt for being the sole survivor, Tokiyuki contemplates joining his family in death. However, his fate takes an abrupt turn when the enigmatic priest Yorishige Suwa suddenly shoves him onto a battlefield. Yorishige, who prophesies that Tokiyuki will one day become a great hero, leaves the boy with no choice but to navigate his way free of enemy soldiers. As Tokiyuki struggles to survive against these foes, he finds a new thrill in raising the stakes of his usual hide-and-seek games.

With a renewed sense of purpose and the promise of powerful allies from Yorishige, Tokiyuki vows to avenge his family—not through his capability to fight, but through his extraordinary talent for running away.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Houjou, Tokiyuki Main

Yuikawa, Asaki Japanese

Suwa, Yorishige Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Shizuku Supporting

Yano, Hinaki Japanese

Fubuki Supporting

Toya, Kikunosuke Japanese

Nezu, Kojirou Supporting

Hino, Mari Japanese

Mochizuki, Ayako Supporting

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Kazama, Genba Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Ogasawara, Sadamune Supporting

Aoyama, Yutaka Japanese

Ashikaga, Takauji Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Kou no, Moronao Supporting

Miyauchi, Atsushi Japanese

Umehara, Shouta Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Fukushima, Yuuichi Producer

Matsumoto, Miho Producer

Reviews

Oct 22, 2024

RealAuraz

Recommended

One of the Sleeper Hits of the Summer 2024 Season.

The anime is set in ancient chinese times and all of the terminology and relations brought up about that matter may be a bit too much for you as it was for me at times, but it does not take away from the fact that everybody working on this project was very passionate.

The art style looks similar to 80s/90s anime, but in a very refined and well executed way. The colors are vibrant, the animation feels fluent and alive, and the use of cgi in some parts was well executed aswell and did not drecrease ... the quality of the Experience.

The Opening and The Ending are both super creative and beautiful and also demonstrate how much love wen't into this.

It was very interesting to see the talent of the Main Character play out in different scenes, and some side characters also had great moments.

That being said, the Story could've been a bit better but it nonetheless is a great Experience I can definetly recommend.

8/10, Thank you for reading my review.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 3, 2024

SuperAdventure

Mixed Feelings

Finding unique and original ideas in anime these days is very difficult, so one could see that with a description like “In the year 1333, the Kamakura shogunate” that alone is very intriguing. The cover art shows a cute character leaping through the air, flames.. looks very flashy- ah a Samurai anime- I decided to take a look to see what it was.

And the very first episode left me speechless.
Not anything else I could say but totally frozen, and speechless. The characters are all very beautiful, and the main one (on the cover) called Tokiyuki and he’s totally adorable and runs around playing ... hide and seek with all the minders at the palace, jumping across rooftops- aw this show looks playful and cute is it a slice of life or something?… his brother joins in and now they’re kicking a ball around- and then flash to the next scene and it’s some guy’s HEAD. Next thing I remember, heads were rolling all over the place and blood was spewing in every direction. Like FOUNTAINS of blood. And my jaw just dropped open.

(After someone gave me some smelling salts) I came back to level- but Jumping James Batman! This anime is BONKERS!

It’s hard for me to explain to you. … you have these cute characters like Tokiyuki, Shizuku the princess, ………..so you have to imagine that, and then you have these warriors who seem kind of clownish, like maybe quite insane? And they slash hundreds of people to death- including women and children- and in the middle of the bloodbath THERE ARE FUNNY FACES. Several of the characters have this comedic disposition, and funny faces. So, this is a Battle Shonen. But it seems even more unhinged than a typical battle shonen.

I understand Japan is a vastly different culture than here in the west; but I’ve seen enough of Japanese culture (not just in anime) and always sort of known- or maybe it’s something we’re all told- the Japanese sense of humor (among other things) is different than ours. Well watching Elusive Samurai reminded me of that, in the most extreme way possible. It was like being slapped in the face with reminders- that what they find amusing is…. uhh different.

My biggest problem with this show was I couldn’t understand who it was made for?
Like the cover art makes it look like a fun shonen anime for middle schoolers. But the level of violence- some of it surprisingly disturbing- just doesn’t seem like it’s for kids. If it really is meant as a kids show then geezus I don’t know what to say. It’s not serious enough for adults- that’s for sure- and the bonkers ED is pretty clearly aimed at young people. The odd mismatch with who the audience is supposed to be was really baffling.

There doesn’t seem to be a lesson, or a morality tale being woven by this story either- like so many Samurai anime are famous for. It seems like a fun Catch-Me-If-you-can shonen with a cast of misfits who elude the goofballs of the Shogunate to fight another day; with no higher purpose than to just entertain (and remind you that the samurai were killers and that Japan’s past was VERY bloody) but here’s a funny face to make you laugh!! Isn't this FUNNY?!? Hahahaha!! SLASH
It’s wild and totally ridiculous, but after 10 of the episodes I really stopped caring about the story and just watched with my brain off. My brain was SO disengaged that I really didn’t care much what was happening anymore… and the ending song actually started to sound interesting.

I can’t really recommend this show based on if you like Samurai anime, or if you have any expectations about story. But if you just want to see pretty characters jump and flip in the air with their beautiful clothing flowing in the wind as they beat up goofy bad guys- then this will dazzle your eyeballs. It might possibly make you laugh kind of out of disbelief. You will definitely get dumber watching this, that’s for sure.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 5, 2024

Gsarthotegga

Not Recommended

Elusive Samurai has solid production values, exciting animation, and coloring at times—in fact, pretty often. Certain scenes remind me of a lavishly animated late 1990s or early 2000s OVA, acting as something like this generation's Hakkenden but with less artistry and a shonen rather than seinen mentality. There's plenty of corner cutting, however, whether it's the use of eye-poking CGI for characters, a slew of stills with motion lines or shaking, or Dezaki-styled "postcard memories" inserts. Nonetheless, the animation is only exciting at a few points, mostly in the first half and a handful of fights later on. Though it's mostly a pretty standard shonen ... in tone, certain scenes have an arthouse flair, pairing well with the emotions expressed. They especially do a great job of capturing the exhilaration of combat, as the main weaves around arrows and flips past swishing swords, or the backgrounds come alive in an abstract rush of color as he acrobatically makes his way to his destination. The art is usually vivid, sans the occasionally murky surroundings or a shoddy drawing here and there. The character designs for the little tots and cackling villains are distinct, and there's occasionally some decent action.

The comedy is mostly obnoxious or plays upon awkward shotacon pandering that is the sanitized otaku equivalent of a white van with no windows and heaps of free candy or lost puppies. The scene where the MC meets the priest (uh oh) on the tree is one of the shrillest, loudest scenes in anime—a truly impressive feat! There's no way one can take this seriously in the beginning, for even when the tears rain down from the MC's googly eyes, and he has lost hope because his clan has been massacred, they pull the same slapstick comedy routine with absurd faces, bulging eyeballs about to pop a la Graves' disease, and the unbearable screeching of ten year olds and shining manchildren! I'd honestly say it's on par with the tone-deaf comedy of Demon Slayer; poking fun at tragedy and drama dynamics can work well, but the humor is usually oozing with unwanted tropey animeisms that are forced into the script as part of the shonen model rather than meshing well. Fortunately, the series becomes lighthearted and whimsical instead of playing it up as a hammy dark drama, and even the oftentimes gruesome blood sprays and gore explode into cartoonish chaos, so the tonal clashes aren't too pronounced, and the humor does mellow overtime.

While the concept is acceptable for a story, the execution is less than stellar, and the themes, script, story, and characters are where this series is weakest, flailing like cement clown shoes into Japan's deepest lake. There's your typical quick introduction to a samurai clan, followed by rivers of blood, and finally a bunch of pint-sized heroes rising up to lead an army and save the day. The story meanders around without aim, gradually introduces the bloated cast of thin characters who barely register as archetypes, and shows their special abilities and potential, which means a touch of espionage, a big battle or two with cavalry and soldiers, numerous solo battles, and a whole lot of slinking off into the night with their tails between their legs.

The MC lacks proficient combat skills, but he can run away like a champ, while finding many opportunities to lecture adults and inculcate them in the art of retreat. By shonen standards, he's serviceable, foregoing the blockheaded idealism or obliviousness of plenty of others. His traumatic past informs his thought process, and his capabilities grant him with a balanced set of strengths and weaknesses, resulting in more tension and growth than the most bargain bin of shonen. The rest of the characters are basic, and when the MC remarked that he didn't know who Shizuku was because she seemed so mysterious and steeped in the arcane, it reminded me that I could say the same about even the simple Jacks of the cast, most of whom I can't remember the name of. The villains, though similarly lacking nuance, are a bit more entertaining, as they're often sadistic dirtbags, like the traitorous uncle who split too fast, or the eye-bulging archer Sadamune, or even the monkish samurai with literal ants in his pants who has a rare character arc.

It could have been a 4-5 in the middle to late portion of the series, but it's so mediocre as it goes on and has a bland final arc, lacking the polish and thrill of the visual elements in the earlier portion of the series. There's not much else to say. It's just a dull shonen with a sloppy-taco story and plain-riceball characters. There are bursts of stylistic excess, but they aren't impressive enough to maintain much interest for those who have seen the most celebrated visual works in anime, which is a huge problem because that's the only thing this show has going for it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 28	74 replies	by Ashhk »» Oct 22, 8:09 AM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 21	48 replies	by Ashhk »» Oct 22, 12:28 AM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 14	60 replies	by Ashhk »» Oct 21, 1:34 PM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 31	74 replies	by Ashhk »» Oct 21, 12:45 AM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 24	53 replies	by Ashhk »» Oct 20, 3:53 PM