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

Ashikaga, Takauji Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Shoukan Supporting

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Ogasawara, Sadamune Supporting

Aoyama, Yutaka Japanese

Umehara, Shouta Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Fukushima, Yuuichi Producer

Matsumoto, Miho Producer

Reviews

Sep 10, 2024

TakoTaco1

Recommended

Well-written

Preliminary (6/12 eps)

There are three aspects of this show that I want highlight as what I feel make it somewhat special-

1.) The visual presentation. The animation looks pretty good, and while not entirely consistent across the board (including a few rough CGI sequences), there are some breathtaking scenes with some excellent key framing and striking visuals. What's more, the visual style of this show is gorgeous, with bold lines, and a vibrant, unique color palette, employing bright colors mixed with more muted tones that remind me of hand drawn cel animation. This is particularly noticeable in the intro, which I love. The ... cinematography and direction also have standout moments. The show has both a great sense of style as well as a great sense of humor, and this comes across in its visuals. Speaking of-

2.) the sense of humor is pretty decent. It does take some getting used to, particularly from the fourth wall breaking priest who can see into the future. There is a particular brand of freneticism to it that evokes shonen anime from the 80s and 90s, but the visual gags are often elevated in a way that puts a smile on your face, even if you're not outright belly laughing. This also achieves an interesting effect when sharply contrasted against darker moments, which brings me to my final and probably most controversial point

3.) the tone. The tone is a dual one. On one hand you have a typical shonen adventure with a wacky cast of youngsters: the capricious yet sincere prince, the serene shrine maiden, the mischevious ninja, the quirky mentor, the silly and menacing villains, etc. Typical themes of togetherness, loyalty, finding oneself, they're all here.
Yet the show can also be soberingly brutal, which is apt for the setting of a historical drama, just as its more playful aspects lend themselves well to the clearly embelished and magical elements of the story. While I wouldn't be praising this quality if it felt edgy, melodramatic or expoitative, in execution the contrast feels very appropriate, and it is in this contrast that some of the show's themes diverge from the usual shonen fare. Leveraging your deviancy, the use of asymetrical stratagems, the tenebrous honor of subterfuge, overcoming suvivor's guilt by rising to the occasion.

The show embracing its contradictions, instead of tip-toeing around them, keeps you invested in what's happening, and elevates the unique qualities of each character. It also helps reconcile the two opposing thematic aspects of the plot: a coming of age story about bright eyed youths, and a bloody, merciless succession battle. The characters are authentically touched by the darkness of this world, but it never becomes the focal point. It is through this feeling that I think the ultimate theme of the show is on display, just as our lead grows metaphorical wings to escape the miasma of death and destruction below him, he also soars above its dark influence to protect his heart so that he might remain the kind and sincere man his country needs.

I could see some people being put off by the somewhat jarring tone, and others questioning who this show is even for. I think I respect it for that, and appreciate what feels like a director's unique vision. I would almost describe watching this as what I imagine children's stories were like generations ago, where parents regale kids with semi-historical tales full of blunt tragedy but also mirth and fantasy.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 9, 2024

Ba-Cii10

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (9/12 eps)

🟡Summer 2024
I was afraid to watch this anime hearing people's opinions about the tone of this anime and now that I've watched it, I see why so many of these opinions were negative.
This is an anime whose undoubtedly, most important asset is a great, although not perfect production, but is it enough? NO and for me it is one of two examples of anime from this season that shows that animation is not always able to carry anime, although in this case it is not particularly bad, which is why my opinion about this anime is more mixed.........




What is this anime about?
This anime tells the ... story of an 8-year-old heir to the throne living a carefree life until his family is betrayed and murdered.
MC is saved by a priest who can see the future, who predicts that he will become a great hero, MC begins his journey to save the country and take revenge.

So yes, the action takes place in times when death is an honorable path, and betrayal and violence are everyday life, but MC is different, deep down, he has a strong will to live and wants to fight for his country and build his new relationships on trust. In this anime, the division into good and evil is too blunt, cute kids fight with cartoonishly evil adults, as if we have a fight for power and the evil ones murder everyone left and right and our heroes only the worst monsters, the antagonist must first show how evil he is and deliver his evil monologue so that MC can say "ok, I can kill you" xD so it is already known that we will not experience any moral dilemmas here, MC's path to regaining power will be the only right one, I do not expect any major nuances from this anime, but their lack does not help the rather simple and from my perspective, unengaging plot. Despite this, this anime tries to be the most naturalistic and brutal samurai cinema to some extent, but combined with this loose/naive plot and silly comedy, it doesn't work at all, although it could if this anime allowed these more serious elements to resonate properly, but more on that later....

Moving on.
Overall, it's a classic story from zero to hero, raised as a figurehead MC in whom no one believes, slowly becomes stronger, transforms his "flaws" into advantages and gathers friends to be a great hero in the future and defeat the bad guys, the revenge motive in this story is not very important, MC wants to take revenge but it is not built well, MC is more comedic and laid back, MC's doubts and regret quickly disappear and then he becomes a typical charming boy who gathers friends and influences them with his uniqueness.

The overall plot is that MC hides (plays hide and seek) in the priest's temple, gathers friends and fights villains who were sent to finish off the remnants of the MC clan, the pacing is quite good, although everything that happens does not give us a broader picture of the further development of this story, we simply slowly gather allies in the form of one exceptional kid every two episodes, MC becomes stronger and villains incompetently try to catch him, it is a bit unengaging and honestly at some points really boring despite a large amount of good and incredibly animated action. The plot is pushed forward the most by the character of the priest, he leads our heroes by the hand and tells them what to do thanks to his ability to predict time, he is such a plot key that for the purposes of the script can be a deus ex machina,
although at some point to increase the stakes, his character is set aside so that our heroes can prove themselves on their own, which is of course a plus.

But before that.
The plot is too rushed and poorly built up, the MC's family dies very quickly and before that we only got a few scenes with his brother, we went from idyll to action too quickly and nothing that was supposed to resonate, resonated, we don't build the MC's relationships with the residents or family and then we drop a bomb that doesn't make an impression because of that, although that's also mainly because of the stupid comedy.

The antagonist who seemed nice at first turns out to be evil and it doesn't make any impression "oh why did you betray us?!" I don't give a shit because I only saw one scene with him, it could have been developed, shown who exactly he is and then made a big plot twist with the betrayal, then those scenes where the MC has a grudge against him would really mean something.

This anime, although deeply rooted in Japanese history and peppered with authentic dates and facts from the legendary story of the fall of the powerful Hojo clan, seems more like a bizarre parody where everything is exaggerated to the max, so it's hard to take the "historicality" of this series seriously... OK... this is not a serious anime, it doesn't have to be, and for most it's a loose story, someone will say that it's good that instead of pathos and this banal story, the series diversifies it with comedy, which makes everything stand out, fan BUT... this anime does it hopelessly.
It can't combine seriousness with comedy, where as I mentioned earlier, for some reason despite the loose story and all these absurdities, we also get a lot of brutality presented in an extremely blunt way, it can be done well but this anime doesn't do it.
Like you make the most serious and quite atmospheric scene, flames and dead people, MC wonders how this samurai could betray them and SUDDENLY you ruin it with a stupid priest comedy, where even MC's emotions are presented as comedy, I understand that not everything has to be 100% serious but why make such a serious scene and mix it with such a stupid comedy, this comedy is not even funny or creative in any way, screams and stupid faces do not compensate for this lost opportunity for a really good emotional scene that would allow you to feel the plot in any way.
It's really refreshing when an important scene is finally brought to a serious conclusion, i.e. this anime can do it but for some reason chooses to be this whole mess.

It can be said that since the main characters are children, some elements are presented as if through the eyes of a child, in such a childish and naive way, which makes the narrative seem more interesting and unique, although the children (8-year-olds) in this anime do not fully behave and look their age, they do not differ much in mentality from other, even older, protagonists of this type of anime, the characters are aware, there is no childish naivety in them and they themselves use violence, they are like in any other shounen, which is why it all does not work completely and you do not feel that the whole brutal world presented is really interpreted by a child's mind, I do not know if the author really tried to present it in such a way, but I know that if so, it did not work at all and if he tried, something unique could come out of it, maybe something like Jojo Rabbit directed by Taika Waititi?

Apart from that.
From the time frame in which the action takes place and the whole atmosphere, we are thrown out by things like a literal hockey game or some inserts with elements of computer games, not to mention of course the supernatural abilities of the characters xD so if you are looking for a historical anime in which you can feel the atmosphere of those times then.... I think this is not the best choice.

Despite the average plot and tonal mess, the action saves this anime to some extent.

The action is interesting and well written, despite the characters having supernatural abilities, the fights do not look like in typical shounen, the fights are usually short and concise, the characters have logical strategies and do not win by simply being screams and the power of friendship.
Everything is supported by beautiful animation and direction, they convey emotions in a creative way, we rarely get scenes in which the action is presented in an uninteresting way.
You can write a lot about great animation but this review is already quite long so... yeah, others have already praised this aspect enough.
Although, despite the fact that the production is clearly the strongest point of this anime, due to very visible drops in quality at certain moments (ugly CGI, lack of faces even from close shots), looking at it generally it is hard for me to be particularly impressed with it all.

Ultimately, this anime, although not bad, did not win me over at all and exhausted me terribly, so it is hard for me to rate it, but somehow I have to.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❌ ❌❌❌❌

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jul 31, 2024

yummycat49

Not Recommended

Preliminary (4/12 eps)

It really isnt my type of anime and didnt really liked it for a few reasons.
Protagonist: Protagonist is young and is still a child, which doesnt make any sense because he has to save an entire county. A teen would have been alright, but having a kid just isnt serious enough in my opinion.
Animation: Clover works did a good job animating this one and I think they are the reason this anime got so much hype around it. I guess it just shows how good animation doesnt always mean anime is good.
Characters: Tokiyukis gang is full of kids with only one adult who is ... weird and annoying. Much like the protagonist I just cant take them seriously.
Elusive samurai had such a great potential with its setting, it could have been a solid seinen manga/anime if it didnt take itself so childish.
In the end Elusive samurai had a misfortune of being a stereotypical shounen anime with nothing new to offer. Its clear its just a seasonal hype and nothing else.

Now this review isnt really detailed and I have a reason for that. Im too lazy to write a longer review

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Recap Episode, Episode 10 to air Sept 14th KANLen09 - Aug 31	12 replies	by Vindicater »» Sep 10, 4:32 AM
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