Based on the manga by Yusei Matsui, the author of Assassination Classroom, The Elusive Samurai centers on 8-year-old Tokiyuki Hojo, the youngest prince of the Hojo clan, living his carefree life in Kamakura of the 1300s. He shows little regard for the serious responsibilities that come with his eventually succeeding his father as the next shogun, which is typical for a child of his age. 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, moreso when it turns out a retainer that he adored, Takauji Ashikaga, was the one who spearheaded the massacre. Overwhelmed with guilt for being the sole survivor, Tokiyuki contemplates joining his family in death, but his fate takes an abrupt turn when the enigmatic priest Yorishige Suwa suddenly shoves him onto a battlefield. Yorishige, who prophesizes that Tokiyuki will one day become a great hero, leaves the boy with no choice but to navigate his way out of the hands 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.
Now, I haven't read or seen Assassination Classroom, manga or anime, so I'm not familiar with Yusei Matsui's brand of comedy. But after seeing the anime for The Elusive Samurai, I've come to the conclusion that...his brand of comedy just isn't for me. But I don't want to be a negative nancy, so for the sake of wanting to be fair, I'm going to talk about the good things the anime has to offer, and there are quite a few things it has going for it. For one, CloverWorks really went all out in the animation department here. Not just in things like character motion, backgrounds, and the costumes, but for using all sorts of experimental animation techniques in a variety of different ways, reveling in being as weird and surreal as possible when it feels its necessary. The Elusive Samurai is at its best when it lets its animation staff completely let loose and experiment, whether it be with intentional rough-shod pencil sketches, Renaissance-style water colors, or psychedelic acid trips filled to the brim with color, symbolism, and crazy imagery straight out of Belladonna of Sadness. I'll give CloverWorks this, they mostly made Elusive Samurai look awesome. I say mostly because it does cut quite a few corners from time to time, with the most egregious offenses being awful CGI models of characters, whether they be riding horses or just...turning to look behind themselves. Like...what? Why even do that? At least Atri: My Dear Moments limited CGI-modeled characters to when they're far into the background. The CGI almost borders on Tsuki ga Kirei levels of obnoxious and in your face.
And for the most part, I liked some of the characters. Tokiyuki is a fun lead character who does grow over the course of these twelve episodes and makes full use of his skillset without the series ever making him come off as overpowered. He's not physically strong, but the skills he does learn manage to compensate for his lack of strength, giving the battles more of a tense edge to them, and he manages to have enough personality to be endearing and fun to follow. Alright, this is the part where I have to be honest and say...other than Tokiyuki and Fubuki, none of the other characters are given this same treatment. All the other characters, even the ones in the main ensemble, don't really have much to them except their mission to protect and help Tokiyuki. Kojiro gets some development outside of being just one of Tokiyuki's retainers, but that only happens in the final episode, meaning it's far too late for it to really have any real impact. I'll go into more about other characters in a bit, but I will say this: I fucking hate Genba. He's God awful, but more than that is what the show does with him. No, show, I do not need to see a ten-year-old child not only being drunk off his ass, but sexually assaulting every girl he sees, have the whole thing be played for wacky anime comedy, and have that very same episode end on a close-up of his comically censored genitals. This also extends to the villains, who I really couldn't bring myself to give two shits about because all of them are just generic Saturday morning cartoon villains who you'll only remember because of one exaggerated character trait they have and nothing else. The only, and I do mean ONLY, villain in this series that is given even a sliver of nuance and humanity is Sadamune, but that only happens near the end of the show, and after that he just disappears. All the other villains in this show don't do anything except be out for Tokiyuki's blood or scream maniacally for the sake of forcing unneeded comedy.
Speaking of unneeded comedy...you know what? It's time I rip this band-aid off, because I cannot hold back any longer. I want to like Elusive Samurai as a show. I really do. But I'll be honest, watching this was a total chore, mainly because of it's biggest flaws: Both its comedy and its constant use of tonal whiplash. Actually, I'm going to highlight a specific scene in episode 2 which I feel encapsulates everything wrong with the anime as a whole: When Tokiyuki returns to his home, seeing it in ruins, he falls to his knees and openly cries, mourning the loss of his family, friends, and clan at the hands of Ashikaga. It's a moment of vulnerability for him, and Tokiyuki needed to grieve in order to process what had happen to him. The scene should have remained somber...but in the VERY NEXT SECOND, the mood and tone are completely and utterly ruined by a shot of Yorishige Suwa shoving his creepy as fuck smily face in Tokiyuki's line of sight and scaring the bejeezes out of him, complete with exaggerated anime faces on both characters. Basically, not only is The Elusive Samurai's approach to comedy cringy as all hell in that it relies way too much on constant yelling, exaggerated gags, and one-note fourth wall jokes, the show constantly shoehorns it throughout its entire run, especially in scenes where it's not only completely unneeded, but actively clashes with what's going on on screen! Like...do we really need some dude screaming like a banshee as a child's family gets horrifically murdered around him?! This show seems to have no concept of how to balance both its dramatic and comedic moments properly, or is convinced the material won't be able to stand on its own without constant comedic exaggeration amped up to eleven 24/7. I know other series had problems with balancing drama and humor sometimes, Demon Slayer being one such show thanks to Zenitsu, but I've never seen it be so obnoxiously omnipresent as it is in Elusive Samurai. And unfortunately, from what I've heard about the manga, this is a feature, not a bug, so it's here to stay. Uuuuugh.
And a lot of the unnecessary comedy is perpetuated by Suwa, the vehicle through which Yusei Matsui espouses all of his weird comedy bullshit. Yeah, not gonna mince words, Suwa pretty much breaks the show for me (Though less so than Genba). Every single time his comically exaggerated creepy as fuck smily face gets plastered on the screen, either the mood or tone gets completely shot to hell and back. I actually think the show works better when he's being a more serious mentor rather than the unhinged banshee fourth wall espousing comedy vehicle the show clearly wants him to be. He's basically the Zenitsu of Elusive Samurai, only his presence is constant and we're expected to just find his antics funny even though they're clearly not. It doesn't help that his so-called powers seem less like actual abilities and more like excuses for him to break the fourth wall and throw in modern or pop culture references that are completely out of place in a show like Elusive Samurai. Seriously, this show thinks its funny when it's just...not, and before you come at me with all your "Oh, you must not like fun!" accusations, I don't hate fun. But I don't like it when a piece of media tries to shoehorn unneeded, unfunny comedy in places where it clearly has no business being, case in point the aforementioned scene in episode 2 which should have been just somber and sad.
The Elusive Samurai does have the makings of a good show, and even with its animation hang-ups, it's clear the staff who worked on this show put a lot of hard work into it. I just wish that same passion and versatility was applied to everything else, and if I'm being honest, the anime has put me off of reading the manga. The less I have to put up with Suwa and Genba, the happier I'll be. If you like Elusive Samurai, cool, more power to you. Feel free to enjoy it if you're into Yusei Matsui's brand of comedy. It's not my cup of tea, and that's okay.
