NIGE JOUZU NO WAKAGIMI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionNige Jouzu no Wakagimi
MUSICKAMAKURA STYLE
ANIME ActionNige Jouzu no Wakagimi 2nd Season

REVIEWS

• 

  Shellious

  60/100
  Like Megumi from Jujutsu Kaisen, The Elusive Samurai is the "Potential Man".

  The Elusive Samurai is a tale of a young noble, Houjou Tokiyuki, enjoying his peaceful and mundane life in Kamakura until the great massacre of his clan. Afterwards, he is burdened with responsibility to reclaim his throne as the Kamakura Shogun and become a leader to the Elusive Warriors. With the aid of Suwa Yorishige, Tokiyuki will slowly lead the Elusive Warriors and the rest of his army to victory through his elusive ability.

  The anime debuted with a shockingly brilliant first episode that showcases perfection in all aspects of animation. The stark difference between the opposing atmospheres of the episode is depicted through its colors and animation sequence. One thing that is prominent with The Elusive Samurai’s style is contradiction / contrast. They used opposing color palettes to address the change of plot atmosphere in a bold manner, one is used to express serenity while the latter is used to showcase the fall of Kamakura. Although the animation sequence was fluid throughout the whole episode, the animation fluidity expresses different motions which are playfulness and intensity of a battle.
  I would like to praise the Cloverworks team’s creativity in depicting Tokiyuki’s speed and elusiveness for the rest of the season, most notably episode 9, which I thought was the best at expressing his elusive ability in combat.

  Personally, I find the character design of the main casts and several others well-translated into animation. The character traits drawn by the mangaka are recognizable through their silhouette, and the animation team improved on the source material even further with emphasizing each character’s sharp lines, particularly Tokiyuki himself, while maintaining their outfit’s flowy characteristic.
  Although the first episode surprises the audience in a shocking manner, the writing of the rest of the series is consistent without any major twist and turns. Despite that, the main antagonist, Ashikaga Takauji, is one of the interestingly written characters in the series as the anime slightly provided hints of his true nature and motives. This might be a good pick for people who are looking for simple yet fascinating storylines.

  However, it peaked at episode one.

  When I said the main concept of this anime is contradiction, I mean it literally. The lack of animation quality in several episodes were overly jarring as the animation team would utilize poorly animated CGI in some sequences, particularly the fight scenes. The character designs and art style are unsuitable for the 3D medium as those were well-intended for traditional animation. Thus, the CGI looked out of place. Knowing that they animated Windbreaker last season, this shows how overworked the staff were despite their talent.
  Furthermore, the comedy aspect of the scriptwriting was so unfunny and unnecessarily forced that it ruined the ambience of a scene whether it was emotional or gruesome. Instead of providing the audience time to properly learn the situation, they were later met with the tonal whiplash or so called jokes. As such, it is difficult to sympathize with the characters or to convey other emotions. This heavily affects the characters other than the main antagonist, which leaves their character writing left to be desired.

  (Plus, Yorishige's suspicious behaviour towards Tokiyuki was uncomfortable to watch, especially in 2024, a year full of Drakes.)

  In summary, the concept of The Elusive Samurai was its strongest trait and yet its worst enemy. The promising animation led to disappointment when it was unable to maintain its consistency. In addition, the comedy writing left a bad taste in the mouth. Yet, this anime is still appreciated and looked forward to for its big potential as proven by the first episode. I certainly hope the next season will be able to live up to this expectation that they’ve set, if they ever make one. I highly suggest watching the first episode, and you can decide whether to proceed further or not.

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• 

  JackieArt

  88/100
  Funny, Yet, Underdeveloped Characters/Breathtaking Animation/Fast-Paced and Crazy Storyline/A Historical Shonen

  Elusive Samurai is an anime I didn't expect to watch for this season. The only time I saw the promotional material for it was CloverWorks' Twitter account promoting it for the Summer 2024 seasonal anime. I originally wasn't interested, but I decided to take a little look at the promo, and what caught my eye is the animation being weirdly smooth, a little too smooth. The character designs were also colorful, and vibrant to say the least. So I decided to give it a try.

  Now that the season is over, what did I think?
  I think Elusive Samurai is a rather wacky, but well-animated show that has a unique and decent starting storyline. The characters are wacky, weird, and highly stylized into this symbolic story of a real life era in Japan. 1333, the Kamakura period. I have no knowledge of Japan's history, especially in an era that has apparently not been adapted yet in media.

  Elusive Samurai obviously dramatizes events with symbolisms and literal character depictions of the real people who lived in these times. So take the 'reality' aspects of this show with a grain of salt.

  Story-
  The story is quite intriguing. Like I said, I have no knowledge of any of Japan's history so to see it depicted like this is interesting. It definitely has a more Shogun feel with the story in particular, but less gritty, less serious, and more wacky. To see a prince start from the bottom of the barrel due to a betrayal and war, is very interesting and the fact that Tokiyuki is a talented young man with very agile capabilities, and has a rather almost masochistic attitude towards fighting. To the bottom, rising to the top with his trusty crew. I always wondered how people back in the day managed territories or provinces that were new and smaller, which is what this answers for. Tokiyuki getting a new found family and retainers for the future of the Hojo Clan was quite interesting too! It takes one step at a time, and seeing the dangers around them during these times, which includes possible invasions, civil wars, actual wars, and disagreements that lead to death made me think how hard and difficult these times were and it gave me an impression on history itself. Takauji itself is another story that captivated me, a symbolic demon that lost his goddamn mind. (Unrelated but I think he hot af, don't @ me)
  All in all, the story is interesting, intriguing, and decent so far. Would like to see more.

  Characters-
  Characters in this show is split. I think I really like Suwa, his crazy and wacky (sometimes creepy) faces he makes towards Tokiyuki, his future seeing sight, his role as a father figure and priest, his goofy personality that bounces off the MC quite well, AND VOICED MY GOJO'S VA!? What is there NOT to like?
  Tokiyuki is a decent character too, starting from bottom to top. He obviously has childish traits as he is a little child but his achievements and feats are no laughing matter, he is quite masochistic when it includes the adrenaline of fighting, his determination, his beliefs, and OF COURSE, the power of friendship.
  Takauji as a villain has not been seen too much, but whenever he's on screen it's like he DEMANDS his presence on screen, he is an intimidating and actually menacing villain. Takauji has that crazy eyes, crazy happy go lucky attitude while murdering and creating chaos around him. I may have bias because those type of villains interest me more, but ANYWAYS- he is a rather creepy villain that you wouldn't know he would be the bad guy until it was too later. The way he manipulates everyone around him is crazy. He one ups his victims like flies before they start DROPPING like flies. One scene in particular that had me hooked was Takauji and his brother, when he was painting Buddha on a wooded wall, that scene as a whole made me even more interested in Takauji as a villain. His symbolic depictions are fire too.
  The last character I like is Genba. Genba is just a goofy goober that wants money and a highly skilled thief that just takes shit. He is a funny guy and I really like his character design. His personality as a arrogant, sneaky and conniving 10 year old that is also a wacky and horny bitch is not what I thought he would be but here we are. His interactions with other characters are funny and I really like his vibe.

  Now, everyone else, almost irrelevant. ALMOST.
  Shizuku is Suwa's 'right hand man' type of person, she is the first person from the main crew that Tokiyuki has seen in episode one. But, idk she has been in the sidelines a LOT in the show, the only part that she was needed was the introduction and the episode where she made Tokiyuki see spirits, that's it.
  Nezu has done nothing until he is needed to fight or jump motherfuckers alongside Ayako. Nezu had a sort of mini arc towards the end of the show, around the 11th or 12th episode but his little arc was just kinda 'there', at least for me. He is quite close to the MC but I never seen interactions 1 on 1 with them so sometimes their closeness is just a tad bit forced.
  Ayako has almost no screen presence, other than some few gags of her being a strong girl that Tokiyuki can't beat. She had a few hardcore moments like her fight with one of the 3 men invading a village alongside Nezu.
  Fubuki is a little better, he was introduced way later in the show, has some fire ass skills and a very honorable attitude about fighting. But, it was dwindled after the village invasion arc as his only other trait is being hungry. That's it. Being hungry, like Luffy. He is RAW as hell don't get me wrong, but how you gonna do this man like that after his sheer AURA presented in that arc. He probably will have more screen presence in the future, so I won't go too hard on him.

  The rest of the characters of the crew I just mentioned are just 'aight', but they kinda underdeveloped and I think there are WAY too many characters to keep count in just 1 big MC group. But, I'll let it simmer and cook once season 2 is announced.

  The villains that are not Takauji are just DISGUSTING XDXD Why they gotta do them like that. I do like that they take them in a literal sense, like Sadamune having great sight so his eyes are bulging out of his sockets. We got a Master Splinter motherfucker that has great hearing so his ears have teeth. Ant Man motherfucker having a cold dark heart so ants are literally at his chest. The symbolism is crazy in this show, but everyone who's not Takauji are just ugly ass mofos XD They are great characters though as they provide new sides to the stories, some hilarious interactions and scenes as well.

  By the way the humor in this show is outta pocket on many levels. I actually was shocked how crazy some of the humor is and I straight up laughed. The BDSM scene was CRAZY. Genba flashing was crazy. Tokiyuki bouncing booty while drunk was crazy. Any Sadamune and Master Splinter scene was crazy. Suwa 60% of the time is outta pocket.
  I forgot to mention that this show has 4th wall breaks too. There was just a lot of shit going on.

  One thing I'll say is that the show is VERRYYY gory and violent, they go batshit wild with it. They be doing too much sometimes, body parts, blood squirting, women and children murdered, DOG SHOOTING!? Like they have some wild shit, I didn't expect it to be super gory but that's what I get after ignoring the R-17 tag.

  Animation-
  The animation MWAH! What is more to say? This is the cleanest shit I have ever seen, it gave me those Disney/Studio Ghibli vibes with it's soft color palette and painted backgrounds. It is so pretty. Possibly one of the best. Although, there was some obvious production struggles as there is CGI unfortunately, in this case, a little janky. Due to the overwhelming amount of crazy animation this show has, it dwindles just a little then it picks right back up. The only episodes that have a complaint from me is episode 4 and episode 12, those are just CGI fest and still frames. It isn't as bad as people think though, I still think it is ok but compared to the rest of the masterpieces of episodes? Mid. They also have some cool sets like cutout animation, stop motion, and sometimes 'real' esque animation too. I hope the animators got that bag.

  Voice Acting-
  Won't say too much because I am glazing at this point, everyone did a fantastic job and GOJO VA GOJO VA GOJO VA RAAAAHHH

  Music-
  Music is great as well, definitely fit for those old era Japanese times, although I swear to god I heard a Thriller sample in there somewhere XD

  There isn't much more to say, I say that with even some of its faults, and little bit of nitpicks, it is a good show! I would recommend!

  8.8/10

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• 

  Juliko25

  61/100
  The Elusive Samurai squanders its potential through clashing tones and overreliance on unnecessary comedy.

  Comedy is purely subjective by its very nature, and different people have their own preferences in regards to what makes them laugh. Some people like gross-out jokes, some people like slapstick, some people like physical comedy a la The Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers, and that's fine. Everyone's preferences for comedy are valid and unique. But one thing that's really important when you're writing comedy at all is not just timing, but making sure it doesn't clash with whatever else its being used for. Unfortunately, there's a lot of series that think shoving comedy into things where it's not needed or warranted will make a series great, but it's really not. Unfortunately, after having watched the anime of The Elusive Samurai, it wound up being one of those series. Good lord, I really wanted to like this series, but it turned out to be such a mess.

  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 omniprescent 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 or watching the upcoming second season. 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.

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