Premiere Date
18-07-2025
It was almostsix years ago exactly that CloverWorks was founded, and despite the studio’s youth, bold productions likeWonder Egg PriorityorThe Promised Neverlandleft an unforgettable mark on audiences.The Elusive Samuraiis the latest project to amaze with its sights, sound, and story, and just in time for the studio’s sixth anniversary, we dare say it is their strongest series yet.
Based on author Yusei Matsui’s manga,The Elusive Samuraiis a historical shōnen set in 1333 and based loosely on the life of Hojo Tokiyuki, the surviving heir of the Kamakura shogunate. After Takauji Ashikaga betrays the shogunate and leads to its massacre, a nine-year-old Tokiyuki escapes the slaughter, joining a priest who will give him the allies and training to retake the nation.
The Whimsical Makings of an Instant Classic
The Elusive Samurai’s strongest hookis also its riskiest gamble - that being the sheer magnificence of its first episodes and the high bar it sets early on. To say that it puts its best foot forward is an understatement. Tokiyuki’s playful nature and the serene peace of his home are intoxicating when painted in such rich colors and brought to life through such expressive animation.
It’s not long before that serenity is destroyed. Takauji’s betrayal destroys Tokiyuki’s world - a world the viewer will have hardly known for more than 10 minutes, yet whose loss will be felt as strongly as if it were explored for hours. There’s admittedlya tonal dissonance with the violent presentationwhich might deter some viewers early on, but those who can persist will no doubt see the vision quite quickly.
Learning to Love The Elusive Samurai
The most interesting thing aboutThe Elusive Samuraiis its unconventional hero and the context through which the story expresses its thesis. Tokiyuki was young and though he was the heir to the shogunate, he cared little for his duties because he assumed he’d be a puppet ruler like his father. Instead, he lived a life of play, with a tenacity for running and hiding that bordered on the superhuman. As charming as he was, his nature cast doubt on his ability to rule.
When his home falls to ruin, the customs of the time would dictate he should take his own life, to join his fallen family with honor. Yet, just as the shady clairvoyant priest - Yorishige Suwa - correctly predicts, he can’t. Tokiyuki clings to life, evading the blades of those who would butcher him for his family name. It’s a generational spectacle to behold, bolstered by some of the most immaculate color design and animation directing that can be found. And that’s just the premiere.
What Sets Tokiyuki Apart from Other Shōnen Protagonists
As stated in our mid-season review from August,The Elusive Samuraiweaponizes the childlike innocence of its protagonist to reject the traditional ideas of heroism and honor inherent to the era. Tokiyuki isn’t a strong fighter in the slightest, but his speed and survival instincts allow him to run circles around foes, wearing them down over time. It’s a unique spin on the fight scenes where the actions that other stories might call cowardly come off as triumphant, instead.
As a result, the tonal dissonance becomes more negligible, not just because it’s a child evading death, but because, in turn, Tokiyuki is fighting against an idea. The idea that heroism is so intrinsically tied to killing or that there is honor in death - sentiments that the story considers even more childish than its young hero. It’s a more modern philosophy perhaps, but that’s why Yorishige is there; the priest who can see into the future.
In a lot of ways, the story feels like a warped, tongue-in-cheek history lesson crossedwith some meta-textual time travel. The first episode starts in 2024 before leaping back in time. Next, we’re introduced to Takauji Ashikaga before the narrator assures us that he’s not the hero of the story. From then on, Yorishige feels like a man out of time, whose visions of the future are reserved solely to protect and elevate Tokiyuki, who - through a modern lens - is the lovable underdog.
The War of Hide-and-Seek
The Elusive Samurai’s narrative is largely episodic, and the first season is nowhere near the whole story, as the manga is still ongoing. This season, then, follows the formation of the main squad that follows Tokiyuki’s lead - “The Elusive Warriors”. Kojiro Nezu and Ayako Mochizuki are the first retainers to join the party, as well as Yorishige’s daughter, Shizuku. By the end of Episode 12, the thief Genba and the swordsman Fubuki will have joined the party.
Early on, the supporting charactersmight not grab the viewer as strongly as Tokiyuki. It doesn’t help that Kojiro and Ayako just sort of show up as pre-packaged companions, but what’s important is that they all have good chemistry, and they add a lot to combat. Plus, as the story progresses, the characters do get some good moments to shine and their relationships with Tokiyuki deepen, especially with Genba and Kojiro. It’s fun watching them all become so charmed by Tokiyuki.
In terms of humor, your mileage may vary. It can be quite loud and crass in a way that might strike some as annoying, but it has its charms, especially as a vehicle for conveying the growing bond between the cast. As alluded to earlier, it also serves as a nice counterbalance to the show’s darker elements, but even the recurring villains offer some humor to the proceedings. The sole exception is Takauji,who might just exude the purest “villain energy”seen in anime in quite some time.
The Animation and the Anticipation of What’s Next
When it premiered, we said it looked too good to be true. By the time it was halfway over,The Elusive Samurairevealed that it had the chops to back up its promising debut. With Season 1 over, it is without a doubt one of the best-looking anime of 2024, andDandadanhas barely started yet, so there’s time for that to change, but there will still be stiff competition.
At worst,this series suffers from some CGIthat clashes with the rest of the visual style. Looking past that, this show hasn’t just delivered beautiful animation consistently - it has consistently created some of the most avant-garde sequences seen in an action show in years. Episodes 1, 6, and 9 especially are so well-constructed that it warrants consideration to rank CloverWorks among the top echelon of Japan’s animation houses. The big fight from Episode 9 alone is a masterpiece of which animator Keisuke Okura should be extremely proud [watch it here].
There’s something nostalgic about this series, the exact nature of which will vary from person to person, but which has nonetheless drawn comparison to classics likeRurouni Kenshin. Something about the look of it - its colors - harkens back toa past era of action-adventure anime, yet it is so decidedly modern all the same. In that, it is extremely exciting to imagine where this series has yet to go.
The Elusive Samuraiis fantastic and a strong contender for Anime of the Year.
This is CloverWorks’ best series yet, and even typing those words feels like tempting fate after how past sensations likeThe Promised NeverlandorWonder Egg Priorityturned out. But not everyone can see the future like Yorishige, so in the meantime, until Season 2 lets us down, let’s call it like it is.The Elusive Samuraiis fantastic and a strong contender for Anime of the Year.
