Alternative title(s): Nige Jōzu no Wakagimi
Manga Adaptation by CloverWorks
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

At the end of the Kamakura Shogunate, Hojo Tokiyuki flees the Siege of Kamakura, desperate to gather allies and take vengeance for his family’s death. Also he is a small anime boy who’s real good at parkour.

Iro’s verdict: It’s Not Fair That Shonen Jump Adaptations Get All The Talent

There’s nothing really wrong with The Elusive Samurai, per se. It’s got a well-worn (one might even say “reliable”) jidaigeki milieu, a cast of colorful characters, an obvious gimmick for its protagonist in the context of a shonen battle manga. CloverWorks’ production is downright luxurious, full of bright colors, flowing cloth, bouncy movement… all things I appreciate in the realm of of animation. But we also live in a world where, for example, much of Bones’ skilled personnel have been chained to My Hero Academia or Bungo Stray Dogs for nearly a decade. Capitalism mandates sticking to known, proven properties (and to be fair to CloverWorks, the skewed priorities and collapsed run of The Elusive Samurai‘s staff predecessor, Wonder Egg Priority, speak for themselves) but I can’t help but wish all of the skill behind this adaptation was put on something more interesting. Just pretty pictures ain’t enough for me anymore.

Zigg’s Verdict: Triforce Heroes

I think Iro raises valid points about the difficult circumstances that find skilled creators chained to franchise hits, but also I feel I must point out that god DAMN this episode looks amazing. There’s an omnipresent bounce and flow to the character animation, which combines with beautiful backgrounds and bright, vivid colours to create a viewing experience that’s never less than an absolute pleasure. I’d argue that this presentation is more than just skin deep too – such high quality animation really sells the energy and joie de vivre of our child characters – Tokiyuki’s flamboyant chase sequence is a marvel of characterisation through action, immediately telling us of his flighty and responsibility-dodging personality.

My major concern coming out of this opener is perhaps that that energy is occasionally a little too powerful. One of the things I like about anime is its ability to pivot from drama to comedy on a dime, but the tonal transitions here are so sudden and abrupt that I think it’s actually damaging to the narrative. It’s hard to appreciate the tragedy of Tokiyuki’s entire world being burned down when it’s just a few seconds before we’re back to goofy faces and comedic sociopathy. There’s also the always-present fear of a Shounen Jump adaptation lapsing into tired formula, but this opening was so strong that I’m willing to bear that risk for a little while at least. Very interested to see where they go.