‘The Elusive Samurai’ series review: Breathtaking period anime feels like a subversive successor to ‘Shogun’

The summer anime season endured a bit of a glut this year, with few titles truly catching the eye. Even fewer have genuinely managed to break through the noise and leave a lasting mark, but The Elusive Samurai is one of those rare overlooked gems that demands every ounce of our attention. Produced by CloverWorks, the period-set anime adapts Yusei Matsui’s manga with a curious blend of historical adventure, action, and, perhaps unexpectedly, humour. Set during Japan’s unruly Kamakura period, the show follows Hojo Tokiyuki, a young noble whose greatest skill isn’t fighting but running away.

With FX’s Shōgunstill basking in the afterglow of its Emmy sweep, you would think anime would be lining up to follow suit, falling for the tried and tested formula of honour, duty, and ambition. But The Elusive Samurai seems to giggle in the face of convention — and then promptly runs the other way. Its protagonist, young Tokiyuki, isn’t a katana-wielding prodigy poised for greatness; instead, his “gift” is delightfully unheroic and a brilliant subversion of samurai tropes: he’s spectacular at running away. He doesn’t fight; he survives. And it’s that survival instinct, lovingly animated in every leap and dash, that might just crown him among the ranks of anime’s most unconventional heroes.

At its heart, The Elusive Samurai is a classic underdog story, but it topples expectations with Tokiyuki’s peculiar ability. It’s not an easy sell in the honour-obsessed stoicism of medieval Japan, but CloverWorks brings his flight to life with such fluidity that the act of running becomes something close to an art form. The way Tokiyuki slips through the chaos of battlefields, his movements animated with nimble grace, makes the idea of fleeing as compelling as any sword fight.

What really sets the anime apart though, is the remarkable visual landscape that CloverWorks constructs around Tokiyuki’s journey. The animation is — simply put — stunning. It’s not just the bold colour palette or intricate backgrounds that catch the eye, but how the series plays with texture and motion. The opening episodes unfurl with beautiful illustrations filled with rich reds, deep blues, and painterly greens so lush, that they practically melt off the screen in a mélange of vibrant hues. But the serenity of these scenes is quickly undercut by moments of sudden, brutal violence. The contrast is sharp, almost shocking at times, and it drives home the precariousness of Tokiyuki’s situation — he may be able to run, but there’s no escaping the bloody, unforgiving reality of his world.

Tokiyuki’s story kicks off after the fall of his family, the powerful Hojo clan, which is betrayed and decimated in a coup. This could easily have set the stage for a familiar Hamlet-ian revenge plot, but the anime chooses a more playful, subversive approach. Tokiyuki is no blood-thirsty avenger; he’s a resourceful, slippery protagonist who relies on his wit and speed rather than brute force. It’s a welcome departure from the heavy, tragic heroes we witnessed far too often in samurai tales, and that lightness is carried through in the show’s cast of eccentric supporting characters.

There’s Yorishige, a clairvoyant priest with questionable methods (voiced by the same VA that gave us Gojo Satoru), who mentors Tokiyuki with spiritual insights and disturbing humour. Then there’s the ragtag group of “Elusive Warriors” that rally behind Tokiyuki — a band of misfits whose quirks add levity to the grimmest situations.

But don’t let the comedy fool you. The stakes in The Elusive Samurai are very real, and the show does not shy away from the harshness of its historical setting, or sanitise it. There are moments when the brutal political realities — massacres, mutilations, public executions — come crashing through the brightly coloured animation like a slap to the face. The pilot alone begins in a near-idyllic vision of Tokiyuki’s life before plunging into the graphic massacre of his family and their retainers and the show thrives in these moments of tonal dissonance, jumping from lightheartedness to the macabre without missing a beat.

One of its boldest creative choices is how it uses its warping art styles to reflect these tonal shifts. At times, the visuals are lush and almost dreamlike, particularly in Tokiyuki’s quieter moments of contemplation or escape. At others, they become jagged and distorted, especially during battle scenes or moments of extreme emotion. The ninth episode, “My Buddha” in particular — a gorgeous fever dream of shifting forms and surreal body distortions — is experimental genius. It’s moments like these that elevate The Elusive Samurai beyond the confines of typical shounen fare, even pushing it towards, dare I say, high art.

As pretty as it is to look at, however, The Elusive Samurai finds its true brilliance in the tension between past and present. While ostensibly set in medieval Japan, it often feels like an underhanded commentary on more modern ideas. With his quick feet and quicker thinking, Tokiyuki rejects the traditional notions of honour and heroism that permeate the genre. His journey is one of survival, not just in the physical sense but emotionally and psychologically too. It’s about knowing when to pick your battles, when to hide in the shadows, and when to bide your time until the world shifts in your favour. And that makes him one of the most compelling young anime protagonists in recent memory.

There’s something undeniably captivating about this charming boy who simply knows how to run for his life — and maybe, one day, reclaim his place in the world. And while Tokiyuki may spend most of the series on the run, The Elusive Samurai is already racing toward something much greater — a place among the most visually inventive anime of 2024. With a dazzling, genre-defying first season, it’s not hard to imagine it emerging as a dark horse contender for Anime of the Year.

The Elusive Samurai is currently streaming on Crunchyroll