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The Elusive Samurai

Japanese manga series by Yusei Matsui From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Elusive Samurai
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The Elusive Samurai (Japanese: 逃げ上手の若君, Hepburn: Nige Jōzu no Wakagimi; "The Young Lord Who Is Skilled at Escaping") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yusei Matsui. It has been serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since January 2021, with its chapters collected in 21 tankōbon volumes as of July 2025. The series is based on the historical figure of Hōjō Tokiyuki, the last survivor of the Hōjō clan determined to enact revenge on Ashikaga Takauji, a samurai who betrayed and caused the downfall of his family.

Quick Facts 逃げ上手の若君 (Nige Jōzu no Wakagimi), Genre ...

An anime television series adaptation produced by CloverWorks aired from July to September 2024. A second season has been announced.

The series won the 69th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2024.

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Premise

Set between the late Kamakura and early Muromachi periods, the story follows the tale of Hōjō Tokiyuki, a boy on the run after his family is overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji. With his only allies being a shady priest and his followers, the young lord must seek revenge and regain his glory, with his only weapon: a superhuman ability to flee and hide.

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Media

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Manga

Written and illustrated by Yusei Matsui, The Elusive Samurai started in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on January 25, 2021.[4][5][6] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on July 2, 2021.[7] As of July 4, 2025, 21 volumes have been released.[8]

In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by Viz Media, who simultaneously publishes the chapters digitally as they are released in Japan on its Shonen Jump website.[9] In October 2021, Viz Media announced that they would publish its volumes in print, with the first one released on July 5, 2022.[10][11] Shueisha also simulpublishes the series in English on the Manga Plus platform.[12]

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in March 2023. It is produced by CloverWorks and directed by Yuta Yamazaki, with scripts supervised by Yoriko Tomita, and character designs handled by Yasushi Nishiya.[13][14] Yūsuke Kawakami serves as assistant director, and Gembi and Akiyuki Tateyama composed the music.[15] The series aired its first season from July 6 to September 28, 2024, on Tokyo MX and other networks.[16][17][18] The opening theme song is "Plan A" (プラン A, Puran A), performed by Dish, while the ending theme song is "Kamakura Style" (鎌倉 STYLE, Kamakura Sutairu), performed by Botchi Boromaru [ja].[19]

A second season was announced on October 6, 2024.[20]

Aniplex of America licensed the series and streamed it on Crunchyroll;[21][22] an English dub premiered on August 3, 2024.[23] Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.[24]

Episodes

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Reception

By May 2022, the manga had over 1 million copies in circulation;[28] over 1.5 million copies in circulation by April 2023;[29] over 2 million copies in circulation by March 2024;[30] and over 3 million copies in circulation by July 2024.[31]

In June 2021, The Elusive Samurai was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Printed Manga category and placed sixth out of 50 nominees.[32][33] The series ranked eighth on the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2022.[34] Along with Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Sūji de Asobo, and Trillion Game, The Elusive Samurai won the 69th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2024.[35][36][a]

Anthony Gramuglia of Comic Book Resources wrote that the series has become one of the "highlights of [Weekly] Shōnen Jump's newer titles", adding that "[it] is not only surprisingly emotional but also surprisingly intense, starting with all cylinders at full-throttle and never letting up".[38]

At the 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2025, Hōjō Tokiyuki was nominated for "Must Protect At All Costs" Character while the ending theme, "Kamakura Style" by Botchi Boromaru [ja], was one of the nominees for Best Ending Sequence.[39]

Notes

  1. Since 2023 the nominees are not divided into categories.[37]

References

Further reading

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