The Elusive Samurai

Episode 12

So far as finales go, “Hang in there, Tokiyuki, Until the Day You Retake Kamakura” is a pretty good—but not quite great—conclusion to a damned fine season of television. For a number of reasons, I'd wager that the previous arc would have served for a better emotional conclusion to this first batch of The Elusive Samurai episodes than the battle against Yonemaru and the forces of the Provincial Official, but I get why the story is organized the way it is from a tactical and historical perspective. What really matters, in the end, is that this episode gave the show one last chance to letting its cast of young killers cut loose and showcase its incredible animation and art direction.

In addition to the uniformly excellent, vibrant, and lively visuals, I also really loved how we finally got to spend some quality time with Kojiro, who gets just a tiny bit of character development as he goes about planting his sword directly into Konemaru's face. If nothing else, the sequence would get points for gamely exploiting the running joke where Kojiro points out the ridiculously exaggerated faces of Hoshina's band of weirdos. On top of that, though, we get the genuinely sweet parallel to Tokiyuki's own revelation where Kojiro realizes that “fighting as a unit is fun.” In a blood-soaked world like this one, you have to find your happiness wherever it lives, I suppose.

Genba and Fubuki also get some fun moments, and I especially appreciate the fact that Genba got to use his miraculous shapeshifting powers at least one more time before the season ended. In general, this was just a solid showcase of (mostly) every major character's strengths, and it was very fun to watch unfold. I just wish there were more personal or emotional stakes to the conflict, which is something that the fight against Shokan had in spades. It makes the episode feel less like the culmination of a season-long arc and more like a minor, transitional battle meant to connect the dots to the next bit storyline.

Also, it sucks that Shizuku and Ayako got sidelined for the whole fight, to the point where the only meaningful thing they contribute to this storyline is taking a nap while they wait for the boys to get back. Granted, the girls got plenty to do in the Shokan fight, which is just another reason why that storyline might have been more suited for the big finale of the show's first year. All we can do, I guess, is cross our fingers and hope that this weird and wonderful slice of historical adventure gets another season. I would gladly spend another season — or two, or even three! — with the Young Lord and His Retainers. There are still so many heads that need to roll before Tokiyuki can claim his vengeance, after all.

Rating:

The Elusive Samurai is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.