The Elusive Samurai

Episode 4

It stands to reason that our young General Tokiyuki won't be able to get by on doing nothing but running away from his enemies in style; as Yorishige himself points out, Tokiyuki is going to have to demonstrate some kind of combat ability if he's going to have any chance of inspiring an army. Swordplay is clearly out of the question since watching Tokiyuki's feeble attempts to slice a meager bundle of straw in half is about as dispiriting as I imagine it was for my father to observe my terminal inability to either throw or catch anything even resembling a ball when I was a child. Archery, though, is a different story. The problem for Tokiyuki isn't that he is physically weak but rather that his “running-away muscles” have been finely honed at the expense of the muscles that would help him swing a sword with any degree of effectiveness. We'll have to go ahead and accept this nonsensical explanation as justification for why the young lord is capable of shooting a bow with such grace and precision despite being so hopeless with a blade.

This is the foundation upon which “Sadamune Appears!” builds the foundation of its “Let's Level-Up the Hero!” premise. Tokiyuki is a damned good archer for his age, but he'll need to be better than “damned good” to even have a chance at defeating Takauiji. Thankfully, the villain of this storyline arrives at the perfect time for Yorishige to enact a new scheme by arranging a less-than-friendly competition: The “All-Seeing” Sadamune and the boy, “Chojumaru”, will face off in a round dog shooting that includes some bonus points for any shots to the archer's own bodies. Tokiyuki's friends are aghast at the situation but it shows how clever of a mentor Yorishige is. The man knows that true growth cannot come unless you confront the genuine challenge that forces you to rise above your previous limitations. He's also aware that Tokiyuki is the kind of freak who gets the most excited and invested when the stakes are at their highest. Just look at the way the kid starts to beam when he realizes how much danger he is in at the end of the episode! If only therapy existed in 14th-century Japan because this kid's brain could be material enough for at least a couple of best-selling case studies.

For once, though, it is neither Tokiyuki nor Yorishige that stands out as the most “colorful” crayon in the box, so to speak. To me, the standout element of “Sadamune Appears!” is the titular antagonist himself. Ogasawara Sadamune might well be a real historical figure but he is also straight-up just a Ren & Stimpy goon that was somehow transported into the world of The Elusive Samurai—complete with a set of creepy-as-hell bug-eyes that he wields with such malicious fervor that he may as well be possessed by the vengeful spirit of George Liquor himself (feel free to ask your parents, kids). The show's commitment to treating Sadamune's defining character trait as the eldritch mark of the beast only gets funnier as the episode goes on. I nearly did a spit take when the guy's eyeballs practically wriggled out of his own skull to whisper directly into some poor lackey's ear.

Sadly, for as much fun as I had with this episode, “Sadamune Appears!” has also given me the first cause to complain about the show's visuals. Specifically, I didn't dig the way the show implemented CGI character animation for the equestrian archery sequences. I get that horses must be the biggest pain in the ass to animate, and the CGI was at least functional enough to get the job done. Still, the effects were not good enough to seamlessly blend in with the show's usual aesthetic, and I really hope that the series uses it as minimally as possible going forward. Even less outstanding episodes like this one are such a treat for the eyes—and I would hate for there to ever be a moment where the show spoils things by letting its visual ambitions fully exceed its technical grasp.

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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.