The Elusive Samurai

Episode 5

Going into this week's episode of The Elusive Samurai, my biggest concern was whether or not the dodgy CGI used to animate the horseback sequences would drag the rest of Tokiyuki and Sadamune's competition down. This is our first proper, extended showdown with a new bad guy since Tokiyuki has solidified his team and committed to his training in Tactical Combat Evasion. It would be a shame for such an otherwise sublime-looking anime to stumble so hard at this junction. Thankfully, while the mix of 3D and 2D elements never looks exceptional, I'd say that it still ends up landing in the territory of “Pretty Good!”, which is much better than it could have been.

I think the use of more dynamic camera angles and snappier editing helps give this episode a lot more leeway than the previous one had, which is important considering that the whole climax of the fight revolves around Tokiyuki's ability to do a super cool and graceful “Parthian shot” while aiming backward on his horse. If the move turned out to look dumb or underwhelming, it would ruin the entire first half of the episode. Appropriately enough, The Elusive Samurai manages to deftly avoid this pitfall and leap into a well-earned (if not entirely unqualified) victory.

The remaining two-thirds of the episode ends up being the most fun because we finally get introduced to the sneaky kid in the Kitsune mask that I've been excited to meet since the first time the OP played. His name is Genba and I cannot help but love the fact that he is an unapologetically greedy and self-centered little shit. It makes sense that he'd have little trust for anything other than the clink of the gold coins in his pouch—seeing as his father was cast aside to a life of destitution by the nobility that their family served for practicing the arts of thievery and subterfuge. It also makes sense that Yorishige would instruct Tokiyuki to recruit the little bastard to thwart Sadamune from claiming Suwa territory utilizing a writ from the Emperor. Honor is all well and good when you can afford to take a hit on the chin now and then; our heroes are massive underdogs in a war against the powers-that-be of their entire nation, so they cannot afford to be picky about who they team up with.

Besides, Genba brings a degree of friction and spice that will only improve the chemistry of our band of young fighters. Sure, a guy like Kojiro can be a little stinker in his own right but all three of Tokiyuki's vassals have sworn their fealty and their friendship to the Little Lord and that means that there isn't much in the way of interesting drama to be had with any of them so far. Genba goes out of his way to demonstrate that Tokiyuki has every right to mistrust the thief, especially when we find out that Genba's fox mask is good for more than just funny reaction shots. The shapeshifting power it possesses is the sort of boon that could make the difference between Tokiyuki winning the day or losing everything but what good is such a gift when it is in the hands of a mischievous rogue who has no reservations about stealing Tokiyuki's face if it means getting what he wants?

Now, do I think that Genba's character will be all that complex at the end of the day? Not really, no. This show has not primed me to expect anything especially subversive or daring about its story, in that sense. Still, the feeling of unease and danger that Genba adds to the group gives The Elusive Samurai some much-needed texture and variety. If the show can keep iterating and improving upon its simple (but winning!) formula like this, I will continue to eagerly await every new episode.

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.