The Elusive Samurai

Episode 7

We had one more kid left to meet from the gang that shows up The Elusive Samurai's OP and ED animations, so I knew that we were bound to get an episode introducing him sooner rather than later. Sure enough, we don't have to wait long before “Children in Winter” delivers the goods by having Fubuki pop out of the forest and start swinging his dual-wielded swords every which way. This was an excellent development because Fubuki offers another layer of personality to Tokiyuki's crew of retainers that will surely make future adventures with them much more enjoyable. Also, dual-wielding swords are always sick as hell. More dual-wielded swords in fights means I am a happy camper, every time.

The good news is that everything surrounding Fubuki's kickass dual-wielded sword fighting is also great! This is a more transitional episode of The Elusive Samurai, with the freakish villains mostly taking a back seat while the kids take charge of a mission and further develop their bonds. The need for Tokiyuki and his retainers to strike out comes from Yorishige suffering from an apparently frequent lapse in his future-telling powers. Not only does this give the show good cause to give the kids more time on their own, but it results in some particularly funny jokes about Yorishige being an over-protective helicopter parent to Tokiyuki—and generally creeping everyone out (more than usual, that is).

It's when Fubuki shows up that “Children in Winter” really steps up its game, though, and it isn't just because of the excellent—if mostly incidental—fighting. I loved the little jokes and moments of development, too—like when Tokiyuki realizes that Kojiro and Ayako have totally been going easy on him in training and letting him get a couple of easy wins to boost his self-confidence. I also really love the general concept of a gluttonous drifter like Fukubi going out of his way to train the recently orphaned children of a remote village in the art of self-defense and guerrilla warfare. It's another instance of The Elusive Samurai marrying its goofy sense of humor and young cast with the ridiculously grim and violent realities of living in war-torn 14th-century Japan. Sometimes you just have to learn to chin-up and band together with your pals to dig some deathtraps and learn how to murder grown men with arrows, you know?

Outside of maybe Genba, none of Tokiyuki's other young retainers have much going on by way of backstory or complex motivations, but The Elusive Samurai is always finding ways to make up for that by making us adore the unit as a whole. The vibrant art and gorgeous animation go a long way toward helping in that department, too. It means that, so far, the very worst that an episode that this show has been is still very likable and entertaining. You won't find me complaining about that any time soon.

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.