#Elusive Samurai

[nijigasakilove]

Starting to think the hype for a show is inversely proportionate to its quality because wtf all the best premieres this season have had no hype! Like where the hell did this show come from, Cloverworks knocked this first episode out of the park and if this is any indication of how the rest of the series is gonna look, look out for a dark horse AOTS contender.

There’s no better studio to handle shows that have a blend of action and comedy than Cloverworks. They’ve shown us time and time again with Spy x Family, Balance Unlimited, Windbreaker and now this, but this actually looks better than anything they’ve done imo.

First 12 minutes of the episode totally lull you into thinking it’s gonna be a peaceful slice of life anime about a prince who likes to slag off his training, only to seamlessly transition, thru the use of the ball hitting the ground turning into a decapitated head, into the reality of the era. This period in Japanese history was filled with bloodshed, war, betrayals and stuff that would make George RR Martin’s novels look like Disney colouring books and they nailed that here.

The bloodshed, the fall of the Hojo clan and their territory, it all feels so sudden and you’re as broken as Tokiyuki is by the end of it. Everything’s going so well, you get the prophecy from the sage and boom, your world is flipped upside down. Brilliant use of direction to evoke empathy from the audience for the MC. Almost a Ghost of Tsushima style start to this.

The animation during the scene of Suwa pushing Tokiyuki off the cliff and him running thru the crowd of warriors was astounding.. this really is one of the best looking shows this year and one of the best premieres as well. After the success of Shogun I’m very much down for more stuff in this era of Japanese history and can’t wait to see how Tokiyuki gets his revenge.

[inbestigator]

The Elusive Samurai

[askbloatedbellyblog]

So in an attempt to fluster @dumdumdrawstumtums and to get more practice with a new video program, I edited this scene from Elusive Samurai episode 3 to add burps (with some extra lip flaps) and some stomach noises. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though I think I'll have to edit audio in a different program because the audio effects weren't as rich as other programs.

If I try it again, I might try something that doesn't have music in it or add it later so I can mix it in later. Which is maybe a good limitation as I would have made this worse.

[playtheshadw]

Thinking a little more about this scene. I think that Fubuki hasn’t really properly been recognized or appreciated by anyone (considering his relationship w/ his father was bad enough to resort to murder) so Tokiyuki’s praise must have meant so, so much. The thing with Tokiyuki is that he’s so honest & kind despite the era. His words always hold so much weight, both due to his status and personality.

Fubuki being moved to tears is SO! For someone who’s always hiding their emotions, hiding something, to be so moved…

His body language contradicts what he’s saying, he’s clutching his heart and ohh for Tokiyuki’s kindness to be directed to him. Fubuki was finally the person being chosen.

Tokiyuki offered Fubuki warmth to quell his hunger, and Fubuki wants to help him the best he can in exchange. Their friendship is so special to me

[benthic-girl]

Elusive samurai is so insanely horny about tokiyuki it's crazy

[bloodysparklez]

my son. my baby boy. light of my life, the center of my universe, my darling little guy

[rmorde]

Okay. I am so fucking sold on Elusive Samurai.

Omfg. This anime is so gorgeous. Just so fucking gorgeous.

I love the variety in art styles and how they just blend together.

The burnt background is a rough charcoal drawing yet it doesn't clash with the brightly colored characters drawn with smooth and clean lines.

Then this really clever visual of how evil and demonic the wretched fucking uncle is.

He is just pure evil barely contained with those thick, dark, inky line work.

Such a fucking piece of shit with a fitting Oni theme.

I swear this anime is just so so gorgeous. My favorite sequence was Tokiyuki just fighting his uncle one-on-one. The screen just goes black and...

Just beautiful. Even the smears are lovely.

I also love how it just seamlessly switch between styles without losing its quality like with the blood.

Blood splash that's really bright red. Flat and sharp in shape.

Then here its darker red and less sharp. It has more volume.

This anime is just beautiful.

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2024, Issue #52

HxH: Morena's card game begins, and she exposits that she was conceived in a state-sanctioned non-consensual orgy; Borksen learns that thanks to Nen restrictions, she actually does have actually does have an escape route. The implications of Morena's backstory are certainly staggering, but also lost on me

Yozakura: Taiyo has an "I know you're in there" fight with himself, ending with him expelling Asa by shooting himself in the heart. Taiyo's willingness to damage his own body to make it uninhabitable to Asa doesn't seem ideal, but definitely preferable to being possessed

Undead Unluck: Soul tries to force Andy and Victor's souls back together, but Rip cuts them apart permanently with Unrepair. This is Rip's capstone, where he finally uses Unrepair for someone else's happiness instead of ruining his own with it

Roboco: Roboco writes more shameless ripoff manga, but finally learns that her own original material is a lot better. I have no faith that this lesson will stick

Sakamoto: Atari's luck has literally run out; she reveals to Tenkyu that his friendship w/ Uzuki is irreparable; Shin resolves to kill Tenkyu, even if it means severing ties with Sakamoto. Both Tenkyu and Shin are losing their friends because they're killing in their name against their wishes; Atari's an idiot for using such an obscene amount of luck last chapter just to fire ONE bullet

EluSam: Tokiyuki and realKojiro gush over Kojiro as he fights Nagao; the scene cuts away to Mima getting into architecture and interior design. This seems to have an affect on enemy morale, but I feel like it's not worth ignoring what seems to be Kojiro's most important fight

Witch Watch: The flashback gang discusses the legacy of Familiars and their prejudice towards humanity; Kuon warms up to the team, and Taiga raises more death flags. The idea of magic fading away as a sign of peaceful times is a topic I've been thinking about a lot lately because I've been revisiting Medaka Box; this may inform a future essay

Blue Box: Taiki endears himself to Chinatsu's dad with his earnest, if a bit overbearing, nature. I'm glad we're not drawing out the tension too much, it makes the dad more relatable

Akane: Despite Miroku's refusal to let them perform, Shiguma and Issho learn enough rakugo for Kiroku to give them a slot; Miroku offers to grant Kiroku his name and rank if he will use it to expel the pair. This is clearly the event that led to the founding of the Arakawa School, but even with a foregone conclusion, it's a nailbiter

Kill Blue: Juzo and Shin use assassin techniques to advertise the bakery; Yoichiro wagers his staff's bonuses to whichever club can beat their challenges. Clearly he's plotting something, but I can't quite see yet how this furthers his plans

Nue: Rido spontaneously achieves his Bankai Spirit Armor and promptly passes out. It looks cool, but I'm already so unclear on this power system's rules that such an upgrade only serves to confuse me further

Kagurabachi: In a side story, we revisit everyone's favorite guy, Sojo, trying desperately to enjoy a bath despite his routine being ruined at every turn. Looking back, I'm sad that Sojo died; I hope he continues to haunt the narrative

Chojo: Keinain's new assistant, Makami, finds everything about the Chinjuku station to be lewd; this is not because she's a prude, but an extremely repressed pervert. Would

Astro Royale: Himuro reveals he became a cop to stop the Yotsurugi family from interfering with his dad's business, but only found out later that they were supporting him through hard times; the damage he caused this business relationship resulted in his father's suicide; he eats the Daybreak Ore and becomes a mutated mass. Himuro's motivations now reflect Kinpa's, but just like he hurt his dad by targeting the Yotsurugi's, his rage is misdirected and self-destructive

Kiyoshi: Asuta's time runs out and he gets away, cementing the sacrifices made to summon him; as he leaves, he calls Kiyoshi his soulmate in a perverse twist on Kiyoshi's own desire for friendship. Axe-deniers when the lead fails and lets 100 innocent people die - 🎉🍾🥳🎊🥂; throw the yaoi girlies in there too since there's about to be a huge boost in sales

Hima-Ten: Tenichi takes up the rear on the class hike; Himari fakes an injury to keep him company. Very cute, but how the hell does this moron not realize she's in love???

Ichi: Just before the contest begins, Ichi sees a mysterious figure; the Kindake Magik vows to kill everyone who doesn't worship his mushrooms, then escapes into his mushroom forest. So much for not being a human-hater; Togeice's poor sense of direction will certainly make this challenge much harder on her

Shinobi: Yodaka sabotages Hachikuma's strings and turns them against him. Though heavy-handed, Yodaka straightening and braiding Hachikuma's discarded, tangled strings as a symbol of the value of putting effort into maintaining relationships is sweet

Hakutaku: The mechanics of the AR game are explained, but Hikuma sleeps through people actually enjoying it. Maybe it's cus I don't like mobile games, but I do not see the appeal of this game, which is probably the most damning indictment of a game design manga

Syd Craft: Elio is revealed to be Levie Olyn, Syd's favorite romance author, who became his assistant after he cleared her name in a case; she writes her books to vent her DEFINITELY NOT ROMANTIC feelings for Syd. That's a great dynamic, I love girls who pine, I'm super endeared to this idiot

My top 3 manga for the week are:

Undead Unluck, unsurprisingly, for its fantastic color page, multiple great spreads, and at least two of what will undoubtedly become the most iconic moments in the entire series; congrats on netting the final cover of the year!

Syd Craft for continuing to expand upon its concept in a way that really appeals to me; let it be known I never said Tsutsui was a bad author, I just said he was a coward

Kiyoshi for dodging the axe, establishing an interesting dynamic between Kiyoshi and Asuta, and the bravery to leave it on such a bleak cliffhanger

Runners up include Astro Royale and Shinobi Undercover, both for giving me some interesting symbolism to chew on, as well as Hima-Ten and Chojo for women in denial that fall short of Elio

Edit: I want to correct something I said last week - it does not seem like Bug Ego is joining Weekly Jump after all, I think someone I follow on twitter either got a bad tip or I misunderstood what they said. Bug Ego was added to the Shonen Jump app, not Shonen Jump itself. Apologies for any confusion!

[yutamayo]

Was just planning to maybe watch the first few episodes of The Elusive Samurai with my brother yet here we are on episode 6 with me like maybe we can finish this before I have to make the 2hr commute home bc like holy SHIT THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING BANGER SINCE LIKE HONESTLY KNY OR AOT TO BE FRANK

it's unique and has so many beautiful foundations and plot tropes done so Fucking well like a combination of so many genres this anime is gonna STEAL awards when the crunchyroll award time comes around like

Was only 15min into the first episode before I knew this is an anime that is going to stay in my top faves forever.

It gives me a combination of vibes akin to Princess Mononoke, Zom 100, Demon slayer, and just so many other beautiful things.

The art style!!!!! The characters!!!! The animation!!!!!!!

The CI NEMA TO GGGGRA PH HYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

This anime will win best cinematography in the next awards I can bet my life on it.

If ur looking for an anime to grab your heart and make you cry with a smile on your face as your heart breaks but ur also laughing and just crumbling into pieces of god damn AWESTRUCK WONDER, then go watch The Elusive Samurai, Right. Now.

[nexitodot]

[nijigasakilove]

Cloverworks were back to their best in this episode, it looked great and that Takauji/Emperor’s son scene at the end was sublime.

Two kids up against super hearing and super sight, what could possibly go wrong. In perhaps the most unsurprising twist of all time Genba tried betraying Tokiyuki, but Tokiyuki embracing and accepting him was too much for even Genba to resist leading to them working together to escape. Now that whole scene just looked gorgeous, Genba using the environment and his agility to overstimulate Sadamune’s lieutenant’s super hearing. Love how they visualised his rapid movements

“Always take the money, even if you like them” pretty solid advice for anything in life really lmao. But Genba definitely respects Tokiyuki and is going to be a good ally now. That was probably Yorishige’s secondary intent sending them in on this mission together. Good bonding experience and they got rid of the imperial command which means the Suwa land is safe!

Did not expect to see Genba’s whole ass out at the party tho 😂

The ending with the emperor son running thru the crowd as everyone welcomes and celebrates Takauji as a hero is one of the most creative and visually scintillating scenes I’ve ever seen. Absolutely horrifying how Go-Daigo’s own son is forgotten about by the crowd and they flock to Takauji. Otherworldly strength, charisma and an evil lurking within.. Tokiyuki is a looong way from being able to take him down but I’m excited for the journey.

[arkan59]

The Elusive Warriors play a board game!

I haven’t seen anyone else do this yet, so here’s my take on this meme. They practically reenact this meme in the anime opening, so I had to make a version that fits the meme.

Alas, click the image for better quality photo.

rambles below the cut

Don’t look too closely at Tokiyuki’s hands, I fucked ‘em up (sad face).

Here’s the op screenshot that inspired me to do this

Yorishige’s face is taken directly from this scene, so is Genba’s distraught face.

Fubuki eating the mound of rice I HAD to include, so he goes into jail to enjoy his rice in peace. Fubuki is also the only one i didn’t reference to draw, there was barely any of him to draw in the first place!

Tokiyuki would be the only one that would be sad for Genba. Ayako and Kojiro? They be celebtrating his receival of the God of Poverty.

My options for color weren’t great so I chose to not color everything fully to just convey what color it’s supposed to be (no skin colored markers ahhhhh). Yorishige’s godly glow turned out surprisingly well imo, pretty happy w that.

Don’t know if this is something others would want to do but if you want to try your hand at coloring this here’s only the inked version. Just credit me if you post your coloring! I’d love to see other people’s coloring of this.

[xtabay-cat]

I've acquired a new son!

[xxdoubledaisyxx]

fee fi foe fum... I smell the blood of a turncoat man.

What else you got traitor trumptard? Seriously. Is that all you are able to do?

You haven't scratched me once, and all you have done is waste other people's time and resources incriminating yourself with my justice.

Do you have any last words at least?

You are powerless as a man, but maybe as a woman you will be able to utter something of value before my word of rebuke sentences you to death. No other fool will underestimate America, Freedom, and Democracy again after your example of such craven betrayal for coin is punished for everyone's benefit.

[playtheshadw]

God he’s so funny. “I smell someone cooking eel” this is the most frantic he’s been omg he wants that eel so effing bad

[benthic-girl]

Superpower, nearly getting killed makes him so fucking horny