The Elusive Samurai, Vol. 16

逃げ上手の若君 [Nige Jōzu no Wakagimi] #16

by Yusei Matsui

In medieval Japan, eight-year-old Hojo Tokiyuki is the heir to the Kamakura shogunate. But the Hojo clan is in decline, and Tokiyuki’s peaceful days of playing hide-and-seek with his teachers come to an abrupt end when his clan is betrayed from within. The lone survivor of his family, Tokiyuki is the rightful heir to the throne, but to take it back, he’ll have to do what he does best—run away!

Kitabatake Akiie’s army, including Tokiyuki’s powerful Hojo clan contingent, begins their westward march on Kyo from Oshu. It will be a long journey and will not go unopposed as forces loyal to Ashikaga Takauji are mobilizing to stop them. Not only will Akiie and Tokiyuki need to contend with ambushes and supply problems along the way, but the army of the renowned warrior Toki Yorito also moves to confront the Oshu army at a place that will one day become famed in Japanese history—Sekigahara.

Genres: Manga, Historical

200 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2024

About the author

Yūsei Matsui (松井優征 Matsui Yūsei?, born January 31, 1981 in Saitama, Japan) is a manga artist known for manga Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. He was an assistant of Yoshio Sawai, the manga artist of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (Shirota Masakage made a cameo appearance in Shinsetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo).

Reviews

[Bonnie Parker]

It appears that I'm addicted to this story...🫠🫠🫠

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume covers them leaving Kamakura and traveling to the West before encountering a large five commander battle with multiple great returning antagonists. Early on there is a wonderful interlude focusing on Akiie and his background as it pertains to his relationship with the barbian-esque northern warriors he commands. This was a strong highlight when reading weekly and remains so here. The dynamic and his leadership as he adapts to brace their customs or understand / accept the dishonorable actions they did for him is really interesting and so great to read.
Outside of the first third this is a very battle centric with many fun fights. The returning antagonists allow for certain character situations to rise up again like Kojiro proving himself against the super strong angry dude or Tokiyuki encountering Ogasawara Sadamune. I really appreciate whenever Sadamune is on page as this is around the time they really start to build a really interesting dynamic between him and Tokiyuki. Tokiyuki has constantly came face to face with Sadamune and is always challenged to learn or grow in some way from Sadamune directly and they play it really straight here (and even better later on in one of my fave scenes of all time in EluSam). The ending continues with finally catching up to the front of the battle with the larger-than-life Toki. His strength is monumental and it's sold so well as both a serious threat as well as something just a bit goofy like so much of EluSam can do. Its done especially well with Toki. From what I remember his page time is quite limited in general but he makes a splash with his unique over-the-top showcases of strength that are backed by just wonderfully out there art and depictions.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5