is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Yusei Matsui is a Japanese manga artist. He was an assistant of Yoshio Sawai, the manga artist of '' Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo''. ...

. It has been serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's manga magazine ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' since January 2021, with its chapters collected in 20 volumes as of May 2025. The series is based on the historical figure of

Hōjō Tokiyuki was a samurai of the Hōjō clan who fought both for and against the Imperial Court. His father was Hōjō Takatoki, a Shikken, Shogunal Regent and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kamakura shogunate. Biography Tokiyuki had fought against both the ...

, a young samurai determined to enact revenge on

Ashikaga Takauji also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. ...

, a samurai who betrayed and caused the downfall of his family. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by

CloverWorks is a Japanese animation studio that was rebranded from A-1 Pictures' Kōenji Studio. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. Establishment On April 1, 2018, A-1 Pictures rebranded its Kōenji Studio ...

aired from July to September 2024. A second season has been announced. The series won the 69th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is ...

in 2024.

Premise

Set between the late

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

and early

Muromachi The , also known as the , is a division of History of Japan, Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially establ ...

periods, the story follows the tale of

, a boy on the run after his family is overthrown by

. With his only allies being a shady priest and his followers, the young lord must seek revenge and regain his glory, with his only weapon: a superhuman ability to flee and hide.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by

Yusei Matsui is a Japanese manga artist. He was an assistant of Yoshio Sawai, the manga artist of '' Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo''. ...

, ''The Elusive Samurai'' started in

's manga magazine ''

'' on January 25, 2021. Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on July 2, 2021. As of May 2, 2025, 20 volumes have been released. In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

, who simultaneously publishes the chapters digitally as they are released in Japan on its ''Shonen Jump'' website. In October 2021, Viz Media announced that they would publish its volumes in print, with the first one released on July 5, 2022. Shueisha also simulpublishes the series in English on the ''

Manga Plus ''Manga Plus'' (stylized as ''MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA'') is an online manga platform and smartphone app owned by Shueisha that was launched on January 28, 2019. It is available worldwide except in Japan, China, and South Korea which already hav ...

'' platform.

Anime

television series adaptation was announced in March 2023. It is produced by

and directed by Yuta Yamazaki, with scripts supervised by Yoriko Tomita, and character designs handled by Yasushi Nishiya. Yūsuke Kawakami serves as assistant director, and Gembi and Akiyuki Tateyama composed the music. The series aired its first season from July 6 to September 28, 2024, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

and other networks. The opening theme song is , performed by Dish, while the ending theme song is , performed by . A second season was announced on October 6, 2024.

Aniplex of America Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to ...

licensed the series and streamed it on

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

; an English dub premiered on August 3, 2024.

Muse Communication Muse Communication Co., Ltd. (also known simply as Muse) is a Taiwanese distributor and licensor that specializes in the distribution of Japanese animation. Based in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, the company also distributes Asian and E ...

licensed the series in Southeast Asia.

Episodes

Reception

By May 2022, the manga had over 1 million copies in circulation; over 1.5 million copies in circulation by April 2023; over 2 million copies in circulation by March 2024; and over 3 million copies in circulation by July 2024. In June 2021, ''The Elusive Samurai'' was nominated for the seventh

Next Manga Award The is an annual award for manga series presented by Kadokawa Corporation's '' Da Vinci'' magazine and Niconico streaming website. It is divided into two categories: one for print manga, and one for web manga. Overview The award was originally ...

in the Best Printed Manga category and placed sixth out of 50 nominees. The series ranked eighth on the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2022. Along with '' Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'', '' Sūji de Asobo'', and ''

Trillion Game is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Big Comic Superior'' since December 2020, with its chapters collected in ten volumes . I ...

'', ''The Elusive Samurai'' won the 69th

in 2024. Anthony Gramuglia of ''

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

'' wrote that the series has become one of the "highlights of 'Weekly''''Shōnen Jump''s newer titles", adding that " tis not only surprisingly emotional but also surprisingly intense, starting with all cylinders at full-throttle and never letting up". At the

9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards The 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards was held on May 25, 2025 at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan. This edition featured 32 categories honoring anime released from September 2023 to December 2024. The ceremony was streamed live by Cru ...

in 2025,

was nominated for "Must Protect At All Costs" Character while the ending theme, "Kamakura Style" by , was one of the nominees for Best Ending Sequence.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elusive Samurai, The Adventure anime and manga Anime series based on manga CloverWorks Comedy anime and manga Comics set in the 14th century Crunchyroll anime Historical fantasy anime and manga Muse Communication Samurai in anime and manga Shōnen manga Shueisha manga Television series set in the 14th century Tokyo MX original programming Upcoming anime television series Viz Media manga Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award