The Elusive Samurai announces anime adaptation with a teaser and a key visual

Yusei Matsui’s The Elusive Samurai was recently announced to receive an anime adaptation by Yuta Yamazaki at Studio Cloverworks.

The news was revealed in the 16th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on March 20. Subsequently, a teaser promotional video and a key visual featuring the protagonist Hojo Tokiyuki were also revealed.

Yusei Matsui’s The Elusive Samurai is a historical series set between the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and Muromachi/Ashikaga era (1336 to 1573), centering on Hojo Tokiyuki, a historical figure from the namesake clan, who fought for the Imperial Court and even went against it.

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The Elusive Samurai is the latest manga series from the creator of Assassination Classroom

The Elusive Samurai author Yusei Matsui is a globally renowned mangaka who garnered a lot of praise for his action-comedy anime and manga series, Assassination Classroom. Matsui’s popularity skyrocketed in no time after he debuted the latter in 2012 and after the manga concluded in March 2016, Shueisha serialized its 180 chapters in 21 tankobon volumes.

After working on a one-shot manga series titled F-Ken, Matsui’s The Elusive Samurai serialization on Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine started on January 25, 2021. As of January 4, 2023, the chapters have been collected into nine tankobon volumes, and 23 chapters are yet to be published in tankobon format.

MangaPlus and Viz Media have licensed the series for English release and are simultaneously releasing new chapters in digital formats worldwide on their official websites and apps.

Here’s how Viz Media describes the plot of The Elusive Samurai:

After the massacre of his family by the traitor Ashikaga Takauji, Tokiyuki flees with the help of a handful of loyal retainers who have also survived the purge. One of them is Suwa Yorishige, an ally of the Hojo clan and lord of Suwa Province.

It further continues:

The slightly odd Yorishige also claims to be clairvoyant and foretells that Tokiyuki will one day become the ruler of Japan. But for the moment, escaping from enemy territory is the priority!

Yuta Yamazaki, who directed Wonder Egg Priority and provided key animations for many renowned series, including Chainsaw Man, My Dress-up Darling, and Laid-Back Camp, will be directing The Elusive Samurai. Studio Cloverworks, the production house behind Bocchi the Rock!, Spy x Family, and Horimiya will be animating the series.

Yasushi Nishiya, who provided key animations for Blue Exorcist and several Pokemon films, will be responsible for the character designs. Yoriko Tomita, the renowned scriptwriter who penned Fire Force and Ace Attorney scripts, will oversee the screenplay of the series.

Additional details, including the voice actors, cast, and theme songs, will be revealed on AnimeJapan 2023 on March 26, 2023, which will be streamed live on Aniplex’s official YouTube channel.