逃げ上手の若君

THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
27
RELEASE
February 15, 2026
CHAPTERS
239

DESCRIPTION

Set in feudal Japan in between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, our hero Houjou Tokiyuki is a boy on the run that history all but forgot! When the Kamakura shogunate is overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji, Tokiyuki's family and standing are viciously taken away from him, and he must flee to the far reaches of the land to survive and seek out his revenge!

(Source: MANGA Plus)

Note: Includes the one-shot "The Elusive Samurai: PRESENT DAY"

CAST

Tokiyuki Houjou
Yorishige Suwa
Shizuku
Ayako Mochizuki
Genba Kazama
Kojirou Nezu
Fubuki
Takauji Ashikaga
Sadamune Ogasawara
Akiie Kitabatake
Kunitoki Houjou
Hikari
Moronao Kouno
Homare
Sakae
Tadayoshi Ashikaga
Takatoki Houjou
Muneshige Godaiin
Botan
Moriyoshi
Kiyoko Settsu
Nagoe Takaie
Chikaaki Settsu
Enki Nagasaki
Takasuke Nagasaki

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI

ANIME ActionThe Elusive Samurai

Cover Art for The Elusive Samurai Season 2

ANIME ActionThe Elusive Samurai Season 2

Cover Art for The Elusive Samurai: PRESENT DAY

ONE SHOT Slice of LifeThe Elusive Samurai: PRESENT DAY

REVIEWS

wasabiest
97/100
A story about a boy who wanted to flee.
For the record, The Elusive Samurai Manga spoilers ahead, and Ashita no Joe spoilers ahead.

This manga changed my opinion on story-telling to a great degree. At first, I believed story-telling was always one thing. An overarching story with twists and turns and puzzles that you needed to figure out as you went along. Oh little did I know.

Now, in the words of a fellow Anilist user,

"I believe in stories and the salvific power of storytelling."

I'm not sure what inspired this change in me except, well, the entire manga. If one element of the manga was missing it wouldn't be the same. Don't get me wrong it would still be good but I don't think it would have impacted me as much.
The manga has pretty much everything,

It has a beautiful ending, which wraps around and encompasses Tokiyuki's entire journey, even detailing the most important, memorable three stages of his life. His childhood, when he met and witnessed the death of his eboshi-oya, his secondary father Yorishige Suwa. His life as a teenager, where he met and too witnessed the death of the man who was like a brother to him, Akiie Kitabatake. And when he was an adult, living a peaceful life with his wives.
I even found that there are many similarities between Ashita no Joe's ending and The Elusive Samurai's ending, they both have this one idea that I am, to be frank, completely obsessed with. A "burning soul", (Yes I took that line from Yugioh 5ds you have nothing on me.) this idea which is so common in the most beloved of characters, where in the words of Gintoki Sakata(from Gintama),

"If you've got time to fantasize about a beautiful death, why not live beautifully until the end?"

Many characters follow this philosophy, Gintoki Sakata, Yabuki Joe, Kyojuro Rengoku, Jack Atlas, J the Sun, and the main character of The Elusive Samurai, Tokiyuki Hojo himself.
This moral leads them to push themselves beyond, never being satisfied with what they currently have, either wanting to push themselves to be the greatest or push themselves to live the life they want to live most, or something else in the case of J the Sun.
Tokiyuki doesn't differ from this, originally his goal is to get revenge, to defeat Takauji and ask him why he fought the Hojo. But this changes. He starts changing early on, from around chapter 60, where he him and the crew attempt to assassinate Takauji. Takauji bests him and stares him in the face, telling him to live a happy life. And he had completely forgotten about who he was. And when Tokiyuki asks him his last question, "Why did you destroy the Hojo," he responds with.

"It just sort of happened."

Now what was he supposed to ask, half of his resolve was gone, he still had a chance to beat him as long as he could flee but his resolve was cut short. Anyway I'm going off on a tangent i forgot this was a review. Basically this is the catalyst for his character development, after this he tries to understand what his real goal is, it goes from pure revenge, to, after the death of Yorishige Suwa, longing for his lost love ones, to after the death of Akiie Kitabatake, the longing for family that he will guarantee are treasured and protected.

Tokiyuki is one of the few characters who fully encompasses the idea of someone who has a burning soul, he stays true to his morals even when times are tough, but isn't afraid to change them if he realizes they were wrong, its a character trait that I myself wish I had.

Then there's the shitty romance, the romance in this manga is... Well... Questionable.
From the beginning there are two girls that are pretty obviously going to end up in either a love triangle or polygamy, then a third is introduced, and then its pretty much guaranteed to be polygamy, its not exactly good romance, It's simple, quirky, and of course flawed. But I don't think it was all that bad, for example. Unlike there being no romantic development throughout the series, there was some sprinkled around, though I cant say the majority of it wasn't near the end(also Matsui-sensei really overuses blushing like jeez your my goat but that's a little too flushed.)

And there's the heart-wrenching part, the slow, burning knowledge that. This is based off a real story.

And in the real story.

Tokiyuki Hojo is publicly executed by the hands of Takauji Ashikaga in the year 1353, at the age of 24.

Yuusei Matsui is a cunning devil, although a merciful one at that, he gives you time to prepare by labeling every single chapter with a year. The year of which the story is going on, as the story progresses, you get closer and closer to 1353, and wonder how Yuusei Matsui will save him, or rather, if he will save him.

And he doesn't, but he gives you the best ending anyone could have ever wished for.
I will always respect Matsui-sensei for being able to make the most out of endings, he was going to make it so that Tokiyuki died by the hands of Takauji in the end, that was a given. But he made the ending so much better with the final sequence. It was Tokiyuki fleeing from his final burden, he ran from his responsibility to make things right with the people Takauji killed by beating him at his own game, and then he ran from the last thing he had left, life.

It has a beautiful ending, a bunch of great morals, shitty romance, longing for family, realizing what ones true desire is, amazing comedy and the pain of the knowledge that he will die.

And that isn't even all, there is so much I could rant about this, but lets be real I'm lazy, I'm not writing all that, so I'll just skim through it.

When Tokiyukis heart palpitation comes, it scares the shit out of you, you realize that, again, he will truly die. The beauty of his found family in war, extending not only to his allies, but to others on the opposite side he learnt much from, like Masahige, or Sadamune. Even Fubuki's rebirth(after his heart-wrenching death), for the sole purpose of dying again with his Lord.

I don't think this is a story about war, conquest, battle tactics, politics and other things.
I think it's a story about a boy who wanted to have fun.
A boy who wanted to flee.
A boy who wanted to cry out,

Demon come this way, to the clapping of my hands.

P.S. This was my first review, it was probably pretty bad, but forgive me, I love this manga too much to not rant about it.
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