We all have our own special skills. Some of us are excellent fighters, others are impressive bakers or dancers. Hojo Tokiyuki's talent? He's awesome at running away. If that sounds like a weird premise for a historical samurai manga, well, you're not wrong, but The Elusive Samurai is also brought to us by Yusei Matsui, the creator of Assassination Classroom, and that gives us reason to believe that the story's going to try to do something special and interesting with its premise. While that hasn't fully materialized in these two volumes, the plot's still engaging enough that it's likely to be worth powering through until Matsui gets his feet fully under him and the story really takes off.

It's understandable that things may take a little while to get going when you consider the source material. Matsui has essentially taken a footnote from history and is fleshing him out into a full character. In history, Hojo Tokiyuki was the son and heir of the last Kamakura shogun, Hojo Takatoki. His family was ousted from power in 1333, and the eight-year-old Tokiyuki fled to Shinano Province. He later raised an army and fought back against the Ashikaga brothers before asking for a pardon from Emperor Go-Daigo and entering his service. He was beheaded in 1353 and the Yokai family are thought to be his descendants. While a bit more is known about Tokiyuki, there's much less historical information about him than some others of the period, so Matsui is taking relatively few facts and turning them into his own story about the end of the Kamakura period and Tokiyuki himself. (Hopefully his version of events will end differently for our hero.) But the wonderful thing about using such a relatively unknown figure is that it gives Matsui the space to play.

These first two volumes start with the fall of Tokiyuki's father when the shogun is attacked by Ashikaga Takauji. The sole survivor of the shogun's immediate family, Tokiyuki is taken in by Suwa Yorishige and brought to Shinano Province, where Suwa intends to help him build a following to get revenge on Ashikaga. The catch? Suwa is a combination priest/embodied god/prophet, and he gets weird flashes of the future, making him pretty darn close to being unreliable and just plain odd. His goal is to use Tokiyuki's amazing powers of running away and hiding in his favor, and if you know anything about the cultural implications of running away in Japanese historical warfare, that just makes it even more bizarre. But Tokiyuki, Suwa realizes, is strongest when he's moving away from the fight, and that's something he wants the boy to use to his advantage.

Historical setting aside, at this point the story is fairly typical shounen action drama. Most of the humor is provided by Suwa's sheer over-the-topness, while Tokiyuki is more or less a regular kid who excels at tag and hide and seek. His assembled crew thus far consist of Suwa's miko daughter, a big strong girl, and a boy warrior, with a thief joining the gang in volume two as the de facto ninja. The real hook, however, is the insertion of the supernatural into the story; while Suwa's clearly got some mystical powers, the villains of the piece all seem to have inhuman aspects, and whether they solicited help from otherworldly sources or became the villains because they have demonic powers isn't yet clear. More interestingly, Ashikaga doesn't necessarily have demonic imagery, but it's still clear that there's something off about him than just a simple lust for power. In Tokiyuki's memories of him, Ashikaga is a kindly figure, so to have him so suddenly betray his family is something that Tokiyuki struggles to accept, even as he realizes that he has to.

It's very clear that Matsui has done his research and is deeply invested in the history he's writing about. Along with text boxes letting us know who some of the characters are and how they've gone down in history, he's also gotten a historian to write more in-depth historical notes in extensive appendices to both volumes. (Apparently the notes also appeared after each chapter in the original serialization.) They're written in language that works for the intended middle-grade audience as well, and they cover a lot of ground for a period that doesn't necessarily get quite as much attention as some others of Japanese history – although both notes and manga throw out a few references to The Heike Story, which should make some readers very happy.

Matsui's art for this series looks more stylized than in Assassination Classroom, with lots of intricate details on period clothing and backgrounds. Horses are not his artistic strong suit, but overall the pages look good, if a little crowded at times. The color art is particularly beautiful, and it's a shame we only get the covers to look at; hopefully an artbook will appear at some point in the future. It's also worth mentioning that the English translation is quite good – there's a sense that this must have been a beast to translate and adapt for English-language audiences, and the balance between old-fashioned and contemporary (but not slangy) language is very well done.

The Elusive Samurai is hard to write about in its first two volumes. It's clear that the story is walking a fine line between known history and wished-for adaptation, and the plot is relatively slow-moving despite a lot happening. But it's a deeply interesting start, and even if it's not quite worth rushing out to buy each new volume, it's definitely worth reading to see where things go.

Really cool that the author took a sliver of a sliver of history and is making a series out of it. the art makes the kids look really young, the characters are way overpowered already, and the demonic and god-touched illustrations are way over the top, but so far it is a rollicking story.

A fun introduction to a new manga series; a non-typical hero in an interesting historical period with some fun adventures. We will be purchasing this for our collection.

A graphic novel that shows the struggle of inheriting a position, struggling to gain control and surviving the enemy. The artwork is great, the story is clearly introduced here and leaves the reader wanting to grab for the next one.

Coming from the creator is Assassination Classroom, I was prepared for this to get a little weird. Luckily (or unluckily for our protagonist), the seriousness of the fall of Kamakura and the task at hand for Tokiyuki settle out the over the top dramatics and odd art choices. I'm not sure if I'm quite sold on this series yet, but I'm interested enough to pick up volume 2.

I do appreciate the historical notes in the back of the book for readers unfamiliar with the Heian period (or Japanese history in general).

I enjoyed this one, but the flow of the story does seem a little off to me, kinda choppy. It might be the amount of set-up, which is understandable in the first volume of a series, so I'm not all that upset about it. We're still getting to know the characters; Hojo Tokiyuki and Suwa Yorishige, the two main characters, get the most treatment (Yorishige is delightfully odd, and for good reason), but the rest of the characters haven't been fleshed out that much yet. There is some violence, it does get a bit bloody, and two beheadings happen (not *exactly* shown, but we do see severed heads). It did seem appropriate to the story to me, and wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but be warned, it's there. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story (and appreciated the author's historical notes at the back), and I liked that there's a touch of otherworldliness running through it, just enough for flavor, y'know? The story is a good one, even if it starts off a little bumpy, and I'm curious to see how this heroic tale progresses!

#TheElusiveSamuraiVol1 #NetGalley

I could not finish this title. It was not interesting to me. Something about a young prince wanting to go to war just didn't appeal.

When his family is slaughter, Hojo Tokiyuki does what he does best - he runs away! He has a very strange lord who insists that he will rule who has remained loyal and a few retainers that work on helping him escape Ashikaga Takauji who has conspired with the Emperor to take down the Hojo family and the Kamakura shogunate. This first volume provides the set for the life that Tokiyuki will lead if he is to become the hero of Japan. It also has a nice ending that leads into the next adventure! An interesting historical manga!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!

I typically love these classic style historical manga, but wow this one just did not hit for me. The art was really off putting even though it was probably aiming for comedic and everyone seems a bit generic. 2/5 for me

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This story blends history with fantasy and action. We follow Hojo Tokiyuki whose whole family was slaughtered (or committed suicide) during a violent overthrow of his clan. Young Tokiyuki then sets out to get his revenge, but he knows he'll need to survive and gather allies and experience in order to do so. This is a off to a solid start and fans of Japanese history should enjoy this work (it's also full of action and fantastical elements - so it's also a great choice for fans of those genres as well).

A nice historical fiction manga. I think I learned more about samurai from this than I have anywhere else? Very good for anyone interested in that era.

I tend to read more shojo rather than shonen manga, so this was slightly out of my usual reading zone. I am glad that I read it. Maybe I needed more action and adventure in my reading, because this really hit the spot for me!

One reviewer mentioned that it was more violent than they expected and I am glad that I had that warning, as I was prepared, so it didn't seem that bad. Also, the violence, while horrible, fit the storyline, it wasn't violence for violence's sake. It had a purpose, even if it wasn't a pleasant or happy one.

Warning: beheadings, including of a child/sibling. It was incredibly horrible and sad.

I feel for the poor MC H going through everything that has happened and so want a HEA for him, well, as happy as he can have after having his entire family and followers slaughtered. 4, I want to read the next volumes to find out what happens and he BETTER have a HEA, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I really, really wanted to like this, especially given how enjoyable Assassination Classroom was. And really, that's the thing about shonen - sometimes a slow start leads to a gripping story. I hope that's the case here. This series is good for anyone into Japanese history, as it explores actual historical characters. I'm sure those people will be pulled in far more quickly than me.

This graphic novel is the first time I read a historical fiction manga. It was awesome; however, it was a little violent and graphic. Due to the violence and blood, I won't be able to use it in my classroom. I would love to have another historical manga in my collection though. This manga is based on Hojo Tokiyuki from Japan in 1333. His is known as the elusive samurai, but in order to become the hero he is destined to be, he has to lose everything.

I liked the very subtle details in this manga and I loved the history that unfolds within these pages.

What I loved most:
The priest who thinks he's a god (and that he glows).
The trio of retainers that are loyal to Tokiyuki.

The Elusive Samurai Volume One is set in war-torn medieval Japan and was created by the mangaka that created Assassination Classroom.

The Elusive Samurai Volume One
Written by: Yusei Matsui
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: July 5, 2022

The series focuses on Tokiyuki Hojo, the young heir of a samurai lord. He enjoyed playing hide-and-seek from his teachers, because he felt that since he would be a figurehead when he became the lord, that he didn’t really need to learn what they were teaching him. These games of hide-and-seek have made him a master of running away and hiding, and these skills become important after his clan is betrayed from within. As a surviving heir, Tokiyuki is being hunted by Takauji Ashikaga, the man who betrayed Tokiyuki’s family.

Tokiyuki is taken in by a Shinto priest named Yorishige Suwa. He’s an odd man who claims to be clairvoyant and foretells Tokiyuki’s future as the ruler of Japan. Three kids with Yorishige become Tokiyuki’s retainers, and Yorishige works at trying to make Tokiyuki stronger by encouraging his abilities of running and hiding. Even though Tokiyuki may only be eight years old, he seems to have a realistic attitude toward a lot of things, and is understandably not very quick to believe Yorishige’s clairvoyant visions. Tokiyuki may not necessarily be “book smart,” but he seems to have a lot of common sense for someone his age. This may be due, at least in part, to the environment that he’s growing up in.

For the most part, Volume One spends most of its time setting up the characters and their situations, although we already see the beginnings of character development for Tokiyuki by the end of the volume. To be honest, since this is a work of historical fiction, it makes sense that a lot of time has to be spent establishing not just the characters, but the world that the story is taking place in. Since the story isn’t taking place in the modern era and relies on historical figures, time needs to be spent trying to convey important information about these figures and the time period. Even saying that, though, the volume isn’t bogged down by these explanations. At the back of the volume, there are several pages that go into more depth about the concepts and people that appear in the series. Apparently, these pages were translated from material that appeared in five issues of Weekly Shonen Jump. I appreciated having these pages included at the back of Volume One, because it gave me a greater understanding of what I had just read.

When I saw that The Elusive Samurai was by the same mangaka as Assassination Classroom, that really piqued my interest for this title because I really enjoyed Assassination Classroom. From the tone of the series and the writing, I could tell it was by the same author. The Elusive Samurai contains the same type of mixture of drama and comedy that Assassination Classroom became known for.

Regarding the art style, I can see a handful of facial designs that made me think of characters from Assassination Classroom, but quite a bit of the art had its own look. I was glad to see that the character designs and art style weren’t simply recycled from Matsui’s previous hit manga. But then again, with this being a historical fiction piece, Matsui had to make sure that the characters and the look and feel of the manga fit in with the time period that he’s depicting, so it makes sense that there’s notable differences in art styles between this and Assassination Classroom.

After I finished reading The Elusive Samurai Volume One, I saw a lot of promise for the series, and I hope to have a chance to read subsequent volumes in the future. If you read and enjoyed the vibe of Assassination Classroom and have an appreciation for historical fiction, then you might enjoy reading this series. I also think that manga readers who enjoy historical fiction might also find enjoyment in The Elusive Samurai.

I’m not going to lie, this series has big Heroic Legend of Arslan energy, what with the Prince setting out to get back his kingdom along with his allies and all the politics etc.

The art is well drawn, with evil characters being depicted as slightly disturbing, and the artist doesn’t shy away from showing the more brutal scenes and consequences of war.

I’m not really that attached to the characters just yet although I think I’m going to like the Elusive Warrior’s group as they seem to mesh quite well and I do find the God quite funny!

There’s a lot of action in this volume and I feel it’s a good start to the series, laying the groundwork for what needs to happen and the end of the volume giving our MC his first mission/goal.

It is pretty brutal and I expect it to be throughout but it’s definitely intriguing me and I like the historical notes at the end because I was wondering how much was factual!

Elusive Samurai is a breath of fresh air for someone who generally doesn’t enjoy shounen. It takes typical motifs such as friendship and tragic backstories and either spins it with apt setup (the former) or dials it to bloody extremes (the latter). With regards to the aforementioned, the former involves main character - Tokiyuki Hojo - acquiring retainers (loyal fighters) that warm up and become his family after - and this is where the latter point comes - his whole entire clan is slaughtered; father, half-brother, fiancé, citizens all brutally decimated in gruesome detail. This is only a taste of what’s to come.

Not only that the lines here are absolutely beautiful as they capture the premise and buildup of the manga:
- “For the boy to become a hero he had to lose everything.”
- “Becoming a hero, begins with sharpening one’s teeth on a god.”

There are still shounen elements typical in this work: Hojo is a likeable protagonist who has to learn to become the hero through his “friends;” Ashikaga Takauji is a cunning villain that seeks domination; gags that involve exaggerated faces and genre parody (there is a minute Dragon Ball Z reference); a ‘villain-of-the-week’-esque formula. This is still set-up and it provides enough familiar territory with good refreshing development that can reach a wide audience - shounen fans (especially those of Assassination Classroom) and shounen cynics such as myself.

Yusei Matsui demonstrates his fondness, passion, and understanding of the Shounen genre in refreshing avenues. Please don’t miss out.

The art is absolutely amazing, but fans of Assassination Classroom might be a little lost trying to find Yusei Matsui's style in this one. Tokiyuki is elusive like Koro-sensei, but that's where the similarities stop. This is a historical tale, slightly based on Japanese legend, about a little shogunate heir who has almost super-human speed in evading attacks on his person. This was entertaining but focused slightly too much on introducing people and settings instead of driving the plot.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 8-12

I’m really disappointed in this one. It has a great plot that I got quickly invested in and a likable main character. The problem is that the humor pretty much ruins the story for me. First of all it shows up right when something dramatic and emotional happens which gives readers mood whiplash. Secondly, most of it comes from this priest character who comes off less as comedy relief and more as a creepy child groomer. It’s a pity because this has the potential to be a really great story otherwise.

Loosely based (and I mean that) on the life of Hojo Tokiyuki, a samurai during the Kamakura period in Japan. Hojo is well-known for dodging trouble and shirking responsibilities. Set in 1333, the year the shogunate is overthrown, Hojo just barely escapes with his life. His father committed suicide and the rest of his family was brutally murdered while Hojo is saved by the monk Yorishige. Supported by a small rag tag group of fighters, Hojo is tasked with seeking vengeance for his family and restoring the shogunate. Yorishige tells Hojo that his elusiveness and ability to avoid danger is actually a strength. That Hojo can use his strange power to right the wrongs and save his people.
Created by the manga artists responsible for Assassination Classroom, The Elusive Samurai carries a lot of the same quirky humor, but the violence and bloodshed has definitely stepped up several notches. At first I wasn't sure about this graphic novel, but it has peaked my interest by the last chapter. This is a fairly unique twist on a historical figure.