The 16th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump published a major announcement from Yumasa Matsui’s “The Elusive Samurai”, indicating that the series will be getting an anime adaptation. A trailer and key visuals for the upcoming anime have also been revealed. During AnimeJapan, a stage presentation of the series was held at Aniplex’s booth, featuring the main cast of the series.
Newcomer Yukikazu Asaki will voice Hojo Tokiyuki, and Yuichi Nakamura (Gojo Satoru from Jujitsu Battle, Gray from Fairy Tail) will reprise the voice of Suwayose. Animations by CloverWorks (Spy x Family, Bocchi The Rock! The Promised Neverland).
Yamazaki Yuta (Love Fan, Magic Egg priority) is responsible for the animation director, and has served as the director of “Pokmon : Our Power” and “Pokmon : I Choose You!” Characters are being designed.
The elusive samurai manga was created by Hiromasa Matsui. He also created the hugely popular comic series Assassination Classroom. Yusei Matsui featured “The Elusive Samurai” in Weekly Shonen Jump in January 2021. All chapters of the manga are translated by Viz Media and MANGA Plus. At the seventh Next Manga Awards in 2021, The Haunted Samurai was nominated in the Best Print Comics category. The series finished an impressive sixth.
Yumasa Matsui’s Assassination Classroom began serialization in July 2012 and continued until March 2016, with sales exceeding 25 million copies, making it one of the most popular manga series. An anime adaptation of the popular manga began airing in January 2015. It ran for 47 episodes, as well as two live-action adaptations and three video game titles. The series also received a spin-off titled Koro Sensei Quest. It was written by Kizuku Watanabe and illustrated by Jo Aoto. The spin-offs have inspired webtoon series and anime movies.
The elusive samurai is set between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. The story follows a young boy, Hojo Tokiyuki, who is forced to flee after his family is overthrown by Koji Ashikaga. Due to this situation, Hojo Tokiyuki is left with only a shadowy priest and his followers as his allies. Hojo Tokiyuki’s motive is revenge and reclaiming his glory. Hojo Tokiyuki’s superhuman ability to escape and hide also proves to be of great help in his endeavours.