The Summer 2026 Anime Preview Guide

The Elusive Samurai Season 2

In the year 1333, the Kamakura shogunate government comes crumbling down. A trusted vassal, Ashikaga Takauji, betrays the shogunate and organizes a rebellion. Hojo Tokiyuki, the rightful heir, escapes the massacre with a Shinto priest named Suwa Yorisige to Kamakura. On the run and fighting to stay alive, Tokiyuki sets in motion his plan to reclaim his birthright.

The Elusive Samurai Season 2 is based on the manga series by Yūsei Matsui. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on DAY.

The Elusive Samurai is an elusive creature indeed: a Shonen Jump series that not only did I not quit after the first season, but actively looked forward to the new episodes! That's right, I didn't start up the new season thinking, “Might as well.” I was thinking, “Yay, I've missed these characters!” Imagine my surprise when instead of Tokiyuki and his band of elusive warriors, the episode opened up on a living, breathing woman in a kimono, who briefly described the basic plot of the show.

This was just one of a number of surprising creative decisions sprinkled throughout the episode. The Elusive Samurai has had excellent direction since the very beginning, but they've really stepped it up this time. Not only was the introduction a surprising and intriguing way to get things rolling, but one of the unexpected shifts, which I shan't spoil, genuinely made me jump. It's wonderful to have a mainstream shonen action series that doesn't treat the manga like a storyboard and bold directorial choices. Of course, it's not all gimmicks– the traditionally animated sequences of the episode are boldly colorful and fluid, switching between shockingly brutal violence, sentimentality, and gags that got the biggest belly laughs of the season for me.

This week's installment breaks down into two segments, both designed to ease viewers back in. In the first half, the elusive warriors decide to get Tokiyuki some fresh sea bream, despite Suwa territory being too far from the coast to transport fish before it spoils. It's sweet and silly, a perfect reintroduction to these goofy kids and their quirks. It also highlights the emotional thrust of the show: Tokiyuki is still a young child who survived his entire family being slaughtered and his life being upturned a year ago, and desperately misses them.

The latter half sets up the villains these kids will face and the evolving political system. There are a lot of names getting thrown around that I suppose a Japanese audience may have more familiarity with, but I had a hard time keeping up with. But it was still easy enough to keep up with the broad strokes, especially since in the grand shonen tradition, everyone has a gimmick. And I certainly didn't forget Takauji Ashikaga, because who could? His threatening aura permeates every scene he's in, and he lies at the heart of some of the episode's most unforgettable moments.

This season is overstuffed, and historical fiction is a well-represented genre within it. Still, don't let The Elusive Samurai get away from you.

Somehow, this first episode of the second season of The Elusive Samurai reminded me of bonkers 1990s horror OVA Genocyber. This is not a reference I expected to make today. Genocyber was the first anime I ever watched that featured a mixed-media aesthetic. You know, with disturbing live action shots to “enhance” some of the gore. In amongst all of its goofy shenanigans, The Elusive Samurai can be extremely violent, such as in this episode's second half where the blood spews freely, and a thirteen-year-old child runs through at least a couple of guys with his sword.

But back to the mixed-media aspect, we open with a dramatic oratory in live action, as a woman (sorry, I don't know who she is, perhaps she's a famous actress?) narrates the potted history of the series so far. It's a very odd way to start a new season, but I'm all for a bit of creativity in my anime, even if it isn't… animated.

Even stranger yet is the sudden jump-scare towards the end when main antagonist Ashikaga Takauji suddenly transmogrifies into this horrifyingly monstrous… thing... that I can't make up my mind was achieved with puppetry or prosthetics. Then we see his entire back is covered in deeply unsettling live-action eyes. I did not expect pure unfiltered nightmare fuel from this (admittedly tonally incongruous) comedy/historical samurai anime.

At least the first half is jolly and entertaining, you know, before the decapitations, stabbings and bloodletting lets loose. Protagonist Toriyuki pines for his former home in Kamakura by the sea, wistfully reminiscing about his favorite meal, sea bream sashimi. Unfortunately, up in the mountains where he and his retinue are currently hiding is too far for fresh fish to be realistically transported without spoiling. This is, of course, set in the days before modern refrigeration technology.

Toriyuki's youthful retainers are nothing if not resourceful, energetic, and terrifyingly devoted. Their madcap dash to the sea and back to retrieve said fish is hilariously over-the-top, with them eventually returning bedraggled, torn to bits, and in one case, producing projectile rainbow-vomit. At least Toriyuki gets to enjoy his sashimi, because considering the conglomeration of enemies (one of whom wields a surfboard-as-scabbard) converging on his destiny, the good times may not last much longer.

Honestly, I wasn't a massive fan of the first season, but the show was bizarre enough that it kept me vaguely intrigued enough to keep watching, if only to see how far the tonal disconnect between silly slice-of-life comedy and brutal violence could be pushed. This episode's mix of excellent traditional animation combined with unhinged use of mixed media is probably enough to keep me engaged for now. I shudder to think what the rest of the season has to offer. A crossover with Thunderbolt Fantasy perhaps?

The Elusive Samurai is back, and I'm happy to report that its specific brand of historical fiction remains as unhinged as ever. It's first season did a lot to help the show carve out an identity for itself both in terms of its comedically violent take on Japanese history in depicting the Hojo Clan's fall from power, and its eye-wateringly gorgeous visual presentation, which sought to elevate everything from the action scenes to the gags. In fact, it was such a strong showing that one of my first fears going into this new season was whether or not the anime staff would be able to live up to the bar they set for themselves. After watching this premiere though, not only can I say those fears are ungrounded, but it actually looks as though the team is doing everything in their power to surpass their work on the first season.

Starting out the episode with a live action recap of the events so far, was pretty unexpected to say the least, but it sure got my attention, and it really helped to set the bar of just how creative the team was willing to get with its presentation. Transitioning from that to an extended gag about the Elusive Warriors going on an expedition to get Tokiyuki some sea bream was just as wild, but any tonal whiplash that could induce was more than made up for by how well animated the sequence was, and given how often the fight scenes tend to take top priority when it comes to how Shonen Jump action titles tend to roll out their anime productions, seeing so much detail poured into a montage that borders on being a Looney Tunes skit is a breath of fresh air that also does a lot to demonstrate just how much fun the animators are having here.

That same level of fidelity also extends to the introduction of some of this season's new villains, though even when The Elusive Samurai is opting to be more serious, it never fails to find a way to be goofy. Meeting Takauji's charismatic brother Tadayoshi whose capable of putting on the air of a political figure in a way Takauji can't seems like he should be a commanding presence but any expert management skills he shows off here are also interspersed with scenes like him meeting with a bunch of officials while enemy arrows are raining down just a few feet in front of him, so he can only be taken but so seriously. The same extends to his vassals which include a guy with a horse mask, and one who uses a surfboard as a sheath for his giant sword that looks like it was ripped straight out of Bleach, with the fact that these two were recruited specifically to appeal to the populace with young warriors to idolize all the funnier. These depictions might come off as more than a little crude given that these are real historical figures that we're dealing with here, but that's just part of what makes this show weirdly charming, and it makes the moments where it does stop to actually be a serious historical drama all the more effective. Even with how well the first season managed to showcase how terrifying Takauji can be under his perpetual smile, the live action shot of him as a demonic abomination, really drove that home, and knowing that these kind of mixed media jump scares could be lying in wait for future episodes just has me all the more excited for what the anime staff could up next. Even with how much Jujutsu Kaisen's latest season has raised the bar (for better or worse) when it comes to what to expect out of Shonen Jump adaptations, The Elusive Samurai is really giving it a run for its money both in terms of its action scenes and its visual humor, so if the team can keep this level of quality going, there's zero doubt this new season will be one of summer's biggest highlights

The downside of having had to wait a whole two years for this next season of The Elusive Samurai is that I only just barely remember everything that happened back in Season 1. Thankfully, CloverWorks prepared a convenient (and probably pretty cost effective) live-action segment to kickstart this premiere with a handy recap. I don't think a sixty-second summary of the first twelve episodes of the show is going to be an effective replacement for anyone who tries to go into The Elusive Samurai Season 2 blind, but it is good enough for government work, as they say. We've got the gist, anyways: Tokiyuki is the titular Elusive Samurai on a mission to get his revenge on Takauiji Ashikaga and restore the Hojo name to its honorable place in the hierarchy of the Kenmu era. He's made some friends, beaten some enemies, and learned that he is really, really good at running away from things.

As befitting such a belated return, this episode goes light on the action to spend some time reacquainting us with all of the characters and their goals. Tokiyuki is, as always, determined to return home to Kamaura, and his friends go on a rampage looking for the delicious sea bream that can at least remind their dear master of the good old days. If you've somehow never seen the series up to this point, you may be surprised at the wanton destruction and violence that this mob of children must inflict upon Japan to make Tokiyuki's dream a reality. If you're a returning fan at all, then you will delighted to find that our crazed band of underaged warriors haven't lost a step.

The production from CloverWorks is just a gorgeous as ever, and the crew might have even cranked the “Zany Antics” Dial up another notch compared to last season. The result is a colorful, entertaining, and even emotional return to form for The Elusive Samurai. Even the villains of the series get to coast on their goofball charm, which almost makes you forget how capable and often eager they are at slaughtering innocents by the dozens in their pursuit of power.

The Elusive Samurai was one of my favorite series back in the long-ago times of 2024, and I am very glad to see Tokiyuki and Co. make their triumphant return to the stage. If you never checked out Season 1, go and rectify that mistake right now, so you can be all caught up in time for these new adventures this summer.