The Elusive Samurai Season 2

Episode 8

I've been feeling a little down on The Elusive Samurai lately, but I have to admit that “Irreplaceable” picked my spirits right back up. Sure, the larger narrative still moves at a glacial pace, and I have no idea what the villains are even doing at this point, but my quibbles cannot change the fact that this is easily one of the best episodes of the whole season. On top of the excellent animation and razor-sharp direction, “Irreplaceable” gives us the best new addition to the cast in ages. Mima Sasaki is a scheming little crime-goblin with magic powers and a penchant for high-stakes gambling. She's perfect, and she must be protected at all costs.

Granted, you can't blame our heroes for taking a while to warm up to Mima, since they're introduced to her after she enlists a clan of seductresses to fleece Genba for all of those coins that he originally fleeced out of Yorishige. From the moment we see poor Genba sitting there with his mind and body broken by the combination of soul-crushing humiliation and mind-obliterating eroticism, I knew this was going to be one of those Silly Episodes that The Elusive Samurai has been so fond of as of late. Unlike last week's irritating adventures with Tokiyuki's freakazoid uncle, though, this episode is simply overflowing with charm and style, which makes the unrelenting goofiness go down much more smoothly. Mima makes for an excellent new frenemy right off the bat, with her arrogance and wit playing very well against quiet little Shizuku. I'd say that Mima's in-your-face flirtatiousness pushes right up against the borderline of good taste, what with all of these characters still being pre-teens and all; what makes Mima's whole basara shtick work so well is how it complements Shizuku's time in the spotlight.

It's been a hot minute since Shizuku got much to do in The Elusive Samurai, which is pretty funny when you consider that she's one of the only characters to have demonstrated tangible connections to the world of spirits and magic. You'd think that would have more applicable use on the battlefield, but here Shizuku gets the chance to flex her spiritual muscles while also making some shocking moves in her play for Tokiyuki's heart, and it's all thanks to that most blessed of institutions: illicit gambling between minors. It was already entertaining enough for the show to put so much effort into animating and directing the hell out of Mima and Shizuku's dice game, so I was really not expecting Shizuku's power move to just be “Make out with Tokiyuki for several unbroken minutes to distract the flustered bystanders and cheat like a son-of-a-bitch.” I didn't know you had it in you, girl.

The season has been a lot more forward with the romantic flourishes blossoming between Tokiyuki and his lady retainers, and now I guess we can move Mima to the love-polyhedron, which will only make the antics even more entertaining, I reckon. Tokiyuki's going to need all of the new allies he can obliviously seduce into his war-harem, too, since the enemy is making moves to ensure…well, to ensure something. As I said, I have no idea what the hell to make of Takauji spitting thick, chewing-tobacco loogies of concentrated demonic essence right into Koiyohara's mouth. It's absolutely disgusting, I can tell you that much, but so far as the practical implications of Takauji's vague evil magicks are concerned, we'll have to wait and see what new spore of madness our heroes have to throw down with in the future.

Episode Rating:

The Elusive Samurai Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.