Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi (The Elusive Samurai)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Nigewaka

Japanese: 逃げ上手の若君

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Jan 25, 2021 to ?

Genres: Adventure, Award Winning, Comedy

Themes: Historical, Samurai

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Authors: Matsui, Yuusei (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 6.64¹ (scored by 3,928 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #15422²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1522

Members: 15,100

Favorites: 77

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6.64

Ranked #15422Popularity #1522Members 15,100

MangaShounen Jump (Weekly)Matsui, Yuusei (Story & Art)

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The Elusive Samurai

Vol. 1
$6.99

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Synopsis

Eight-year-old Tokiyuki Houjou, the next successor of the Kamakura shogunate, is a young boy lacking talent in everything besides hide-and-seek. One day, his carefree life is abruptly turned upside down when Takauji Ashikaga brutally seizes power from the Kamakuras, ending their reign. Rescued by a self-proclaimed prophetic priest, Tokiyuki manages to escape with his life. Now he must evade those trying to kill him while recruiting comrades who can help him restore the Kamakura Shogunate to its former glory.

Set during the Nanboku-chou period of Japanese history, Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi is a tale of redemption, documenting the life of the forgotten hero that altered Japan's destiny by running away.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi won the 69th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2024.

The series has been simulpub digitally in English as The Elusive Samurai through MANGA Plus. The volumes have been published in English by VIZ Media under the Shonen Jump imprint since July 5, 2022. It has also been released in Italian by Panini Comics since October 27, 2022.

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More characters
Characters

Houjou, Tokiyuki

Main

Suwa, Yorishige

Main

Fubuki

Supporting

Shizuku

Supporting

Mochizuki, Ayako

Supporting

Nezu, Kojirou

Supporting

Kazama, Genba

Supporting

Ogasawara, Sadamune

Supporting

Ashikaga, Takauji

Supporting

Ashikaga, Tadayoshi

Supporting

Reviews

Jun 29, 2024

Yunjynuy

Recommended

Preliminary (104/? eps)

TL/DR : Elusive samurai is def not the bestest of the best but I think it’s a fun read🤤 there are moments that give me whiplash especially in the first chapter 😭 but the story and characters are fun, it’s a good manga for reading causally and I really hope it’s received well when the anime comes and and I’m anticipating the anime!!!

Characters : 8.5
The characters kinda have a similar relationship like in assclass, but they’re pretty fun to read about. For the most part they are all like able and interesting esp Tokiyuki, Shizuku, Yorishige, and Fubuki. The villains are fun and esp the ...

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Aug 13, 2025

argy97

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (208/? eps)

Fun read, many many problems

--No Spoiler Plot Summary:
The series covers the events in japan between 1333 up until possibly 1353 in a history inspired (huge emphasis on inspired) retelling from the perspective of Tokiyuki Hojo the heir of the Hojo clan who get overthrown by Tokauji Ashikaga and goes into a journey alongside his friends to reclaim his lost throne

--Cast:
-Tokiyuki, he is naruto but a samurai
-Suwa Yorishige, future seeing mentor of the mc that has a gag of saying random things that happen in current times
-Group of Friends, they all have things going for them but not the neccessary screentime
-Ashikaga Tokauji, overpowered main villain that ...

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Mar 14, 2025

GathererOfPain

Not Recommended

Preliminary (90/? eps)

Story/Characters: The setup for this manga had promise, but ultimately it fails to deliver a compelling or enjoyable read and is marred by a number of problems. Assassination Classroom had some pacing issues, but the modern day classroom setting made it easier to jump between slice of life, comedy, short episodic stories, and plot-driven chapters. The Elusive Samurai, on the other hand, has incredibly poor pacing that is at odds with the weighty historical narrative it seeks to tell. Characterization is uneven and strange in a way that can seriously cut into the dramatic tension, and often it feels like it can’t decide if it ... wants to be a goofy, light-hearted samurai/ninja fantasy story or a historical drama. The plot also often feels like it’s trying to get to the next big plot point or battle or set piece as quickly as possible, and frequently does so at the expense of important events, information, nuance, and character building.

Art: While others have praised it, I found it to be uneven. At its best, it delivers dynamic scenes packed with details. The issue is that the artist does not use restraint with his digital drawing tools. There is no issue with drawing digitally – much of the manga industry has moved toward digital, which has many upsides that have led to a surge of world-class art in recent years. However, The Elusive Samurai is filled with ugly and overdone digital effects and sometimes packed with so much visual clutter that it draws attention away from the action. There are copious lens flare and smudging and tippling effects that look odd. When action lines are added, they are so overdone that they cram the panel with ugly lines covering all of the art just being it’s easy to add a new layer and a bunch of straight lines on a drawing tablet. When characters furrow their brow, instead of a wrinkle the artist draws a ton of black lines converging in a way that is difficult to understand how it even abstractly relates to the expression. Characters with black hair (such as the main character) have so many shiny white highlights (that are drawn with individual, extremely clean digital pen strokes that look weird and mechanical) that their black hair is dominated by white. It can sometimes look their hair is half made up of long, white strands rather than coming across as sheen. One of the other biggest issues with the art is the constant use of pattern effects for things like the clothing. These effects are clearly just applied as a layer over the drawing, so none of the folds or texture in the clothing have any effect on the pattern, which is almost always just a perfect digital pattern without any dimension, folds, angles, inconsistencies, etc. that would make it look real. In panels that show many characters from a wide shot, the artist applies patterns to almost all of the figures, giving it a horrible visual clutter that is unnecessary and makes crowded panels look terrible.

This manga has some genuinely good moments with thrilling action, interesting historical facts, and amusing comedy, but the poor pacing, uneven storytelling, shallow characterization, tone clash between grounded historical drama and completely detached goofy fantasy, and art that ranges from great to some of the worst eyesores I’ve seen from a well known artist make it very hard to recommend. However, people who don’t mind the art and are seeking a casual read with no expectations for deep storytelling may find something that they like in here.

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Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Chapter 197 Discussion Red_Ranger_Wien - Mar 30	4 replies	by EtherLux »» Dec 9, 8:30 PM
Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Chapter 230 Discussion MegamiRem - Dec 7	1 replies	by Nieznajomy43 »» Dec 7, 6:10 PM
Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Chapter 229 Discussion MegamiRem - Nov 30	2 replies	by Nieznajomy43 »» Dec 6, 7:19 PM
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Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Chapter 227 Discussion MegamiRem - Nov 16	1 replies	by Tamer2002 »» Nov 23, 10:47 PM

Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi
The Elusive Samurai
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Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi
The Elusive Samurai
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