Kyoto Manga and Anime Fair is this weekend, and I got tickets for the Nige Jouze no Wakagimi stage event this afternoon. Seiyuu for Tokiyuki, Shizuku, and Mima were there. Trying to follow these things in Japanese at my level is always interesting, but I enjoy them just the same. It’s interesting timing what with the season almost ending, and my podcast co-host at least is convinced it’s the last one. The Blu-ray release is starting soon though, and they were also touting a new Tokiyuki-themed escape room event going on tour. If any series ever made sense for an escape game it’s certainly The Elusive Samurai.
I sure hope he’s wrong, because this adaptation just continues to impress. Everything it does has more style and more cleverness than it needs to have to be “good enough”. You learn to be satisfied with good enough adaptations of manga you love, because experience tells us it could always be so much worse. But boy, when you get one like this it really reminds you of what you’re missing with those others. It’s not about budget – though that’s clearly modestly decent – it’s about a staff that obviously cares and has the talent for that to matter.
The third act of this season has been a series of milestone events, and Tokiyuki’s encounter with Ashikaga Takauji certainly qualifies. One could say the series has been building up to this reunion from the start – certainly the Young Lord has in his own mind. He has plenty of reasons to hate Takauji, but his impulse is not to hate, but to ask him “Why?”. Why he betrayed the Houjou and destroyed Kamakura (though Nitta did most of the actual destroying). He remembers the usurper’s kindness and charm, and only saw his cruelty by effect. But Tokiyuki has grown enough to accept Fubuki’s assertion that this is a chance that cannot be passed by.
Though Tokiyuki tells his uncle that Yorishige foresaw his assassination of the Emperor failing, Yasuie asserts that the man can be wrong sometimes and that the plan will go ahead. Two assassination attempts at two parties at two villas – the Saionji (which the Ashikaga would later buy and build Kinkakuji on) and the Kusunoki. Succeed or fail, the idea is to throw Kyoto into chaos. Mima has foreseen something is going to go down – she has some of the sight too, of course.
As always with Matsui, you have the strange dichotomy between very serious events and his signature absurdist tone. I don’t know how he pulls it off, but that’s why he’s never had a flop – he’s damn good. The assassination attempt at Saionji’s place is over before it starts – because Kinmune’s younger half-brother Kinshige ratted him out to the Imperial forces. Yasuie urges Kinmune to escape with him but the proud old money noble declines, asserting that he’ll pay off his lost bet rather than be hidden by “savages”.
The real action is at Kusunoki Morishige’s place – or rather, just outside it. Incidentally, there’s a fascinating connection between this season’s two brilliant 14th Century shows, more than just the Ashikaga name. Some historians believe Kusunoki Morishige was Kan’ami’s uncle – and thus Oniyasha’a great uncle. There’s some disagreement about this but it is a credible theory. Takauji is headed to the Kusunoki villa of course, and Genba – posing as Morishige – intercepts his party outside and lures Takauji’s entourage away on the pretext of having them tie their horses off-site because too many guests have arrived.
All this is a good reminder that in the end, the Elusives for all their acumen are still a bunch of kids. Even Fubuki. Takauji is way more than they can handle – they’ve badly underestimated him. He was on to them from the start, and quickly picks out Tokiyuki as the leader. Tokiyuki gets his chance to speak with Takauji after all, but it’s a nightmare beyond anything the boy could have imagined. Not because Takauji acts like a sociopath – he’s very pleasant, and that just makes it worse. He shows understanding for why Tokiyuki probably hates him, and urges him to embrace his life. He even offers to make him a page.
This is the ultimate indignity for Tokiyuki, who’s still a Houjou and proud when it comes to it. For all the awe and even affection in his memories of Takauji, the man doesn’t even recognize his face. He claims to have no idea why Kamakura had to be destroyed. Tokiyuki’s entire life is less than nothing to this man, and the rage this fills him with does him no good at all against him. All he can do is flee, which he is good at – but Takauji is faster on a horse and there’s nowhere to hide. It’s only a timely “accidental” intervention by Morishige that allows the boys to escape.
Ashikaga’s deputies Moronao and Moroyasu suspect Kusunoki immediately, and they’re right to – but wrong in thinking he planned the whole thing. Kusunoki was doing his fellow escape artist a favor, suspecting he’d overheard the plans for the evening. He makes it clear that this was a one-time deal but cements himself as one of the most fascinating wild cards in the cast. The Elusives head back to Shinano, reuniting with Yasuie along the way. And Yorishige makes it clear that for better or worse, the war – Tokiyuki’s war – is about to begin. And his encounter with his enemy and tormentor has instilled a warrior spirit in Tokiyuki that he’ll need every ounce of to survive the road ahead.
