REVIEW: ‘The Elusive Samurai’ Episode 4 — “Sadamune Appears!”

Ugly animation and crude, jarring close-ups greatly diminish the overall quality of The Elusive Samurai Episode 4. The opposing tones of the series have been one of its greatest, consistent hurdles, which remains in “Sadumune Appears” but with a different type of clashing aesthetics. In the first three episodes, the show struggles with the depth of the pain and suffering that Tokiyuki (Asaki Yuikawa) deals with against the most exaggerated, nonsensical humor the priest Yorishige (Yuichi Nakamura) brings. In Episode 4, The Elusive Samurai finds itself warring within art forms.

The artistry of the series has been its most vital asset in its first episodes. At its peak, The Elusive Samurai delivers some of the year’s best visuals, swinging between styles and methods. That elasticity of style and the way the art adapts to the tone and severity of the scene stands out as a true feat, but Episode 4 finds itself bending to the weight of too many shifts. Namely, the character Sadumune (Yutaka Aoyama)—one of Ashikaga Takauji’s (Katsuyuki Konishi) right-hand men—and a third-act CGI-reliant scene.

Sadamune, in particular, is a frustrating character, though a formidable villain. Repulsive and cruel, there’s no question as to why he’d be so thoroughly on Ashikaga’s team to overthrow the shogunate and restore the emperor’s full power. Known for his all-seeing eye, he’s tasked with finding any remaining members of the Hojo clan and eliminating them, leading them to Yorishige’s shrine. The animation team continues to showcase its fondness for the exaggerated facial expressions, though, in this case, hones in simply on Sadamune’s eye that stretches and bulges to the point of being nearly nauseating.

However, absurdly enough, this isn’t the most grotesque eye-related sequence of the episode. Early on, The Elusive Samurai Episode 4 shows its hand when a zoom-in sees Ashikaga’s watering eye, which blinks to be multiple eyes hovering and watching beneath the lid. The moment is suitably shocking, especially as it follows a mention that he’s seemed less and less human ever since the attack on the Hojo samurai. Is he being possessed? Or are the eyes simply an artistic flourish to demonstrate his descent into inhumanity as a result of his crimes? It’s an impactful moment, certainly, but it’s jarring.

And it’s just one of two scenes that rely on this kind of hyper-realistic effect, the other being a cut scene to a tick. Again, it’s effective but doesn’t transition well between scenes. Ending on a CGI confrontation between Sadamune and Tokiyuki, the episode is a rollercoaster of the kind of visuals we’ve come to expect, and this showdown is clumsier than would be expected. The range of expressions on Sadamune’s face is limited, and the flow of the scene is off-kilter due to the CGI that slows the movement of the horses down.

The Elusive Samurai Episode 4 isn’t a bust, though it comes close. The humor is a highlight this time—at least the character-based gags. The running joke that Tokiyuki is terrible in combat works in its favor, especially the physicality of Tokiyuki trying and failing to cut through straw. That, along with Yorishige’s assurance that he needs to stay weak to maintain his running away muscles, adds to the comedy of the moment, as we, along with Tokiyuki, wonder what he even means with that assessment. And, while he might lack physical strength, he’s a good shot, leading to his and Sadamune’s showdown in the back half.

Yorishige breaking the fourth wall works, too. The showdown occurs at a dog shooting competition, which is immediately repugnant. Using rubber-tipped arrows, they don’t kill the dogs, but the suggested scenario is grim. However, the series manages to beat us to the punch as Yorishige cowers in the corner, fearing his plan. He set this all up to let Tokiyuki learn from the best archer, Sadamune, without causing any doubt.

However, in his fourth-wall-breaking moment, he realizes that viewers in the future will see this as animal abuse even if it was ideally expected for the time period, worrying that he’s made a huge mistake. It’s a small beat that works because it speaks to viewers’ trepidation and pokes at the time period in its set. While an overreliance on that method could become tiring, the series uses it sparingly thus far.

The Elusive Samurai Episode 4 sets up a significant character-building moment for Tokiyuki in the closing moments, but the trek there is tedious. While there are standout moments, the episode lacks visual vigor and supplements itself with heavy-handed visuals and over-the-top comedy. It’s one definite miss in an overall strong series.

The Elusive Samurai Episode 4 is out now on Crunchyroll.