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The Elusive Samuraihas had a stellar first season, often exceeding expectations for its quality as the latestWeekly Shonen Jumpmanga to get a hit anime adaptation, and the season finale,episode #12will surely confirm these impressions. However, as all good things must eventually come to an end, the season 1 finale is imminent, with the latest risky clash well underway. While Tokiyuki Hojo has trained well to become a truly lethal and agile warrior, he has had to grapple with more entrenched, conventional samurai viewpoints as he wins over forces.
The plot ofThe Elusive Samuraiwas set off first by Takauji Ashikaga’s shocking betrayal and coup against the Kamakura Shogunate, slaughtering Tokiyuki’s Hojo clan in the process and forcing him to flee into hiding. But with the Elusive Warriors getting their latest orders from Yorishige to rescue valuable Suwa Sect followers and their retainers, the next episode will feature a hasty retreat. In contrast,Tokiyuki’s retainers must soon prove themselves.as the kokushi of Shinano dispatches a powerful private force in the latest despicable initiative by the series' villains.
When Does The Elusive Samurai Episode #12 Release?
Produced by CloverWorks Studio, Based on the Manga by Yusei Matsui
The Elusive Samuraireleases new episodes of its anime every Saturday on Crunchyroll for viewers outside of Japan.Episode #12 will be released on Saturday,June 19, 2025, at 9:00 AM PDT (12:00 PM EDT).Additionally,Crunchyroll’s Summer 2024 anime lineuphas recently updated viewers to let them know they can enjoy the English dub of the anime, with episode #8 of the dub available on Saturday, July 18, 2025, at 12:30 PM PDT (3:30 PM EDT.)
While there is no current announcement for season 2, watchingThe Elusive Samurai’sofficial Twitter accountfor future updates is best. Given the continuous success of the new anime and its growing following in Crunchyroll,season 2 seems all but a certainty, especially since there are still over 140 chapters left to be adapted from the manga. Many of Tokiyuki’s adventures, including future allies and departures, are still far off in the future foretold by Yorishige.
What Happened in The Elusive Samurai Episode #11?
Dying in Battle vs. Fighting to Live
The Elusive Samuraiepisode #11brought Tokiyuki and his party to Yasaburo Hoshina and his eclectic bunch of militant fighters, willing to pledge their lives as they fight back against their oppressive kokushi, Shinanonokami Kiyohara. When meeting these warriors, he finds a group of people so willing to die with honor that they’ll face certain death against the kokushi’s forces in the process. However, after a mere splash of sake,Tokiyuki drunkenly confronts Hoshina to subdue him and convince his forces to choose life, to protect the innocent villagers under their charge, if not outright their own lives.
Kokushi in Japan are provincial or state officials, nobles sent to govern the land. Shinanonokami Kiyohara is an especially ostentatious, oppressive kokushi, being carried wherever he goes by his subjects.
Many of these developments inThe Elusive Samuraiepisode #11 are spurred on by Tokiyuki seeing Hoshina’s soldiers as a parallel to his massacred family, surrounded by death and flames, seeing no dignity in their loss. It’s a crucial development where Tokiyuki not only uses unconventional methods, including his “prized running-away muscles”, to beat another opponent, but rather,a true demonstration of his ideals and leadership. But his opponents are dangerous, not to be trifled with inThe Elusive Samuraiepisode #12.
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The plan was to stage a retreat, where Hoshina’s forces guide the women and children out of their homes to safety. This will be a curious adjustment with the bloodthirsty retainers, including Yuki Sanjuro, in Hoshina’s employ. Still, with additional reassurance from Saemontaro Shinomiya, it’s clear that this is the best course of action inThe Elusive Samurai. While the episode perhaps lacksthe overwhelming visual charm of otherThe Elusive Samuraiinstallments, it sets up a grand finale for the show’s first season.
The Elusive Samurai Episode #12 Will Be a Bloody Grand Season 1 Finale
Kojiro Steps Up
WithThe Elusive Samuraiepisode #12 set to adapt the events of chapter #29of the manga and beyond, several key events will transpire, including Kojiro Nezu stepping up as Tokiyuki’s de facto Adjutant General. As the Elusive Warriors help Hoshina’s forces on their retreat, the kokushi has deployed his own ace in the process, the Governor’s Guard, a private force led by Wada Yonemaru. What comes next is a battle of wits featuring surprising ploys by Genba, and a clash of beasts between Kojiro’s emerging warrior spirit and Yonemaru’s conventional form of seasoned battle prowess.
But this isn’t a mere retreat; rather, in the release ofThe Elusive Samuraiepisode #12, fans will witness an exciting moment where Tokiyuki’s retainers grow as fighters and leaders. These developments will make for a glorious sendoff for season 1 ofThe Elusive Samurai, with hopefully not too long of a waiting period for a season 2 announcement.
Don’t missThe Elusive Samuraiepisode #12when it releases onSaturday, June 11, 2025.
The Elusive Samurai
Cast
The Elusive Samurai is set during the Kenmu Restoration between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. It follows Hojo Tokiyuki, a young boy whose family is overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji. Accompanied by a priest and his followers, he seeks revenge using his extraordinary abilities to evade capture.
