The Elusive Samurai Season 2 Episode 9 Splits Critics on Cast Bloat
The review argues the season keeps adding characters to Tokiyuki's circle without giving them anything to do, so developments like the plan to assassinate the Emperor land without weight.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
The Elusive Samurai season 2 episode 9, titled "The Man Called Masahige Kusonoki," mixes the series' usual strengths with its season-long structural problems. The episode has funny jokes, quality animation, and strong chemistry among the young heroes, but the review says the pacing meanders and the story retreads old ground. Mima Sasaki, strong last week, slips into the background as the cast keeps growing.
The episode introduces Masahige Kusonoki, a grown-up mirror of Tokiyuki whose head-bobbing duel with the hero is the funniest moment of the week. The reviewer treats the character as a useful idea: Tokiyuki needs to level up, and an Elusive Master raised in enemy territory is a logical source for that lesson. The problem is the lesson itself, which restates what Tokiyuki has learned repeatedly since the series began. By the end, the adventure reads as a stretched-out way to hand the kids a clue pointing toward whatever Fubuki is heading into next. With few episodes left, the season has to move toward its finish.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime News Network The Elusive Samurai Season 2 Episode 9