This time The Elusive Samurai episode 11 is also about initiating a small-scale war against yet another big-time villain, a Shinano Provincial Official, Shinano-No-Kami Kiyohara.
The Elusive Samurai episode 11 is unlike its previous episode and has quite the same concept as episode 8, which also was about a small-scale war against Ashikaga Takauji’s underling, however, this time’s villain is someone of above rank, serving directly under Godaigo Emperor.
And, this time escaping from impending defeat is more important than winning the war.
So, keeping that in mind, let’s discuss this episode.
Table of Contents
Villains And Their Actions In The Elusive Samurai Episode 11
The Elusive Samurai episode 11 shows various villains and their different standings and actions.
Sadamune is known to almost all the regular viewers of this series I guess, so his presence surely would seem weird in this episode as he is shown as a mere vassal cowering before power and timid unlike the previous confidant and bold version of him.
On the other hand, the more powerful villain in this episode is Shinano-No-Kami Kiyohara, eccentric to the bone and reeks of dictatorship comes with his loyal and boisterous vassal Yonemaru.
So the situation is such as this, Kiyohara decides over taxation from farmers and even slaughtered some rebellious ones which incited the wreath of one of the Suwa vassals Hoshina Yosaburo who had his crazy switch on, which we will discuss later.
Drunken on power, Kioyohara didn’t take the threat seriously and decided to face it using his overpowering armed forces.
Up till now, the situation was a typical textbook example of the oppressor and oppressed interrelationship, which is painted in a lighthearted but definitive way that somewhat aligns with the main historical event event-wise.
Though Sadamune is present in this story however his presence doesn’t impact the overall story much, still to better understand the inner workings of the new government of Kyo and its interpersonal network, his existence is quite important in The Elusive Samurai episode 11.
Oh, the radar ear Ichikawa Sakefusa is also here and in fact, he has gotten some attention in this episode which is more than Sadamune, although that was for only a single instance.
So, here is the detailed account of the villains in The Elusive Samurai episode 11 and their actions.
Hojo Tokiyuki And His Team’s Importance In The Elusive Samurai Episode 11
So, what is left to understand is the role of Hojo Tokiyuki and his team of samurai’s role in The Elusive Samurai episode 11.
His and his team’s role was to help Hoshina Yosaburo and his army escape who were hell-bent on dying as martyrs in the battle against Shinano-No-Kami Kiyohara.
Well, let’s first see what kind of freak Hoshina is to take pride and joy in early death.
As the story goes, according to one of Suwa’s vassals, Hosina gets hot-blooded and loses his cool once he gets immersed in any matter of interest, and for Hoshina, the dictatorship of Kiyohara was more than enough to propel him towards insanity.
The story of this episode actually portrayed Hoshina as one crazy samurai who goes beyond the limit to achieve his goal.
So, to get him to evacuate it was necessary to set up some plans, and this episode arranges some good sequences to portray the execution of those plans, from showing one battle that almost cost Hoshina’s life and almost caused his defeat, to the unplanned and humorous situation of Tokiyuki getting drunk from a whiff of liquor and literally “butting” in Hishina’s business to discourage him from battle, which just did the work and made Hoshina understand the gravity of the situation.
Especially in the battle, Fubuki’s excellent plan to smoke the area on the other side of the river where Kiyohara’s army was stationed, making them abandon their ranged attack plan was quite an ingenious move that this episode added.
So, all of these works done by Tokiyuki and his team build up the impressive reputation that Tokiyuki and his team gained in The Elusive Samurai episode 11.
Final Thought
All the events that happened in The Elusive Samurai episode 11 either portray the stubbornness of the oppressor and the oppressed or show the wit and skill of the team of Tokiyuki.
So, it is undoubtedly true that this episode delves much deeper into the upcoming turmoil that may as well happen in the next episode.
