Characters / The Elusive Samurai The Elusive Warriors

This is the character sheet for The Elusive Samurai describing Tokiyuki Hojo and his friends/retainers. As a group they were given the nickname The Elusive Warriors by Suwa-Myoujin, and will be called as such when a trope applies to all of them.

General

• Secret-Keeper: As Tokiyuki's closest retainers they are among the only ones to know of his true identity before he publicly reveals it in chapter 70.
• The Squad: Notable in that even when Tokiyuki learns to manage larger armies he and the Elusive Warriors stand out as a distinct unit.

Tokiyuki Hojo

Voiced by: Asaki Yuikawa

The eponymous Elusive Samurai, 9-year old Tokiyuki is the heir of the Hojo clan, and as such the Kamakura Shogunate. Tokiyuki's kind personality, and his propensity to run and hide at the first sign of trouble, don't fit the child of a Samurai clan of that era.

Under the guidance of Suwa Myoujin himself, Tokiyuki soon learns that he can't run away from his destiny forever, and must face the forces that brought his family low.

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• Animal Motifs: Tokiyuki is associated with Phoenix imagery, mostly with the manga compilation covers but also in-story as well.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Despite being a genius at running away, hiding, and surviving, Tokiyuki has absolutely pathetic arm strength. He eventually adopts a fighting style that uses his evasion skills to make countless shallow cuts on his opponent. These shallow cuts eventually add up, and eventually his enemy just keels over with blood loss.
• Fragile Speedster: Tokiyuki is quick and nimble, but the manga goes to lengths to emphasize that, if he gets hit even once during battle, it would be the end of him. This is unsurprising, given his young age.
• Horse Archer: His reflexes and agility make him an expert at shooting arrows while riding horseback, with him eventually mastering a variation of the Parthian Shot.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Tokiyuki has fabulously long and silky black hair.
• Secret Identity: To hide his Hojo lineage (and thus the reveal that he survived the Siege of Kamakura) he adopts the alias Chojumaru Koizumi, a lowly servant and messenger boy of the shrine. He finally drops it in chapter 70.
• Shared Family Quirks: He has a lot in common with his uncle Yasuie, in that he has a knack of getting out of trouble. Whereas Yasuie uses tricks and cunning to somehow survive the scrapes he gets into, Tokiyuki can simply outrun and fade into the background when he wants to.
• Thrill Seeker: It turns out, Tokiyuki isn't a coward at all; rather he gets turned on by the thrill of possibly being caught.

Shizuku

Voiced by: Hinaki Yano

Yorishige's daughter, and a shrine maiden at the Suwa temple. She is one of the first to be assigned as one of Tokiyuki's retainers. As part of the group she takes the role of the house steward.

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• Miko: She is a miko of Suwa shrine with divine powers, such as the ability to see spirits. Tokiyuki's group makes their hideout at the Suwa Shrine for two years, where she continues to perform her shrine duties whenever she isn't on a mission with the Elusive Warriors.
• Nerves of Steel: The most likely of the Elusive Warriors to remain calm and collected in a pinch. Since the strength of her divine power increases with strong self-composure, Shizuku is able to influence a Sugoroku match with Mima by withstanding Mima's taunts with grace and shattering Mima's concentration by giving Tokiyuki a long, calm smooch on the lips.
• Support Party Member: Shizuku usually stays on the sidelines to tend to wounded allies and provide logistical support for the army. When she's on the front lines, she'll avoid fighting aside from occasionally using a blow dart to distract foes so that others can come in for the kill.

Kojiro Nezu

Voiced by: Mari Hino

Another of the three retainers Yorishige assigns to Tokiyuki. A promising samurai, he is later revealed to be the nephew of Yorinao Nezu, one of Suwa's Three Great Generals.

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• Adopt-a-Servant: Since his father left after a one night stand and his mother died shortly after his birth, his uncle Yorinao Nezu took him in as a servant and trained him to fight in the name of Kojiro Nezu, Yorinao's own sickly son.
• Blood Knight: Kojiro loves doing battle just as much as Tokiyuki loves dodging things. He is eager to make a name for himself and revels in every opportunity he gets to throw himself at powerful enemy warriors.
• The Lancer: Effectively becomes Tokiyuki's second in command as time goes on. At several points Kojiro is the one beside Tokiyuki in battle, and of the other Warriors has the most notable duels by far.

Ayako Mochizuki

Voiced by: Sayumi Suzushiro

The third of the first three retainers Yorishige assigns to Tokiyuki. She is later revealed to be the daughter of Shigenobu Mochizuki, one of Suwa's Three Great Generals.

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• Amazonian Beauty: A huge girl who could easily lift tree trunks and boulders and the like, and none of that has done anything to detract from her beauty.
• Improbable Weapon User: While Ayako is proficient at using swords and polearms, her primary fighting style revolves around whacking her opponents with whatever she can get her hands on. This includes but isn't limited to large boulders, drums, drumsticks, and a wallet filled with rocks for ease of bludgeoning.
• Younger than She Looks: Could easily pass for a teenager yet is the same age as everyone else in group and a head taller than Tokiyuki. Keep in mind when she was first introduced she was eight-years-old.

Genba Kazama

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki

A masked thief and a member of the Kazama clan, one of the branch clans of the Suwa. Tokiyuki is tasked with hiring him to help steal an imperial decree from Sadamune. Following the mission he chooses to stick around as one of Tokiyuki's retainers.

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• Butt-Monkey: His proud, mischievous personality and crude sense of humor often lands him into situations where he either makes a massive fool out of himself or becomes the butt of a joke. In Kyoto he gets suckered by some pretty looking ladies into gambling his way straight into debt slavery, which his friends have to bail him out of.
• The Faceless: He is never seen without his fox mask. Even the few times he's taken his mask off his entire head has been covered in silhouette.
• Master of Disguise: Genba can use his ninja skills and moldable clay applied to his mask to mimic anybody's voice, height, and appearance. Sometimes the fox ears on his mask stick out of his disguise, but very few people tend to notice or question them.

Fubuki

Voiced by: Kikunosuke Toya

A young Rōnin that the Elusive Warriors encounter protecting children in Nakayama, and who joins them shortly thereafter. A skilled tactician, he serves the role of strategist for the team.

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• Big Eater: Dude has a downright voracious appetite. It's actually something of his Achilles' Heel, as he gets hungry quickly as even loses himself mid-battle when he's starved.
• Self-Made Orphan: After one too many abusive and torturous training sessions, Fubuki eventually slayed his own father and set off on his own. He is a lone, starving ronin when the Elusive Warriors first meet him.
• The Strategist: With the Elusive Warriors' help, Fubuki uses his wits to protect a village from an army of bandits using only a small detachment of soldiers, the young orphans from the village, and whatever makeshift tools and supplies were lying around. Tokiyuki invites Fubuki to be the strategist of his team after witnessing this impressive display of resourcefulness and tactical prowess.

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