Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi

Tokiyuki Houjou, a carefree eight-year-old noble, is content with the serene life in Kamakura and shows little regard for the serious responsibilities that come with his eventually succeeding his father as the next shogun. Instead of dedicating himself to rigorous training in swordsmanship or archery, Tokiyuki excels in the art of evasion, skillfully dodging his advisors and discovering perfect hiding spots. However, his peaceful existence is shattered when a sudden coup brutally wipes out his clan.

Overwhelmed with guilt for being the sole survivor, Tokiyuki contemplates joining his family in death. However, his fate takes an abrupt turn when the enigmatic priest Yorishige Suwa suddenly shoves him onto a battlefield. Yorishige, who prophesies that Tokiyuki will one day become a great hero, leaves the boy with no choice but to navigate his way free of enemy soldiers. As Tokiyuki struggles to survive against these foes, he finds a new thrill in raising the stakes of his usual hide-and-seek games.

With a renewed sense of purpose and the promise of powerful allies from Yorishige, Tokiyuki vows to avenge his family—not through his capability to fight, but through his extraordinary talent for running away.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Houjou, Tokiyuki Main

Yuikawa, Asaki Japanese

Suwa, Yorishige Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Fubuki Supporting

Toya, Kikunosuke Japanese

Shizuku Supporting

Yano, Hinaki Japanese

Mochizuki, Ayako Supporting

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Nezu, Kojirou Supporting

Hino, Mari Japanese

Kazama, Genba Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Ogasawara, Sadamune Supporting

Aoyama, Yutaka Japanese

Ashikaga, Takauji Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Houjou, Takatoki Supporting

Tadokoro, Hinata Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Umehara, Shouta Producer

Fukushima, Yuuichi Producer

Matsumoto, Miho Producer

Reviews

Dec 27, 2025

FoolNo4

Recommended

There are many things I like about this anime.
First, I like the new portrayal of samurai. You know, I usually see samurai who never give up, even to the point of sacrificing their lives. But here, I am told that sometimes running away and being a coward is not a bad choice, even for a samurai.
Second, I like the coloring of this anime. For some reason, the blood feels fresher and more vivid than in other anime, which reminds me of the first time I watched NGNL.
What I don't like is perhaps the facial expressions, which sometimes feel strange, and the scene where ... two officials chase Tokiyuki on horseback, which is uncomfortable to watch.
Overall, I enjoyed watching it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 28, 2025

anacriss

Mixed Feelings

I found it very boring, there were good moments but very short lived. There’s a lot of “comedy” that is just not funny, the story is very mediocre and slow and his “talent” for escaping was very dumb to me, they make mc look like he’s having an orgasm while jumping around.
It’s hard to believe so many people recommend this anime when I had to push through to finish it. The animation is ok most of the time but the cgi is quite bad.
I understand this is more to set the scenario for what’s to come but it’s feels very childish for most of the ... story until suddenly someone’s killed and then I remember this is not for kids

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 1, 2024

Supersonic_Pain

Not Recommended

I wasn't looking forward to this tbh but I do like to watch all the WSJ adaptations when they come out so I kinda owed it to EluSam to check it out.

I read most of this (I think up to E10) in the manga before the anime came out and found it boring and dry and... that did not change.

It's kind of a boring, dry anime that gives "history textbook" vibes. I genuinely could not tell you what a couple of Tokiyuki's retainers' characters are supposed to be. Not to mention the antagonists are comically evil. If this wasn't a shonen anime, I wouldn't doubt ... for a second they'd all be rapists. It's so overdone that I was shocked when an antagonist did something that wasn't "nyeh, I'm gonna rip children's tongues out and make them slaves and I'm gonna build a harem of women after killing their husbands!"

Not to mention how UGLY they are. One has buckteeth and can speak with his ears, one has big-ass bug eyes, one has creepy eyes and a painted face, one has ants crawling all over his body at all times, it's just an unpleasant show to watch.

For what it's worth, CloverWorks did put a lot into this anime. There are points in this anime where it's very well animated and they have a lot of fun (I'd hope, at least) doing cool things that you wouldn't normally see in a middling WSJ adaptation. Maybe it's because the director has a sense of style (I don't know who directed this, admittedly, but, I mean, just look at it) and knows that, frankly, this series needs all the help it can get, but it was cool.

That being said, and this is kind of unavoidable given how often they're on horseback (which makes my faith in a Steel Ball Run anime just sooooo high), but it'll switch between CGI and not for when they're on horses and it's not, like, awful, but it was noticeable, at least for me.

I did like a couple of the characters. The Emperor's son was cool for the all of one scene he appeared in. Tokiyuki himself is okay. I like the main antagonist, I guess?

Another thing is that the main cast (Yorishige aside) are all little kids? Like, Tokiyuki is NINE (apparently not young enough to avoid a BDSM joke according to this show but that's neither here nor there). I'm no historian so I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the show but idk, it's kind of weird to watch this show and then remember "oh, they're all elementary schoolers". I get that a lot of anime involve high schoolers saving the world against eldritch gods and 1000-year-old vampires and shit but a 16-year-old and a nine-year-old are very far apart, it was kind of weird to me.

Like, it wasn't the worst thing you could watch. I got through it, I guess. I wasn't really actively offended by anything, it's just... not an entertaining show?

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 24, 2024	56 replies	by Safrichh »» Jan 27, 7:42 PM
	Who is this for? BiobulletM - Aug 9, 2024	41 replies	by LizardKing0 »» Jan 12, 6:16 PM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Spirelord - Aug 17, 2024	59 replies	by Safrichh »» Jan 11, 5:20 PM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 10, 2024	86 replies	by Safrichh »» Dec 29, 2025 8:06 PM
	Poll: Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 3, 2024	51 replies	by Safrichh »» Dec 20, 2025 7:43 PM