When news broke of the new Netflix series about Yasuke – a warrior of African descent who served under Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga, I thought it was going to be some kind of animated documentary. What it turned out to be was an alternate-reality version of the Sengoku period Japan reimagined with magic and advanced technology. It was like Lone Wolf and Cub meets Guardian of the Sacred Spirit with story elements that wouldn’t be too strange in the Gundam universe.
Yasuke anime plot
In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a peaceful existence after a past life of violence. But when a local village becomes the center of social upheaval between warring daimyo, Yasuke must take up his sword and transport a mysterious child who is the target of dark forces and bloodthirsty warlords.
The high production values of the 6 episode series are really what jumps out at you from the first few frames. The animations, the voice acting (English and Japanese), the music, the art style! I haven’t been excited about or enjoyed an anime series like this for a long time.
Yasuke is made out of organic vibranium
The first episode is simple enough, establishing the world and the main characters. However, as the series went on with ever-evolving enemies and increasingly ridiculous battles, I just checked my brain out somewhere around episode four. Indestructible main characters is a well-established anime trope but our guy Yasuke must be made out of some kind of organic vibranium. The dude has been blown up, drowned, stabbed, punched kicked, and launched into a star. His naps are the stuff of legend as by the time he wakes up he is healed.
Frodo taking the one ring back to Mount Doom
It isn’t a perfect series by any means but it doesn’t have to be. By the end, it was just like a ripoff of Frodo taking the one ring back to Mount Doom and it was less and less a story-driven spectacle. I am (and many others) are just glad a series like this can be made, but the only way to go after this is up as it can’t get any worse.
Now I want to play a game like Sekiro or Ghost of Tsushima with Yasuke as the protagonist – Universe make it happen! Did you watch Yasuke? Tell me what you thought in a comment before or tweet me @Jamaipanese