As Netflix ramps up it’s anime acquisitions it also continues to expand on the production of original anime. This includes an adaptation of the true story of legendary samurai Yasuke. A black man from Africa who made his way to Kyoto in 1579 Japan working alongside Oda Nobunaga. Netflix’s take on the legend brings it into a dark fantasy full of science and magic with Lakeith Stanfield starring as the lead.

Yasuke is a 2021 seinen anime series, it is produced by MAPPA and licensed by Netflix for global streaming. It is available now.

Editor’s Note: An advanced screener for Yasuke was provided by Netflix in support of this review. Minor spoilers may be present within this preview.

If you follow Japanese history you may or may not be aware of Yasuke. As the story goes Yasuke was a former African slave owned by Europeans, but made his way to Japan. There he was met by daimyo Oda Nobunaga who would train him as a samurai. Not much else is known about Yasuke past this as his history has been lost to time. There have been several suggestions of his whereabouts following his run with Nobunaga, but none have been confirmed. The anime (mostly) follows what’s known about the warrior while fantasizing it as well.

THE GOOD: So due to the nature surrounding the legend of Yasuke itself I’m going to try and be fairly light on the spoilers. I thought about adding in some theories spread out through time on Yasuke’s later life. But decided against it as it’s likely the material will be used for a would be second season. The story of Yasuke reminiscing about his final moments with Nobunaga before he commits seppuku while being invaded. As the story goes on Yasuke’s true history is spread throughout the series. However, the story uses fantasy elements including mechs and magic to help broaden the plot. In fact, the series actually starts off with a war between two nations who use magic to battle one another. 

Yasuke is forced to leave his old teacher’s side living his later years in a village. There he befriends some of the locals including a boy named Ichiro as well as an inn singer named Ichika & her daughter Saki. Saki has magical abilities which makes her a target for an ancient demon who wants to absorb her powers. Yasuke after years of retirement is forced to draw his blade in order to protect Saki from the hired assassins out to capture her.

First, the animation for Yasuke is pretty damn good. It’s not as strong as some of MAPPA’s recent work, but considering this is a much smaller series in comparison that’s ok. Even with what I assume was a fairly respectable budget given the series does have an excellent look to it for six episodes. Flying Lotus kills it with the soundtrack. The artist has a history with Japanese media as he’s a bit of a fan. And it shows with the unique sounds he chose for it’s soundtrack. The action scenes are gory on occasion, but have solid direction. Most of what you need to know in regards to Yasuke’s story is well represented. I honestly don’t mind the fantasy elements of the series. There’s some fun ideas used, but it won’t be for everybody.

Apparently, Flying Lotus had some creative control in the development of Yasuke. Like for example he stated in an interview that he was the one that created the character Saki. So it can be assumed that he was behind a lot of the fantasy and magic from within the show. There’s some solid character direction for the main characters and antagonist. And the original story for what it is has some enjoyment to it.

THE BAD: There’s a lot to love about Yasuke, but I’d completely understand of the fantasy of the series wasn’t for some. While this was obviously done in an effort to fill in time and story gap voids I do think that the story suffers because of it. The Yasuke legend is enough in of itself for a proper adaptation, but it seems like Netflix has a lot of faith in the series as a continuation is looking likely. As I mentioned above, season two is probably going to be based on the theories and suggestions of where Yasuke ended up post-Nobunaga. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Yasuke is a solid attempt at being the warrior’s story to life. As expected by MAPPA there’s some strong animation with good action sequences. Flying Lotus’ score really pops out the flow of the series. Personally, I think Yasuke stands best on it’s own legend, but I don’t hate the direction that was taken with the series. I also think there’s a lot that can be done to expand the world. And they’ve made it clear that season one is just the beginning, but more time should be invested into the real Yasuke in my opinion. Otaku Dome gives Yasuke season one a 78 out of 100.