Netflix have dropped the trailer for their latest original anime series, Yasuke. Featuring Oscar-nominated actor Lakeiuth Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) in the titular role, the series follows the real-life black Samurai in feudal Japan.
The series was created by LeSean Thomas, a writer, director and artist living in Meguro, Toyko, it takes some liberties with history by adding in mechas and magic to spice up the story.
The real Yasuke visited Japan in 1579 in the service of an Italian Jesuit missionary named Alessandro Valignano during the Nanban ("Southern Barbarian") Trade period. At this time Europeans visited the country before the island was closed off to foreigners by the isolationist foreign policy known as Sakoku in 1633 by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate.
We know that Yasuke met Oda Nobunaga from letters of the period, entered his service and gained bith a residence and a short ceremonial katana. He was also given the duty of weapon bearer and fought for Nobunaga, and his heir, in several battles.
You can possibly spot a few liberties taken with the story in the synopsis below, but there's no doubt that MAPPA has created a gorgeous looking anime to tell a slightly embellished tale of a genuine historic character, complete with a soundtrack by Grammy Award winning producer, Flying Lotus.
Yasuke premieres April 29th on Netflix
Synopsis:
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 centre 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.
