A village in danger, a mysterious child, warring daimyo, and the greatest ronin never known all clash in a Japan of magic and mechs. Learn the story of the first African samurai. (Source: Netflix)
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When the trailer for Yasuke dropped on Netflix, I thought to myself: nice. An anime about the black samurai himself. I was truly interested in this anime. Unfortunately, Yasuke did not live up to my expectations. Story: 1 If you're going to make an anime about historical figures, you would expect it to be true to history. These people walked around in real world Japan and you would expect to respect that. Yasuke's backstory was pretty true to life, but in the story itself, somebody had the bright idea to add magic and giant robots in the anime. What was their deal? What were they doingin the story? What are giant robots doing in feudal Japan? The only thing we get is an explaination that doesn't sole anything, but instead causes plot holes that could have easily been prevented with a single Google search. The magic system is just a plot device to give the scriptwriters a lame excuse for the several asspulls thrown in this show. I will admit the magic was used in interesting ways, but it never paid off, just to give the audience one of the most Mary Sue endings I've ever seen in anime. The pacing is way too high for it's own good, to the point that even a lot of plot points make no sense, resulting in an incohesive rushed mess of a story. Art: 8 Not the best MAPPA has given us so far, but it definitely wasn't bad. The fights themselves were a treat to the eyes and the character designs were nice and did their job. But again, Don't expect godly animation like you see in The God Of High School or Jujutsu Kaisen. Sound: 6 When watching a historical/samurai story, what type of music would you probably hear, classical Japanese instruments, right? In Yasuke, they decided to give us electronic music. Not what I would've liked, but it was decent. The sound effects also did their job pretty well. Character: 1 The character writing suffered from strong Mary Sue writing as well. One of the characters, Saki, basically has the entire cast and worldbuilding bend around her, even Yasuke himself. I won't spoil anything, but she starts out weak, but doesn't need training to control her magic, she is in the end always right and everyone on the good side loves her. The story completely revolves around her and there is barely any room for character development outside of Yasuke's redemption. Other characters are also one note and inconsistent, but that is also the bad pacing being bad pacing. Enjoyment: 4 I tried to like this show. But in the end, I couldn't get over how it ended. There were so many asspulls. Overall: 1 Yasuke proves several things when it comes to anime: 1. Animation and sound design can't carry a show; 2. You can't use magic and giant robots and expect it to magically work; 3. Historical accuracy is still important; 4. You can't write a multi-arc story in just 6 episodes.
I’ve said this about LeSean Thomas before, but if you’re so obsessed with identity politics that you insist on building your entire career around blaxploitation, then just make Afro Samurai again. That show is kick-ass, and I’m sure Sam Jackson would not mind the plagiarism one bit. Yasuke is a mess, and while it's definitely not as exhausting as Cannon Busters, I doubt many will be able to call it a good show. I could sit here and expound upon the exact ways in which it’s historically inaccurate—how the real Yasuke wasn’t even a samurai, but rather a mere retainer who Nobunaga kept around as acircus freak who’s dark skin fascinated the culturally isolated (and kinda racist) Japanese who had never seen an African before—but I think we all expected this going in. If the insane, unrestrained visual cacophonies of garish CG and headache inducing visual effects didn’t clue you in, this series doesn’t really seek to be historically accurate with all its crazy magic and mechas, despite the fact its alleged history is really the only excuse it has to exist. But if I just mislead you into thinking it sought to be little more than a bombastic action series, then allow me to clarify. This show does have a plot and does attempt to develop its main character, bringing him into the fold of historical records and introducing him to other badass Japanese historical figures to fight alongside, but it quickly devolves into mindless anime nonsense which throws whatever realism it tried to initially reference out the window with the aforementioned magic and mechas. A premise is still a premise, though, and if you can accept such a premise, you may just find this show and its awesome soundtrack to be pretty sick, even if it’s totally nonsensical and ugly as sin. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the 2D animation per se, but the 3D compositing makes all the fights utterly hideous, Takeshi Koike’s designs are unrecognizable, and LeSean Thomas himself is still nothing if not an amateur. However, none of this is as much of a turn-off as the pitch itself. Maybe if I could watch Marvel Studio’s Black Panther or Captain Marvel and not feel like I’m being force-fed the sociopolitical worldview of the Disney Company’s board of marketeers, and instead feel empowered by the righteous inclusion on display, then maybe I could get some enjoyment out of Yasuke, but since I cannot do that, I cannot do this. There’s a difference between theming and propagandizing, and I don’t think Director Thomas has figured that out yet. Thank you for reading.
This show feels like a case where nobody told the writers "No!". That isn't always a bad thing, but like everything in life, there needs to be a balance. Yasuke has an interesting premise, but the show doesn't really know what it wants to be, and the back and forth between historical set piece and action fantasy aren't meshed well here. The show introduced itself as a historical set piece in a fictional universe tied to the story of Nobunaga and Yasuke, but that really didn't come into play much the more the story went on. It was more of an excuse to use recognized names fortheir fantasy action series. Another possible detractor is the short run time. With more run time, they could have delved more into the past timeline to flesh out the world and characters, but with as little as we got, it almost seemed unnecessary. Plus, the pacing was erratically fast. With a full cour, the insane whiplash of events could have been mitigated and felt more natural, but how it turned out, it feels like entire plot lines were either skimmed over or completely forgotten about. In the end, I think what the main problem was that the worlds of the historical samurai mixed with the fictional fantasy weren't meshed well. Yeah, the characters needed some more work too, but all of the weird power elements in that dated setting can really take a user out of it. That being said, I enjoyed the show, and the animation and music were pretty good, and I will even look forward to a potential sequel, but I don't think I will re-watch this when I can just re-watch Samurai Champloo and Afro Samurai. More detailed review starts here: The story is interesting, as there is a mysterious samurai who stumbles upon protecting a mysterious girl with strange powers, a very similar premise to Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (which is a way better show). He needs to protect her from the evil organization/government that want to use her for their own nefarious reason. While it's good in concept, it wasn't executed that well as the point of events that they go through seem to skip from A to Z within an episode. We skip the amazing journey that we could have seen and just see the beginning and the ending, without seeing them bond as much as they could have with a longer run time. The art and sound are pretty good, considering that MAPPA produced it. It looks very stylized and the music generally matches the scenes. It is a little too gory at times, but that is just a personal preference. The characters aren't that great. Besides for Yasuke, the rest of the characters are pretty forgettable. Perhaps with a longer run time, they could have been more developed, but as it was, even Saki wasn't that interesting a character, and the plot is supposed to be based around her. The rest of the side cast have their moments, but none of them feel like real characters with real motivations. Like I said before, the show is enjoyable popcorn entertainment. Just don't try using your brain too much, or else it will detract from the experience. Just enjoy cool stuff being animated and watch samurais fight magic stuff. Overall, I am rating this show an 8. The show is serviceable, which was probably what Netflix was going for when they produced it. It has some issues, but its short run time and slick action should keep you entertained for a quick 2 1/2 hour experience. The show definitely could have been a lot better, which is probably the worst part about it for me, envisioning what it could have been.
Yasuke is an odd mixed bag. On the one hand, there are several likable aspects about the characters and the audiovisuals, making the show at least somewhat entertaining, On the other, it’s kind of a dumb, heavy-handed, rushed mess. LeSean Thomas’ 2nd anime showed some promise on the outset, taking on the story of the first black samurai, all while being led by a black director and having music by several black musicians such as Thundercat and Flying Lotus. However, it feels like there were compromises made to fit this into 6 episodes while introducing very weird elements that weren’t once featured in the marketingof this show. Let’s start with the positives and work our way down. The music by Flying Lotus is a fun blend of traditional Japanese, Nu jazz and neo-soul, and hip hop production. Essentially, it’s a fun, slick good time and like you took one of his albums and set it in the late 1500s. It isn’t “You’re Dead” levels of greatness but it’s a rock solid OST. The OP, done by Flying Lotus and featuring Thundercat for vocals, is a solid, traditional-sounding track, though their previous anime song, “Unrequited Love” from a far worse Netflix show (Carole & Tuesday) was probably better. The ED features Niki Ronda and is a tender, melodic piece akin to Samurai Champloo’s ED. All in all, Flying Lotus did a bang-up job as expected. Visually speaking, the show is kind of nice but has some issues. The art direction is particularly striking at points, especially in the latter half of the show when things get weird. There are several moments where, long with the music and the events unfolding, the show starts feeling like a psychedelic hip-hop record, and it looks mesmerizing. The one AMV-esque sequence the show has in episode 3 is particularly evocative. Director LeSean Thomas knew exactly what kind of eye-popping aesthetic he wanted to go for, and Junichi Higashi was definitely the right art director for the job. The fight scenes also showcase some solid animation by the staff working at Studio MAPPA. There are several clean cuts and filthy sword fights that get downright brutal. Takeshi Koike’s character designs also had a fair amount of detail put into them that stayed pretty consistent, even during the battles. Thankfully, they never resorted to using CG for whenever samurai warriors such as Yasuke were clad in their armor. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for most of the mechs in the show. The CGI for the mechs is honestly terrible. They don’t fit well with the show’s aesthetic or world (more on that later) and the frame rate becomes absolutely jittery when they’re around. The first scene of the anime is by far the worst in this regard, as there are even some 2D elements that crumble during it. However, there are other moments where this is the case. Still, all that aside, the anime has fairly solid production values, and you can tell they wanted to do something interesting with the show’s aesthetic. As an action spectacle, the show’s pretty decent. However, the writing is...a bit of a subpar mixed bag. Yasuke himself is a decent main character. He’s a somewhat depressed man haunted by the past, the war his people lost, and the deaths of those closest to him decades after the end of Nobunaga’s campaign came to a violent end. He’s long past the point of needing to prove himself worthy as the first black samurai --a slave turned warrior-- as the flashbacks showed that militaristic rise. His characterization isn’t anything groundbreaking or especially compelling, but it gets the job done well enough, and his badassery and reactions to those around him make him likable enough to watch. The kid characters range from annoying to tolerable, with the show’s deuteragonist, Saki, going from an ill girl with uncontrollable powers to a bit of a snarky kid with some spunk. She and Yasuke make for an ok duo, though it never feels like they have to struggle to rely on each other, as the show kind of just brushes past any kind of event or point that could make for a reasonable character arc. Some of the side characters are pretty alright, namely the mercenaries initially hired to capture Saki. They have a decent dynamic to them, as they can barely tolerate each other, much less the person who hired them, but are able to get along just enough to bicker constantly without it detracting from them in any way. They even have some solid rapport with Yasuke. This is especially the case for scythe girl Ishikawa and the mech, Haruto. Sadly, it takes until episode 5 for their names to be revealed in the show proper for some reason, and by then, people start dropping like flies They’re at least better than the incredibly bland villains, like the corrupt Catholic priest, the xenophobic rival samurai turned evil general who wants to adhere to the old ways where women and slaves weren’t allowed to be warriors, or the final boss. They’re as threadbare as most of the Dororo antagonists. Speaking of threadbare, the show ultimately becomes a case of “strong man takes the kid with crazy powers to a school so they can defeat an ancient evil”. It’s a pretty weak and rushed example of that kind of narrative, too. No time is ever spent training or even really letting the narrative or characters breathe. The show just goes from point to point. Sometimes, it feels like there are episodes that could have been split in two and just have fake endings as a result. Probably the worst example is in episode 5 where the aforementioned hired mercs come back and one of them is piloting a giant mech suit. Where did they get it? God knows. Why did they decide to join the fights of the last two episodes? Because they were asked to...offscreen. Speaking of the mechs, despite the talking robot being probably the best character in the show, Yasuke’s sci-fi elements feel kind of tacked on. The mechs in this show are just tossed in here during the late 1500s with absolutely no explanation. There is a giant amalgamation of armor made from evil spiritual magic, but that’s the closest we have to an explanation on how...anything works! There are no mechanical facilities shown in this time period, so how and why do mechs exist in this universe? If you’re going to introduce sci-fi elements into your historical time piece series, you should at least offer s o m e t h i n g so the viewer isn’t just questioning the integrity of the setting. Even the weird, nebulous magic stuff has spirituality to fall back on as an explanation, even if the powers become absolutely ridiculous, tank the frame rate on occasion, and lead to probably one of the most groan-worthy resurrection scenes this side of Sonic 06. Much like Carole & Tuesday, this feels like another Netflix title that just throws in sci-fi elements haphazardly into a bare setting. When there are other rushed elements and weird holes in the script, the last thing we need is for the setting to crumble like this once you think about it for even one second. This is probably yet another case of a relatively forgettable Netflix original having striking audiovisuals, but not much in the way of good writing. It's a shame the show turned out kind of mediocre when you consider that if the show gave itself another episode or two so it could have some time to breathe and explain certain things, Yasuke could have been a good action spectacle where the heavy-handed writing doesn’t get in the way of anything. The show definitely commentates on tradition, and the mix of xenophobia and racism of 1500s Japan in a way that validates its black characters without feeling especially self-aggrandizing. However, it really needed a tighter script as what we have here is kind of rough and mediocre, with a cool aesthetic and likable elements to keep it afloat. Anime featuring black creators and musicians is certainly welcome, and we definitely need more shows like this. For what it’s worth, Yasuke is still a decent time thanks to its audiovisuals and the relatively likeable characters. Still, hopefully, the next project LeSean Thomas works on ends up being more polished than this.
Yasuke is an anime based on real person who is a black samurai the story is cool but what caught me by surprised were they added magic in the world which is not real.At first I thought that is stupid but then I thought maybe be very dramatic about the strength of yasuke was to make in entertaining and it did. Even tho the powers in the world wont sit well with others it does get yasuke character right in more ways than, and for that I give this show a 9. The story is good but somethings are just out of place.
This review contains no spoilers. There is honestly nothing to spoil anyways because the anime is just a magical escort mission. Yasuke is by definition a pretentious anime. It's like if I were to make a movie about Abe Lincoln riding dinosaurs and title it "Abe Lincoln". If you're interested in Yasuke as a historical figure, then you will certainly be disappointed because this is not an anime about a historical figure, this is an anime about magic, swordfights, and machines featuring a historical protagonist. The details of Yasuke's real life are quickly brushed over via flashbacks or info-dumping. I'm given the impression that its writercertainly was familiar with his history, which makes the anime just that much more of an insulting experience. The entire story revolves around Yasuke escorting a young girl with powerful magic abilities. Halfway through the anime, she states that Yasuke is only around for company, and not for protection, since she is already powerful enough to protect herself. The story would have played out identically if Doraemon had teleported back and held this girl's hand as they frolicked from point A to point B, there would just be fewer sword fights in-between. Regarding its aesthetics, Yasuke features a few well-animated fights, so if you have no historical knowledge of the Sengoku Jidai era, then you may be entertained. However, I noticed a constant issue with how characters' clothing was shaded. It seemed as if they added highlights to armor then used the blur tool on 100% strength making 10 passes. The real MVPs here were the background artists as it's the only aspect of the anime that was consistently impressive. Overall, Yasuke feels like a slap in the face to fans of Japanese history and anime fans alike. It feels as if it were created by people who attempted to appease anime fans without knowing what makes anime good. This is exacerbated because it's clear that the writer is familiar with Yasuke's history, and its animators have experience making anime.
What I wanted was a story about the first black samurai. What did I get? A story about the first black samurai, and robots. The second I saw a robot my interest was lost almost instantaneously. I was very excited about this show at first, seeing that LaKeith Stanfield was voicing Yasuke in the english dub. Unfortunately, not even he could save the the unoriginal story that is drowned even worse by the addition of robots that 100 percent should not have been there. The premise was protecting a girl with mysterious powers from evil people who want to harness her power for evil. Thisis a drawn out subject matter and it shows as we had a happy ending with hardly any development for who Yasuke is or how he fits into this world where apparently robots are roaming feudal Japan. Would not recommend this show.
I was never hyped for Yasuke, since it would be airing directly in Netflix and their originals haven't been great, but since MAPPA did the animation,I tried to give it a try. Yasuke has good concept, with good storyline but has veey less episodes un the first season. Also, the animation was not much compelling compared to other MAPPA works (maybe because they are working on multiple projects). The actions were good and the main character seemed quite well made and written. But still, I felt it short of being a decent anime with less intriguing side characters and a limited time given to the first seasonfor development. I am not much interested, but would still see if a second season happens for Yasuke..
Yasuke is the epidemy of a clown fiesta. The show had no real originality to it and seemed to just do anything and everything it felt like. Giant Robots, yep. Magic, yep. Swordsmen, yep. Historical piece, barely. The show lacked anything and everything it would need to feel good and comprehensible. The main character, Yasuke, in thought is a pretty good character. The idea of a black swordsman trying to prove himself in feudal Japan is a very cool idea, especially since it's based off a real person, but the show does a complete disservice to the character. Yasuke feels very unoriginal, the talented man hauntedby his past type of character. The past of Yasuke ends up being significantly more interesting than the present, making it hard to care about the story. The actual plot is nothing special either, and is just the old I have to protect the chosen one storyline but doing nothing special and many things wrong. Overall, Yasuke feels bland, boring and unoriginal. Absolutely would not recommend.
Yasuke? lol more like Saki: The Last Airbender Lemme get this straight, this anime is a wack. If you're expecting a historical anime that is faithful to history, then you'll be disappointed just like me. I'm not gonna spoil everything, but let's just say that this is still historical accurate, well until the first episode happened where they threw me off with giant robots and magic bullsh*ts. Well, moving on, the story itself isn't very well done. The pacing is pretty wacky, jumping off to flashbacks to flashbacks everytime, making the characters in the flashback and the present too underdeveloped. There are many useless characters that you canreplace with basically a cardboard and nothing would change. It's understandable with only 6 episodes, but even anime movies can do more than what they've done in this anime. A lot of choices of the characters doesn't make any sense because none of them were given enough spotlight for us, the audience, to care for them. The music choices here doesn't really enhance any scenes in this anime. If they were better timed, it would really help this God forsaken anime. The opening and ending are too decent for me to comment on. It's not my cup of tea, hence I won't really bother to comment about it. That's enough for the cons, let's move to the pros. The animation. It's MAPPA so it isn't that surprising, but this isn't GoHS or JJK level of animation. It's 2 or 3 tiers below those anime. That's it. That's all the pros. Overall, it's still decent, but I can't really go and recommend this to anyone because of how much of a mix-bag this series is. (4.4/10)
Nah.. Was expecting an anime about a black samurai, not Dr. Strange Story was not the best, art was decent, but sound was just out of place. You would think it would have more traditional Japanese music, being an anime that takes place in feudal Japan, however it had more electronic music. Although it wasn't bad, it was just strange to hear and didn't fit the vibe of the show. So many things felt out of place. The flying robots, the characters, the magic.. it seemed like it was all over the place. Some of the fights were pretty cool, but you would have some fights whereit would be just swords and then others where it would be people throwing tailed beast bombs at each other. Some characters had no background or origin story so there's no real emotional attachment to any of them and they didn't go in depth into any of the characters really so as the watcher I didn't feel anything personal when anything happened to any of the characters. 3/10 It was an attempt tho
I love me a good series focused in feudal Japan, so when I saw Yasuke pop up on Netflix I had to give it a go. That and having the knowledge that Yasuke was an actual person from the Sengoku period drew me in even more. STORY While the description of the show does mention magic & mechs, I can’t say I still wasn’t caught off guard when seeing those elements used almost immediately in the opening scene. As I stated earlier, Yasuke is based off an actual individual in history, so seeing these obviously fictitious modes of fighting felt very off-putting. Granted, sometimes historical anime havemagic, but seeing giant mechs in a world that didn’t have any other advanced technology just didn’t feel right to me - especially since part of this show is trying to be at least loosely based off historic events. Moving past that though, the actual story follows Yasuke as he protects a young girl with special powers who is being hunted down. The show switches between these current events and Yasuke’s past of how he came to be a samurai. The cuts between past and present are a bit abrupt, but the show does display a time-stamp when moving back in time to make sure the viewer knows a switch has occurred. Lastly, with the limited amount of episodes, the plot felt rather rushed. Naturally there is only so much you can do with so little time, but I do think the short amount of episodes only hurt the quality of the plot. ART / ANIMATION Most of art in the show was decent, & the backgrounds were noticeably beautiful. However, besides the more prominent characters, everyone else felt especially bland. Not that every background character needs an elaborate design, but it was something I noticed immediately & thoughts like that can definitely take you out of the show for a second or two. As for animation, the fights were well done. I have definitely grown sick of watching more action-oriented series that fall back on still-images or flashy lights when there should be actual motion as the characters fight. So, Yasuke has been a breathe of fresh air in that aspect, as it did not seem to take any shortcuts. My only gripe with the animation is that in more dialog focused scenes the talking appeared quite stiff. SOUND Not gonna lie, normally I have a hard time having much of an opinion on the soundtrack of a show (besides the OP and ED). This is not the case for Yasuke. The background music was unlike any other anime I’ve seen, and I found myself getting really excited to hear it whenever it came on. Imagine hip-hop combining with traditional Japanese music, that is what we got in Yasuke and it was amazing. CHARACTERS Yasuke is a pretty cool character, the strong and silent type. We get to see how he struggles with his past, and how he goes about moving past it in the present. Unfortunately with the limited amount of episodes, we don’t necessarily get a crazy amount of character development. Besides Yasuke, Saki is basically the only other main character. She starts off a bit bland, but with a power she can’t control. Two episodes go by, and suddenly she can control it all on her own and fight against experienced enemies. I just cannot buy it whenever a character literally wakes up one day and is suddenly a master of something they had no control of the day before. I just ended up rolling my eyes a lot over this. The enemies also were barely fleshed out at all. Obviously you want the good guy to come through in the end, but the show would have benefited more from an actual enemy to overcome and not some randoms who keep popping up for whatever reason. ENJOYMENT I did start off enjoying Yasuke (er, well parts of it more than others), but I didn’t love it. As I mentioned in the beginning, the setting of the series is one of my favorites used in anime. Naturally, I found the flashback portions were more to my liking. Seeing Yasuke’s experiences as he was becoming a samurai were the most interesting parts to me, especially since most of those scenes were more true to the time period. As for Yasuke’s current ventures, I didn’t care nearly as much for those. The magic & mechs (especially the mechs), were just very off-putting to me and made it harder for me to get more invested into that part of the story. Had it been more true to the time, I definitely would have liked this part more. As the show progresses, we only see more and more of the magic/mechs, so it was basically impossible to ignore. The rushed feeling of the show also hindered my enjoyment. Enemies kept popping up & new supernatural events kept getting thrown at the viewer with limited or no explanation. It’s hard for me to truly get drawn into a show when you don’t get much chance to pause and process what’s happening. — Overall, I started off enjoying Yasuke, but as the story progressed I found I enjoyed it far less as it was getting more and more absurd. The show did have a few good qualities, however they were definitely overruled by all the issues I previously mentioned. At the end of the day, I don't think this show knew was it wanted to be. It felt unfocused as it trying to tell the story of a historical figure while simultaneously be some crazy magical mech show.
MAL users: "'Yasuke' is historically inaccurate. 5/10." Also MAL users: "The historical figures in 'Drifters' are so interesting. 8/10." And I wish I could say that in defense of a better show. I don't mind the mechs and robots and magic in concept, per se, but it doesn't feel like they serve any purpose other than identifying this as an anime. It comes off as self-conscious and insecure, like it's worried people won't recognize it as anime without these things. And so they kind of take up space as the story unfolds. It's very ho-hum. The art style didn't work for me. I watched in English andI liked Yasuke's actor in "Bojack Horseman" a lot more. Here, he's way too flat for this. The music left no impression on me whatsoever. They kill off half the cast in one episode towards the end because they were out of things to do with them, pretty much. I wanted to like it more, partially out of spite, but I just can't.
This show is bad. I'll be honest, it's just BAD. Such a wasted potential. The mechs, the magic,ghosts, bear russian lady, and all that is just bad. It's like they decided on these first then they decided to include Yasuke in it. I'm mad dissapointed. The animation is amazing, not surprised because Mappa knows how to deliver. The soundtrack would've been good if it was for another show, it just doesn't fit. The story is just straight up bad. Character development is inexistent. The time to time flashbacks were the only part that I kinda liked, but still dissapointed. Yasuke isn't even the main character in this, he's just a bodyguard ofa little girl with magical powers who doesn't even need his protection because it's her who saves him everytime.
To be blunt, Yasuke fails at the most basic elements of storytelling, while Mappa did everything they could to salvage Yasuke, you can't build with marble on a foundation of newspaper and condoms. First thing you see when you watch Yasuke is Kyoto, 1582. The second thing you see is samurai fighting on a bridge. Third thing you see is a mech impaling both samurai and 40 seconds into the show is when it starts falling apart. While having advanced technology in an anime that takes place in the past isn't new, Yasuke fails to do it properly. In Full Metal Alchemist and Attack on Titan,they both take place before present day but they justify the existence of automail and 3D maneuver gear through emergence and necessity respectively then they build their worlds in accordance to that. Automail is not out of place in Full Metal Alchemist because with the existence of Alchemy resources are plentiful and they're able to enter a sort of terminal industrial revolution which builds the world extremely effectively. While in Attack on Titan they sacrifice their prosperity to devise a way to deal with titans and other inventions emerge off of that work. THEY DONT DO THIS IN YASUKE. In Yasuke, Noganuma off handedly mentions in episode 3 that japan rapidly developed power armor to take over the world. They don't take over the world as far as we know and there is no evidence of robots or mechs existing until they are on screen. Because technology is emergent and things like 3D maneuver gear, and automail prosthetics come to be out of a process. And findings in those process of creating mechs and stuff would be utilized there. For example if you were to make a mech you would at least develop an engine. There Is Not A Single Engine Or Motorized Vehicle In Yasuke Besides Power Armor. This leads to the massive, glaring anachronism in Yasuke that can't be overlooked. This part will include spoilers scroll past this paragraph if you do not wish to be spoiled Next up is the power systems. Throughout the series we see 6 different power systems: Shapeshifting, Shamanism, Telekenis, Power Armor, mutants, and Robot. But honestly I'm not even sure because they never explain how, what, or why regarding these abilities. The female lead develops telekenesis and Yasuke fufils the role as a guide to take her to learn how to use her powers. Funny story, after being off camera for 1 episode she literally because the strongest user of telekensis and the teacher they spend the entire series alluding to has nothing to teach her. Btw they never call it Telekenesis they just say "magic" so it can really be whatever they want it to be at the moment, they never define what it can or can't do it's 100% a catch all for any situation. Especially at the end when Yasuke just gets raised from the dead because why not. Shamanism seems to manifest it's energy into spirits or something, for the most part this power is fine same with shapeshifting but they never explain why or how. Power armor and Robots are messy. As I mentioned before I have problems with these but they actually might be different. One of the mercenaries never leaves his power suit, speaks in a robotic voice and has energy projectiles, self destruct and thermo vision, they also refer to him as "big guy" so I assume he is just a robot with an A.I. so HOOOOWWWWWWWWWW???????? And the Shaman off handedly mentions that the priest is a mutant, then we don't get an explanation on how or why. No more spoilers Lastly, there are the characters and there are only 2 that matter, Yasuke and Saki, every other character is pretty forgettable except the shaman because I just happen to like him. It's fine to have a small cast but the way that I couldn't bring myself to care about anyone was crazy. People die in this show and everytime it felt contrived and I felt absolutely nothing. Ultimately, This show fails at every single metric besides production. It's animation was good when it's sticking with grounded, realistic swordfights, which is what Mappa does best. The story is absolutely not salvageable. Without completely changing the setting, or characters, this show could not be fixed. 3/10 makes me ashamed to be black
Let me start off by saying that a lot of the negative reviews here are simply uninformed. Yasuke in real life has next to no real documentation or history. We know he existed, and we know he went from point A to point B, but then everything else is pure rumor and speculation. Some reviews are saying things like "not being faithful to history". There is no history of him to be faithful to. Stop blaming these creators for something you have no knowledge of and are just inventing falsehoods about. Onto the show itself though, yeah it's not the best. It's good at most, andit has its fair share of low points. But it's only a few hours long, and, in 6 episodes, it tells a decent enough story while clearly focusing on beautiful art and fascinating fights, which serve to elevate and progress its story further. To me, this felt like an alternate take of Samurai Champloo, one of my favourite shows. With its first two episodes, this show had the potential to follow SC in its pursuit of nothing. But it fell short, perhaps intentionally, as SC did, or perhaps not and it is instead just poorly written. Either way it is enjoyable despite its flaws, and those flaws exist mainly in pacing. Character and story development needed time to breathe, that's the only major issue I have. Everyone else rags on the history. Stop talking of things you clearly know nothing about. Oh and the music.. That's a masterpiece right there.
MAPPA end his streak of fantastic animes with this one, but is not the studio fault, they did their part in the animation, pretty good in general as always, is the poorly writen and direction of the show and that part was made by americans. Lets talk about the good things of the show: - The protagonist is the only decent character. - The animation is pretty good. - The soundtrack even if doesn't feal right in some scenes is pretty good. - Some good action scenes. The negatives:- Terrible side characters. - The worldbuilding sucks; magic, mechas and samurais in one show, i'm pretty sure that with a good writing it can work, but the show never make it work it's feels awful. - The writing and direction of the show is really really bad, the only decent writing parts of the show are the flashbacks, if the series was only about the flashbacks the show could have been ending decent. Good animation, some good action scenes but pretty bad in general 4/10
Yasuke at first glance Is a very interesting anime to look forward to. An African samurai legit derived from Japanese history, MAPPA handling the animation while having 6 episodes only builds anticipation for a compelling story and superb animation. But sadly this was a first glance prediction, Yasuke was a just a fair, unmemorable and falsely misinterpreted anime. Story : 4 A mere couple of minutes into the premise of the show I was bewildered and had unsettled feelings of where this was going. I saw Mechs, Sorcerers, Demons fighting on the battlefield in order to control Feudal Japan. A bit hard to explain while watching a show expectingan action biography of an African figure in ancient Japanese culture. Anyways focusing on Yasuke, the story keeps alternating between glimpses of Yasuke's past in which he served Nobunaga and current unfolding events without explaining what has happened between both point A and B. Yasuke's role in our story is focused on being an escort to a powerful magical girl that needs to get proper training in order to control her powers while facing various enemies starring the church and mercenaries containing a giant robot, beast girl, assassin and a shaman and warlords who aim to increase their might in Japan even greater. The whole point of the story has been focused on the magical girl and not Yasuke, the story doesn't feel like it belongs to him, rather it is an extremely fantasy based story that stars an African character as an anime badass. The story is shambolic, cliche and normal as the synopsis describes. Art: 7 By today's standards the art isn't exceptional , it is actually efficiently good, the framerate is quite questionable but the sword clashes , CGI of giant mechs and magical cubes and circles was fine to say the least. But considering it is a 6 episode anime and animated by MAPPA and funded by Netflix, I actually anticipated more quality to be introduced. Sound: 8 Flying Lotus did a decent job in capturing the vibe and environment, the weird aesthetic itself was handled oddly it might just be the best thing in the show since some effort was made! Character: 6 6 episodes is not enough to flesh characters out, and it is not ok to keep on introducing characters in the 4th or 5th episodes giving them a 2 episode margin to flesh out. Yasuke and Sika (Magical Girl) experienced some sort of development, Yasuke found something to do in life rather than lay low and suffer depression. And Sika in my opinion didn't require any training in fact she had none , I see her sickness as a scheme to carry the plot towards her training. She had her potential explored on spot against her antagonists but by the end she lays low without exploring what's next for her. All the other characters are forgettable and badly introduced or misrepresented as one would expect from characters based on the Japanese Culture. The characters were also tossed aside whenever they got no longer a purpose to pursue, either killed or neglected the remainder of the show. Enjoyment: 6 I came in expecting something and saw something else, this is what weighed the show down on me. I wanted an action biography and got a horrible sci-fi clash of elements misplaced in an ancient environment. Nonetheless, the action was quite enjoyable and the mystery of the power of Sika is what kept me going, sadly not explained but created a momentum to watch the next episode. Overall: 5 Watch at your own risk, this isn't something memorable or even unique. It is just a manifestation of many elements in ancient Japan, a let down one might say but an enjoyable short watch if you aren't expecting anything and unfamiliar with Japanese history.
Story: I'd prefer if it was more historically accurate to the story of the Black Samurai, but I'm fine with the Mystisium and the Magic elements, but on the same note I can live without the giant robots no one explains. it's a really good Ronin/Samurai fantasy story. Early on there are several flashbacks that explain Yasuke's backstory. I felt cut up the action and went on for a little longer than I'd prefer. 6/10 Art: the art, character designs, and action scenes look great. there are a few scenes with ugly CGI foot soldiers in the background firing arrows and spears at each other andit looks ugly, but they never turn the main characters into CGI Monsters during any of their fights. 8/10 Sound: I watched the dub and outside of one or two bad choices with side characters, I feel it's well casted. I don't remember any standout tracks though. 7/10 Characters: Yasuke and Saki are fine tougher and I love the final fight they share with Saki plays support with her magic and Yasuke goes on the offensive. the main villain was Disney Evil, wanting to consume Saki's magic in order to live a few extra decades because she wanted to continue ruling over Japan. there is nothing redeeming about her and I like that. 8/10 Enjoyment: I liked it. I wouldn't rewatch it, but I'd recommend it to people if they like Samurai Epics. 7/10 Overall: 7/10
