Yasuke

Yasuke is ............a pretty weird show that exists. It's not great but ...y'know its not awful. I think my enjoyment of the show played a huge factor in my overall score. Don't get me wrong though, i still have problems with Yasuke. -Story The story is literally all over the place, And the actual premise of being a story about the historically first "black" samurai sacrifices its grounded historical fiction for crazy ass magic powers and even mecchas because hey, why not add robots in a story that takes place in the 14th century? Because anime, that's why. Also, the final episode is just absolutely wild. Gave me flashbacks to when I was watching GOH, but fortunately, unlike GOH, the story itself is pretty simple and concise, its time jumps are a bit abrupt but not too hard to follow. -Characters The rest of the problems i do have with the show are the characters, the characters are pretty cliché, the main villians are Sailor Moon levels of cheese. since the anime is only 6 episodes, the pacing is so tight that i didn't really feel that much of the dynamics with Yasuke and the others like the little girl or even the king dude. I think the creators just thought of how interesting a concept of having a black samurai anime protagonist would be and just ran with it. I wanna praise them for that but it doesn't matter what race a character is in fiction if they're badly written. In the case of Yasuke, he's alright. He's the baseline of what to expect from a main character, and to be honest i'd take cliché over isekai protagonist any day. I really wished they explored Yasuke's relationship with the king dude in his flashback. Some of the magic, especially with the little girl, is just nuts and not really explained that well, but after all of the crazy visuals I've seen, I really don't think telling a good story was the creators' main objective. Alright now that the bad things are out of the way, time for some praise. -Art and Animation the art in Yasuke is gorgeous. The character designs by Takeshi Koike are just so detailed and tell alot about each character. I know a good looking design is subjective but ive always been a fan of his so i guess that's just me.The gigantic monster women, the marks on Yasuke's body, the wardrobe, the friking eyeballs. Wow. The background art also is super duper impressive. To be honest its some of the best background art I've seen in a long while. There is just so much detail I was able to catch on my high def tv. And the artistic liberties taken especially in the trippy ass final episode looked like a final boss level out of Sekiro or something. And the animation. dude....omg...the animation in this show is just insane at times. The fight scenes are super violent and really well choreographed, some of the animation outside the fights were just wow...it almost felt like MAPPA was just flexing on how well they can animate when they don't have an airing schedule. Some of the visuals were just a couple of colors away from an acid trip;gave me hardcore End of Eva vibes. Of course, its ambitious scenes don't match with its actual story, but still it looks really well. If one thing, I kept saying "woah" out loud. I almost felt like a kid at a museum or aquarium going "oohhh and ahhh" at things. Even if you don't plan on watching the show, the anime opening alone should be something to watch when you get the chance. The only time when the animation does faulter is the mecchas that stand out in all of its MAPPA cgi glory. -Music the music was also really solid. Its the definition of a "vibe". Flying Lotus did a great job combining some contemporary music with some of the more traditional style of eastern music. Actually tbh I cant really judge how well he represent the traditional music because I'm so American, I literally bleed out root beer. But to me it sounded refined and tasteful, serving its purpose ,not being overbearing and making its presence a force at very intense moments. And since I'm a masochist who loves ya, I actually watched this show dubbed, and uh its pretty strange. I don't get the dubs for netflix shows, they have some good acting talent but its just they're really messy when it comes to scripting and direction. Some of the actors had great voices but the lip flaps for them barely match up, some characters express emotions differently from the actor delivering the lines which can be strange, and I appreciate them using actual kids to voice act but the downside of that is the voice acting for the kids are just not great. Its not their fault to be honest, its whoever directed the voice acting for them. -Enjoyment Yea as I said before, I had a super fun time with this show, its not perfect overall, but fortunately the story is simple enough to grasp on to, some of the story beats where super rough to follow though, that and its characters are no match for the art ,animation and sound. But I had a lot of fun with this one for sure, its not bad especially for a Netflix anime.Its just another show that has great things about it but its story and characters is what really drags it down. Its a wild bumpy ride that might lead other people ejected off the tracks and dead on the ground but the absolute madness was just a joy to experience so knock yourself out. -Overall 7-oop i mean 6 changed my score for it.

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 expecting an 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.

It’s an average cliche anime. I guess it’s alright, but nothing spectacular. I fully understand that there are not many accounts of Yasuke’s life, so the creators don’t have much to work on. There are not many accounts of even major warlords, let alone regular warriors like Yasuke. As a result, it can’t be helped that most of this anime is gonna be based on fiction. HOWEVER, I think that demonic giant robots and an overwatch-style futuristic flying robot character is going too far. Especially that yellow robot character. He completely destroys the atmosphere of Edo-period Japan. I’ll give the shape-shifting Russian bear lady a pass, but I wish the band of international mercenaries was used less often, otherwise it destroys the atmosphere of Edo-period Japan. Yasuke was unique because he was pretty much the only foreigner in a homogenous feudal Japan. The fact that there are international mercenaries (including a black shaman) running around makes Yasuke less unique. I would even go so far as to argue that he should have been the only black character in the anime to make him stand out even more. if there are foreigners running around japan, yasuke is not unique. The reason he is unique is because he was a foreigner running around japan during a time when there weren’t many. The story is... mediocre. It is obviously inspired by Avatar. The whole “child with special magical bending powers being chased by evil soldiers” -type story. The “man defending the child” story is the same as the mandalorian, Logan, the last of us etc... its has been done many times and much better. I think the best parts of Yasuke were the flashback scenes. They were the best parts but when i say “best” i mean best in the show. Even they weren’t particularly amazing compared to the rest of the anime industry. Yasuke could have been a better anime if it were more realistic and there were less giant robots, international mercenaries and zombie warlords back from the dead. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any supernatural elements at all in the show. However, I think this show went too far. I think Kuromukuro has already demonstrated that robots and feudal japan don’t go well together. (Curiously enough, Kuromukuro is also a Netflix original anime. Do they ever learn!?) If you want a good story about Yasuke the black samurai, wait for the live action movie or go read a book about him. This is just an average supernatural mecha-samurai pop-corn entertainment. Not a historical epic.

Ok........ I bench watched this and holy moly this was not enjoyable at all. The anime starts with a big battle, ok ok good start. But then there is MAGIC, MECHS and spirits which put me already at the disappointment level. Like yes i like magic & mechs but for this anime i waited for normal 1500s japan and not a damn mech anime. now that that's off my heart the art is VERY nice but that's almost the only thing i can say is good with this anime, characters are forgettable & boring AND they put so much stuff in a 6ep season that there is not that much space to bring good character development anywhere. This anime just felt like the story writers didn't get any critique or opinions while they were making it, Just a huge disappointment.

WHY IN TF IS THEIR ROBOTS IN AN ANIME ABOUT A HISTORICAL FIGURE!? first half great, very leading, second half has me appauled. great cast though, as well as the choreography, everyone loves good fights especially a martial artist or animator. art style is great pretty fitting, i do feel like most of the characters were half assed but the main characters and maybe one other has a decent like character build. Yasuke pretty much aura farmed half the time which is fine but one of the characters i couldnt connect with really she felt a bit unnatural TOWARDS THE END. yeah i think ive made my point enough

First of all, thank you Netflix. Thank you for your support of anime. This anime gives me mixed feelings, but it doesn't seem like a bad anime at all, as so many negative reviews say. With so many negative reviews looking at stupid aspects in a repellent way, the only thing that is achieved is that platforms like Netflix stop supporting anime production and that the anime industry loses, and nobody wants that! I quite agree with the review from @CodeBlazeFate who also gives it a 6. I would like to point out that for me the weakest thing is the development of the characters, of which I expected more, and the inconsistencies in the plot (for example, saki super sick in chapter 1 and then becoming very powerful without training). I liked the animation a lot, as well as the fight scenes, and the mechas, although they are worse, do not bother me. Everything else seems OK to me. I agree that it is not the best anime of the year hahahaha but in a way it has been entertaining to finish it ... and believe me, if I were bored I would not have passed chapter 1. My grade, as I said, is a 6, but it could be a 6.5 or a 7, and this is also my way of supporting the original anime production. I think the path is the right one and it is a matter of time and of continuing to improve.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: are identity politics why this anime sucks? The answer is no. They're just not. Don't get me wrong, this anime is ass, but it's not because someone had an agenda. The anime is bad because it's basically a clusterf*ck of random ideas that clash really badly. It wants to simultaneously be a magic anime, a mecha anime, a historical fiction anime, a samurai anime--you name it. It's especially frustrating because the trailer for the anime presents itself like it wants to tell the story of the real Yasuke. The first episode covers the entirety of the real Yasuke's story, which means that the story's strongest element, its main character and namesake, isn't even what the story is really about. The "story" just sputters and spitballs a bunch of random anime trope garbage for 5 episodes and hopes you're dumb enough to eat it up like a good little brainless consumer. I really would recommend that you just read about the real Yasuke if you're thinking about watching this anime, it's much faster and its tens of times more interesting. He was a real landowner and swordsman and was considered by many contemporaries and historians to be the first foreign samurai, which is a genuinely interesting concept for a story that I really wish was told properly.

The art was pretty and unique, the sound great. It was very reminescent of Samurai Champloo and at first it seemed set up to follow in its' foot steps. Unfortunately, the show being only 6 episodes long forced the story to be rushed and not allow for proper development of the characters or allow the audience to become properly acquainted with the characters. It was badass that the heroes of the story were such a diverse cast in race, gender, and age. However the because the story was so rushed it fell a bit flat. Not totally pancake flat, but a bit flat. I think its' worth a watch, and I would recommend it. Had the story given more time to character development and mundane adventuring I think the audience would be able to connect and follow the story better.

LeShaun Thomas’s Yasuke truly has exposed the worst in the anime community. Judging by reviews, tweets, and comments relating to Yasuke, hundreds have decided to come out from the woodworks and reveal how uncomfortable they are with a mainstream anime depicting a real historical figure. If you are one of those who confuse a samurai who also happens to be a person of color as being left-wing or SJW propaganda then that should say more about your biases and rooted racism. You can certainly point out the politics of Yasuke but attempting to equate the politics and culture of 16th century Japan to that of 21st century America, you will find it a little uneven. Being a black man throughout nearly all of human history, even of Japan, you will notice there will be relatively infinite amounts of bigotry they are exposed to. Japan today is no different; being a culture in a post-WWII, modern world, Japan transformed into an Americanized democratic society, maintaining most of our traits, media, and habits, they never went through a civil rights movement. They never had the historical context of hundreds of thousands of black slaves that eventually became free and made the most of what they could to start from scratch. The racial undertones the were carried over from the musk of American whiteness, were left seeded and sprouting in the 1950s. Black people are not handled in the same way white people and Asian people are delicately portrayed in media. It’s why 9.5/10 you will see a token black character with very dark skin, comically thick lips, or a single ebonic trait (rapping, portrayed as a “thug” etc.) as their personality or even straight up white washed, having little semblance to someone that is black aside from their skin tone. Sometimes even this is turned up a notch further with characters like Casca from Berserk having their skin lightened to appear more white, whether that was a deliberate decision or not. Either way, Japan, as a whole, doesn’t have the same keenness to appropriate black portrayals nor have the same concerns as those over in the West that very well deal with serious and real issues even to this day. To talk further on the show itself, like Afro Samurai, another show about a Samurai and with less than 10 episodes to its name, this show leans heavily into fiction than staying on track to being a more “realistic” adaptation inspired by real events. Many people that took issue to that show for being supernatural and less “real” for what a show about a wandering samurai was supposed to be repeat this same critique for Yasuke. I personally don’t understand what people have against a show like these two for adding robots and super powers into their samurai anime (it is anime after all) and being “unrealistic”. It sounds more like an excuse to complain and conviently, we don’t see the same critiques for when other historical samurai anime like Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai Champloo decide to throw in over the top elements to their premises. Even a historical show like Golden Kamuyi has some unrealistic elements and that hasn’t haunted its universal praise from fans. The fact that Yasuke decides to steer off the beaten path with other genres is refreshing and keeps things interesting. You’ll notice Yasuke says more about Christianity and faith than it does race. It’s an adaptation and Yasuke intended from the beginning to be this different instead of adapting straight from any high school text books (not that he is talked about in any from my understanding). Not much is truly known about of Yasuke’s life so the show going more this route makes more sense this way too. The decision to set this show apart from other jidaigeki shows in Japan and getting more creative the way they did is a decision I think everyone should be able to respect. It’s a shame to see this show already have a 6.06, at the time of this review, on MAL where a show like Redo of Healer is rated higher, with far more 10s to its name, and a horde of fans ready at the shows defense (despite their claims of SJWs complaining about the show, which there are none lol). Sigh... The art itself is top quality. The color palettes and character designs are both unique and separate from the criticism I had from most other shows that portrayed black people. The art is very reminiscent of more western designs too, with Thomas’s input directing a more universal visual appeal, similar to that of Avatar: The Last Airbender. There is a a healthy, modest portion of stylistic decisions like how the supernatural powers take flight or the way characters fight in general. The music too is amazing. Flying Lotus is perhaps one of the greatest producers/electronic music artists of our generation and has had a hand in anime, with serval shows like that of Shinichiro Watanabe’s influencing his own work. The soundtrack compliments the show and with a show to do with a black samurai, it’s only fitting to incorporate music with black significance within the context of Flying Lotus’s own production while also sharing an experimental sound that relays the futuristic, sci-fi genre too. Not every anime fan will appreciate Fly Lo’s muse but what else would better suit Yasuke? Do y’all want another show that features the tsuzumi drum like in every other Feudal Japan show? Yasuke isn’t deliberately political, but it still faces the inherent commentary of black history due to the groundbreaking significance the historical figure was able to achieve. As far as what I recall, Yasuke doesn’t stop to deliver a monologue on why racism is bad and you should vote for Biden in 2024. What it does do is give a voice to people of color with a character that happens to be black, that happens to be important in samurai history, and that happens to be adapted in a time a sensitive to black lives as today. No need to be insensitive and play deaf by comparing this to being SJW propaganda that’s tainted the once-pure otaku subculture. As if films like Black Panther and Captain Marvel do more harm than good by pandering to the sensitive left and Yasuke is only adding to that. It’s a shame a show like this only has 6 episodes to its name, but with what we ended up with, it made for something as exciting as a well paced anime that stretches double that length. If you disagree with me and think the show isn’t great or for you then that’s fine. Everyone has a different opinion and wish for how a show is handled, but let’s not buy into the idea that this is a show for snowflakes.

Yasuke has gotten a lot of bad rep. I don’t think its close to one of the best anime i’ve seen nor is it one of my favorite...however I cant help but still recommend it despite that. The show has this aura about it that’s hard to put into words, something about it I just really enjoyed. Perhaps that’s due to the hypnotic score by Flying Lotus, which delivers an opening that I refuse to skip. The OST is incorporated perfectly and is clearly the standout of the show. Watchers of Samurai Champloo will be familiar with the Hip-Hop beat backed fight sequences...The more subtle moments have soothing vibey tracks that can easily put you to sleep at the end of a stressful day. The animation as well is beautiful, and while I dont think it looks as good as a modern traditional anime like Demon Slayer, it has its own style to it that made it really unique..basically as close to traditional artstyle as you can get from an “American” Anime. While I do understand the dislike of throwing mechas and superpowers into a show taking place in feudal Japan, I respect the creativity and felt like the vision of the creator was seen through thoroughly. The story and characters are nothing to write home about, for veterans of anime you’ve seen it before. However, Yasuke and his plight are both likable and relatable respectively. I do wish they didn’t rely too heavily on a mcguffin by the end but it made for some truly stunning action sequences. If you want something more grounded in reality, i’d recommend Champloo or Afro Samurai, but if you want to try something a little different, or you’re just simply looking for something tobwatch outright i’d recommend this to anybody, especially when you’re...medicated so to speak. I ended off feeling satisfied and very open to watching more. The show accomplished what it set out to do with such a short timeframe, and while it may not be the most groundbreaking and high quality story with the best of characters I still think Yasuke is worth watching.

There is not a single thing that I enjoyed about this anime-besides the premise of course. At its core, Yasuke reads like a love letter to Japanese anime- a letter that needs to be proofread, rewritten, proofread again, and then maybe Japan would be welcoming to receive our profound crush. I would best describe Netflix's Yasuke as a schoolgirls crush. It's idealized- glorifying and glamorizing the best parts of an anime without really knowing (and dare I say caring) why or how they work. I mean, why would you care about the actuality of this person when the idea in your head works so much better? This is one of my main problems with the show at large-it feels like an American interpretation of Japanese pop culture instead of being a loving homage. For example, Americans are obsessed with samurai being these stoic, quiet underdogs (although for a black samurai, this interpretation is not 100% correct), and that's fine because they work under some larger historic context, so now you think that Yasuke is a historical work. And then the mechas come in, and you think "why is this in here? oh, maybe it's like some historical fusion type deal" and then you see half-dressed women carrying scythes and shapeshifting into werewolves, and you're like "wtf". Plus, speaking of fusion, if you want to incorporate "foreign" elements into a markedly Japanese genre, I don't think it is necessary to have a historically accurate character to push these elements. The anime really struggles whether it wants to be historically accurate or not- it'll pick a historically accurate black samurai, but then will have daimyo throw purple magic at the character. You cant have your cake and eat it too- either make a historical anime with a black samurai or write an original black samurai and incorporate fantasy elements. Yasuke is a prime example of cherrypicking elements or tropes like you like from anime and not understanding how they functioned in said work. Elements feel so haphazardly thrown into the work not because they enhance the work, but because they tropes that have existed in the anime world. This leaves Yasuke feeling like three separate shows with three different genres that do not mesh well together. This is all to say that the biggest problem with Yasuke is not its premise but its writing. I truly wonder what it will take for anime fans to realize that it is not animation and art (although done very well) it is not an animes saving grace, but it's writing. Think of it as a cake; the tropes you employ, the characters you write, the world-building, these are the ingredients. Art and animation are like frosting- decorative and sweet but works in tandem in the cake to "taste good" to the viewer. Would I recommend you watch Netflix's Yasuke? If you want. But my answer is no.

Yasuke: A different work. Well, at the end of April we had a somewhat… different work… Yasuke is based on the story of the First, and only, African samurai in the Japanese feudal era, Yasuke, yet told in a more playful way, with magic and ... Mechas... The story begins in 1582, during the episode known as the “Honnoji Incident”, in thelast moments of the first unifier, Lord Nobunaga, but because it begins in the end of an era? Because the story is not from his point of view but from one of his samurai, Yasuke, a slave who became a samurai, with land and title. From that point on, the story begins to alternate from 1602, where the story takes place, and between1579-1581, for flashbacks from the time that Yasuke served Lord Nobunaga, exploring aof the clan's bloodiest periods. Story: Take the anime “Sengoku Musou”, based on the same period, but I divide itat different times, you can distinguish the characters, it's playful in itself, but thehistory is there, the history of japan. In Yasuke… well… apart from the protagonists (Yasuke and Saki), all the other characters are unforgettable, from Saki’s little friend to the generic villains with generic mentalities. The footless and headless plot is another that the satisfaction in watching the work decreases, Hanzo Hattori did not participate in the conflict of Iga already that he was loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nobunaga's greatest ally, the greatest villain in history is only mentioned until the 3rd episode, the other two Unifiers are only mentioned in the first 10 seconds of the anime, but even so it seems that they erased the existence of them in history, it is most striking being after the Sekigahara war. Another work that managed to do something similar but that was totally well done was Capcom with Onimusha, I watched it thinking that it was possible to have an anime about this series of games. It is worth noting that prior knowledge of the Oda period is recommended, in order to nuances that is done in the flashbacks, be it from Lord Nobunaga's relationship with Yasuke, in the view of satisfaction, of a perfect son, Mitsuhide Akechi's dissatisfaction about his lord's progressive position, even about the cruelty to the Nobunaga's enemies, or even rumors, that were later dealt with in the literature of Edo period, about Nobunaga's homosexual interaction with his bodyguard, Ranmaru Mõri. Characters: Yasuke is a well-made character, he has his motivations and is still pursued by his memories of the past, about his actions. Saki on the other hand, is generic, is the child character with powers that she cannot control and that is consuming little by little, but out of nowhere she learns to control without any training or effort, this is kind of ... Meh. The Mercenaries is the icing on the cake, the randomness is incredible, we have since a Japanese who uses a Harpe, a robot with artificial intelligence, an African with spiritual powers and even a Russian who turns into a bear. And well they are mercenaries, however someone paying them ... it would be nice if there was a little story behind them, something like what was done in Samurai 7 by Mizutaka Suhou, like I just went to find out their name in the last two episodes, it’s ridiculous, before that I was calling “Woman with Sickle Sword, Robotic Joke, Russian Bear-Woman and African Wizard.” Villains is a little difficult to quantify: We have Daimyo Hojõ, Priest, General Sombrio, and another general from Daimyo, the only two that have something “concrete” are Daimyo and Priest, both with their own motives, however it is worth noting that the priest’s plot does not add in no way, it is simply a plot situation for Saki to use its powers. Historical characters are complicated, just Yasuke, Mitsuhide, Nobunaga and Ranmaru are painstakingly portrayed, the rest is expendable. The anime puts a mess of OC characters to supply the main plot, Morisuke and Matsumaru are an example addition, one serves for Saki and Yasuke’s story while the other serves only for one Redemption pseudo-bow for Yasuke. Animation: Estudio Mappa did a great job animating this, from fighting one against one of swords since the spells, a few moments I saw a half-mouthed CGI but I can be mistaking. It has similarity to the Castlevania anime in graphic terms. Music: It was cool to mix Japanese classical music with Western techno, contrast for work to be different from others. In short, the Work is good as well as fictional but we cannot say that it is the story about the Yasuke's life, as the story was sold, there are still three versions to find out, Samurai Warriors 5 (Game), Yasuke from Lionsgate (Movie) and the Brazilian Comic “Yasuke, O Samurai Africano ”by Isaac Santos”

This show proves LeSean needs to have limits imposed. He should be working with somebody, or within set restraints. I don't know what it is, but he just can't make a good story. Once again, he creates another show that is an incoherent mishmash of things he likes. All of the problems from "Cannon Busters" rear their head once again. Bad world building, lame "deliver the mcguffin" plot, flat characters, and a boring villain. ART: 4/10 The art is super inconsistent, jarringly so. The fight scenes are composed of very standard swordplay + magic, and the character design is very basic. There's not a single thing that stands out, and that's a shame. SOUND: 4/10 It utterly pains me to rate this so low. You have Flying Lotus and Thundercat making stuff, but it feels really phoned in. The music should fit the world. The opening—while a good track— doesn't fit, the random more trap-type beats don't fit, and when the music does fit— it's boring. WORLD: 3/10 It's Japan, but there's magic and random robot tech. You'd think with military robot tech, there'd be more technology present elsewhere, but no, everyone lives in generic villages. There's not a single spec of technology to be found, which should have propagated at this point, based on the fact that there were mechs during the first war, which took place over 20 years ago. It would make sense if the world had a twinge of "early tech / steampunk" to it, but nah, that would have taken too much effort. CHARACTERS: 1/10 VILLIAN: Evil magic thing trying to take over. Literally, who cares. YASUKE: He's black. He's a samurai. He's a fisherman. He's black. He's also dark skinned. Did I mention he's black? Seriously, the dude has no personality— not that personality is a big thing in this show. Ever single episode, everyone is blown away by how black he is, and it gets old really fast. He's just a generic good guy with a tragic past. They gloss over everything that could make him a compelling character, his struggle for acceptance, his time as a servant, his time right after the war, and what we're left with is a man with the personality of a wet blanket. SAKI: Little girl with overpowered powers. Oh, she also needs to get somewhere and the main character has to escort her. Wow... THE MERCENARIES: The most interesting part of the show, but that's not saying much. There's a robot, Great-Value Advol, Fursuit Zarya, and a girl who wears latex pants. Their motivations flip in the most pathetic way at one point which left me scratching my head. EVERYONE ELSE: Who cares? STORY: 1/10 Evil thing wants to take over, and only a girl with powers can stop it. Yasuke takes Saki up to— zzZzzZzzzzzz... VERDICT: 3/10 Yeah, just skip this one. Bad pacing, bad plot, lame everything, bleh.

I'm seeing a lot of hate for this show and I don't really understand why. Did you think by seeing Yasuke's name it was going to be a by the book historical drama? There is literally giant mecha and psychic powers in the trailer. I would say take it in the same vain as Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I am bias because of my love of Flying Lotus' music because I've been listening to him since 2010. So I can see how some people don't like the music. This was an enjoyable watch. While I felt some of the dialogue could of used some work. It felt like a love letter to a lot of anime tropes from an American perspective.

Oh. My. Lanta. Sooooooo good! I had no expectations when entering the realm of Yasuke and it blew my mind! No stupid cotton candy hair cliche characters. No basic anime tropes. This show is mature and deep. The soundtrack is excellent! The original hip hop and dynamics in the music score elevate every mood in each episodes. The intro and outro music/animation are so well done and original. The animation quality is also outstanding! The animators are so talented and episode 3 has some of the best artistic and most original expression you will see in animation today. Talk about beautiful! The story line is original and does a great job of hopping back and forth between the past and the present to tie feelings together. All of the characters come with great personality and you won’t find the dead horse typical anime characters you find in other series here. You don’t get the quiet kid that whispers with absolutely no enthusiasm and you don’t get the annoying high pitched whiny brat. I love that this show keeps a serious tone while slipping in comedy every few minutes. I laughed quite a bit! Overall, I enjoyed every minute of this gem and it was such a refreshing and different series. We need more anime like this that break the worn out mold. Cheers!

Watched all 6 episodes. Would give it a 3/10. Not kidding when I say it's one of the worst shows I've watched in the last few months. Outside of the music and the opening it's pretty awful in every way. Like it's baffling how uninspired it was. Felt like they just smashed together a few tropes and called it a day. Stereotypical characters and non-existent characterization. Which is a shame because I did like what I saw from Yasuke as a character. If they didn't have someone obsessed with tossing as many tropes in as they could without caring about how they fit in and just stuck to stuff like that it would've been amazing. In order to fit in the tropey shit they took shortcuts that made the anime seem cheap like the copy paste sorcerers or 90s cg beam fights.

This cointains some marginal spoilers. . . . . Yasuke!? More like Saki; this anime tells nothing about the actual historical figure and it's instead about this unknown child called Saki with some strange superpowers that are never explained or defined. There are an incredible amount of details that are made up just for the plot and have near to no serious effect or explanation, like Saki's illness or the strange electrical powers of a priest. 1/3 of the characters have some kind of special abilities or transformations that are never explained also there are Mecha, why you ask? I have no f**king idea, PORCO DIO. The story is near to non-existent and the very few powers that are supposed to be explained have such a generic name and defition that you might think those very explanation are non-existant. It uses an insane amount of CGI, so if you aren't a fan of it be prepared, porca la madonna; the music is some kind of strange trap hiphop no-copiright lofi nonsense, not really my cup of tea. All in all I think that if they had twice as much episodes and half of the characters to deal with, it would have been an enjoyable anime. Also you would have to cut things like mecha and electrical tentacle priest.

The anime leaves you a lot to be desired, starting with the fact that it is fictional. I would have liked to see something like afro samurai but hey we don't see that. The first 3 chapters are quite boring, the only redeemable thing is the bleeding and the fights it has. The truth is that the only good thing it has is the animation and the soundtrack, then the rest is bad enough not to say terrible. The end is dire. Another thing that happened to me all the time I felt that it was like star wars a dark force that seeks to conquer the world, then the chosen one has to save it. On top of that, the worst thing is that it looks like the new tribology, it's a shitty shit. So another thing you don't have to look at. En español: El anime te deja bastante que desear comenzando que es re ficcional. Me hubiera gustado ver algo como afro samurái pero bueno no vemos eso. Los primeros 3 capítulos son bastante aburridos, lo único rescatable es la sangra y las peleas que tiene. La verdad siento que lo único bueno que tiene es la animación y la banda sonora, después lo demás bastante malo para no decir pésimo. El final es nefasto. Otra cosa que me paso todo el tiempo sentia que era como star wars una fuerza obscura que busca conquistar el mundo, entonces el elegido lo tiene que salvar. Encima lo peor es que se parece a la nueva tribología es una reverenda mierda. Así que otra cosa por la que no lo tenes que mirar.

For me, I thought the animation and soundtracks are pretty dope (I mean it’s MAPPA what do you expect from a great anime studio :DD). But, it seems that the way they execute the plot is really rushed and I think it could be better if there were longer episodes rather than just cramp everything in 6 episodes. Plot: 6 In the first 2 episodes, the plot was really solid, but as it goes by, it becomes more rushed and it’s very overwhelming from one situation to another. Many people also indicated that robots and magic shouldn’t be included in this plot because it kinda ruined it, but I think it was pretty alright. But the thing is, I would really like to the plot slower and elaborated more rather than just squeezing everything into one. Characters: 5 The characters in the show had pretty good outfits and had really high potential as they have their own styles. Rather than just coming out of nowhere and fight with each other and then Bam! The characters die. I would really want them to develop properly rather than just creating those characters for the sake of supporting the story of the show. If they were developed and show different perspectives of themselves, I would give this character rating way higher. Art: 9 The art was one of the things in the show that really indicates ‘take one for the team’. The animation for the fighting scenes was really smooth and sharp, especially when Yasuke defeated a big number of soldiers. And the color palette used in the show was really eye-catching and satisfying to watch. Sound: 8 The sound in the show was also used in great detail. Many people said that the soundtracks added in the show were not really compatible, but I think it did a pretty good job. It was really vibing and chill while watching those fight scenes. Speaking of the fighting scenes, the sound used for swords and others sounded really cleaned and detailed. Overall/Enjoyment: 7 Although many people said it was pretty bad and the ending is a bit cliche, I think it’s a pretty decent show to watch if you want something fresh and has a few episodes =3=

I was really excited and had very high hopes for this show as I'm a big history nerd and Samurai Champloo is my favorite anime, I thought this would have similar vibes when I saw the trailer on Netflix. I was quite disappointed with how to show turned out to be. It felt more or less like an excuse to use historical names for their fantasy action show. I really liked the music since I'm a fan of Flying Lotus' work and the art style is cool but obviously not the best we've seen from Studio MAPPA, the character development was just bad and I honestly expected a better ending. I hoped that the story would be like the actual "black samurai" but all we got was the same sh*t Afro Samurai gave us: good music, great art style but a poorly written story about a black samurai, the voice acting wasn't great too the actor who voiced Yasuke is a big actor but his performance is one of the worst I've seen honestly luckily the Japanese version sounded great. plus, what the hell are robot's doing in the Edo time period?