Netflix’s Yasuke Anime: Samurai and Mechs in the Sixteenth Century

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Netflix's Yasuke anime posterNetflix’s Yasuke anime is set in the sixteenth century, a time when Japanese samurai fought mechs, giant robots, and the occasional Russian werewolf. All of which leaves me divided about the show: On the one hand, why not throw in some giant robots? They look good in a fight. And the Russian werewolf was magnificent. On the other, Yasuke was a real, historical figure. He was an African bodyguard who arrived in Japan with the Portuguese missionaries and so impressed Lord Oda Nobunaga that he rose to the rank of samurai. He was, from surviving accounts, an exemplary fighter and a member of Nobunaga’s inner circle. It seems a shame to add distracting flourishes to what is already an extraordinary story.

The Yasuke anime is set after the defeat of Nobunaga, a time where historical accounts fray and legend sets in. In LeSean Thomas’ account, Yasuke has chosen life as a boatman in a small village, spending his days ferrying villagers where they need to go and his nights drinking alone. Then a young girl in the village, Saki, develops strong magical/spiritual power and is hunted for it. He chooses to defend her and take her where she can be trained. In a nice touch, this decision comes from lessons he learned from his people in Africa. It is one point where the attempt to tell the story of a man in two worlds lands.

The Yasuke anime is an oddly structured series: With only six episodes, there are two, unrelated villains and two decisions to leave the village in search of the doctor Saki needs. One villain is a grotesque Catholic priest, the other an equally distorted Daimyo of the land. If there was a relationship between the two, some reason for both to be in the same narrative, I missed it. Interwoven in these are flashbacks to Yasuke’s younger days, glimpses of his first arrival in Japan and his career as a successful and lethal samurai in Nobonaga’s army. This last, with the struggles and pathos turned out to be the story I really wanted to hear.

In part, I think, this comes from the relative scarcity of English language stories or histories about the African samurai. Had Thomas chosen, say, Sir Francis Drake, for his subject, he could have added all the mecha and werewolves he wanted: I have learned about Drake in school and can pick up any number of biographies about him. Yasuke, however, is relatively hard to find and I would dearly love to see his history more directly dramatized.

Visually, the anime is worth watching with several striking images, particularly in the scenes of battle. The collapsing, fire-filled structures make grand backgrounds for battles and double down on the issue of who is losing. Yasuke, particularly retired Yasuke, has a seamed face, lined with weariness. Saki, on the other hand, is a near blank, both innocent and unmarked.

One more thing: When the show warns that it is rated “Mature” because of gore, they really mean it. The screen is often awash in blood and flame. The villains have moments of nightmare ugliness when they are on screen.

If you want a side of scholarship to go with your animation, I suggest African Samurai, which I reviewed here.

Official description:
In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a peaceful existence after a past life of violence. But when a local village becomes the center of social upheaval between warring daimyo, Yasuke must take up his sword and transport a mysterious child who is the target of dark forces and bloodthirsty warlords. 

You can watch Yasuke on Neftlix

 

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