Yasuke (Netflix TV Series) Review

On Netflix there is an animated TV series by the title Yasuke. This series was directed/produced by LeSean Thomas. He has credits in other animated titles like Black Dynamite, Children of Ether, and Cannon Busters.

The series runs for six (6) episodes with approximately thirty (30) minutes run time and follows the adventures of an African Slave, (Yasuke) who becomes a Samurai to a Japanese daimyo, Oda Nobunaga set in the Sengoku period.

The protagonist is loosely based on the actual African figure, Yasuke who became the retainer for the actual Lord Nobunaga. But the factual circumstances and particulars of the characters and this period only serve as a set piece. The world has a lot of fantastical elements added to it such as Mechs, Magic and Mutants.

The World and Lore

Immediately it is clear that this story is anything but a traditional Samurai set piece with the oddity of an African Samurai as within this world Yasuke is quite ordinary as compared to some extraordinary characters that are present and influence the worlds machinations.

No disrespect to his incredible fighting prowess, but it is clear that while Yasuke is a master swordsman there are individuals who can easily make short work of him if he does not give encounters with them his all.

One of the main weaknesses of this series is villain build-up and world lore. A lot of the story is spent on us understanding Yasuke, delightfully so! But the villain is positioned as an existential threat almost in the same mystical vein of Aku in Samurai Jack. However, due to the pace of the story progression to wrap the main storyline up in 6 episodes, we are shuffled along to accept the scope of the villain’s power.

Added to this all the other fantastical elements and characters found in this world are not fully explained. Like a female Russian were-bear, a Resident Evil like catholic priest, a fully functional AI in a War-Mech body and a Mesoamerican (Or maybe Polynesian) like shaman. All form a team of mercenaries for hire operating in Japan, no real explanation is offered. This is just two oddities within this series.

The Animation

The animation is decent and was done by MAPPA Studios with only two times I was looking at certain scenes and found them a bit odd one was where Yasuke was being tossed about in a tavern and the other was a water effect in a babbling brook.

I do find that other MAPPA work is superior such as Jujutsu Kiasen, but this is not bad by any stretch of the imagination it is good animation. It could be due to my expectations of MAPPA that one cannot help but nitpick.

The Verdict

While Yaskue is not bad, but it misses a lot of potential, given the material, backdrop and fantasy elements. A big lamentation is that this series could have been a slam dunk with one or two scenes that boggled the senses.

But it turns out to be a mild entertaining watch while you fold your laundry in the afternoon.

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