Netflix has just added one more entry to its ever-growing list of ambitious anime projects, releasing a trailer today for Yasuke, the (semi-) historical tale of an African man who became a prominent warrior in feudal Japan. This part is all real, to be clear; That’s it Yasuke’s story is closely interconnected with that of former warlord Oda Nobunaga, and there’s nothing from video game creators and anime artists I love more than pushing a bunch of demons and magic shit into the life of the famous and feared Nobunaga.
So presumably, some of the wildest things in the trailer above, which sees the ever capable Voice of LaKeith Stanfield Yasuke, who supposedly came to Japan in the late 1500s in the company of Jesuit missionaries, before getting Nobunaga’s attention. He ended up being named the weapon bearer of Nobunaga, a role that carried great privilege during the time, and generally causes Yasuke to be described as the first black samurai. When Nobunaga was killed, Yasuke fought for a while against his killer, then disappeared from the eyes of history – possibly because he became a demon-fighter boatman subject to some kind of tough prophecy, if the new anime is to believe.
Animation tasks in Yasuke are being treated by MAPAA, which recently managed the last season of Attack on Titan. The series is scheduled for an April 29 release.