Yasuke an anime based on the first African samurai coming to Netflix on April 29th

Netflix has announced a new anime adaptation, Yasuke. The streaming service has teased few images and revealed the premise of the series. This series is going to hit the streaming platform on April 29th with six episodes featuring one of the greatest ronin ever, Yasuke.

Yasuke is believed to be the first African samurai. This series follows Yasuke in an alternate version of feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic. This guy Yasuke has to return to his violent samurai self in order to protect a mysterious girl from the ruthless warrior.

Netflix has been working on this series for the last 3 years. It’s been announced that the production team is full of renowned artists across the world. It has been created by LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters, Black Dynamite) and directed by Takeshi Koike (Redline, Lupin the 3rd). Grammy-nominated Flying Lotus will provide music to the series and will hail from studio MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen, AOT) and Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta, Sorry to Bother You) will voice for the main character.

LeSean has written in a blog post, “There is a serendipitous nature about this project, how an African-American man goes to Japan to live and work amongst the very best in Japanese anime to create an anime about an African who goes to Japan to live amongst the Japanese elite and become a warrior. Part of me deep down feels I was meant to create this adventure series with MAPPA, Flying Lotus, LaKeith & the rest of this talented team.”

He seems to be infatuated with this character as he continues to say, “Yasuke is a fascinating, mysterious figure in Japanese history that’s drawn growing interest in today’s media over the decades. I first learned of Yasuke’s role in Japanese history over a decade or so. The children’s book, Kuro-suke by Kurusu Yoshio, featured images that piqued my curiosity. To eventually learn that he wasn’t just a fictional character, but a real person, was exciting material for an adventure story. I’m so excited for both longtime fans and newcomers to enjoy our reimagined take on this historical figure.”

Netflix’s this take on the actual historical figure Yasuke comes with great hopes for the streaming platform. As Netflix VP, John Dedeian has said, “Redefining what Anime can be with Yasuke”. They are looking for Yasuke to supply an across-the-board breakthrough amongst anime fans.