Netflix has announced the upcoming anime series Yasuke which will premiere on April 29th. The series will be based on the life of the actual African samurai Yasuke.
The upcoming series was announced by Netflix through their official @NXOnNetflix account which focuses on anime and “all things geek”. The series is made in collaboration with animation studio MAPPA whose other works include Yuri!!! On Ice and the upcoming Chainsaw Man.
Witness the legend like it’s never been told before. LeSean Thomas joins with anime hit-makers MAPPA for Yasuke, a new series following the legendary African samurai premiering on Netflix April 29th. pic.twitter.com/MVB0T2yUXO
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) March 9, 2021
The series will follow the life of the actual samurai Yasuke, an African man who came to Japan in the service of the Italian missionary Alessandro Valignano. At some point, Yasuke entered the service of feudal daimyo Oda Nobunaga.
The details of Yasuke’s life are sparse and what little is known simply confirms his presence as one of Nobunaga’s retainers and that he was still in the daimyo’s service when Nobunaga died in 1582.
The upcoming anime series will speculatively tell a dramatized version of Yasuke’s life given the few historical details available.
Image: Twitter
