Caution! This article contains major spoilers for Yasuke. Read-only if you have watched it.
In just six episodes, Netflix’s Yasuke cooks an extending subversion of the history behind the legendary Black samurai. Using the name Yassan, the hero remains under the ground in a rural Japanese village until his life brings a dark twist — kicking him back into war to take care of a young girl with godlike abilities, called Saki.
Revising Real Events That Led To This Anime
For reference, the real story of Yasuke saw the man arrive in Japan while serving the Italian Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano. The daimyo or lord Oda Nobunaga respected him on a mugh hugge level and gave him the title of samurai. Yasuke fought for the lord right up until the time of hid demise and even teamed up with his son Oda Nobutada. However, Nobutada’s forces were seized, Yasuke was brought to Akechi Mitsuhide, the former samurai general of Nobunaga who later fought against him, causing the daimyo to commit seppuku or ritual suicide. It is said that Mitsuhide sent Yasuke to a church in Kyoto, but seeing that there ain’t no records of the samurai after this, the same became a topic for debate as to what happened to him.
The sixth and final episode, “Balance,” shows him curating backup against the supernatural Daimyo that wants her soul. While it causes sacrifice of some innocent lives, Yasuke — surprisingly — paves a path to redemption in the end.
Team Yasuke Loses Big
Yasuke has a wrangle with this particular Daimyo as she used her troops to take out the Oda clan, which led to Yasuke killing his feudal lord, Nobunaga, in a harakiri session decades ago. He’s been terrified by it ever since but is finding honor again by bringing Saki to a former paranormal colleague, Morisuke, to train. Morisuke has an army of his own, consisting of magical warriors, but they’re more than required in number and losing badly as the Daimyo’s forces attack.
Even after killing the Daimyo’s “Dark General,” Mitsuhide, many of Yasuke’s colleagues fall. The were-bear, Nikita, gets killed, as well as the sickle-wielding Ishikawa and her robot friend, Haruto, who self-ruins in fury to even the numbers against the villains. The outcome is Yasuke taking Saki to go after the Daimyo and try to prohibit the source of the assault.
The Daimyo’s Big Showdown
The Daimyo ropes Yasuke’s mind in her castle and gets him to turn on Saki. He thinks the Daimyo is Nobunaga and that Saki is the Daimyo, so he attempts to murder the girl in his entranced state. Fortunately, Saki’s able to bring him out of it but this doesn’t stop the witch’s cruel beating. It all reaches the action point when the Daimyo, in her spider-form, transfixes Yasuke and tries to stab Saki as well.
Luckily, Saki forms a cocoon around herself, finally understanding how to make use of the power of life. She succeeds in blasting the Daimyo away and harnesses her blue energy to burn the witch out, leaving her dependence for dear life. Unfortunately, when Saki goes to Yasuke to celebrate, he’s no more. However, as she cries, her powers restore the samurai, making the way for a time of rebirth.
Rebuilding The Future
Yasuke and Saki are amazed by his resurrection. The Daimyo cautions that she will soon crave lives to sustain her but Saki brushes the comment off. Eventually, the Daimyo requests Yasuke to kill her but they leave as he discloses the villagers will deal with her as they see fit. They then bid goodbye to Morisuke’s army. Yasuke feels Saki deserves a family right now, rather than to be made a weapon.
Yasuke returns Saki to their village where her best friend Ichiro, and his family, take her responsibility. She lost her mom when Yasuke tried to take them to Morisuke primarily, so he’s happy to see her have a home again. The village finally accepts her as a savior rather than an outsider due to her powers. In fact, she quite gains love and popularity. As for Yasuke, he thinks about leaving but decides instead to train Ichiro and take care of Saki. She gives him her mom’s necklace, and finally, he feels like home again.
Cast and Where To Watch
A LeSean Thomas creation, Yasuke stars:
LaKeith Stanfield as Yasuke,
Takehiro Hira as Nobunaga,
Maya Tanida as Saki,
Ming-Na Wen as Natsumaru,
Paul Nakauchi as Morisuke,
Darren Criss as Haruto,
Julie Marcus as Nikita and
William Christopher Stephens as Achoja.
The series is out now on Netflix.
What can you expect to see in Yasuke Season 2?
There are still numerous questions that are unanswered: Who exactly is Ichika and is she alive? What will happen to Morisuke and Achoya?
Even looking back at episodes 1 and 2, there are references of Ranmaru, Nobunaga’s right-hand man; is there more to know about this character? Are there any other supernatural power wielders that are going to arrive? Yes, obviously, there is the fact that Saki and Yasuke are yet to fight against the Daimyo.
Anyways, thanks to its remarkable score, mind-blowing animation and epic fights, Season 2 might turn out to be as thrilling as this one!