Yasuke Review: Delivers on Blood and Gore, But Not much Else

Yasuke follows the story of the first black samurai, who goes underground after the fall of his Shogun (Oda). However, forces at play thrusts him back into the world and he has to protect a girl that can save everyone from evil.

To start with, the anime found a way to blend real history with fantasy to create a totally different story that exists on its own outside of Yasuke’s true history. I consider this wise because it leaves room for more seasons and adventures for Yasuke in future.

The animation was slick and it’s no surprise seeing as MAPPA, the studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan, was behind it.

It brought out the blood and gore in beautiful and enjoyable ways, it made the fights beautiful to watch, and the voicing (both in English and Japanese) was well done and pleasing to the ears.

In just six episodes, it crammed enough of the story to keep you entertained, with scenes of Yasuke’s past, while among Oda’s ranks, serving as the backstory of his character. One that’s enough to make you understand his struggle and stay invested in his journey.

However, for the side characters, their development and growth was very little to non-existent. It felt like they were meant to be one-off characters who somehow got featured in repeated episodes.

I also feel like the fantasy/supernatural aspect of the anime got in the way because there were a lot of unexplained things like why do people have powers and others don’t? How can AI robots exist in the 15th century? And other things that were not true to the times per say.

I felt incomplete after watching it, like there should have been more done to explain a lot of things and make it a more cohesive story to keep me looking forward to the next season. Sadly, I don’t feel that way.

Is Yasuke worth watching? No, because you’re not missing anything if you don’t watch it. It’ll pass for minimal entertainment, but it doesn’t hit home as you’d expect.