yasuke

YASUKE: Netflix Drops Official Teaser Trailer

When one thinks of different countries or cultures, there are certain things that are always thought of. What people most often associate with America, for example, is probably baseball and certain grilled foods like hot dogs. Whether or not people know a lot about Japanese culture, the samurai is probably most often associated with Japan. And what is better than an anime focusing on not just any samurai, but the first African samurai? Yasuke is a man who was the “first foreign-born man to achieve the status of a samurai warrior.” If you want to know more about his story, you can read this BBC article. Did you read it? Great. Now we can talk about the series that Netflix has created, based on Yasuke. Here is the official synopsis: In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest Ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a […]

YASUKE: Netflix Reveals A First Look Trio Of Images From The Upcoming Animated Series Voice-Starring LaKeith Stanfield

Lee B. Golden III

It’s taken years for someone/anyone to help realize the legendary tale of the first Black samurai, Yasuke, in some capacity. Alas, Netflix has since taken the reigns on its own end for an animated adventure from creator, executive producer and director LeSean Thomas, revered Japanese animation studio MAPPA, anf world class director and animator Takeshi Koike, and with none other than award-winning actor LaKeith Stanfield voice cast for the title role. In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a peaceful existence after a past life of violence. But when a local village becomes the center of social upheaval between warring daimyo, Yasuke must take up his sword and transport a mysterious child who is the target of dark forces and bloodthirsty warlords. The upcoming six-part season will stream April 29, and will also feature music by Grammy Award-nominated […]

YASUKE: Chadwick Boseman To Star As Japan’s First African Samurai

Lee B. Golden III

In the spirit of keeping up with all things Yasuke, apparently there’s more than the few that I knew of as the project reported initially back in Spring of 2017 is still stirring about. That one had originally had Gregory Widen penning the script for Solipsist Films and De Luca Productions at the time. As of Tuesday, the screenplay is now in the hands of Doug Miro (Narcos) with both companies now joined by Eric Feig’s newly launched Picturestart and X●ception Content, and now with a lead actor in place with MCU franchise headliner Chadwick Boseman starring as Japan’s first African samurai. Yasuke was a native of Portuguese Mozambique who was brought to Japan as a slave to Jesuit missionaries. The first black man to set foot on Japanese soil, Yasuke’s arrival aroused the interest of Nobunaga, a ruthless warlord seeking to unite the fractured country under his banner. A […]

YASUKE: Stuart C. Paul To Pen Script For 16th Century Black Samurai Tale

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been just over two years since we learned of a feature film in the works focused on Yasuke, the only black Samurai to have served under lord Oda Nobunaga in 16th century Japan. Since then, there are at least two more projects in the works – an indie from director/actor Calvert David Miles and an animated Netflix venture featuring Lakeith Stanfield, something which speaks amply to the viability and potential of a reverent historical black samurai feature project to begin with. That leads us to some long-awaited news out on Thursday as Yasuke’s transition to the big screen, formerly in the hands of screenwriter Gregory Widen with Solipsist Films and De Luca Productions at the time, now has new movement at MGM instead. As Mike Fleming Jr. notes ay Deadline, a new script in existence from Stuart C. Paul, joined by Whalerock Industries’ own Lloyd Braun and MGM’s latest […]

YASUKE: Lakeith Stanfield To Voice The Legendary Black Samurai In New Netflix Animated Series

Lee B. Golden III

Part of their What’s Next: Asia line-up in Singapore, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, unveiled their fresh new additions in anime and live-action content. One such property, Yasuke, has been the subject of many an article in the past year or so pertaining to the screen treatment of the legendary story of the only known African samurai. LeSean Thomas of Cannon Busters and The Boondocks fame is set to create and direct, as well as executive produce the forthcoming anime series. Sorry To Bother You and Netflix’s Death Note star, actor Lakeith Stanfield will star in the title voice role for the story set in war-torn feudal Japan, a time of mechs and magic where a ronin is pulled out of retirement to transport a mysterious child who dark forces want to eliminate. Animation studio MAPPA (Yuri On Ice, Kakegurui) is housing the production […]

16th Century Black Samurai, Yasuke, Poised For Feature Film At Lionsgate, Gregory Widen Scripting

Lee B. Golden III

Browse on social media long enough in the last few years and you might have come across a few factoids about an African Samurai named Yasuke who served under lord Oda Nobunaga in 16th century Japan. The exact details about Yasuke’s story aren’t clear and take a few different directions, but that isn’t stopping Lionsgate from positioning itself in development for a feature-length iteration of the new movie, Black Samurai. Thus, they have tapped screenwriter Gregory Widen to provide the script for Mike De Luca and Stephen L’Heureux to produce as a co-production between Solipsist Films and De Luca Productions. As Deadline reports, Widen has established his own ideas about the direction in which to take the now brewing script which not only approaches Yasuke’s emergence as a samurai, but some of the explicit, dark and gruesom trials and tribulations of being black-skinned in a region of the world where […]