Yasuke

Bruh. This was refreshing as hell. Feel like I finally got an Afro-centered anime and, better yet, there aren't any of the usual tropes to complain about: damn near no sexualization at all, no scenes that make me wonder about the creators (as members of society), no racist bs (minus the Russian kids bit maybe), and no unnecessary or unbelievable romance. More please. Can we please have some more anime like this?

Though some were bothered by it, I enjoyed the fantasy elements added to this historical drama even though atleast one of them was never explained. It never felt unbelieable to me or out of ... place.
The only thing that actually bothered me was certain deaths. Not that it was poorly written. I just didn't want it to happen. So I guess the writers and voice actors did a good job getting me to care. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Having Yasuke's race be blatantly factored into some of his interactions was nice to see (since they weren't ignoring it) and added to the series while taking away nothing. Dude sticks out. Being tall, dark, and handsome will do that, but more importantly it's made clear that he doesn't fit into Japanese society and its cultures. By who else other than samurai of "the old way" who hold strongly to the traditions of the past and female samurai who have been consistently held back by those same traditions.

There's a theme here that's just beneath the surface. Both Yami no Daimyo (the big bad) and Nobunaga Oda saw people for their ability first and didn't care about their sex. While the former was about maintaining her old ways, the latter was about progressing Japan to a better future... by force if necessary. Daimyo was the old ruler who everyone was used to dealing with--"the old ways" if you will. Oda was the new ruler who sought to change so much that people were willing to fight and die resisting him just to maintain their traditions of who can do and be what. In the end,... well, the wonderful OP (that was of course performed by Thundercat) starts playing.

I mildly love this series for legitimate reasons that go beyond its portrayal of the African diaspora. This review's long enough, though. Just watch two episodes and then you'll know.

The main problem with this series is that it tries to push stuff for at least three seasons in six short episodes. Besides that, I really liked the first three episodes- while they weren't perfect, they were at least watchable. The plot in the latter episodes felt rushed and was also kinda confusing in some moments: For example, at the end of one episode, one of the characters announces that he has no interest in fighting alongside the others, the next one, he is suddenly back at their sides without any explanation. Maybe the show would've been better if it were at least twice as ... long.

What I wanted was a story about the first black samurai. What did I get? A story about the first black samurai, and robots. The second I saw a robot my interest was lost almost instantaneously. I was very excited about this show at first, seeing that LaKeith Stanfield was voicing Yasuke in the english dub. Unfortunately, not even he could save the the unoriginal story that is drowned even worse by the addition of robots that 100 percent should not have been there. The premise was protecting a girl with mysterious powers from evil people who want to harness her power for evil. This ... is a drawn out subject matter and it shows as we had a happy ending with hardly any development for who Yasuke is or how he fits into this world where apparently robots are roaming feudal Japan. Would not recommend this show.