Yasuke (2021)

In 1579, a black man from Africa arrived in Japan with an Italian Jesuit.  The very idea of a man with black skin so intrigued Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) that he wanted to meet this man.  Yasuke's original name is lost to history but this was the name he used in Nobunaga's service.  He became an armed retainer of the most powerful daimyo (feudal lord) of the era.  In 1582, Nobunaga was assassinated and Yasuke found his way to the heir.  And there ends the historical record of Yasuke, the black samurai.

The Netflix series picks up the action 20 years later.  Yasuke works as a fisherman in a small village when he is recruited to escort a young girl, Saki, and her mother, Ichika, to a special doctor.  En route, they are attacked.  It turns out that the girl has magical powers that could tip the balance of power in Japan.  Despite his desire to be a humble fisherman, Yasuke finds himself becoming Saki's protector and once again involved in the power struggles of Japan.  Yasuke proves to be the greatest of all the samurai, a natural talent who can only be defeated by those wielding dark magic.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of dark magic at the moment.

Though supposedly taking place at the beginning of 17th century Japan, the characters are ludicrous.  There is a robot!  Really?  The evil Catholic priest, Abraham, wields magic like some Dungeons & Dragons wizard.  Among Abraham's band of mercenaries are the futuristic Japanimation battle robot, a Russian warrior woman who turns into a werebear, an African witch doctor with arcane magical powers, and a scythe swinging lady assassin.  Yeah, this looks so much like historical Japan.

The heart of the series is the connection between Yasuke and Saki.  Though he views himself as her protector, it is often she who protects him.  Her magical powers increase through the series and she becomes a major power despite her youth.

The anachronistic presence of a wise-cracking battle robot and the other out of place mercenaries served to destroy the setting.  Why go to the effort of placing the adventure in a particular historical time if you are going to completely upend that setting with the inclusion of these oddities?  The flashy and ridiculously powerful magic unleashed by the greater forces at play made the soldiers and samurai merely a sideshow.  It was somewhat reminiscent of Avatar the Last Airbender.  Sokka may have been a fine swordsman, but he was no match for even a minimally skilled bender.  An army without benders vs. one with benders is doomed.  That goes for this show too.  As such, the central character is often just an observer.

Mediocre.  Skip.