Flying Lotus Shares A First Look At ‘Yasuke,’ His Black Samurai Anime Series Coming To Netflix

For three years, Flying Lotus has been hard at work as part of the team creating the upcoming Netflix anime series Yasuke. It’s lead is voiced by LaKeith Stanfield and follows the story of a Black samurai in war-torn feudal Japan who returns to service to protect a young girl from dark forces. The show is expected to be released at the end of April, and Flying Lotus has just shared a teaser.

Flying Lotus, who scored the entirety of the series, posted the first images from Yasuke to social media. “Proud to share these first images,” he wrote. “3 years in the making and we are finally here… Honor has a new name.”

The musician also revealed how much he’s enjoyed working on the project. “Working on anime is my new favorite thing,” he wrote. “I think imma try n stay a while. Can happily keep doin it. Makes sense to me.”

LeSean Thomas, executive producer and creator of Yasuke, described why the story line piqued his attention in a blog post for Netflix:

“There is a serendipitous nature about this project, how an African-American man goes to Japan to live and work amongst the very best in Japanese anime to create an anime about an African who goes to Japan to live amongst the Japanese elite and become a warrior. Yasuke is a fascinating, mysterious figure in Japanese history that’s drawn a growing interest in today’s media over the decades. I first learned of Yasuke’s role in Japanese history over a decade or so. The children’s book, Kuro-suke by Kurusu Yoshio, featured images that piqued my curiosity. To eventually learn that he wasn’t just a fictional character, but a real person, was exciting material for an adventure story.”

Check out some screengrabs from Netflix’s Yasuke above.