Comic Book: Yasuke: The African Samurai

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Welcome to Yasuke: The African Samurai by writer Koji Steven Sakai, artist Jamie Noguchi, and published by Outland Entertainment!

Sword fighting, blood, archery, gun battles, death, chivalry, backstabbing, political intrigue, vendettas. This is the world of medieval Japan, where samurais—and sometimes even ninjas—are constantly fighting each other for control of Japan. 

Thanks to countless stories of their honor and heroism, the samurai are perhaps the most legendary warriors in history. However, we know very little of the most unusual samurai of all time. The man named Yasuke has a special place in Japanese history as the first and only black samurai. 

Yasuke (originally Yasufe), a slave warrior originally from Mozambique, is taken by a Jesuit missionary to Japan in the late 16th century. Once warlord Oda Nobunaga lays eyes on him, he’s captivated and becomes the African slave’s new master, giving him his Japanese name, and making him a full-fledged samurai.  

Nobunaga is a complicated leader—cruel and bloodthirsty in battle yet curious and open to the West. Yasuke, who has been separated from his parents since childhood, has continuously struggled to find a sense of home since being taken as a slave. Surprisingly, it’s in Japan where he feels a sense of belonging. While he feels a sense of loyalty to Nobunaga, he finds himself increasingly attracted to Nobunaga’s wife, Lady Nō, who has largely been cast aside because of her inability to conceive children.  

As Nobunaga pursues his relentless campaign to unify Japan, which has been broken into various fiefdoms, people close to him, including his wife, seek his downfall. Yasuke struggles to negotiate the changing and shifting loyalties of people around his master, and finally goes to war to protect him from turncoat Akemi Mitsuhide, who had once been a trusted general. Yasuke fails in his effort and must witness Nobunaga commit seppuku (or ritualistic suicide).  

Upon his master’s death, Yasuke is free to become the hero he was always destined to be, all the while plotting revenge on the people who killed his master and friend, and trying to find a place he can call home.