‘Yasuke’ is a Netflix original anime series that reimagines the Sengoku period of 16th century Japan with magic and technology as well as the tale of the first African samurai, Yasuke.
Yasuke is a boatsman at a remote village with a rather eventful past. He was originally a servant who travelled to Japan with a mercenary.
Fascinated by his black colour, daimyo Oda Nobunaga acquires him, believing him to be drenched in ink. He is left surprised that it is actually his skin.
Nobunaga believes in unifying Japan, and gives women as well as Yasuke an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks. He ends up becoming the commander and the renowned ‘Black Samurai’
However, Nobunaga ends up committing suicide after a battle against the army of Yami no Daimyo, a being with dark powers.
These events lead Yasuke to abandon the life of a samurai and become a boatsman. But his life changes when one day a singer at a local bar named Ichika pleads with him to help her take her sick daughter Saki to doctor Morisuke.
En route, they are attacked by mercenaries, revealing that Saki has magical powers, which she uses to fend them off, but accidentally ends up killing Ichika.
With enemies hot on their heels, a quest to reach doctor Morisuke, actually a magician himself, begins, culminating in a showdown with Yami no Daimyo herself.
If you missed something from the finale, we have you covered.
Yasuke ending explained in detail (final episode):
Yasuke manipulated
Saki and Yasuke travel to the Azuchi Castle, home of the Yami no Daimyo, in an attempt to put an end to the dark spirit once and for all. Doctor Morisuke believes Saki is the only one who can truly defeat her.
Morisuke conjures up a shield with his men to protect the temple from an onslaught by the Daimyo’s army, powered up by her dark magic.
Daimyo takes over the Black Samurai and shows him visions of Nobunaga, still alive and asking him to save him by killing the Daimyo.
He sees the Daimyo as Nobunaga and Saki as the Daimyo instead and starts attacking his companion. Saki begs him to stop.
Daimyo instigates Saki to kill Yasuke as it’s the only way to stop him. Almost giving in to darkness, Saki fights back and refuses to kill her friend. He snaps out of the vision after seeing her necklace, which is similar to the one belonging to his companion Natsumaru from earlier days.
Rise of Saki
Daimyo claims to be only toying with them by manipulating the Black Samurai and begins using her full powers to battle the duo.
Yasuke figures out that neither he nor Saki are strong enough individually to defeat the Daimyo, and he asks his partner to join hands with him and take the dark spirit on together.
Back at the temple, Achoja conjures up a magical projection to face a huge creature created by the Daimyo’s entire army fusing.
Saki uses her magical powers to augment the samurai’s excellent combat skills, engulfing him with a blue aura. In this form, Yasuke starts to hold his own.
As the two powers collide, Yasuke hurls a huge energy blast emanating from his sword right at the Daimyo, but she converts it into dark magic and knocks out both Yasuke and Saki.
Daimyo directly attacks Saki, but Yasuke sacrifices himself to save her. This turns out to be futile as she goes right through him to absorb Saki’s powers. But right then, the young girl awakens a higher level of power.
She beats the Daimyo in one blow with her new powers and all of the dark spirit’s magic around the world fades away, including the creature fighting Morisuke and Achoja.
The saviours
Saki believes Yasuke is dead and cries over his body, but her new powers are able to resurrect the Black Samurai. Morisuke asks if Saki beat the Daimyo, but she says that the two were only able to do it together.
Yasuke takes her back to their village from the start of the season, and they’re both welcomed back as saviours.
Saki gives Yasuke her necklace from earlier and tells him that he can return it to her when she’s older, which makes him happy.
In a post-credits scene, Yasuke meets Natsumaru’s son whom he had saved earlier. He says that his mother died with honour, fighting for her clan, opting not to reveal to him that she had actually betrayed Nobunaga and was a spy for one of his biggest rivals, Hattori Hanzō.
The final scene shows Yasuke resting in the woods, with the necklace attached to his sword’s scabbard. He continues travelling alone, more connected to his past once again.
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