Omar Sy will play a new character after the iconic Lupin. That of Yasuke, the first black samurai.

The first foreign samurai in Japan

Yasuke, the black samurai, was the first foreign samurai in Japan. He was originally from Africa, probably from Mozambique or the Congo. Netflix, the world’s leading streaming service, has taken this extraordinary story and turned it into an animated series and soon a series with Omar Sy. Originally from the Congo or Mozambique, Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1586, with the Jesuit father Allessandro Valigano who came from Italy. Yakuse was his slave. A true force of nature, he was nearly 1.95 meters tall, a particularly imposing size at that time, even more so in Japan. As soon as he arrives, he is spotted by Oda Nobunaga, a great Japanese warrior chief, the first unifier of the country of the rising sun. Nobunaga was impressed by Yasuke’s strength, but also by the fact that he spoke Japanese, a particularly rare fact which shows that in addition to his physical qualities, he also had great intellectual abilities.

Written by Nick Jones Jr

The links between Oda Nobunaga and the one who became Kurusan Yakuse were such that he became one of his relatives and made him a samurai. An exceptional honor for this African who was therefore the first samurai not originally from Japan. This new series will be written by Nick Jones Jr, an army veteran turned screenwriter and who had already been chosen to script the animated adaptation of Yasuke in 2021. An anime had already been inspired by Yakuse, but the Netflix series will be more realistic in tone than fantasy and will offer a read closer to the true story of the samurai. This new adaptation will also explore his friendship with military leader Oda Nabunaga known for being the first warrior to use firearms in Japan.