So, a couple of weeks ago, Ubisoft announced Assassin's Creed Shadows, and it was revealed that one of the main characters is going to be Yasuke, a black samurai in service of Oda Nobunaga.
Now now, I get it. It's weird when Netflix takes white characters and makes them black, it's weird and representation is forced down our throats. I mean, a black man in Japan during the Nanban in the Sengoku Jidai!? How incredulous!... OR NOT.
Yasuke did actually exist, this is a fact I hope most of you already know.
The thing is people are simply complaining because he's black, and all of you know this is true.
"They could've picked more fleshed out historical characters like Hattori Hanzo!"
They could've... But they didn't.
This is what's going to make AC: Shadows so interesting, it's a story about a Portuguese slave from Mozambique brought on by italians to Japan, who swore loyalty or at least had a likable relationship with the legendary Oda Nobunaga, all based on a real story told by the jesuit missionary Luís Fróis.
Yasuke isn't alone in being an African in Japan during the Sengoku era, but he's important, he was friends with Oda Nobunaga and allegedly saw him commit suicide in 1582. That right there is some heavy shit, and some important shit too. Yasuke was as important as any other footsoldier or servant to any Daimyou, Shogun or whatever.
And is there proof that he actually existed? Yes! Plenty. There are lists of foreigners in Japan in that era, I don't have to Google the wikipedia page for you, do I?
And what about the painting above? The 相撲遊楽図屏風 (Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu) that depics Yasuke sumo-wrestling with either Oda Nobunaga or Toyotomi Hidetsugu.
Okay... Then let's just ignore the fact that you fight the fucking pope, that there are holy relics that give people power, that most games are set in simulations, etc, etc.
I don't give a crap about realism, because if I did, I would hate Assassin's Creed.
Yasuke's going to be a very interesting character if Ubisoft plays their cards right. Valhalla, Origins and Odyssey were incredible games, this one has every chance to be just as good as those were.
One would think that exposing the story of lesser known figures of history would be nice and would be praised by others, but nope. It's either plain old ignorance or maybe even racism.
Thanks for reading this rant, I can't wait to see Yasuke's story unfold.
