Recently, we here at Comicbook.com had the opportunity to chat with the creator, director, and producer of Netflix’s newest anime series, Yasuke, LeSean Thomas, and during this interview, the former comic book artist went into detail about working with the studio responsible for the fourth season of Attack On Titan, Studio MAPPA. MAPPA isn’t just responsible for the latest adventures of the Scout Regiment, but has also worked on the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen, The God of High School, and has assisted in bringing this upcoming story of the “Black Samurai” to life for the streaming service.
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LeSean, who had previously worked on television series such as The Boondocks and The Legend of Korra, while also adapting his comic book series of Cannon Busters into an animated series for Netflix, went into detail about the personalities of MAPPA and how thrilled he was to work with the legendary production studio:
“The biggest thing about MAPPA is that they’re a young hungry team, high energy, and creative talents. It’s a good example of the “Anime Studio Production” changing. We changed the way they worked, can’t say enough great things about them.”
As Thomas explained, he began working with MAPPA on Yasuke before the announcement that the production studio was working on the fourth season of Attack On Titan and was blown away by the first footage he saw of the latest season:
“It was great working with Studio MAPPA. Working with MAPPA all happened really quickly, and when we started working with them, there was no Attack On Titan Season Four or Jujutsu Kaisen. When I saw their first footage on Titan, I thought that’s insane. People are going to lose their s***.”
Yasuke is set to drop on Netflix on April 29th, documenting the story of the “Black Samurai” with several fantastical elements such as magical abilities, robots, werewolves, and more. With the series lead being voiced by Lakeith Stanfield of Atlanta and Death Note fame, as well as being composed by musician Flying Lotus, LeSean Thomas is hoping to create another winner for Netflix when it comes to the world of original anime.
Are you hyped for the arrival of Yasuke later this week? What do you think is the best animation from Studio MAPPA so far? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the samurai.
