Yasuke arrived on Netflix earlier this week from creator LeSean Thomas, musician Flying Lotus, actor Lakeith Stanfield, and Studio MAPPA, and we here at Comicbook.com were able to sit down with Thomas to chat about the series and how his background as a comic book artist has helped in his current status as a showrunner. With Yasuke taking the opportunity to dive into the life of the titular black samurai while adding in some fantastical elements including the likes of robots, werewolves, and other insane supernatural creatures, anime fans are in for quite the ride with this new series.
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LeSean Thomas worked on comic books for properties such as Street Fighter and Darkstalkers in the past, with his anime series of Cannon Busters originally being sold as a comic as well, and it seems as if this background definitely assisted him greatly when it came to being a showrunner, director, producer, and more for animated series:
“Growing up, in my late teens and into my late twenties, I did three comic book series with a lot of illustrations. At that time, I was creating my own ideas for comics, stories I wanted to tell. I definitely think that the spirit of creating original stories came from working in comics. It felt like a natural progression to translate my enthusiasm from creating comics and breaking that down in working with writers, background artists, etc.”
On top of the current Netflix anime series, Thomas had experience working on animated series including the likes of The Boondocks and The Legend of Korra. While we aren’t sure if the director will return to either of these series in the future, it seems as if HBO Max and Paramount Studios have plans for both respectively.
For those who aren’t familiar with the story of Yasuke, Netflix lists the official description for the series as such:
“A peaceful boatman once known as the Black Samurai is pulled back into conflict when he takes a little girl with mysterious powers under his wing.”
With Yasuke hitting the ground floor running, the official Twitter Account has been hinting that there is definitely a future for the anime series on the streaming service of Netflix.
What do you think of LeSean Thomas’ background helping him in creating this new fantastical world? 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 Yasuke.
