Season 1

Yasuke (2021), Season 1 — watch online on iFILM. Six episodes of Netflix anime set in a fantastical feudal Japan, where a man once called the Black Samurai has traded his sword for an oar and ferries cargo downriver, until another family's trouble finds him.

The season runs on two clocks. In the present, Yasuke grudgingly agrees to carry Saki — a girl whose strange power is waking up — to the healer Morisuke, with mercenaries closing in behind them. In flashbacks to 1581, his service under Nobunaga and the betrayal that drove him into exile come back in pieces. The further upriver they go, the nearer the masked Dark General and the Daimyo hunting Saki get, until both timelines collide at Azuchi Castle. No spoilers, but the finale is less about the fight than about who Yasuke decides to be.

LaKeith Stanfield voices the lead and Flying Lotus scores it, which gives the show a sound no samurai anime had before. It springs loosely from the real African retainer who served Nobunaga, then commits fully to fantasy — mechs, magic and all. Six episodes, one complete arc. Stream Yasuke Season 1 online on iFILM.