Tale of Black samurai.
It is a tale of legend, the black samurai from feudal Japan who served under the Japanese Daimyo Oda Nobunaga. It is a journey of a black man from being a servant to becoming a Samurai of Japan. And also, he is the one who killed Oda Nobunaga, his Lord. It is a Netflix anime of 6 episodes, every 30 minutes. Based on a true story, with supernatural addition like magic, mutants, shapeshifters, and robots.
Story
A merchant who came to Japan to sell his goods has a black servant who is well trained to protect him. In a little fight between a man and child over a small issue turning into bloodshed, he steps in and protects the child. This shows he is a man of justice. Nobunaga was around there and watching all the drama. He takes a liking to him and decided to take him. And in few minutes he becomes a Samurai and fights alongside Nobunaga in war.
But that’ just one part of the story. How he becomes a Samurai, what kind of things he did showed to becomes Samurai are not shown. Which is a weak part of the story. Then the story moves from a 40-year-old black boatman to when he was Samurai, whenever he closed his eyes. The first few minutes are in present and then suddenly in the past where war was happening. And also the pace of the story is faster and hard to digest. Many things are untold, like how some people have powers, the technology used in robots, shapeshifters, mages, and why war is happening. Many questions go unanswered. This is another weak part of the story.
After the 3rd episode, the story becomes smoother and revealing. There is a girl who is powerful enough to take down the enemy by herself. But unknown to her ability, she fears the power she has. But she uses them to protect herself. She learns to control her fear and starts to believe in herself.
The ending is satisfactory considering the pace of the story. Dialogues are well written but sometimes it feels like something is missing. The push for the emotions is not delivered.
Animation
The animation is done by Studio MAPPA. My opinion on the animation is a bit mixed. It is really good at some points. Action scenes are too good, like the swing of the blade, flow of blood, shape-shifting. But it doesn’t deliver the quality that we saw in the Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen. At some places, sword fights, sparks, blasts are made in 2D. Background scenes are well-drawn. I liked the character designs, especially the scars. They look like tattoos but are his battle scars.
Conclusion
It fails to deliver what was the original story. Instead, the superpowers and technology drag it down. Many things are left unanswered. The pace of the story might be a problem for some people. Overall, it is a one-time watch and not a must-watch anime. Rating around 6 out of 10. Last words, it could be a lot better and there is more to it.
Anime FN 