The Assassin's Creed Black Samurai controversy
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- Опубліковано 20 тра 2024
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it's all so tiresome
I’m so tired
@@SelrisitaiIt's true: If you don't expose yourself to things that don't matter to your immediate day to day, you won't be irritated by them.
What if it's my day to day life that tires me so much? 😒
@@marbellaotaiza801 Perhaps make some changes in your routine? It's not always easy, but it might be necessary.
You got that right @@ZacHawkins42 it's not easy. But I'm trying...
@@marbellaotaiza801 Little steps at first add up to big changes later, best of luck to ya, pal 👍
No one is more ignorant of other cultures than the purported supporters of multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion.
After the release and immense success of the Black Panther movie in 2018, the fascination with the character Yasuke continued to grow in 2019 with the publication of the book "African Samurai" by Professor Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girrard. Unfortunately, some individuals, driven by either commercial motives or a desire for social equality, have taken advantage of the situation and attempted to portray Yasuke as a non-Japanese samurai, similar to how the English sailor William Adams was later perceived.
In his book, Thomas Lockley presents numerous speculations as if they were factual, often relying on historical documents and interpreting them in a way that supports the captivating narrative of Yasuke being a samurai. However, it is important to note that Lockley and his co-author acknowledge the lack of concrete information about Yasuke.
This scarcity of reliable information has led many to create imaginative and far-fetched stories surrounding this enigmatic "African samurai," who may not have actually held the status of a samurai at all.
Reputable sources such as the Jesuit records or the Shinchō ki prototype owned by Sonkeikaku Bunko (the Maeda clan's archives) do not contain any evidence of Yasuke being granted samurai status. None whatsoever!
The inclusion of Yasuke is as much a gimmick to set it apart from Ghost of Tsushima (which only featured foreigners as invaders) as it is a thumb in the collective eyes of Japanese culture. Likely, if their main competitor had nor been so well received, they might have only had the Kunoicho co-star character as the sole protagonist if they did not stick with what was said to be the original plotline.
Being educated doesn't mean one is cultured. Just saying. Good to hear a voice of reason.
i honestly dont care for the exact reason you laid out near the end. all AC games are the same slop at this point. this yasuke thing was probably an attempt to rage bait to garner attention from a series most people dont care about anymore
Myself i think it's genuinely malicious, not just rage bait , however that probably was part of it
@@RichardPhillips1066 also possible. both can be true as well. its clear Ubisoft has been infiltrated by activists for a long time.
You can be interressted in "the war we cannot name" without loving "the man we cannot name" XD
True, although I wish people paid more attention to the considerable amount of still relevant history that occurred in times before those. Well, if you're from the US or Canada then I suppose there isn't _that_ much more, but those are the exceptions.
@@a.wadderphiltyr1559 There's plenty, sure, but it's been dissected to death, repeatedly even. There's even more in all the earlier stuff, which by comparison nobody ever looks at. EDIT: And also, I hate both those factions, because they're both comprised of welfare cunts and murderers.
How you stated when people play games set in historical settings, people want to see the normative and not the outliers. Incredibly good summation of my thoughts.
At least this is no big loss since there was no way I'd buy this game either way.
Japanese culture values self-control, hard work and adherence to heirarchy, so basically the exact opposite of leftism, which can be summed up as "me me me me me"
It's not just about "me," it's also about envy and resentment of anybody more talented and desirable than me. Hence why they gravitate to any ideology based on the forcible equalization of society. The core motive is not merely selfishness, but a hatred of human excellence, since they are the opposite of it.
Ironic username... but also I agree, and to add humility and self-sacrifice.
@@bigtechisbigbrother8690 AKA communism
Yes Japan even now more of a group orientated society, the West Is totally about the individual, wokey Is great example of this
I liked where you were going with this up to “the opposite of…” and then you blinked.
Ubi picked Yasuke because then any criticism of the game can be deflected by accusing the one pointing at the game's flaws of being a bad person.
inb4 "The game is great, you're just racist!!!"
DING DING DING!!!
It's fascinating how the woke mind works...
Putting an irrelevant historical oddity as the main protagonist of one of Japan's most important periods may work well to generate clicks, but won't be enough to get buyers. It'll be fun to see the extent of the flop.
I've heard the company's actually in a rather bad state and needs this game to succeed.
Eh, it's not necessarily a terrible idea in and of itself (see Nioh), but it's Ubisoft - of course the motivation is woke and they're going to do a terrible job.
@@DVSPress There have been rumors of Ubisoft being sold off to Microsoft, Sony or a group like Embracer for a while now. Ubisoft is running on fumes and the low public opinion they've cultivated over the last decade and a half has all but sealed their fate.
it will flop regardless of who the protagonist is lmao. The games are trash and everybody knows it by now
I agree with all sentiments here. Ubisoft is in trouble and this game likely isn't going to save the company. Their games have been mediocre, if not outright terrible for years now. Not only did they wreck AC, but Far Cry and Watch Dogs, too.
Yea I agree 100%, progs absolutely hate the country, I constantly see this with manga. They endlessly cry about fan service and the female characters.
It’s why I dropped all my comics in 2021 & switched to reading manga. The difference is night & day. All western media needs to be avoided like the plague, that includes this game, and every game from western companies.
I'm surprised someone hasn't done a multi-hour long documentary about this phenomena. It's not just video games, there's a genuine hatred on the left wing that goes waaaay back. From the mid 2000's racist remarks on Japanese game devs and JRPGs, to the 90's politicians and manufacturers freaking out about Japanese cars, the mid 60's camera wars.
I wonder to what extent the left really did grow to hate Japan due to its' association with the Axis.
Darn right. No more western media.
At least the "Blaxploitation" film era was fun. This current-year garbage is beyond slop.
Blaxploitation was done by black film makers for the most part. I'm not sure how that relates here.
@@blumiu2426 black filmmakers working outside the Hollywood system instead of begging for studios to make movies to please them. They went out and made movies they wanted to make.
@@ATDStudios And they had 'sploitation' in them for a reason. At times they could be denigrating and hardly improved the perception of the black community. There was always that tug-o-war of them wanting what they didn't have they saw whites did, but had community figures tell them to turn off the TV, being controlled as those they envied were and make build something for themselves of value that can translate to outside the community. But no, it wants to be in a box and little success shown for it unless leaving inner city. As you can see, many prefer luxury in poverty and not taking accountability. Even when I was young and not raised in city environment that pull of conforming is there and easy to see where it leads.
They weren't making films they necessarily wanted to make, maybe at that time, but how often do you hear black people criticize their own for making something or wanting to do something "not black enough"? You don't get something like fantasy or human drama because it has to only appeal to the community unless undeniably a great work not held back by it.
Postmodernism is seen as peak and as the height of design. All I see is decay and destruction .
You might ask why they don't just do a historical setting somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa so that they can have all the black characters they want, but I think they might dislike that part of the world even more than Japan since so much of what has gone on and continues to go on there doesn't fit their narrative.
Indeed, see King Mwanga II; against their narrative.
We do not talk about Far Cry 2
They been blackifying for ages, Bayed is black, Kassandra/Alexios as black as possible, Eivor looks like arab...I had no surprise they went with Jake Suki for this one, even the girl looks black the problem is more you already own 3 of these and have no need for more it's literally same graphics, propaganda and gameplay 😆
Yeah that was my final point.
This discussion is mostly mood because we all knew it was going to be mud genre garbage no matter what
Interesting point about _Assassin's Creed Origins._ Bayek was dark skinned, yes, but the game did things the left wouldn't allow to happen today, like topless beautiful women and Cleopatra looking like she's supposed to. This probably happened before Ubisoft fell hard under the Sword of DEImocles. They still had _Far Cry 5_ in 2018, which, I think, was their last good entry in that series. I despised _Assassin's Creed Valhalla_ and _Far Cry 6._ I finished them, but I've never wanted games to end as badly as those. I had hastily pre-ordered both games back then, so I had to get something out of them. But never again. Ubisoft is crap.
I noticed that , went over most people heads though
@@RichardPhillips1066
Agreed. King Washington in _Assassin's Creed III_ DLC. A little too on the nose with that one, even if it was disguised as a vision.
This video got me thinking that it would have been cool to see the different views of people (in whatever culture the game took place in) leveraged against our modern ideals. In order to stay mechanically synchronized you'd have to roleplay as someone realistically from that time. I think it's a cool thought.
You're wrong, Altair wasn't Palestinian because:
A) While the region of Palestine existed during Altair's time, it wasn't a unified country in the modern sense. It was a broader geographical term.
B) Masyaf, Altair's birthplace, is located in present-day Syria. Therefore, it's more accurate to identify him as Syrian.
So Palestine wasn't a country at the time, but present-day Syria IS "a unified country" so he's Syrian?
Your answers contradict each other and he just meant the "broader geographical term".
He's Palestinian.
@@Shockgueyyou're conflating the two separate points the OP made (or not understanding that they are in fact two separate points). He is saying that it's not accurate to identify the character with *any* present-day territory, but if we *are* to do so regardless, it would be *more accurate* to identify the character as Syrian rather than Palestinian.
Remember a few years ago when everybody wanted to cast Idris Elba as everyone and everything British because he's the only black British actor any of them had ever heard of, and they had only heard of him five minutes ago? Yasuke is the Idris Elba of Sengoku Japan. None of these people had ever heard of him prior to the release of Shogun earlier this year, and now they insist he star in everything occurring within two centuries of his actual life in either direction.
Side note: your analysis of how the left intends to level out culture into a gray mush is exactly how the Assyrians maintained their empire until the Babylonians overthrew them.
I 'member... Some wanted Idris Elba to be Zack Snyder's Batman.
Assassination investigator: I understand you saw the assassin, did he have any distinguishing features?
Witness: Well he was black
AI: You mean his hair was black or his armour? That doesn't narrow it down much.
W: No his skin.
AI: Oh him! The one single person in the whole of Japan who stands out like a sore thumb that everyone knows about! Him! Ok , we should be able to pick him up within the hour.
I liked the AC games because they allow a sort of first person look into what it was like to walk around and exist in those times. In between all the stabbings of course. I love historical immersion so the game either delivers that or not.
Very insightful video! Thanks for making this.
I just started watching Shogun, ahhh, what a breath of fresh air! And quite good, too. The main characters are Japanese, and not Afro-American, there is also a white male main character. Shocking!
You are so well spoken. Thank you for sharing your thoughts 👍
I believe they hate the Japanese due to them being a cultural powerhouse that they have been unable to invade. Things like anime, manga, and video games have taken over pop culture, and they want in on it. However, due to physical distance from the country, completely different languages, and how steeped in tradition the Japanese are, they continually fail to impose their will on Japan. This is why localization is such a hot topic for them, because that's the one place they can change and bend things the way that they want. This is just another chance for them to take Japanese culture and do what they want with it.
I don't know how to break this to you, but Japan's been pretty feminist/lgbt friendly since they lost the war. That's one of the reasons they're having trouble making babies. So cultural marxism (which y'all kids call woke today) has been doing damage there for some time. Manga and anime are riddled with it, although they're less in your face than in western media.
Look at very popular works like AoT, where the equality among the soldiers is perfect and women have the same upper body strength to slay titans as men do.
They're still not big on multiculturalism (i.e. their feminism and lgbtism are very Japanese) but both Japan and South Korea passed or are about to pass laws relaxing immigration standards and will start taking in "refugees".
I've noticed that my tone is fairly neutral, but I'm not celebrating what I described in any way, shape, or form.
They also can't waltz in there an pretend to be Japanese like they do with Europeans.
@@marbellaotaiza801I'm not sure what point you think you're making with that oblique Attack on Titan reference. It's basically a fantasy series for 1, and the 3D gear levels the playing field in terms of upper body strength as it's all about dexterity. Then we get into titan shifters which aren't gender-inflected anyway. I'd think a more poignant reference would be Demon Slayer. All the males are very chibi and neutered while the MC is doing everything for a dumb-mute female he has to carry around everywhere and suborn himself to protect. The essay writes itself.
@@masonrockwood7732 ever seen David's video "Fantasy does not excuse impossibility"?
Ubisoft could've double dipped by launching a historically-accurate Assasin's Creed Japan and a Far Cry 7 with Yasuke back to back.
It's a gimmick and it's backfired spectacularly
I think the last AC game that interested me was Syndicate, just because of the setting.
The series has been "in name only" since Origins.
The choice of the protagonist in the next release could very well be exactly as you say, or they may have seen it as an opportunity to check more than one box at once by doing something different.
One thing is for sure, it has certainly watered the seeds of division
Like many Ubisoft games nowadays, I look forward to picking it up in a year with all the dlc in one package for 20 bucks.
It should have been a Japanese Assassin/ninja and at some point you get to meet Yasuke as one of the servants of Nobunaga. Problem solved, but I guess we no longer get to meet a historical character like we used lol. Also the made the female ninja look like a boy for some reason but I guess that's just the way video game companies operate now.
Also, have you seen what AC Japan could have been ? One of the former Ubisoft employees wrote a whole thread about his involvement in the project back in 2014
I never saw that
@@DVSPress I cannot post the link but grummz has it on his twitter timeline
The woman looks like a boy? Lol no. She looks more feminine than Ripley or Sarah Connor.
I liked the way Bill and Ted got to meet historical characters.
A bit after this controversy erupted an article came out talking about how sub Saharan Africans built Japan. The author was a Ms. Sara Goldfeld. Make of that what you will
I didn't expect much from this video, but you manged to make points others either eluded or didn't care to think about.
Keep in mind people like this tend to complain about "White Washing" history. Yuskue "If he really existed" was a slave who was basically seen and treated as a pet or an amusement. It was undoubtably a pretty unfortunate situation for him but it's alright to take a story of abuse and dehumanization into some inspirational feel good story.
I'm reminded by the movie 13 Samuari where a white baby was found. The Japanese who found him had enough mercy to not kill him but he basically grew up as a outcast. He lived alone in a shack far from the woods. Some people liked him but he was never one of them. This is a likely outcome to outsiders from that period
He was more in than a Pet. Oba Nunbanaga gave him his own weapons. And weapons weren't given to pets. If you were given weapons it was expected of you to use them in battle, and not just ornaments you put on your mantle. We also know of at least 1 military champagne he fought in. Oba said "He fought with the strength of 10 men". So all of the historical evidence does show he was given weapons, and he did fight. So saying he was just a pet would be historically inaccurate.
@@a.wadderphiltyr1559
Thats simply not true. The Samari Matsudaira Ietada wrote about Yasuke in his diary. He said "His height was 6 shaku 2 sun (roughly 6 feet, 2 inches (1.88m)... he was black, and his skin was like charcoal," . Oba Nobunaga himself wrote about Yasuke saying that "He had the might of 10 Men:" There is no historian that questions the existence of Yasuke. There is no historian that questions whether he fought, being that we have first hand documentation describing him fighting in at least 1 military campagne.
@@a.wadderphiltyr1559
We dont know what his last name was and we also dont know his original african name. All we do know is that we have 5 independent contemporaneous sources saying that there was a black person named Yasuke in Oba Nubanaga's court. And we also know that he fought in at least 1 millitary campagne. WIth that much evidence its safe to say he was a historical figure. Nobody doubts this.
@@a.wadderphiltyr1559
Whether he was officially granted the title of "Samari", does not effect my argument. My argument is that there was a black person named Yasuke in Oba Nobunaga's court. We also know that he was given weapons and did fight in at least 1 military campagne. Whether that makes him officially a "Samari" has no bearing on my stance. So if a movie or video game portrays a black person fighting people in Japan, its not historically inaccurate. Regardless of what title he held.
You're repeating false information that no one covering history on UA-cam backs. Go look up the truth instead of leaning on confirmation bias. The records are found online that talk about him, so I have no idea why this gets repeated. Nowhere in there does Nobunaga treat him with anything less than respect other than his initial disbelief someone could be as black, tall and strong as he was.
Definitely agree. I do also think that the progressive religious views find intrinsic value in mixing and breaking down distinctions. That is in part a motivating factor behind race-swapping even historical characters.
You should write a sequel for your book, for modern audiences: "Muramaqua, tendie eater"
Another game I'll avoid, like 95% of the new games I guess.
David, I know you say you're tired about talking about things you hate, but I think this is really good content
Thank you!
Best video about this topic so far.
I lived abroad for a few years mainly in a non European context and the people that claim to be for multiculturalism the most are often the most uncomfortable in these places, even if its just as a tourist or in a controlled situation like college study abroad. They don’t take the people in the place as they are for the good and bad.
I'm so glad this small, more introspective channel exists 😂
I've been watching a couple Angry Joe reviews and landed on his take for this current event. It's so deranged, lol. His whole shtick is raging at what horrible games companies are doing but he can't call a spade a spade in this case because of his dogmatic progressive double think. Couldn't even get to the pre-order asking price talking points like his normally does. 😂
Ubisoft: "let me show you the swordfight of my people".
Im playing GOT and that seems a bit candy floss , liberal and American , the samurai seem like Jedi not ruthless brutal warriors , however obviously not as bad as ACS , however im more purist than most
You mentioned Nioh. Did you ever play it? If so, what did you think of it?
I have it but I haven't played it enough to comment. It drove some interest to my books, though!
Valhalla was totally absurd so didnt care about ACS , and wasn't surprised , i was slightly taken aback they were so sloppy and blatant, But in a way its better than subtle subversion , ACS has no chance of being taken seriously by anyone that genuinly cares about the peroid. It will sink without trace, its probably the Epitaph for the franchise
People have been comparing this a lot to Nioh which had William a white man as the protagonist, but that was a game made by Team Ninja, a VERY japanese game and it didn't stop the game from being extremely Japanese in style.
Yasuke is quickly becoming the West's "our guy" to insert themselves into Japanese History without having to feel disconnected from a Japanese Culture. Yasuke isn't even Western, but we will still use him as the basis of our values because of our own history. Yasuke helps make this historical piece a Western approving piece of media.
Yasuke has been in several Japanese games and some other media. The hypocrisy is only on Japan if they take issue with Yasuke, but didn't take issue with William. If this were any other point in time, no one besides the racist people I've seen flood discussions take issue with this. Ubisoft want to use Yasuke to create some fictitious narrative as well as the female ninja.
@@blumiu2426 "Everybody I don't like is a racist." You're a spoiled, narcissistic brat. There's a difference between a Japanese studio making use of a western man in a fantastical story, vs liberals force feeding Africans into every nation's history. There's a whole plethora of Japanese heroes and groups to chose from, but they have to force Africans into everything because "racism bad". I'm tired of seeing history bastardized because of the African superiority complex, they can write about their own history and quit sticking their noses into others.
@@blumiu2426Ubisoft wants to use him for propaganda, not for innocent storytelling.
@@marbellaotaiza801 Where in the world did you read I wrote anything like that?
@@blumiu2426 I stand by what I said instead of pointless trollsplaining.
This franchise ended with Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Period.
Can you arrange to do a Warren Smith interview?
Probably not.
I just thought it was some kind of homage to afro samurai
I suspect that's why shogun is doing so well. They tried to stay as close to the hidtorical period as possible. Also, fuck that show. I had those books on my list for years because i bought the 2nd book (unawares) in the series at a garage sale. They WERE super cheap, now they are crazy expensive and sold out. I heard it's a great show however.
I don't like the idea of woke games, but I also don't want some gamers and yotutubers to give me the impression that it's all about historical credibility in a game series that is always at odds with it, contrary to the illusions of some gamers. Yasuke can just as unfortunately be a samurai in the Sengoku period as Ezio can fight karata with Alexander VI as Grand Master of the Templar Order, which he was not. And how could there have been Norwegian Assassins in the 9th century. Or Vikings at all. This is not Ghost of Tsushima where we only have Mongols and Japanese without the Franciscans operating in secret on the island competing with the Shaolin monastery for the pilot from Vegeta's ship. Which in 1865 woll shoot Lincoln as Secret Illuminata V class. And he thanks to alien Artifact will survives and as cloned brother Wright will built plane in 1910.
I understand the Author's arguments and agree with more than one, but this Yasuke hardly bothers me in Assasin Creed because it is not a simulation-history game
To those writing here about Assassin Creed: Assasin Creed is not Kingdom Come Deliverance. In this great series of games, however, we have a mythical race of Isu that did not exist The orders of Assassins and Templars did not have stories in real life like in AC lore and Franklin, as someone already wrote, did not support the Assassins. And neither did da Vinci. This is not a game that simulates the Middle Ages or Sengoku or history like the aforementioned KCD but a de facto fantasy game set in realities stylized on Earth's history. So here there is no comparison to the push for Kingdom Come Deliverance. The annoyance of the Japanese I understand but they do similar things in manga, anime. In the famous Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya)in Greece, their leader is Japanese Seiya the Pegasus Knight. While in 1986 when the action of the 1st volume of the manga begins it gets away with it, in the further series taking place in the 18th century the actual leader of the knights and the pegasus is Tenma another Japanese. Where a Japanese in 18th century Greece came from the mangaka didn't care. Not saying I'm happy about Yasuke in AC, but I wouldn't go overboard with the outcry from some fans. Mixing real eras with the fiction of the Isu race, time travel and the age-old almost Templars and Assassins. It's a world not KCD and more in the style of the Code Geass manga where you supposedly have our Earth but the main empire of this world is centered in America has an Emperor and it's called the Britannia empire and you have mega combat mechs in the early 2000s. In such situations it's hard to even laugh at a black person. Isu and time travel spoil everything as medieval or Sengoku Japan simulations.
i had previously looked up if Yasuke was historical. i skimmed a few different articles and they all said he was and there was no doubt casted. they didn't provide any evidence for it, they just said he was definitely an African samurai. i'm curious if you have any sources that suggest he was a samurai? is it folklore? real-world documents? testimony?
starting to remind me of that book A Case for Jesus, except Yasuke.
I'll have to look again but the gist was that no Japanese sources list him that we are aware of.
@@DVSPress
Nobunagas Chronicles and Matsudaira Ietada's diary are two Japanese sources mentioning him.
He definitely wasn’t a samurai, that’s for sure
"Trust me bro, he was like real n sheet..."
@@marbellaotaiza801
Y’all don’t have to trust me. Here is the source. Yasuke is mentioned in Shinchō Kōki (Oba Nobunagas Chronicles). There is not a free copy online. But the citation is mentioned in this PDF
repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/71097/1/40_15.pdf
“A black bōzu from the Christian country has arrived. He appears to be 26 or 27 years old. The blackness of his body is like that of a bull, and he is healthy and of fine physique. Moreover, he has the strength of more than ten men. The padres came with him and thanked Lord Nobunaga for his permission to proselytize.”
There was a foreigner in the Caribbean in black flag when it should have been a black protagonist regardless of who majority pirates were they are FOREIGNERS, you didnt play as a Caribbean until the DLC called Freedom Cry
if they put a playable Zatoichi, all shall be forgiven.
I like the series, but I don't think I feel like supporting AC Shadows.
I thought the legend of Yasuke is cool for the game. I do think they could have done a ninja legend which would have made more sense.
I have 0 interest in AC, but it is a fine battle ground to take it to the progs so it is good they are being engaged.
Progs will continue to ignore all of the arguments and scream racism. But as long as the controversy is alive our arguments can get some hearing and that's what has some value. Also they may have their mask slip with how much they hate Japanese culture and people. I full agree, they clearly do. Whatever problems they have with "white culture" (loose amalgamation of European cultures and mostly USA culture from before 1960s) it applies to Japan. In many cases even more so as they are even more conscientuous, loyal and upright. It's also good to fight in computer games realm where progs are weakest due to lower entry requirements (indie's making hits, mid level companies beating AAA, etc). It's also decentralized so you can't poison someone so easily as in Hollywood where you need top specialists from 50 jobs and networking means you have to get along with big players or die. They of course put pressure on gaming, but its not as strong as in other parts of culture.
For any thinking something factual is coming from Assassin's Creed forgot that you played as female characters that wouldn't be in their position or status in the games. They have aliens and mythological creatures now, so it's all out the window. Yasuke did exist and what evidence of his time in Japan exists leans toward him being a samurai because of the stipend, duties and perks he received, and was going to receive his own fiefdom. Two channels that cover history, The Metatron and TheShogunate presented this from the records existing, and both use Thomas Lockley's book about Yasuke, Lockley being a professor of international studies in the UK and Japan. It's primarily said that it's unknown if he was indeed a samurai because nothing says explicitly that he was, but the details before and accompanying Nobunaga on campaigns do point to he was or had every privilege and role a samurai had. Nobunaga had made Hideyoshi, a commoner, a samurai (boshi is what they were called back then), so we already have that and other eccentricities of Nobunaga that he didn't care for tradition. Yasuke was never treated as a novelty from any of the records, those are fabricated degradations toward the individual. It's true afrocentrists tried to push Yasuke years back and I didn't know what to believe, but the records are easy enough to find and confirm Yasuke's time before his uncertain disappearance from history in that short time.
Yasuke is not the assassin, that is the female character and it's funny everyone forgets her as she's the most unlikely character in the setting. A Japanese woman carrying a weapon openly, in the role of the romanticized ninja taking on grown men in armor. Yasuke is the brute strength and another pairing like they did in Syndicate with the twins.
It's obvious Yasuke is being used for DEI reasons and the female character also to represent a woman in a position of power. All it took was a black guy to be in Japan to bring such a backlash and everyone becomes a historian simultaneously.
No scholar disagrees with the existence of Yasuke in Oba Nobunaga's court. There are 5 independent contemporaneous sources mentioning him. In Oba Nobunaga Chronicle he is mentioned to have fought in at least 1 military Campagne. Now the details of his personal life are mysterious. Like we don't know his real name. We don't know if he had children, wife, etc. We don't even know how he died. But in terms of simply knowing of a black person named Yasuke fighting in feudal Japan, thats pretty certain.
Given that he left Japan after approx 15mths-2 years of being there and then completely disappeared; most likely he went back to being a servant of the Portuguese monks/missionaries and died in obscurity. He would have gone back to the name he had as that servant, and because he was a servant of Portuguese, they wouldn't have even written about him
I’m left leaning I’d say and I love japanese games. big dark souls enjoyer
I cannot possibly imagine being so utterly self obsessed that every single character I play as in a video game has to be exactly like me in every possible way. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a selection of multiple characters to play as?
@@a.wadderphiltyr1559 yeah, how long before they claim than Nobunaga madre him samurai because Nobunaga himself was black, like genesis' founding fathers, bbc's various kings, or netflix's Cleopatra?
Because it's specifically Ubisoft, it probably is going to be trash and woke.
That said, on principle, I really couldn't care less about the skin color of the main character of a fictional universe, as long as it can make sense within the story itself. We're talking about a work of fiction, not a history text book. Making arguments of "realism" against fictional works are nonsensical to begin with.
@@a.wadderphiltyr1559 No, I wouldn't, so long as it can make sense in that universe. I'm not thinking the hidden blade is historical either just because it's in AC. Assassin's Creed's universe is clearly not ours. Does that really need to be said? If you're getting the two confused, that's obviously not the game's fault. No work of fiction, no matter much inspiration it takes from real life, is a 1:1 depiction of real life (else it wouldn't be fiction). Anyone that doesn't understand that shouldn't be playing video games.
I can wrap my mind around reliving the lives of people of the past using technology, or falling hundreds of feet into a little bit of hay to negate all fall damage, hidden blades, and magic orbs... but a dude being non-Japanese is too unbelievable in the AC universe? lol Don't talk to me about appearing close to reality when discussing something as departed from reality as AC.
@@AvaiLeon You decry the so called "woke", but you're no different to them. You've no problem shoving blacks into European history because you're just as hateful to European blood as the woke. Africans, Asians, and others have no business being in European history except as the enemies that they always were.
The Japanese are black in some regions
Like you don't know that's not at all what the word "black" means in this contest...
My understanding was that the West hates Japan because it's an insular society that would rather suffer a population decline than dilute its own culture, which is pretty much a cardinal sin. If a certain Austrian painter hadn't existed, it's very likely that Japan would be our negative frame of reference instead.
You mean that extremely based and heroic Austrian painter?
Japan is not our negative frame of reference because the main institutions of the west aren't controlled by, let's say Filipinos...
it's not a controversy; it's a sickness. it's called hate. the same people that hate black hobbits and black star wars heroes and a black doctor who now hate a black samurai. they are sick people. there is no cure for them. and their hate is slowly killing them. may they rest in peace. but there is a remedy for gamers. the remedy is simple. let all aaa game devs include character creation so that the gamer can play as someone that he/she identifies with. simple solution. the only solution, in fact. if bgs can do it, why can't the others?
It’s one of those situations where yes, there was a black samurai, but this one singular isolated individual should not necessarily be the representative of the entire culture. And this is particularly telling of something like Assassins Creed where they take different historical periods and use a sort of “catch all” depiction of that period.
And dialling back towards the whole “just the one” black samurai. There was also a rather famous English samurai, and a pair of French ones much later during the restoration. I’m not saying oh let’s focus on these instead, I just find it funny that they decided to go with the black one.
Except that postulate is a lie. He was there, but that's the extent of it.
the thing is just... no, there wasnt... yasuke was a sword bearer, dressed up as a samurai because the japanese thought it was funny, the most telling sign that he was not a samurai should be the fact that his wikipedia page keeps getting edited to remove the part where it says that he wasnt
@@middox239 Actually the most telling part is that historical records specify he wasn't killed along side Nobunaga's retainers, like any samurai would have. Instead when they captured him, on top of calling him a witless beast, they just returned him to his original owners.
Hes an actual historical african samurai and hes not the only character you play as you can play as a Japanese assassin
Yeah. But for some reason people think the Japanese woman is woke too because she had a... man jaw? Yeah, idk. People are reading way too much into this sh!t.
They had a blonde white guy as the main character for the Nioh game and nobody objected it.
The topic of the video is Assassin's Creed, if you haven't realized.
Nah, people objected to it.
What historical time frame is Nioh?
Japanese people love europeans in their media I guess. Look at their anime, they all look like white folk.
@@mr.lhd6990 Who? Nioh was critically acclaimed and sold well.
First some background to Japan and then back to the source material and why using a "foreign" samurai makes sense from a game design perspective.
The japanese society in the sengoku jidai had this castes (in confuzian order).
Samurai > farmers > craftsmen > merchants > untouchables (burakumin)
With priests/monks/nuns standing outside of this system (as far as I know)
Jesuit priests, dutch trading captains were "foreigners" and not part of the system.
Samurai is not a noble title like "knight". Samurai are a caste. So being born by a samurai father. Women were samurai.
Being samurai ranged from daimyo, hatamoto, samurai warriors, ji-samurai, beaucrats, sages, artists. Jumping into an other caste was rare, but possible.
Ji-samurai would be as low as you can get as an samurai. Having no retainers, no stipend and working on your own farm. Not being confused with ashigarus, which were "conscripts".
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the sucessor to Oda Nobunaga, was an farmer/ashigaru working himself up the ranks. Later nobody would have disputed his status as an samurai.
As be easily seen in wikipedia.
"The Shinchō Kōki states (this is the chronicle of Oda Nobunaga):
A black man was taken on as a vassal by Nobunaga-sama and received a stipend. His name was decided to be Yasuke. He was also given a short sword and a house. He was sometimes made to carry Nobunaga-sama's tools.[3]"
Key words here are "vassal". Farmers, craftsmen and merchants could not become vassals. In Europe the same. Farmers were suspects, not vassals. A king had vassals, which were dukes, barons, knights. He got a weapon. There is no tie between having two swords and being a samurai. Women had no two sword, but they were samurai. Two swords was a sign of being a samurai warrior. Yasuke had to vow to Nobonaga, getting a stipend (loan in koku) weapon and house. All signs of an samurai.
Those who disapprove, please use the original source material and tell me which caste Yasuke was in your opinion and why?
Imho the choice of Yasuke is a clever trick from the game design.
No person here without a long tutorial would be able to interact in a historical way with other samurai. A "foreign" samurai, large, intimidating and a favored of the revered Oda Nobunaga allows blunder. Blunder between samurai warrior end otherwise very fast bloody.
If he's a Samurai, what's his full name?
Because a Samurai would not have one
He was a foreigner and even back then, a gimmick. Nobunaga had him do 'tricks', which, given his status as a foreigner, was most likely something for Oda and his mates to laugh at
@@defectiveindustries which caste is Yasuke?
His real name was likely bad to pronounce for japanese. As such, he got a name. This happened also to other people.
Since "tricks" is not decribed, it is an asumption. Likely Yasuke showed stuff he knew from his home.
It is mentioned that Yasuke was holding the weapons of Nobunaga. That is a prestige job. A lord like Nobunaga would not reduce the status of such a person.
In the primary source of the chronicle of Oda Nobunaga it is mentioned, he was made a vassal. Only samurai could be vassals. By making him a vassal, he was no longer a foreigner. Japanese were and are far more practical then people in the west think about them.
Yasuke was not a samurai in the sense of the Kyoto court protocol. Being an distant relative to the court nobility (5th or 7th rank). But this is in the sengoku jidai allready not as strict as 200 years before. As seen with examples like Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Am I problematic?
I want to play as a fictional African samurai character who meets Yasuke not actually be the historical figure Yasuke himself.