Black and brilliant: Animation director of YASUKE LeSean Thomas | The Undefeated

LeSean Thomas talks about his journey from the South Bronx to South Korea and his new project about African samurai Yasuke.
#TheUndefeated
#Yasuke

[@kathleencharles68]

I love the representation. Go head and do your thing. We stand it

[@djaythagoat4k657]

Please keep doing yasuke i love it.

[@yassasloan7308]

LMFAO 🤣 comics at the bodegas... wow i almost cried... a time gone by...wow... LeSean Thomas... seriously underrated... fuckin gangsta!!! keep it up my dude!👊🏽

[@Zulu-Lemon]

Great content

[@Mischiou]

Thanks for representing black people as well. I love anime but it often seems to only represent only (mostly) white people. You make my dreams come true. I used to love drawing as well, but never got that far. I love to see more Asian, Indian, Slavic people as well. That would make things even more interesting and no one would feel left out. Bless you.

[@ianjacka469]

To be honest I've watched anime for 25 years.......and the most common race of people is Japanese by far. As you would expect with anime coming from Japan.

[@luxuriousmindset1906]

@@ianjacka469 yeah I don’t know where these people get this shit about mostly white people

[@gregoryross9770]

@@ianjacka469 they are white.... Not necessarily European but Caucasian.. How many Japanese characters were in robotech? Skull leader(white guy)was married to a black woman.. For example

[@ianjacka469]

@@gregoryross9770 So you are trying to tell me there are MORE white people in anime than Japanese overthe last 35 years worth of anime I've seen' and that doesn't include the massive output of anime that hasn't even been released in the west???

[@JaejoongPrincess]

@@ianjacka469 Everything you said is correct and I am Black.

[@dmx92145]

Yasuke is d.o.p.e.

[@ianjacka469]

Each to their own opinion, but I have to disagree. The true story (what is known) is incredible, more than enough source material to make one of the best historical Samurai animes ever AND could of educated a younger generation about the horrors of slave trading in the past, but he missed all of those oppurtunities and made a......I'm almost lost for words....poorly paced anime that didn't seem to know what it was....magical?.......Mecha? (what was he thinking putting Mechas in after laying the path for a more high brow Samurai anime with the good and quite accurate beginning?). He barely touched on the incredible real story of Yasuke, focusing more on a cliched magic girl. Worst event in anime to happen since the live action version of Ghost in the Shell. And we know he's capable after the masterpice Cannonbusters which was in my view flawless.

[@dmx92145]

@@ianjacka469 if you called Cannon Busters a masterpiece, then calling Yasuke a disappointment makes absolutely no sense. Afro Samurai was dope as well because it did what the artist wanted it to do. We don't have to always give history lessons and be historically accurate in our artistic expression and representation. Other cultures have the same artistic freedom of expression that we should always embrace. I'm sure he had some great messages within his work that you totally missed because of your own narrow expectations. Every time we see us..."WHY HE AINT PUT SLAVERY IN IT???" Slavery was an issue for many different nations, cultures and races of people besides us. It's not something we have to inject into all of our artistry. Just like Jews don't have to find a way to inject the Holocaust in all of their artistry. Appreciate it for what it is. Not for what you want it to be.

[@ianjacka469]

@@dmx92145 Firstly, calling Cannonbusters a masterpiece and Yasuke a dissappointmnet makes perfect sense if you watched the Netflix trailers 1st. The Cannonblasters one presents it as a western/sci fi/action/comedy and that's what it was, perfectly done in my eyes. the Yasuke trailer misrepresented what kind of anime it was (although I will confess I just re-watched it and realised I missed the 0.25 second flashclip of a mecha on my first viewing). Their misleading trailer is the origin and catalyst for my 'narrow expectations'. The reason I mentioned the slavery subject had nothing to do with the colour of Yasuke's skin, that is an assumptious conclusion you have jumped to. My rationale for making that comment is simply that a big part of the Yasuke history is that HE WAS A SLAVE. I.e. I would never expect the subject of slavery to be included in Afro-Samurai.

[@dablaccseaproductions5279]

Unless he makes a season 2 (prequel) which actually dives into his life as a noble samurai Yasuke will remain a flop. No mechas please. LeSean still a legend tho don’t get it twisted, just wish he was more vocal, where is Cannon Busters Season 2?

[@lastdayz7896]

I'm a LA Underground a Trance Dj let's link up.

[@ianjacka469]

Cannonbusters was amazing. Yasuke was the biggest waste of potential I've ever seen. Could've been the next 'Sword of the Stranger', so much historical context to work with, and he went and put stupid Mecha-bots trying to be funny, and the worst convulted bit of pacing crammed into 12 episodes I've ever seen in anymay. A biiger anti-climax than my first lay, especially after all the hype. He has so much talent, most incredible character designs. Better off staying away from historical Samurai genre, would be perfect working at somewhere like Studio Trigger where his skills are more suited.

[@airkid88]

Yasuke as a whole could've been better but I will say this about the mechas and magic.....When this show was announced there was a live action movie that was announced as well and supposed to star Chadwick Boseman. Basically, and Lesean said this in interviews, this was supposed to be like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter where you take real people and throw in fantasy elements and you don't have to take it serious because the movie Lincoln was big at the time. The live action Yasuke never came to fruition but this series did and unfortunately for them people placed unrealistic expectations on them because this was the first showing of this character, or person rather, on screen.

[@ianjacka469]

@@airkid88 I think a lot of the reason I was disappointed with Yasuke was down to Netflix releasing a misleading trailer that presented it as a historical samurai anime; I could handle the magic, i.e. Ninja Scroll has magic in in and it's awesome, but apart from Macross Plus and Eva I hate mecha, and Netflix gave no clue that Yasuke was gonna have mecha in it...I couldn't even finish it and believe me I've persevered with some bad animes before. Don't quote me on this but I think Afro-Samurai was very loosely based on Yasuke, but I heard that 3rd hand on YT. I take your point that because of the historical context there were very high expectations indeed. Hope it's redone in the same beautiful style of the remake of 'Sword of a Stranger' on amazon. It's such an incredible piece of history that could make one of the best animes ever in the right hands. Needs to be a real seinen which are rarer these days due to the different demographic watching anime compared to decades ago. Be cool.

[@danzilturner1330]

Yasuke was trash cannon busters was mediocre he got so far away for his original concept and ideas then he rushed the pacing and to top it off the writing was blah don't get me wrong what he achieved is a great feat but the product is forgettable