The Old Way
Yasuke episode 2 begins with our samurai swimming to shore, catching his breath. The assassins head back after Saki’s blast too, bemoaning their failed mission. The priest in charge demands to know who the fisherman is, using a villager and torturing him into submission. Eventually the Priest snaps the man’s neck and leaves him in a deep grave. It turns out Ski is the key to this Priest’s plans for conquering Europe. Quite how though, remains to be seen. Anyway, the assassins head back out and begin searching for clues to Yasuke’s whereabouts. During a flashback, we jump back to Azuchi Castle in 1581. Tensions arise as Nobunaga puts faith in Yasuke, who remains dedicated to bringing more like him into their ranks. Mitsuhide however, is not so sure this is a good idea. Still, the group rally together with seven trusted samurai marching upon the Iga Clan at their castle. The suggestion for the clan to surrender is snubbed when they notice Yasuke arriving. Likening Yasuke to a slave, they demand he fight and face them alone. Silently, Yasuke rides forward and eventually faces this General head-on. Yasuke easily thwarts the threat and pleads with them to surrender; he doesn’t want this ending in bloodshed. Well, that falls on deaf ears as Yasuke is surrounded by other clan members who jump in to fight. Yasuke slaughters the ensuing warriors. Although they win the skirmish, Natsumaru finds her faith wavering. The slaughter of the Iga clan has left her conflicted over whether this is really a just and noble cause. Yasuke however, is still faithful to his Lord. Back in the present, Yasuke finds Saki but unfortunately Ichika is nowhere to be found. Yasuke tells Saki her Mother is dead, leading the girl to hurry out to the fields, sobbing. There, her power begins to manifests itself again. Back in the bar, the Priest arrives and sits next to Yasuke. He confirms they’ve found the girl. Just as he leaves, the four assassins rock up and begin attacking Yasuke again. It’s four-on-one and the odds are just too much for Yasuke to handle. Knocked down to the ground, the Priest stamps on his face, “Salvation awaits.”
The Episode Review
The second chapter of Yasuke continues to flit back and forth through time. Here, we learn more about Yasuke’s plight in the past and see his proficient samurai skills too. As an outsider it’s clear he’s trained harder than most to hone his skills and it absolutely pays dividends. Interestingly though, Natsumaru is having doubts about their lord’s methods and this is examined nicely across the episode through Yasuke’s pride and loyalty. Meanwhile, the assassins close in on Yasuke and the others with this evil priest in the driving seat. He seems like quite a generic antagonist in truth, while this whole Saki “chosen one” angle feeds into the cliched ideas at the heart of this plot. Still, we’ll have to wait and see what direction this one takes going forward but right now Yasuke has some nice ideas but the execution feels quite generic.
