#lesean thomas

[as-warm-as-choco]

LeSean Thomas illustration of the cancelled ThunderCats series that never came to be and of which he was lead character designer while in development. Colored by Saskia G.

[animefeminist]

Cannon Busters: Black representation beyond social issue dramas

Content Warning: Discussion of racial stereotyping/caricature

Oftentimes, the desire to resonate with a character based on what they look like is made to seem shallow, or even ungrateful within fan communities. You can repeat, “Representation matters,” until you’re blue in the face, but it doesn’t mean the creators are required to give it to you. After a while, you get so used to not seeing yourself accurately depicted in the media you watch, that you lap up even the smallest, usually stereotypical, BIPOC representations like water in the desert. After all, seeing a Black character that looks ripped straight from the illustrations of a minstrel show poster is better than no representation at all, right? As if having your physical features or cultural traditions used for comedic shtick and typecast caricatures has ever felt good to anyone. Not all representation is necessarily good representation.

Cannon Busters, on the other hand, seemed to promise the kind of representation I was looking for. The whispers of an anime with a mostly-Black cast of characters piqued my curiosity immediately. Anime with multiple Black leads, though not unheard of, were rare. I had to know if this was a fluke, or an elaborate marketing ploy to bait viewers like me, who eagerly soaked up every ounce of non-stereotyped diversity they could get their hands on. What I discovered was so much more than that. The fun of Cannon Busters isn’t just its inclusiveness, but in the way it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

I took interest in the series because I was Black, but the show doesn’t try to cash in on representation as a gimmick. It is merely a show that just so happens to have a mostly BIPOC cast, which can be rare to see in animation, let alone anime. At its heart, Cannon Busters is an epic adventure comedy that really didn’t see the traction it deserved after its debut.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[silvadour]

[frgmnthtr]

[odaclan]

A First Look at YASUKE, an Anime About the First African Samurai

Netflix shares the first look and release date for their upcoming anime Yasuke, a story based on the real-life Yasuke, the first African samurai.

So there’s a bit more information on the Yasuke anime. It will be an alternate reality, where magic and mecha are present. They reiterate that Yasuke would have to protect a girl from unknown dark forces, but still keeps the identity of the “dark forces” a secret. 

The anime is slated to only have six episodes. So it sounds more like a short-and-sweet sort of deal, like a movie, rather than a long-running TV series.

The character art looks amazing, though there’s not much to see by way of the environment yet. The armour on the ninja-like character looks a bit RPG-esque, so I’m anticipating the cities and such might look a bit fantastical and not just flat out historical. 

[thecomicon]

Watch To Watch Next If You Loved 'Yasuke'

Watch To Watch Next If You Loved ‘Yasuke’

Yasuke tells of the story of a black samurai in a psychedelic alternate history of Japan full of magic and mecha. If you enjoyed the six-episode limited series, here are my recommendations for more anime that take place in an alternate history and remix cultures. Afro Samurai Afro Samurai is an Emmy award-winning anime produced by and starring Samuel L. Jackson. The Afro Samurai must slice and…

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[djiguito]

Yasuke fanart by Djiguito

[stillsmybeatingheart]