Poor Yasuke, one of the protagonists of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is in the spotlight: first, the character’s historical background was attacked, and now his supposed sexual orientation…

Considering how long Assassin’s Creed fans have been waiting for a game set in feudal Japan, you’d think that the unveiling of Assassin’s Creed Shadows (formerly known as Red) would have been greeted with tears of joy. However, this was not the case, as the reveal caused a lot of controversy, primarily due to Yasuke being one of the main characters in the game.

Beyond claims that Assassin’s Creed is “woke” for having a black protagonist, one of the significant controversies surrounding the game is Yasuke’s status as a samurai. Although it has been suggested for some time that Yasuke was a samurai, the lack of historical documents about him has led some to question this claim, especially now that he is the main character in an Assassin’s Creed game.

Diplomatic crisis over Yasuke?!

A Japanese political adviser has indicated that backlash over Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows game could become a “diplomatic incident”.

As first reported by Mark Kern, aka Grummz on X, a Japanese political consultant, detailed that the game’s misrepresentation of Japanese history, culture, and aesthetics, primarily revolving around its depiction of Yasuke as a legendary samurai, could lead to a “diplomatic incident.”

According to Grummz’s report, “Letters are being sent with questions to the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.”

He added: “While the government has not taken action yet, they are waiting for the final release of the game to decide, and there is mounting pressure in Japan to address the issue with Ubisoft portraying false information to Japanese children.”

Historian defends Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Historian Yu Hirayama, who has written several books on the “period of warring states” (Sengoku Jidai), shared his thoughts on the matter in a lengthy Twitter post. In the Google-translated post, Hirayama wrote that although there are not many historical documents about Yasuke, there is “no doubt” that he was a samurai who served Nobunaga.

“It seems like there’s a lot of talk about Yasuke, a black man who served Oda Nobunaga. There are very few historical documents about him, but there’s no doubt that he was a “samurai” who served Nobunaga. Regardless of one’s social status, if one’s master promoted one to the rank of “samurai,” one could become one in medieval (warring states) society.”

According to Hirayama, this is certain because historical documents show that Nobunaga gave him a stipend, a house, and a sword.

The fact that he received a stipend and served Nobunaga obviously “closely fulfills the important requirements of a contract between master and servant”, while wearing a sword means that he was not just a servant, who historically were not allowed to carry weapons.

Some have argued that Yasuke couldn’t have been a samurai since he wasn’t given a surname, but Hirayama points out in another tweet that it’s “very likely” that Yasuke would have been given one in the future. Hirayama suggests that he may have received one, which has not been confirmed in historical documents, and that the short time he served Nobunaga may be the reason it was not recorded.

Would the new Assassin’s Creed be “too queer”?!

Ubisoft has revealed that the latest instalment in the series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, scheduled for release on November 12, will once again feature same-sex romance and “more advanced relationships” than previous instalments.

In fact, Shadows seems to go further than Ubisoft has ever done before. It can be said that the romantically approachable characters in the previous games were “player sexual”. The relationships formed with them were not always intentionally queer relationships explicitly created for this purpose. After all, the dual protagonists in Odyssey and Valhalla were not separate people, but gender options. Because Naoe and Yasuke’s romances were tailored to their uniquely designed characters, the queer representation feels much more intentional.

Many prospective players evaluated all of this as saying that Yasuke must be played as a gay character. The discourse changed from “Yasuke wasn’t a samurai!” to “Yasuke wasn’t gay!”

First of all, a simple Google search is enough to make it obvious: there have been artistic depictions and records of homosexuality in Japan since the 1500s. It was more accepted than in contemporary Christian Europe.

Second, the series has always taken characters from history and reinterpreted their real lives to make entertaining video games. Were the Borgias systematically murdered? Was Margaret Thatcher a Templar? Are Isu’s real? Come on! The series presents an alternate history to the one we know, suggesting that there is a grand conspiracy behind everything we know to be true. A mixture of fact and fiction.

It doesn’t really matter if Yasuke was gay in real life or not. It’s just an RPG mechanic. If it bothers you, just don’t choose to reciprocate a man’s approach. The game does not force you to do anything; it merely offers an opportunity to those who might want to use it.

Source: X (1, 2), ThePinkNews

The Assassin's Creed Shadows issues with Yasuke and the discredited "historian" Thomas Lockley have exploded into a potential diplomatic incident.

Letters are being sent with questions to the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of… pic.twitter.com/rQVko1L1PL

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 19, 2024

なんか、織田信長に仕えた黒人の弥助の話題になっているみたい。彼に関する史料はかなり乏しいが、信長に仕える「侍」身分であったことはまちがいなかろう。出身の身分がどうであれ、主人が「侍」分に取り立てれば、そうなれたのが中世（戦国）社会。なんでそんなことが言えるかといえば、①信長より「…

— K・HIRAYAMA (@HIRAYAMAYUUKAIN) July 19, 2024