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Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already been facing a lot of controversy after its reveal, especially concerning Yasuke, a black man, chosen as one of the main protagonists in a historical Japanese setting.
🧵The Japanese are FURIOUS the Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers are saying “this is historical fact” https://t.co/F5lJ1chRKN pic.twitter.com/ydU9ImzLWE
— packergirl (@p9cker_girl) June 15, 2024
This backlash continues to brew louder, especially after IGN Japan released an interview with Associate Narrative Director Brooke Davies about the game recently.
Part of the controversy lies in the choice of giving Yasuke a much bigger role than he should have. Historically, Yasuke did exist and was possibly a person of African origin. He served as a retainer to Oda Nobunaga, the daimyo during the Sengoku Era.
His profession as a samurai was heavily debated among historians as not a lot of his life was recorded down, with some claiming he was while others believed he was simply a footman during the war.
In the interview, Davies noted that the story in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a historical fiction where the writers took liberties in interpreting Japanese history differently, filling in the blanks on details that were blurred.
This does not sit right with a lot of Japanese fans of the series. Many believe Ubisoft is overwriting certain historical facts with fiction and promoting them to be historically accurate, while some say that the approach of filling the gap is not a respectful approach in retelling history.
空白を創作で埋めて史実であるかのように喧伝するだけでもアウトだけど
空白でもない所を創作で上書きして史実であるかのように喧伝してるんですわ— ぐんにょり (@easyandslowly) June 13, 2024
“It’s not enough to just fill in the blanks with fiction and promote it as if it were historical fact, but they’re overwriting parts that aren’t blank with fiction and promoting them as if they were historical fact,” an X user said, translated via Google Translate.
“It’s not a good idea to say that stories fill in the gaps in history. I was looking forward to the story being set in Japan, so it’s disappointing,” another X user replied.
“If you had said it was a Japanese-style fantasy, tolerant Japanese people would have dismissed it with, ‘Oh, it’s the usual fake Japan thought up by Westerners,’ but you should understand that you’re infuriating them by saying things like, ‘We’re faithful to historical facts,'” said another X user.
Understandably, the Japanese are concerned over the misinterpretation of their countries’ history, as it is not every day you see a major AAA franchise claiming to retell history.
