Assassin's Creed Shadows is already being labeled as "woke" and "disrespectful" following its announcement trailer, primarily due to main characters Naoe and Yasuke, the latter of whom is historically considered Japan's first black samurai.

Ubisoft has finally lifted the lid on the next mainline Assassin's Creed, revealing that Assassin's Creed Shadows will be available on November 15 later this year. While we didn't get any gameplay, we did get a lengthy cinematic trailer going into the backstories of the game's two main protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke. Naoe appears to be a Shinboi from the Japanese provinces, while Yasuke is considered to be Japan's first black samurai, and came into contact with several prominent figures in Japanese history.

That means Assassin's Creed Shadows will center around a woman and a black man, and some people on social media have reacted with exactly the kind of behavior we have come to expect nowadays whenever a protagonist isn't a straight white man. In the replies of Ubisoft's announcement tweet, you don't have to look very hard for people decrying the game as "woke" and "disrespectful", with a sprinkling of DEI in there for good measure.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' Yasuke Is Somehow "Disrespectful" To Japan

Most of the vitriol revolves around Yasuke, with some people taking issue with the fact that they're being made to play as a black man in a Feudal Japan setting, despite the character being a key figure in Japanese history. Some claim that it's inappropriate for Ubisoft to have someone who isn't native to the country as one of the main characters, though I don't think these same people take issue with the fact that the incredibly Welsh Edward Kenway was sailing around the Carribean in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag.

You've also got some stating that Yasuke wasn't actually a samurai, but was a retainer to Oda Nobunaga, and that this somehow "disrespects" Japanese culture. However, people are already pointing out Yasuke was Nobunaga's Kosho, which is essentially the bodyguard or personal servant of a general or lord and is considered a samurai in Japanese history. Just because Yasuke didn't belong to a Samurai clan, it doesn't mean he wasn't one.

!nooticers that last line lol

When did Congress get so ghetto 😭😭 this is embarrassing
pic.twitter.com/nQI8AWbKd0

— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) May 17, 2024

Repeal the 19th

The OP is a woman. Didn't even finish reading the post, nor any of the replies. Just wanted to point out this sentence:

WE built a playset for our son in our backyard and apparently all the kids in the neighborhood liked it so much they've made it their daily hangout spot.

Ah yes I'm sure you built it yourselves. Having a crew come do it on a saturday for you doesn't mean you did shit, nor should you say we if your husband did it over a period of weeks etc.

The annoying post:

We built a playset for our son in our backyard and apparently all the kids in the neighborhood liked it so much they've made it their daily hangout spot. We come home and there are bicycles blocking our driveway and about a dozen kids playing on it.

Bikes blocking the driveway is annoying but I'm a million percent sure she's exaggerating the number and placement of said bikes.

I wouldn't mind if it was a once in a while thing but it's everyday until after sundown. I can't even enjoy hanging out in my backyard because of all the screaming. I want to build a fence but my husband thinks it would seem “unneighborly”, especially since some of the parents have told us how much their kids like our playset.

Edit: wow I didn't expect this to blow up. Just to clarify (because I'm seeing this come up a lot): the rest of the neighbors have a very open “come over and play whenever” policy so the neighborhood kids are used to that. However the other playsets are relatively small so they don't get a big group of kids hanging out at one of them constantly.

Wow I didn't expect this to blow up

Our son is 2 so he doesn't go out without supervision, and we (the parents) just didn't feel comfortable playing in other people's playsets without the owners there.

Don't live in suburbia I guess if you don't want kids in your yard constantly. Also, building a big playset for your two year old, much bigger than the other parents' sets. Had to thrown in how theirs is better than the rest in the neighborhood. I hate reddit and regret checking it.