'The Terror: Infamy' made more relevant by America's current political environment

AMC

'The Terror: Infamy premieres tonight.

Among Asian Americans, one of the most anticipated premieres of Asian Summer is the The Terror: Infamy featuring a almost all-Asian American cast. The series starts today, Monday (Aug. 12) on the AMC network at 9 p.m.

Featuring a cast and crew with deep-rooted connections to WWII, the imprisonment of Japanese Americans and the aftermath in Hiroshima, 

Set during World War II, The Terror: Infamy is set in one of the infamous incarceration camps where Americans of Japanese descent were detained. Much of the dialogue will be in Japanese with subtitles.

The story centers on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt the incarcerated Japanese American community, and a young man's journey to understand and combat the malevolent entity responsible for the deaths.

You can call The Terror: Infamy a ghost story, but the real "terror" is the incarceration of Americans based on their race.

Viewers will learn about a chapter in American history that is usually not adequately discussed in school.  With contemporary events such as the Muslim Ban and the anti-immigrant rhetoric, the fear that history could repeat itself is a real possibility. Viewers will probably find more stress in a POW interrogation or in-camp medical procedures than anything in the ghost story.

What will be interesting is if the viewers who are not of Japanese descent will be able to relate and identify with the Japanese American characters and start to view the non-Japanese characters as "others."

Asian Americans will also be behind the camera. The Terror: Infamy is co-created and executive produced by Alexander Woo ("True Blood") and Max Borenstein ("Kong: Skull Island," "Godzilla"). Woo also serves as showrunner. Josef Kubota Wladyka directs a number of episodes.

The cast will be familiar to viewers. The series stars Derek Mio as Chester Nakayama; Kiki Sukezane (Lost in Space) as Yuko, a mysterious woman from Chester's past; Cristina Rodlo (Miss Bala) as Luz, Chester's secret girlfriend; Shingo Usami (Unbroken) as Henry Nakayama, Chester's father; Naoko Mori (Everest) as Asako Nakayama, Chester's mother; Miki Ishikawa (9-1-1) as Amy, a Nakayama family friend.

The best known cast members is renowned actor, producer, author and activist George Takei (Star Trek) as Yamato-san, a community elder and former fishing captain. Takei also serves as a consultant. He was 5-years old when he and his family was imprisoned in one of the WWII concentration camps, also serves as a consultant. 

Takei has spoken out against the Trump administration’s detention camps along our Southern border, and as history shamefully repeats itself, The Terror: Infamy couldn’t feel more relevant.

Set during World War II, The Terror: Infamy centers on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt a Japanese-American community and a young man’s journey to understand and combat the malevolent entity responsible.

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