SAKAMOTO DAYS

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionSAKAMOTO DAYS
ANIME ActionSAKAMOTO DAYS Part 2

REVIEWS

• 

  melamuna

  70/100
  An entertaining shounen formula with a street-level twist that packs a punch!

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  Recent action anime have been leaning more into the fantastical aspect. With recent shounen juggernauts such as Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia leaning more into their grandiose action sequences, complemented with beams of color for their representation of power,. But as you keep seeing these types of action sequences—with each year upping its stakes and quality from the last—it also becomes more stale as it's the only thing that's predominantly mainstream with the lack of variety. This year, however, has a lot of promises in the action anime realm that shake up the medium, one of which is this anime. ***

  In the action department, Sakamoto Days has been one of the most interesting so far, not because how grandiose the series is compared to the last, but how creative and practical its action sequences are. For comparison, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2’s Sukuna and Jogo battle sequence is undeniably impressive, but it lost its grounded tangibility with many elements flying around on screen, finding it hard to make sense of the durability and practicality of each item during its action sequences. Part of an action sequence is using items around the characters as obstacles or tools to achieve their desired way of defeating an enemy in an entertaining and creative fashion—in which Sakamoto Days delivers it well.

  From the first episode alone, you can see its grounded take on action sequences down to its street-level style, by using tangible materials such as convenience store shelves as part of its safe defense or a strategic attack. Each crash packs a heavier punch, and the creative uses of familiar spaces and choreography make it one of the most interesting action-oriented animes around.

  Apart from its action sequences, this anime has a lot more heart to it than you might expect. We follow with a character named Shin Asakura (Nobunaga Shimazaki), who's with many misadventures, meeting many individuals who dared to assassinate Tarou Sakamoto (Tomokazu Sugita), a notoriously feared assassin who retired for a humble life—and out of shape. From that premise alone, there isn't much of a legroom to fully explore many themes as it follows a more traditional, obstacle-oriented adventure, but it manages to sneak in some drama into it from the heart-to-heart interactions, well-realized motivations, and fun chemistry between many major and minor characters.

  Aside from its well-crafted and unique action sequences and a lovable, heartwarming cast of characters, this series does not really offer anything that's inventive that redefines its medium. At the end of the day, it is still your standard shounen series with standard shounen formulas present from many successful shounen anime—and it continues to have that element in this series. It can be a great thing for many viewers since there is that familiarity with the formula, which you can find an easy connection with the series. On the other hand, those who were seeking something profound or formula-breaking can be left disappointed—but still leaving the series with a smile. ***

  Sakamoto Days is your usual shounen series with its proven and tested formulas that continuously work, along with a standout quirk of having street-level action sequences that bring a refreshing light. An easy recommendation for shounen fans and action fans alike. ***

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• 

  HitmanTejo

  79/100
  He who was once feared by all now fears no one but his wife.

  Sakamoto Days revolves around Taro Sakamoto, the world's renowned legendary hitman, far greater the caliber of all. However, the legend seemingly turned into a retired, ordinary, and relaxed family man who gained weight. With the Sakamoto Store to whom his past life owes the consequences, a certain someone has put a bounty to his head, and persistent enemies come to force him to protect his loved ones, despite his retired status.

  Story

  The plot follows Taro Sakamoto and his family, where his wife, Aoi Sakamoto, has a rule not to kill, or else she would break up with Taro, which the former hitman adheres out of his fear. Who would've known he who was once feared by all fears no one but his wife.

  Certain former criminals meet up with the family in mere coincidence- Shin, Lu, and Heisuke- and they come together to adhere and protect the family against persistent threats of those who have business against Taro; whether by revenge, forcing him for job return, or the bounty up his head.

  The plot is simple yet complex, a story meant to balance out the elements of slice-of-life, action, and comedy.

  The story primarily focuses on the bounty up Sakamoto's head, but each episodes are directed to leading out-of-scope. The best description for that would be: "This episode is about Taro, then about Shin, then about comfort, then this-and-that!". The sequence is tolerable, at least.

  It's truly worth note taking that the series is rushed. Everything feels all-so-sudden. The plot in itself isn't that great either, while it has it's strengths for having innovative concepts such as The Order, X, and Triad, but it is not sufficient enough to compensate the rest of the adaptation. The weaknesses over the strengths surely overpower over this anime adaptation in comparison to the manga.

  __Characters__

  The introductory execution of the characters were done efficiently under the manner of 11 episodes. However, while there is explicit apprehension toward the backstories of characters, several concepts were not given proper detail and focus, which made them irrelevant.

  Certain characters were also not given enough depth, considering their potential. The character designs are phenomenal that I can already see edit videos rampaging over the feeds. Yeah, you can't deny, from men to women, all of these characters have an ick to them.

  __Visuals__

  Critics are out to an all-time best to criticize the series over its visuals. They tend to talk bad about it being a very bad adaptation, a source coming from people with high expectations.

  It is subjective, but I agree. There are several flaws noticeable in every episodes that affect the series in itself, but several episodes that should've been better (considering its impact) were done unsatisfactorily. For example,

  • X's introduction
  • Sakamoto vs Hard-Boiled
  • Natsuki Seba vs Heisuke and Shin
  • Sakamoto and Shin vs Heisuke

  While all of these fights are tolerable to an extent, it could've been much better.

  Music
  There are also certain critiques who have their disappointments of the music, pointing out the opening and ending sequence of the series.

  Overall
  It is a decent series with several flaws that are attentively being criticized by critics, who seemingly have a bad take when it comes to Sakamoto Days. While there are certain episodes that show comfort, for the sake of its main genres, I think that the anime adaptation doesn't suit the work's main output at all.

  Shoutout to several characters along with concepts for being very interesting, engaging, and refreshing. I'm talking about you X, Order, Seba, Shin, Heisuke, and Lu. wink wink

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• 

  luxray978

  70/100
  Low budget adaptation that feels like it could've been much more

  Summary:
  Sakamoto Days is an adaptation of the Shonen Jump manga of the same name that follows the titular Sakamoto. Retired from a life of being a hitman he navigates running his shop with a world that is attempting to draw him back in.

  Visual style:
  The visual style used for the anime is nothing special which is unfortunate. I haven’t read the manga but the panels I looked up for comparison have a lot more life to them despite lacking any color. A major contributor to this is the washed-out color palette used for the show. I think the intent is to produce a more serious aesthetic via unnatural colors but washing them out and adding a filter over them. However, the linework often makes things feel a bit dull. It’s certainly not terrible and probably even better than a hyper-saturated slopfest but, something about it consistently rubbed me the wrong way.

  Animation:
  Similarly, animation was generally passable but it never wowed me. The use of slowdowns for Sakomoto’s quick movements was probably the most unique aspect of the animation. However, it often found itself replaced with a blur effect which works but it often feels like a motion comic and isn't very interesting in fights. Like the visual style it’s not terrible or unwatchable but at no point was I sitting in awe like some of the fights in Demon Slayer, the Elusive Samurai, or the matches in Ping Pong the Animation.

  Characters:
  The dynamics between the main cast are the highlight of the show for me by far and it’s pretty fun to watch them all hang out. It reminded me a lot of Gintama in this aspect which I adore and I had a lot of fun watching Shin and Lu’s antics. Sakamoto himself often felt pretty weak but I think his presence works well as a facilitator of the more interesting characters around him. Heisuke was a standout for me and I found his personality cute so I’m hopeful season 2 will show more of him. Side characters have strong personalities which made the earlier arcs feel pretty enjoyable with the choice to give the hard-boiled detective a backstory being a good way to flesh out Sakamoto as well. Visually character designs feel great and do a good job of giving you a feel for vibe on characters and looking cool.

  Treatment of women:
  Sakamoto Days crosses the bar of not featuring fan service or leering panty shots of its female cast which unfortunately cannot be said of many Shonen Jump properties. It should be noted there’s one character who falls into the sexual harassment for comedic effect archetype which I didn’t like but he appears to be a minor character who won’t be showing up frequently. Besides him, there are no other occasions of that type of comedy I can remember.

  The main woman in the show is the main cast member Lu who is a fighter like the rest of the group in theory but frequently finds herself sidelined or damseled. I think this is pretty unfortunate and hopefully, it’s certainly not the worst case of this I’ve ever seen but it was very noticeable to me watching. Besides Lu, there is Sakamoto’s wife and daughter who are pretty nothing characters mostly serving to give Sakamoto something to protect. There’s a little bit of backstory on his wife’s feelings on his profession but she’s mostly the stern wife who controls her physically stronger husband stoically and we don’t get much of her inner world.

  Comedy:
  As far as the show’s comedy as I’ve mentioned in other reviews I’m not someone who finds many things funny so take this section with a grain of salt. I think there are bits in Sakamoto that will get a laugh out of certain people. The main axes for comedy are the nonchalance of the cast around violence, people having the tables turned around and the various silly [and cool] objects Sakamoto will use as weapons. The one bit that did amuse me personally was everything involving Heisuke.

  Plot:
  For most of the first season, plots are sporadic with there being no clear indication of an overarching aspect. This is pretty typical for shonen and considering Sakamoto Days is a two-cour show it would be pretty ridiculous for me to take points for this. The main plot once hinted at, seems to be something that could go either way, but it didn’t draw deep intrigue out of me. It’s certainly possible as we learn more things could get more interesting but so far it mostly feels like an opportunity to give characters something to do which is fine.

  Conclusion:
  There is easily a universe where Sakamoto Days is able to hit an 8 or 9 with the material it’s working with but unfortunately, it isn’t this one. Characterization is good but it’s held back by adequate but underwhelming animation that begins to show cracks in the action scenes. If you like Gintama and are yearning for more of that then it’s maybe worth watching and it’s possible the second cour will turn things around a lot. Final rating: 7/10

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