Netflix’s anime adaptation of Yoto Suzuki’s hit manga Sakamoto Days rolls on with the second half of season one, the streamer dropping new episodes on a weekly basis. The first half is recapped in about three sentences: Taro Sakamoto, a once-fearsome assassin, has settled into domestic routine, raising a family and running a convenience store – and despite his newly rotund physique, his murdery skills haven’t waned a bit. When his cover’s blown, he pals up with a clairvoyant named Shin and other young deadlies to fend off the bevy of attackers who want the billion-yen bounty on Sakamoto’s head, most urgently, a collection of sweet and tender serial killers that evil nasty guy Slur just sicced on him. And that’s where we pick up with this series’ quest for blood ‘n’ LOLs.
Opening Shot: Establishing shot: Birds flutter over Tokyo.
The Gist: Welp. A bunch of nasty nasty serial killers are on the loose, and it’s far from ideal. We witness the collateral damage of the price on Sakamoto’s (Tomokazu Sagita) head as slayers named Dump, Apart, Minimalist and Saw do not very nice things to some poor randos. RIP randos, we hardly knew ye before ye were sliced up into a perfectly uniform array of meat discs, and other gruesome shit.
Next, Sakamoto and his proteges Shin (Nobunaga Shimazaki) and Lu (Ayane Sakura) go to the video store in the year 2025 – the video store! In 2025! How admirably old school! – to rent some movies about serial killers, to verse themselves in the lore and therefore prepare themselves for the impending onslaught. We get a scene with Sakamoto and two more of his allies, the sniper Heisuke (Ryota Suzuki) and master of disguise Nagumo (Natsuki Haenae), the latter of whom represents The Order, the cadre of assassins Sakamoto formerly belonged to. A handful of other Order weirdos tool down the road in a van, and it’s perhaps notable that Mr. Takamura (Hochu Otsuka) wields a demeanor so deadly, he chop-tops the van with a single swipe of his katana – and he was only trying to kill a fly.
Meanwhile, Lu and Shin piddle around in a home-improvement emporium that has a pet section, getting distracted by puppies and kitties when they should be shopping for materials to fortify Sakamoto’s convenience store from probable attacks. A probable attack becomes absolute reality when Saw (Kohsuke Toriumi) confronts them in the shop and starts monologuing his ass off. I mean, his self-referential blah blah blah is really long-winded and dull. And when Shin tries to read Saw’s mind to anticipate his next move, all Shin sees is KILL KILL KILL. That’s a problem. It may take a little extra fortitude to take this guy out.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Rurouni Kenshin follows a similar template – former assassin tries to leave assassin life behind but keeps being forced to use assassin skills. The ’90s version of the anime was rebooted in 2023, with the new series currently streaming on Netflix and Hulu.
Our Take: I was lukewarm on earlier Sakamoto episodes, weary of the John Wickish premise (which we’ve seen countless times before in a variety of genres and formats) and overly familiar character types. After a dozen episodes, the series has gotten more complicated in its array of characters, which further broadens with the arrival of The Order in this season’s second half. The question is whether the introduction of more killers – immoral, amoral or otherwise – changes the dynamic of Sakamoto and other characters, or merely gives the series an excuse to stage a more diverse array of action sequences.
The latter point seems more likely, as this series is less character-driven, more fueled by the need to deliver gore and comedy. The plot progresses in a video-game fashion, with characters growing in skill and power (Shin’s the one in the latest episode) and clashes getting more intense. It’s essentially structured around visually driven set pieces – visually driven set pieces that certainly aren’t lacking for violent extremity, but don’t strike me as being particularly memorable. The animation style is Speed Racer cartoonish hyperbole, and it’s fun to look at, but beyond that, I’m struggling to feel emotionally and intellectually engaged.
Sex and Skin: None so far.
Parting Shot: Freeze-frame of Shin lunging at his presumably soon-to-be-defeated (-dead?) opponent.
Sleeper Star: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE MR. TAKAMURA.
Most Pilot-y Line: Nagumo reminds Sakamoto of the power of fate: “Of course, you know no matter how much training like this you do… you’ll die… if it’s your time.”
Our Call: I’m left with the feeling that Sakamoto Days might be only for manga fans who want to see their favorite stories brought to life. The rest of us are likely to be underwhelmed. SKIP IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.