Days of Sakamoto – Episode 1

Content warning: fat phobia

What is it about? Sakamoto Taro was the best assassin in the game until one day he fell in love and decided to leave the life of crime. He tries to live a peaceful life, but his former comrades attack daily only to be easily defeated. In a strange turn of events, Sakamoto inspires some of his comrades to quit their jobs and start living a more peaceful life.

For the first half of the episode, I wasn’t sure that was the case Days of Sakamoto would win me over The animations looked minimal and simple compared to most Shonen Jump anime adaptations. The premiere also fast-tracks most of the important events in Sakamoto’s life, making it difficult to bond with him and his family. Sakamoto himself is an extremely quiet guy, and the few times he does speak, his voice is usually low and soft. Basically, I didn’t understand the hype about this series until Sakamoto’s true villainy was revealed in the second half of the episode. The comedy is based on the fact that he uses candy and sticks as weapons in the funniest ways before going on the killing spree with real weapons. It is clear that Sakamoto would prefer not to kill anymore, but if someone threatens him or his family, he is not afraid to do what is necessary to protect his peace.

It became clear why the scenes of Sakamoto’s everyday life were bland, as they clearly wanted to save the budget on Sakamoto’s fight scenes and the weirdly cool stash of weapons he has in the shop. Action comedy shows can be hard to sell because one individual joke can be funny until the audience gets tired of the same old formula. Sakamoto’s old sidekick, Shin, felt more like the protagonist of the series as he mostly acts as the narrator. Conveniently, Shin can also read people’s minds, which helps the audience immensely in understanding what Sakamoto’s thoughts are. It’s strange to see how Sheen’s ability to read minds is not appreciated in the way that it is accepted in SPY x FAMILY. This series made it seem like every organization would fight to the death for Anya’s powers (if discovered) because of how useful it would be to have access to someone who could extract secrets from anyone’s mind. Maybe it wanted to stand out?

It’s worth noting that most of the jokes seem to center around Sakamoto’s weight and how he let himself go. Although it’s not overtly stated, I can’t help but feel that fat jokes will be a recurring theme in the show. I also sincerely hope that Sakamoto’s wife and daughter don’t just become their main roles in Sakamoto’s life…not that the Jump titles have the best track record. Sakamoto’s wife, in particular, doesn’t have much of a personality other than being cute without any nuance. How much does she know about Sakamoto’s past life? Does she accept the fact that he has killed people in the past? I just want to feel like she’s irreplaceable in a sea of ​​weird killers chasing her husband.

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this, folks. Days of Sakamoto definitely deserves its success, but I’m not sure it has enough drawing power for me personally. Despite my conflicted feelings, I think our readers might enjoy this silly comedy. It’s the break we need from the mediocre isekai and fantasy stories we’ve been getting this season.