I wanted to watch Sakamoto Days primarily to hear the VAs I have loved for years, including Tomokazu Sugita (Sakamoto) and Nobunaga Shimazaki (Shin). I also hoped for some good action scenes. Despite my anticipation, I worried that the show would be too fat-phobic for me to enjoy. It might still turn out that way, but I was pleasantly surprised by the mildness of the issue so far. The fat jokes were tame and easy to ignore.
In addition to this pleasant surprise, the first episode also impressed me with its high level of action, excellent voice-acting, and light, goofy humor. The opening song (“Run Sakamoto” by Vaundy) was very appealing as well. I will definitely keep watching Sakamoto Days unless it becomes intolerable in the next few episodes, which is doubtful. Now let’s take a quick look at the pilot episode.
Episode 1: The Legendary Hitman
Episode Rating: 8/10
After the introduction (which was narrated by Houchuu Ohtsuka), we meet Shin Asakura, a gangster as well as an Esper that can read minds when in close proximity. I liked Shin right away because he’s voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki. In addition, he is quite attractive. Where does a man get off having such an adorable face and such a jacked body at the same time? He’s not especially tall, but he’s extremely fit and has the muscles of a middleweight MMA fighter. What a hottie.
Shin used to work under Sakamoto in a mafia gang. He goes to see Sakamoto, asking him to return to the world of the criminal underground. Although Sakamoto is still incredibly fast and strong, he has gained a lot of weight and become less fit. He loves his new family and refuses to kill ever again. Shin is furious and disappointed by this. You see, the gang boss wants to kill Sakamoto for deserting. He ordered Shin to bring back Sakamoto – otherwise, someone would kill Sakamoto.
After some thinking on his own time, Shin decides to attempt it himself: the assassination of Sakamoto. He attacks Sakamoto in the convenience store. Although Shin is an impressive fighter with mind-reading powers, his attempt to kill Sakamoto failed miserably. Sakamoto is just too strong. He can literally stop bullets in mid-air with a cough drop he spit from his mouth. Shin quickly gets knocked out.
When the esper wakes up, he’s still with the Sakamoto’s, who are about to have a delicious dinner. Rather than treating him like an enemy, Sakamoto and his family act warm and welcoming toward Shin. He enjoys a wholesome meal with them. The home-cooked food is absolutely delicious. Shin realizes that Sakamoto quit being a hitman in order to protect this happy and peaceful existence.
After the dinner, Shin goes to see the gang boss in an abandoned warehouse. Dramatically, he offers his life, saying he will die in place of Sakamoto, who should be allowed to continue his joyful family life. The gang boss agrees, but Shin can tell from mind-reading that he won’t honor this agreement. A fight breaks out and Shin goes HAM on his own gang. As an esper, he has a great advantage. He shoots several men, but then stumbles and gets overwhelmed by three gangsters with guns.
Fortunately for Shin, Sakamoto arrives and tasers the three men with a stun gun. He defeats the rest of the gangsters too, but without killing them. This action sequence was a lot of fun to watch. I wanted some decent fights, and I was not disappointed. Of course, this was a comedic sort of fight scene. For example, at one point, Sakamoto stopped bullets by grabbing them with chopsticks in mid-air. But hey. There’s nothing wrong with humorously absurd fights in anime.
After Sakamoto rescues him, Shin starts working at the convenience store run by the Sakamoto family. It’s a wholesome ending. I don’t have any more notes for today, but I think I’m going to like this show.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke
Tag: Sakamoto Days
