Sakamoto Days faces an uphill battle as it premieres on Netflix. How can the animated exploits of Taro Sakamoto possibly improve upon the uncommonly detailed and choreographed action that swirls around the titular retired hitman in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump? The answer, based on the series premiere, at least, is that they can’t: While the episode finds some excitement in Sakamoto’s particular brand of violence, other action sequences are hampered by a lack of imagination. Just as troublesome: It can be hard to tell when this Sakamoto Days is trying to crack wise, and when it’s putting on a straight face. But while it doesn’t exactly get out of the starting blocks as a remarkable anime adaptation, Sakamoto Days does lay the foundation for what could one day be a must-watch show.
Rather than follow its protagonist’s escapades as an equally feared and revered assassin, Sakamoto Days wisely goes the way of John Wick by fast-forwarding straight to his retirement, a life of domestic bliss alongside the love of his life, Aoi, and their daughter, Hana. To further cement that Sakamoto’s days of contract killing are behind him, he’s put on some weight and runs a quaint convenience store in a quiet neighborhood. Unfortunately, this abrupt retreat doesn’t go unanswered, and now he must protect his family from other hitmen and former colleagues like the clairvoyant assassin Shin.
In contrast to shonen series that take themselves too seriously (like, in my opinion, Jujutsu Kaisen and Solo Leveling), Sakamoto Days strikes a visual balance between the physical comedy of Jackie Chan’s output in the 1980s and the grittiness of more conventional crime dramas. Similar to how placing Chan in an amusement park funhouse might stoke our anticipation for how he’ll use the objects around him – nailed down or otherwise – to dispatch his foes, the premiere of Sakamoto Days primes us to expect Sakamoto to make novel use of his surroundings. It best threads the action-comedy needle in two thrilling scenes: One where Sakamoto swiftly mows down a group of gangsters in a smoky, dimly lit warehouse, and the other where he blocks a bullet by spitting a gumdrop at it. But there’s a hit-or-miss quality to this balancing act, sometimes resulting in tedious, uninspired hand-to-hand combat where Sakamoto haphazardly teleports around the screen and effortlessly defeats his opponents with lackluster punches.
The tension between the two sides of Sakamoto Days’ personality isn’t helped by stiff, monotone performances that make it hard to tell when the show is trying to be serious and when it's making a joke. This is especially true of Sakamoto, whether he’s portrayed by Matt Mercer (in the English dub) or Tomokazu Sugita (in the Japanese dub). Much of this stems from the character not having much to say in the premiere; outside of subtle behaviors primarily played for laughs and a heavy supply of expository narration, Sakamoto mostly speaks in half-committal utterances that we only hear because Shin is reading his mind. This dims the star power of Mercer and Sugita’s performances. Granted, this is the very first episode, the character they’re playing ought to still have some mystique to him at this point, and the series is based on a manga that burns slowly in its early chapters. But there’s almost no variation between their delivery in comedic and dramatic scenes. The lines are less blurry when it comes to the dynamic between Shin and the Sakamotos. Throughout the episode, Shin turns from a cold, calculating assassin to an adopted member of his former mentor’s carefree family, who are hilariously unvexed by either man’s past life as a hitman.
Considering Sakamoto Days is slated to be released in parts – with part one comprising 11 episodes and part two slated to debut in July – time will tell if the anime will hit its stride in later episodes or if they'll be more the same from what’s showcased in its premiere. Regardless, there’s the seeds of something extraordinary here thanks to the endearing chemistry of the characters. Hopefully, the anime will flesh out the contours of its lead before the punchline of him being an overweight ex-hitman becomes stale.
