Forum - View topicSakamoto Days (TV).
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Edjwald
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Sakamoto Days (TV) Source: Manga (ongoing @ 20 volumes by Yuto Suzuki) Demographic: Shounen Animation Studio: TMS Entertianment Genres: action, comedy, drama Themes: assassins, crime, gore, idealism, mafia, superpowers Plot Summary: Taro Sakamoto was the ultimate assassin, feared by villains and admired by hitmen. But one day he fell in love. Retirement, marriage, fatherhood and then... Sakamoto gained weight. The chubby guy who runs the neighborhood store is actually a former legendary hitman. Air Date & Platform: January 11, 2025 (Saturday) Available on: Netflix Episode Count / Runtime: Pending [EDIT: Fancy opener stuff added. -TK] |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2918 |
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That was a very fun premiere with the adventures of equalizer/retired assassin Sakamoto. I say equalizer because he uses so many common objects as weapons that a supermarket or hardware store would pretty much be an armory for him. Sakamoto has also promised to help people in need when he can so it fits.
Anyway, the show has a lot of fun action that is at the same time brutal and wacky given how superhuman some individuals are. The characters are fun with esper Shin being my favorite (being an assassin was a waste given his abilities) and the animation looks great. My only concern is the story in that it is very basic right now. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3015 |
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#1
Another heavily-hyped adaptation from the stable of recent Shonen Jump hits, this premiere very much lives up to expectations for casual viewers. The story itself is very basic, since the selling points are the characters and the action scenes that come with this genre. John Wick dialed up to absurdist levels, Sakamoto gets to live the life John Wick wanted if the latter hadn't lost his wife and dog. Five years living the dream, but like the Godfather he doesn't get to choose retirement except upon death. So the rest of the series appears to be Sakamoto having to deal with former comrades and adversaries alike while maintaining the secret of his past life from his family and keeping collateral damage to zero. There's a lot of characters paraded in the OP, so at least one of them needs to play a role to give this franchise some form of a main plotline as I have no idea how that's going to go given how formidable Sakamoto is even when out of shape. His ex-subordinate Shin is no slouch either. Unsurprising he's lasted so long if he reads minds like an open book, the only way to kill him is from long range before he can react to hostile thoughts. Hasn't happened so far and now that he's returned to the civilian fold as Sakamoto's first employee he can use his gifts to provide perfect customer service. After the pilot it's also clear he's going to play the straight man in the comedy aspects of this franchise, so his role will expand going forward. If the ED is any indication, Sakamoto will have two more assassins after him who will get the "Shin treatment" and be rehabilitated (in a fashion). That should take the next two or three episodes. Then it's anyone's guess what will happen after that. If Ubel Blatt is the quarter's representative for gratuitous medieval fantasy violence, this is the modern-day John Wick style equivalent. Add in the receptionist fantasy adaptation and that's more than enough action for the quarter with plenty of laughs (maybe not Ubel Blatt) to go with the serving. I'm not expecting this franchise to have anything beyond visual entertainment, but it might well surprise me if the main storyline has its own charms besides supporting the main attraction of the visuals. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24457 |
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Nerd debate: if The Fable and Sakamoto had a fight, who would win? Given that Sakamoto is able to defy the laws of physics, I'd give the edge to him. As for Shin... I get that being psychic would be a huge advantage for a hit man, but damn there's lots of less dangerous ways to make major bank with a gift like that, jes' sayin'. Anyway, very fun show and has all the hallmarks of a keeper right out of the gate.
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WatcherZer
Posts: 325 |
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Nice premiere, not sure how this is going to fill two Cours.
Also 800 yen an hour? that's slavery! Its like £5 an hour. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3015 |
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At 2024 rates, 800 an hour would be illegal. This manga started in 2020, and JPY800 would have been mid-range when compared to the 47 prefectures. Not to mention the Esper isn't accepting the job for the money (they make enough killing people they can walk away like Sakamoto and start a new life). |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2918 |
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Given Shin's abilities making money is not something he ever needs to be worried about. Be it legal or illegal, he can easily make bank, it honestly makes me wonder why he went into something as dangerous as assassination in the first place.
As of episode three Shin has been cemented as my favorite character in the show. His way of fighting plus making the most of his mind reading is exciting to see. He will probably need a lot of help though since they have been dealing with flunkies thus far and the hitmen hunting hitmen do not sound like pushovers. I do have to admit that the show has been downgraded on my list from potential masterpiece to great at the moment (things can change though). I am enjoying my time with it yet having heard a lot of people rave about how amazing the manga is had me expecting a tad more, I suppose that is on me though. |
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3707 |
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It feels very Gintama to me (and Lu is just Kagura), but that's fine with me.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3015 |
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#2
It's weird that this is billed as a Netflix series yet they are one week behind the other major distribution sites. Oh well, I suppose there's a reason for these odd variations in the contracts. Yes Lu Shaotang sounds like Kagura from Gintama, and the current setup has a resemblance to the Yorozuya but that's about it as far as the resemblance goes. Sakata Gintoki in his prime probably can't beat Sakamoto while Shin easily beats Shinpachi if he's serious. On the other hand Shaotang would lose to Kagura if they had a hypothetical matchup. I was curious, and it's a different VA to Gintama's Kagura despite the stereotypical Japanese affectation that all naturalized ethnic Chinese in Japan have a deliberate suffix to finish their standard sentences. Shaotang basically joins Sakamoto's shop because she doesn't want to use her family treasures to pay her bills and has never worked a day in her life to date so an easy daily rate job at his not busy store is the best she can do (and she knows how ridiculously strong he is if further reprisals are sent her way) Sakamoto's mantra of not killing is yet another example of how much he loves his family, his wife in particular. She got him to quit and stay clean for good, and it's amusing how he's like the henpecked husband when she puts her foot down. Likewise his thoughts about not being able to bring back the dumplings in one piece are starting to become a running theme for him. Although it happens off-camera, I expect he got Shaotang (they're going to call her by her surname as it's easier to pronounce in Japanese and they're not going to mix her up with anyone else) to make him genuine Chinese dumplings to compensate for the ones lost when she jumped out of the window. As a casual viewers who has no idea how the source material goes, I'm enjoying what I've seen so far. There's plenty of controversy from the source material fans who have expectations set far too high than is realistic, but that's par for the course for works as hyped as these. Maybe the verdict will change after the adaptation has finished its run. |
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ACｘS
 Posts: 972 |
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1–3:
Managed to catch up to the latest episode. Feels like a cross between Spy × Family and Gintama, with some hints of One Punch Man. Very lighthearted show with a simplistic narrative. It is what it is, so it's the perfect show to simply pass the time. But I must say: when I saw Sakamoto before the premiere, I really thought he was Anzai-sensei from Slam Dunk. Like, for real. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2918 |
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Episode 4 is my favorite episode of the show thus far. All of the former opponents went out with relatively little effort (and were not all that memorable) but now we are getting some real opposition. It helps a lot that Boiled is such a fun character. His tragic backstory was hilarious, his way of fighting unique and his antics are amusing. I hope that he survives the encounter and joins the gang later on since I could see that being a lot of fun and the guy is clearly wanting to be seen as a friend by Sakamoto.
Obiguro meanwhile is also fun in that she is rather crazy but gets turned into a blushing girl by Boiled. Finally, that haunted house looks pretty fun (minus the assassins) and Lu has to fight next episode....somehow. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3015 |
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#3
Looks like Sakamoto has been marked for execution since everyone wants a piece of that 10 billion bounty. Good thing he still has other ex-comrades like Nagumo who are happy to sit on the sidelines and help Sakamoto instead. Sakamoto talking so much at the start did startle me, so good thing the real one came in to settle the confusion. Nagumo does look more dangerous than anyone faced so far, so one to watch moving forward. As if Sakamoto didn't have it tough enough, he has the family outing to contend with. Not only does he have to fend off assassins non-lethally, he cannot let Aoi know about this nor break the family rules. So naturally he employs his store staff for overtime cover. Shin really works for his pay today as the latter half of the episode is showing what he can do even if handicapped with a blinding poison. That said, Sakamoto has to make good on his promise to show the group hell, so he needs to see the amusement park day out and then work with Shin and Lu to get them off his back permanently. I expect that to take up most of episode 4 and finish this arc. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2918 |
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Huh, episode 5 went a little different than I expected. I expected the entire episode to consist of the two fights and instead they were handled in like a third of that time (I am glad to see that the Boiled pair became frenemies though). The fight with Boiled was fun and thus I would have liked for it to be a fair bit longer. On the other hand, Aoi finding out about the bounty situation and the family now happily dealing with third rate assassins is pretty funny. There is also serial killer/hitman X taking out lots of other assassins for some unknown purpose.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24457 |
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Episode 4
I gotta ask, smurky... how come you are an episode a head of the rest of us? Netflix has only shown up to episode 4 so far. Are you being a naughty boy?  Anyway, for those of us who, unlike smurky, can't see into the future, this was the introduction to the delightful Boiled and his female pal, Obiguro, who are a lot of fun. The end of the episode seems to suggest that present day Sakamoto isn't the roly poly schlub we all thought he was.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3015 |
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#4
First time all adaptation Sakamoto has been cornered by an attempted assassination attempt, and of all people it's one of his peers from "Assassin Academy" who latched on to Sakamoto and tried to be friendly, only to be rebuffed and bearing a grudge since then (it doesn't help he's oblivious to the attentions of his partner). Like all setups of this nature, it takes something drastic to turn the tables and in Sakamoto's case it's reverting to his pre-marriage appearance to up the ante. I'm not sure how deciphering the formula for Boil's explosive pellets is going to help, but losing his extra kilos will certainly help his movement As for Lu, using the drunken fist technique only works if she's not scared witless by the environment and affected by nausea. After his exertion last week it looks like Shin is playing no active part in the set pieces so it's up to Sakamoto and Lu to get the job done. I'm not sure where Lu is going to get her counterattack opportunity from, although having Mrs and Ms Sakamoto blissfully in Dreamland removes one factor from the equation. Those two in particular certainly don't have any fear in a conventional sense. We already knew the Mrs won't hesitate to take action if her mind is made up, but for the daughter to enjoy the haunted experience unaware everyone is out to kill her father is something else. Next week should end the amusement park arc, and there are still characters not yet introduced in this adaptation. Considering how wacky some of these assassins are, plenty of entertainment to be had as they chase the bounty on Sakamoto's head. |
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