Sakamoto Days Episode 1, Let's Talk about It

Article at a glance:
The anime’s animation is competent but pales compared to the manga’s impactful art, feeling flat and lacking depth.
While controversial, the voice actors suit the characters well, though the voiced comic may offer a different perspective.
The core content of Sakamoto Days remains engaging and enjoyable, even if production quality holds the adaptation back.

Last week or so I made an article covering the backlash this anime adaptation has been getting. Rightfully so, I think because the manga is highly regarded and it is currently, one of Shounen Jump’s best-selling mangas. I think we all are done with the era of big Shounen mangas getting mediocre anime adaptations. I mean, just look at the difference between the original Bleach and Bleach TYBW adaptations. It is night and day. So I was very curious to see how I’d feel about Sakamoto Days Episode 1 when it aired.

And well, episodes 1 and 2 are out now and I am still not sure how I feel about them. So welcome back to another first impressions article. Today we are talking about Sakamoto Days Episode 1 and Episode 2. Don’t worry, watching episode 2 didn’t change my thoughts much. So let’s talk about it.

What did I think of Sakamoto Days Episode 1?

I feel like the animations will continue to be a point of contention for Sakamoto Days. In a vacuum, the animations aren’t bad by any means. But the main issue a lot of people, including me have is that this is not in a vacuum. We have the manga to compare it to. And as unfortunate as it is, the animations pale in comparison to the manga’s art. The animation feels very flat and while at times, it looks great most of the time it just ends up looking very… 2D, if that makes sense.

I don’t usually toot “the manga is superior” horn but in this case, that is actually true. The fights have so much more impact in the manga. The anime is sorely lacking compared to it. What about the other point of contention then, the voice actors? I don’t think that CV choice is bad here at all. I understand that a lot of people feel differently but I think that the CVs fit the characters and that’s kind of all you need, really. Maybe if I listen to the voiced comic, my opinions may change since people love the voiced comic. But still.

Enough about the production, what about the content itself? Well, it is good! What do you expect me to say? People adore this manga and that’s for a reason. It is a blast to watch, the concept is fun and the characters are great. As long as the anime sticks to the manga’s story, nothing can go wrong, pretty much. Even though I have read the manga, I am excited about the next episode, that’s how good Sakamoto Days is, in general.

That is all for now

So yeah, those were my thoughts on Sakamoto Days after episode 1. Consider this article as my follow-up to the previous one I did on Sakamoto Days. But yeah, I think that’s how this anime will end up being “solid content held back by production” and that’s sad for a major Shounen Jump series like this. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out my thoughts on Dr. Stone Scienece Future here!