Sakamoto Days Part 1 Review

Article at a glance:
Sakamoto Days thrives on its fun character dynamics, especially between Sakamoto and Shin, making it highly entertaining.
The animation looks outdated and fails to match the manga’s action scenes, which is disappointing for a major Shounen release.
Despite its flaws, the show remains fun with great character moments, humor, and solid soundtracks.

Safe to say that aside from Solo Leveling, Sakamoto Days was the most hyped anime of this season. I probably shouldn’t have brought up Solo Leveling because certain Sakamoto Days fans hate it. Why? Well for a very petty reason, because Solo Leveling got a better anime adaptation lol. And yeah, when I started thinking of writing this review for Sakamoto Days Part 1, I knew that the animations would be a big talking point. And well, it can’t be helped.

So welcome back to another review, today we are talking about Sakamoto Days Part 1. And yes, Part 1 because Part 2 of this season is scheduled for a Summer 2025 airing. With that said, let’s get started.

Plot

No one watches Sakamoto Days for the plot lol. Like most Shounen shows, Sakamoto Days too has a rather simple plot. It is a very simple story about a famous hitman, Sakamoto Tarou who left behind his life of crime for the girl he loved.

The show is very episodic. And that’s perfectly fine, an episodic approach lines up well with the tone the show is going for. Each episode has a relatively similar structure and there are some things I wish they explained better like how Shin has the ability to read mind and stuff. But again, I know that you are not meant to take the story too seriously. Very much akin to something like say, Spy x Family in that regard.

characters

Now this is where the show really shines. I love Sakamoto as a character. He rarely speaks and despite being a husband for so long, he still has the mind of a killer lol. Sure, he may be fat now but he’s still a badass. I really like how his character has grown compared to the past, hitman version of himself. And I like how despite not speaking much, he cares about people around him, especially Shin in his own way. And ho boy, like every man, he is terrified of making his wife angry which is hilarious.

The character dynamics are also great. I like the adoptive son relationship Sakamoto has with Shin. So much of the show’s comedy comes from the awesome character dynamic. Shin also serves as our protagonist in a way so he gets the most character development in the show. His character arc starts right off the bat from episode 1. And the show has a great supporting cast as well in characters like Osaragi, Nagumo, and Lu.

Animations and Soundtracks

The problem starts here. Look, I will be blunt, the animations of Sakamoto Days look like 10 years out of date. I won’t have stupid arguments like “Oh you expect every anime to be Demon Slayer/Jujutsu Kaisen level” blah blah blah, No, I don’t. I am just saying that a big Shounen title with so much mainstream appeal like Sakamoto Days deserves a better animation budget and quality. Seriously, the art looks so flat and 2D, that almost all fight scenes look significantly worse than the manga. That is not a good look for a high-profile Shounen release like this.

This isn’t the early 2000s anymore, we don’t live in the time of bad anime adaptations anymore. And we should expect more from big releases like this, otherwise, what’s the point? I know that certain Japanese fans have issues with the voice actors as well but I don’t have any issues with the current cast, It’s just that the animations are bad. The soundtracks are good though. The opening theme, Hashira Sakamoto by Vaundy fits the feel of the show so well.

Summing Up

Here are my final review scores for Sakamoto Days Part 1:

Plot – 6/10
Characters – 10/10
Animations – 6/10
Soundtracks – 8/10
Enjoyment – 9/10
Overall – 7.8/10

Well, there you have it. Sakamoto Days, despite its animation issues, remains a strong show and is thoroughly entertaining to watch. With that said, I will take my leave here, See ya!

Also, check out my thoughts on DanMachi Season 5 here!