“Sakamoto Days” is a show that defies expectations: Set in everyday backdrops like convenience stores or tourist attractions, one would not imagine these are places where violent and dynamic fights could occur. Season one taught us not to underestimate Sakamoto (Tomokazu Sugita, “Gintama”) based on his affable appearance, and the latest season continues to teach this lesson with a new host of deadly antagonists.
Back with witty one-liners, hilarious banter and evolving friendships, the second part of anime “Sakamoto Days” returns with rich visuals and fast-paced thrills. Although this season features slice-of-life elements, they serve primarily as a setting rather than a blend of genres, making season two more focused on action than its predecessor. Nonetheless, season two still managed to keep me engaged (and my jaw dropped) throughout every episode.
“Sakamoto Days” follows an ex-hitman who has built a simple, family-focused life far from the cutthroat world of assassins. However, when a bounty is placed on his head, Sakamoto is forced to investigate to protect himself and his family. After leaving us on an ominous cliffhanger that hinted at who was responsible for this hefty bounty, season one set up an action-packed second season, promising a more sinister tone. With significantly more gore and less light-heartedness than its previous season, the new episodes of “Sakamoto Days” should not be mistaken for just another breezy shonen anime.
Season two continues the battle to stop Slur (Daisuke Namikawa, “Violet Evergarden”), the mysterious figure responsible for the target on Sakamoto’s back. It also marks the start of the Death Row Prisoners Arc, in which Slur releases four murderers to hunt down Sakamoto, his friends and other members of the Order. In the show, the Japanese Association of Assassins is the largest and wealthiest assassin organization in all of Japan, and the Order consists of the strongest members from within this group. Naturally, blood, gore and limb-chopping ensues in the fight to stop these prowling criminals from wreaking havoc.
However, it’s not just the creative and unpredictable fight sequences that capture the viewers’ attention this season. It’s also not the way Sakamoto learned to use his body weight in combat, nor Shin (Nobunaga Shimazaki, “Fruits Basket”) raising his psychic powers to new heights. Instead, it’s the message the show sends about how we might be able to cope with adversity.
The introduction of increasingly more deranged assassins this season provides more than just entertainment: It confronts viewers with the double-edged nature of humanity. On the one hand, the beauty of humanity gives you compelling reasons to live, such as growing stronger to protect those you love. On the other hand, the horrors of humanity could bring one to sever connections and spread suffering.
During battles with death row inmates, the prisoners share their stories about how they came to be in this situation. Oftentimes, these involve narratives of tragedy, grief and misunderstanding. These mortifying life experiences manifested into mass killing, the inmates using their flawed nature as justification. They are, after all, still human.
When Shin and Lu (Ayane Sakura, “The Quintessential Quintuplets”) face off against Saw (Kôsuke Toriumi, “Diabolik Lovers”), one of the inmates, Saw expresses the joy he finds in giving others exciting endings, as it seems unfitting to him for anyone to die in a boring way. In a disturbingly sadistic manner, Saw revels in the deaths of his victims, even more than his other villainous counterparts. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s distracting himself from what would’ve made him truly formidable: finding reasons to live. By focusing on how people die, he has no motive to stay strong other than for the sake of manslaughter and swinging his axe around. In contrast, Shin, Lu and Sakamoto have all found their reason to live: family.
From the antagonists’ sides, the show encourages us to acknowledge hurt and loss. By learning to sit in our own skin, we can find others who will accept us and nurture our healing. Unfortunately, this is a hard pill that the antagonists have yet to swallow, as they throw their pain onto others instead. Our protagonists, on the other hand, deliver a different lesson.
By reinforcing and building upon the “strength comes from those you love” theme from season one, the second season of “Sakamoto Days” isn’t just an epic action anime about the inner workings of the underground hitman world. Despite being a comedy and action anime, the show teaches us that our experiences form the mosaics of our personality, and it’s up to us to decide what to make of them. It’s also a reminder that wanting human connection and building compassion isn’t a weakness or liability — it’s what propels us to be better.
TV Beat Editor Michelle Wu can be reached at michewu@umich.edu.
