When an assassin retires
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Sakamoto Days Review
Last month, our writing group had a presentation about tropes, which was fantastic. An activity we did during the presentation was to talk about familiar tropes in writing and then mix them up and combine genres and tropes. So, for example, some of the common tropes in fantasy were things like the chosen one, elves and dwarves as rivals and the evil queen/king. Our group was then tasked with mashing that with comedy… which is already a thing. We see it all the time. Think of kids' shows that are fantasy but also comedic (Avatar the Last Airbender, The Owl House, etc.), but also adult shows/movies like Dungeons & Dragons, Legend of Vox, or Good Omens—clearly fantasy with comedic elements and tropes.
Melding tropes and genres is obviously nothing new, particularly when it comes to a genre that can be considered very serious (science fiction, fantasy, and spy thrillers) and comedy or romance.
Unsurprisingly (because I’m an unserious person and love unserious things), the anime Sakamoto Days (on Netflix) would pique my interest. The concept is a top assassin in Japan finds love, retires, and starts a family while owning a convenience store. Unfortunately, life can’t stay simple for long when a bounty goes out for the retired assassin.
I went into this already loving a similar-sounding show/manga, The Way of the Househusband, about a former yakuza (Japanese mafia) man who also retires when he falls in love. The Way of the Househusband story is told through short vignettes (both in the manga and anime) about Tatsu and his attacking… a dirty apartment or stain… or succeeding in finding the best sales.
Former allies and enemies meet up with Tatsu, and it usually ends in the most wholesome ways (i.e., a yakuza boss coming after Tatsu, and they end up squeeing over an adorable puppy owned by the yakuza boss and taking 15 million pictures of the cutie patootie). The stories in The Way of the Househusband interconnect mildly; it’s very low stakes but rarely do the stories greatly affect the next unless it introduces a new character that stays in the story for a while.
Since I didn’t read the manga, I expected Sakamoto Days to follow a similar format.
I was, in fact, wrong.
While still relatively low stakes (in a rather high-stakes environment, if that makes sense), Sakamoto Days does rely on more linear storytelling as we slowly unfold who put out the hit on Taro Sakamoto. He meets new friends who become a part of the Sakamoto family (and while he does not break his wife’s rules, one of which is that he doesn’t kill any longer).
While the season is not over yet, 10 out of 12 episodes have aired on Netflix, I’m currently up to date and can say for certain this is a gem of the current anime season for a reason. It is rated MA for a reason: there is a high degree of violence, much of it rather absurd, but the humor and the tenderness outweigh the violence in my opinion. Sakamoto Days pokes fun at the spy thriller genre and is incredibly sweet. Taro Sakamoto is a tender and loving father, similar to Loid Forger in Spy x Family (but in what I would consider a more absurd way, and it’s his biological daughter, not a daughter adopted for the purpose of a spy job).
All in all, I don’t want to spoil what happens in the anime, but if you are looking for something current to watch this season, I definitely recommend Sakamoto Days. The blend of humor, found family, spy thriller, and speculative/light fantasy elements works well with the storytelling.
And how can anything go wrong when you even get a classic hot springs episode so classic to the shojou genre? Except for, of course, all the attempts on Taro’s life during the episode (probably my favorite episode by far!)
(I also HIGHLY recommend The Way of the Househusband if you're looking for something even more absurd.)
(Note remember to read the manga panel below Right panel to left panel, backwards from what we would normally read in the US.)
