Sakamoto Days Part 2

The adventures of the former legendary assassin Sakamoto continue where they left off. Following the massive bounty placed on his head, Sakamoto and his team have defeated countless assassins. Yet, he still has not been able to attain the peaceful and happy life he desires. A mysterious and sinister figure known as The Stain has brought a group of death row inmates to Japan with the goal of eliminating their targets and creating their own ideal world. However, this time Sakamoto is not the sole target. This mysterious individual known as The Stain seeks to eliminate anyone whose existence does not align with their ideals. Consequently, they have categorized these individuals according to an alphabetical system and ordered their elimination one by one. Among these targets are members of Sakamoto's team, such as Shin Asakura and Shotang Lu, as well as members of Order, Japan's most talented group of assassins. With Order members becoming involved in the events, the action and adventure reach their peak. Now, everyone must be on guard against these inmates and the organization led by the mysterious figure called The Stain. What kind of adventures await Sakamoto and his friends this season?

Production

The anime is directed by Masaki Watanabe, who has also directed series such as Bartender and Bakumatsu. The voice actor for Sakamoto Tarou is Tomokazu Sugita, who has provided voices in series like Tokyo Revengers and Bleach, and has worked on anime including Kinnikuman: Kanpeki Choujin Shiso, Dandadan, Nanatsu no Taiza, and Kimetsu no Yaiba. He has also voiced characters such as Gyoumei Himejima, Taiju Shiba, Kensei Muguruma, and Escanor.

You can access the Season 1 introduction here. You can also access the introduction to the Bleach anime here. Our other main character, Shin'i, is voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki, who has also served as a voice actor in popular anime such as Wind Breaker, Blue Lock, and Jujutsu Kaisen. The anime was produced by TMS Entertainment, just like the first season, and consists of 11 episodes, again the same as the first season. This season was broadcast on the famous platform Netflix.

Review

Well, here I am again with another anime review 😊 This time, I wanted to start things off differently because this season of Sakamoto Days genuinely delighted me. It thrilled me while watching. I hadn't felt that kind of excitement in a long time, not since the era we call the old Big Three—Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece—or more recently with series like Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen. Yes, I've seen other anime with excellent action and fight scenes, and you can find reviews for all of them on our site, but what I'm talking about is something entirely different. As someone who loves seeing rivalries between different groups alongside the action and combat, just like in the anime I mentioned above, I finally got that taste of the Akatsuki from Naruto, the Arrancars from Bleach, and the Denizin Yedi Savaş Lordu (Shichibukai) from One Piece after a long time, thanks to the members of the Order team and the people surrounding the individual known as Leke. This truly awakens an incredible sense of curiosity in me; seeing new and different powers in every episode is something I enjoy. Furthermore, the intensity and adrenaline reach truly incredible levels this season. The groups are genuinely powerful, which really pushes the intensity to extreme limits. In my review of the first season of the anime, I noted that we also see the theme of parody anime being turned into action in Sakamoto Days, a trend that has become popular lately. These anime share very similar commonalities. Essentially, they take harsh, action-packed shounen and exaggerate them into parodies, which we can clearly see in anime like One Punch Man and Mashle. However, the main point I want to highlight here is that all these anime share a common trait: the parody atmosphere of their first seasons gradually fades in subsequent seasons, giving way to action and adventure that reaches top levels, rising to a standard where they can compete with the very anime they parodied. That is the aspect that truly draws me in. Therefore, I was happy to see the increase in action and power levels in Sakamoto Days Part 2.

Another point I want to draw attention to is the charismatic villain who has ideals and wants to change the world to fit their own purposes. Even though it may seem very cliché to me too, when done well, it is truly a compelling phenomenon. Yes, some might find this very ordinary, but for some reason, I enjoy watching it, and I think Japanese creators handle this very well. In this season, our villainous brother figure, whom we call Leke, is genuinely cool and lives for his ideals. Of course, the pinnacle of this topic is Aizen, whom we also know from Bleach; there is no room for debate on that. In fact, the reason I love this trope so much is Aizen. When a character comes close to that level, watching becomes enjoyable for me.

Now, I can hear you asking, “We've praised it so much, but are there no downsides despite all these positives?” Of course, even for me, there are a few drawbacks. The first, and in my opinion the most important, is that despite the series having so many powerful characters and plenty of topics to explore, it constantly falls back on very cliché attitudes where Shin and other inexperienced members feel they “must get stronger” or “have to get stronger,” end up in unbalanced fights, take a lot of beatings, and are ultimately saved by Sakamoto, only to fall into the “we were saved by Sakamoto” mindset again. This is a frustrating point. Another annoying aspect is that despite having plenty of topics and depth, they repeat nonsensical fight scenes far too often just to show how ultra-powerful Sakamoto is, simply because it is a parody anime. Please don't misunderstand the term “nonsensical”; I actually think it's fun. It is necessary to show the power gap, but unfortunately, it falls into excessive repetition. Despite all these flaws, if you enjoy watching action, comedy, and power conflicts between different groups, and if you watched the first season, I definitely think you will enjoy the second season as well.