Sakamoto Days
a review by saulgoodman
a review by saulgoodman
In this bloody era riddled with juvenile corpses bludgeoned by the axes of the Weekly Shonen Jump's editorial department, little hope welled in me when another potential statistic had released. Spy x Family had established itself the de facto assassin comedy series at that point in time, so low expectations in hand, I prematurely dropped it after its debut and picked it up about a year after out of passive curiosity and boredom.
This is a review of Sakamoto Days, detailing my pleasant surprise at its solid development is unwarranted. Nonetheless, Sakamoto Days goes off without a hitch. Perhaps the primary factor to the series' potent entertainment value is how easily digestible it is, due to its lack of a power system and fantasy world-building. My personal bias holds that the aforementioned aspects can bog down enjoyment, if executed too rashly and boldly. In trade-off for deep lore or mechanics, Sakamoto Days is appreciatively straight-forward with its action and plot.
Detailing the reluctant Sakamoto's departure from assassin retirement, it would've routinely predictive to keep the plot episodic in different assassins attempting at his peaceful life only to end at their comedic failure. However, Yuuto Suzuki does excellent in effortlessly adding in new characters and factions to give deeper flavor, while sustaining a consistent pace. Characters serve their purposes well, such as the 4 prison escapees advancing plot and boosting screen-time for side characters, akin to that one Baki arc. Perhaps what came as the most pleasant surprise to me was how well-sustained and developed the side cast was. Shin, for instance, was seemingly on the path of an irksome sidekick chasing after Sakamoto's shadow, yet has persisted in fights with grit and wit of his unique ability. Others who don't get such character development or even deep characterization nonetheless make themselves known and recognizable, such as Nagumo and Gaku, thanks to both their quirks and the relevant factions they belong to.
Speaking on factions, it's another point of good writing in how Sakamoto isn't part of one. Rather than to champion his beliefs or position, as the JAA or Slur's group act on, Sakamoto fights to persist his mundane convenience store life. This in mind, the fights bog down to who's stronger, not who's just or unjust. The added fact that both factions are comprised of iron-blooded assassins oft kissing Death makes for quick desensitization to murder and dissipation of sympathy, leaving good, ol' adrenaline and hype behind.
Progression-wise, I'm currently situated between being confident in the plot progression thus far and questioning curiosity to its future progression. Many characters have been well-characterized or well-known, faction relations and motives established, perhaps their courses of actions still a bit up-in-the-air, which is the most exciting aspect presently. Slur's attack on the JAA was a fantastic catalyst for the current progression-of-events and their growing presence as the antagonist aiming at Sakamoto makes readers come back every week. New characters are still being added, as well, hopefully to not be discarded as forgettable side characters, but the series has yet to have a major issue with that. Everything has and continues to look bright.
Good fight scenes boil down to paneling, vector lines and impact panels. Differing opinions are welcome, that's fine. However, these three aspects are undeniably vital to how digestible and easy-to-follow fights are to readers. Clean and tidy art-styles be damned, because Yuuto Suzuki can do just fine without it. With its cast of experienced assassins in mind, he takes care with portraying both small and large body movements with vector lines to show both precision and power. It's not uncommon for there to be The Crazy 88-esque fights, and coupled with the intensity of many characters' powers, it'd be easy for an artist to lose and convolute the line-of-action. However, the paneling smoothly guides the readers' eyes, generously showering us with great impact panels supplemented by simple transitions that contrast the chaotic vector lines at times. Technical aspects aside, the fights are great. Phenomenal, even. They strive for entertainment value and damn well achieve it every time.
Yuuto Suzuki trades detail for impact in his fights, and this applies to his characters designs, as well. Most characters are fairly distinct in appearance, the elephant-in-the-room being Sakamoto's chubbiness, which play into their characters along with their quirky personalities. Not much else I can discuss or analyze in regards to design, they're fun, diverse and make characters stand out.
Sharing the belt with The Fable, Sakamoto Days is the reigning champion in the action-comedy assassin niche. As beaten-of-a-dead-horse as this statement is, it does nothing profound nor revolutionary, but executes good-to-god action and gags just as well as its cast of assassins executes their targets. Story and art share a trait of fluid consistency that maximize entertainment value and disallows the audience's attention disengagement for even a moment. Fights are generously allocated, impressive on a technical level, making the oft chaotic fights easy on the eyes with smooth transitions and hard impact panels. The adrenaline keeping you engaged, the plot progression never falters, adding new casts of characters, while not being overbearing and sustaining sufficient screen-time for its main cast. In many regards, Yuuto Suzuki takes great care in making Sakmoto Days a smooth rollercoaster without any bumps. I've yet to have been afflicted with the slightest thorn in my side to discuss, making it one of my most entertaining Weekly Shonen Jump series in the recent years.
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