Sakamoto Days

Sakamoto Days (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuto Suzuki [ja]. It has been serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since November 2020, with its chapters collected in 21 tankōbon volumes as of March 2025. It is simultaneously published in English by Viz Media and the Manga Plus online platform.

Sakamoto Days
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Taro Sakamoto (front) and Shin Asakura (back)
Genre	Action[1] Comedy[1]
Manga
Written by	Yuto Suzuki [ja]
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA: Viz Media
Imprint	Jump Comics
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	November 21, 2020 – present
Volumes	21 (List of volumes)
Novel
Sakamoto Days: Koroshiya no Method
Written by	Renka Misaki
Illustrated by	Yuto Suzuki
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Jump J-Books
Demographic	Male
Published	April 4, 2023
Manga
Sakamoto Holidays
Written by	Tetsu Ōkawa
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Saikyō Jump
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	July 4, 2024 – present
Volumes	1 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Masaki Watanabe [ja]
Written by	Taku Kishimoto
Music by	Yuki Hayashi
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Licensed by	Netflix
Original network	TXN (TV Tokyo)
Original run	January 11, 2025 – present
Episodes	11

The story revolves around Taro Sakamoto, a retired legendary hitman who has settled into a quiet and mundane life as a family man. However, his peaceful life is disrupted when former enemies and colleagues from his hitman days come seeking revenge. To protect his family and loved ones, Sakamoto must use his exceptional combat skills to face off against a variety of adversaries while trying to maintain his ordinary facade.

An anime television series adaptation produced by TMS Entertainment aired from January to March 2025, with a second cours set to release in July of the same year.

By March 2025, the manga had over 8 million copies in circulation.

Plot

See also: List of Sakamoto Days characters

Taro Sakamoto used to be an unrivaled hitman, earning legendary status in the criminal underworld by being feared by some and idolized by others. One day, however, Sakamoto fell in love at first sight with Aoi, a convenience store clerk. In order for them to date, Aoi gave him the ultimatum that he must quit being a hitman and never kill again. Sakamoto agreed, and after his retirement they started dating, got married, had a daughter named Hana, and eventually opened a family-run convenience store of their own in the suburbs of Tokyo.

Several years later, Sakamoto has settled into his humble life, but also grown portly as a result of his relative inactivity despite still being immensely powerful. The world of hitmen eventually locates him, and many soon attempt to target the Sakamoto family, either seeking revenge or resenting his retired status. Now, with the help of three other former criminals who become employed at the store under Sakamoto—clairvoyant hitman Shin Asakura, orphaned crime boss daughter Lu Xiaotang, and sniper Heisuke Mashimo—Sakamoto must protect his family (or die trying) against the criminal underworld, all while maintaining Aoi's no-kill policy.

Production

The idea of pairing up Taro Sakamoto with a character that can read minds allowed for insight into the character's motivations and for comedy to flourish since Suzuki intended for Sakamoto to be a more quiet and reserved character. According to editor Soushiro Ishikawa, Suzuki focuses on readability while creating action scenes and his background in Nihonga style of painting allows him to create interesting layouts. Suzuki and Ishikawa would hold meetings every week in person in order to discuss how to progress the story, but after the COVID-19 pandemic they hold meetings online.^[2] Suzuki is influenced by manga artists Katsuhiro Otomo, Takehiko Inoue, and Hiroya Oku, and by the works of director Christopher Nolan.^[3] He draws inspiration from action films such as The Equalizer and the John Wick series.^[2]

Suzuki originally drew dark one-shot stories. However, when creating Sakamoto Days, he opted for a more lighthearted tone to better suit the demands of weekly serialization. For the concept of Sakamoto being a retired hitman, Suzuki said he was fascinated with the idea of a fat person being incredibly strong, thinking as well about the reasons that led him to that state; "Why is he fat? Because he retired. Why is that? Maybe because he got married? That's how I made it." He was particularly intrigued by the idea of a strong, obese fighter, a notion that was partly influenced by the comedic action film Enter the Fat Dragon. Regarding action scenes, Suzuki strives to captivate readers by incorporating unexpected twists and surprises. He employs an analog pen for character illustrations and works with a team of assistants. The character Shin emerged from Suzuki's interest in exploring the potential of an esper who interacts with Sakamoto through telepathy. Meanwhile, Lu was conceived as a Chinese assassin heroine, reflecting Suzuki's desire to diversify the cast. Although Suzuki acknowledges that his characters can sometimes be difficult to distinguish visually, he found Gaku to be the easiest to draw due his independent personality. Suzuki commented that he had already planned the ending of the series by 2022.^[3]

Adaptation

For the animated adaptation, Masaki Watanabe [ja] served as the director. Watanabe noted that Sakamoto's design reflects the original manga's expressiveness while distinguishing his two forms; the fat version has a symbolically deformed face, while the skinny version is more realistic. Watanabe highlighted Sakamoto's distinctive personality and calm daily life, which create a striking contrast during action sequences involving his obese physique. The director also emphasized the unique sound effects and vocal performances for Shin, which were carefully crafted under his guidance. Reflecting on the narrative, Watanabe noted that despite its comedic foundation, the series occasionally delivers unexpected moments of violence, an aspect he found particularly commendable.^[4] Despite his experience with shōnen manga, Watanabe found Sakamoto Days to be a unique challenge, as he aimed to balance intense action sequences with the lighthearted tone established by Suzuki. One of the most demanding scenes in the early episodes involved a rollercoaster fight, which required extensive time to create a detailed 3D model and manage the scene's vibrant color palette. The animation was done using Clip Studio Paint and Adobe, incorporating a paper texture to enhance the visual style of the action sequences. Additionally, the team conducted research on real firearms to ensure their accurate depiction in the anime.^[5]

Tomokazu Sugita voices the protagonist Taro Sakamoto, having previously been familiar with the original manga series. Initially cast as Kashima, he was later asked to voice Sakamoto instead, appreciating the character's relationships with family and friends. Nobunaga Shimazaki voices Shin Asakura, who noted that the character's perceived weakness and lack of skill, despite being over 20, creates a deliberate contrast with the stronger, more experienced characters, enhancing the cast's balance and making the dynamics more engaging. Lu Xiaotang is voiced by Ayane Sakura, who enjoyed exploring the character's dynamic interactions.^[6]

Media

Manga

See also: List of Sakamoto Days chapters

Sakamoto Days is written and illustrated by Yuto Suzuki [ja]. Suzuki first published a one-shot titled Sakamoto (SAKAMOTO-サカモト-) in Shueisha's Jump Giga on December 26, 2019.^[7] Sakamoto Days debuted in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on November 21, 2020.^[8][1] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on April 2, 2021.^[9] As of March 4, 2025, 21 volumes have been released.^[10]

The series is simultaneously published in English by Viz Media and the Manga Plus online platform.^[11] Viz Media started releasing the volumes in print on April 5, 2022.^[12][13]

A spin-off manga by Tetsu Ōkawa, who has worked as an assistant on the main manga, titled Sakamoto Holidays, started in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump on July 4, 2024.^[14][15] The first tankōbon volume was released on January 4, 2025.^[16]

Novels

A novel adaptation with an exclusive story by Renka Misaki, titled Sakamoto Days: Koroshiya no Method (SAKAMOTO DAYS 殺し屋のメソッド, Sakamoto Deizu: Koroshiya no Mesoddo, lit. 'Sakamoto Days: Killer's Method'), was released under Shueisha's Jump J-Books imprint on April 4, 2023.^[17][18]

A spin-off novel with exclusive episodes also written by Renka Misaki, titled Sakamoto Days: Koroshiya Blues (SAKAMOTO DAYS 殺し屋ブルース, Sakamoto Deizu: Koroshiya Burūsu, lit. 'Sakamoto Days: Killer's Blues'), was released on December 4, 2024.^[19][20]

Anime

In May 2024, it was announced that the series would receive an anime television series adaptation produced by TMS Entertainment. It is directed by Masaki Watanabe [ja], with scripts by Taku Kishimoto, character designs by Yō Moriyama, and music composed by Yuki Hayashi. The series runs in two split season cours, with the first cours aired from January 11 to March 22, 2025, and the second cours premiering on July 14 of the same year, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates.^{[21][22][23][24][25]} The first two episodes of the second cours are also set to be screened in Japan on June 15.^[25] The first opening theme song is "Hashire Sakamoto" (走れSAKAMOTO, lit. 'Run, Sakamoto'), performed by Vaundy,^[24] while the first ending theme song is "Futsū" (普通, lit. 'Normal'), performed by Conton Candy [ja].^[26] The special ending theme song "Somebody Help Us", performed by Vaundy, is used for Episode 7.^[27] The second opening theme song is "Method" by Kroi.^[25] Netflix licensed the series for a worldwide streaming release simultaneously with its weekly Japanese broadcast.^[28][29]

Episodes

No.	Title [30][31]	Directed by [a]	Storyboarded by [a]	Chief animation directed by [a]	Original release date [32][b]
Part 1
1	"The Legendary Hit Man" Transliteration: "Densetsu no Koroshiya" (Japanese: 伝説の殺し屋)	Masaki Watanabe [ja]	Masaki Watanabe	Masaki Hinata [ja]	January 11, 2025 (2025-01-11)
Taro Sakamoto was once the most feared hitman in the criminal underworld, being practically unstoppable no matter how difficult the job was. However, after encountering Aoi, a convenience store clerk, he fell in love at first sight and left the underworld to marry her. Many years later, Sakamoto has opened his own convenience store which he operates alongside Aoi and their daughter Hana, and grew overweight. One day, clairvoyant hitman Shin Asakura tracks down Sakamoto to his store, having been ordered by a gang boss to convince him to return to the underworld or kill him. Shin attacks Sakamoto but quickly realizes that despite Sakamoto's physical appearance, his hitman skills are still as sharp as ever. Sakamoto defeats him but spares his life, letting him go after treating him to a family meal. Seeing that Sakamoto is happy with his family life, Shin returns to the gang boss and turns down the job. Sakamoto, who had been secretly tracking Shin, intervenes and helps Shin defeat the gang. Afterwards, Sakamoto hires Shin to be a clerk at his store.
2	"Vs. Son Hee and Bacho" Transliteration: "Bāsasu Sonhi・Bachō" (Japanese: VSソンヒ・バチョウ)	Akihiro Saitō, Masaki Watanabe & Yoshihiro Nishio	Masaki Watanabe	Yukiko Ban [ja], Masaru Shindō & Masaki Hinata	January 18, 2025 (2025-01-18)
Shin proves to be an effective store clerk, being able to use his clairvoyance to figure out what customers need. He also learns that Aoi heavily disapproves of Sakamoto's former life as a hitman and has threatened to divorce him if he ever returns to that life. Sakamoto and Shen then head to the local Chinatown district to purchase some meat buns, only to be interrupted when they encounter a young girl named Lu Xiaotang fighting off a group of thugs with her martial arts skills. Sakamoto helps Lu escape, and she explains that she is the sole survivor of her mafia clan that was wiped out by a rival clan in order to claim a treasure room key in her possession. Sakamoto offers to help Lu in exchange for her baking some replacement meat buns when a pair of assassins hired by the rival mafia clan attack. During the fight, Shin is able to read Sakamoto's mind and finds out that he made a promise with Aoi never to kill anybody again, and to instead make up for his violent past by helping others. Sakamoto is able to defeat both the assassins and rival mafia clan, leaving them to be apprehended by the authorities. Lu opens the treasure room and finds out it stores the single most valuable treasure of every family head, with her father leaving behind a bottle of sake he planned to share with Lu when she came of age. Since Lu has nowhere else to go, Sakamoto hires her as the store's meat bun cook. Meanwhile, the JAA puts a bounty on Sakamoto's head for one billion yen.
3	"Welcome to Sugar Park" Transliteration: "Shugā Pāku e Yōkoso!" (Japanese: シュガーパークへようこそ！)	Yoshihiro Nishio	Masaki Watanabe & Akihiro Saitō	Masaki Hinata, Yukiko Ban & Yoshinori Deno	January 25, 2025 (2025-01-25)
As Shin and Lu start getting used to working together in the store, one of Sakamoto's old hitman acquaintances and master of disguise Nagumo arrives and warns Sakamoto about the JAA's one billion yen bounty on his head. Pizza deliveryman-themed hitman Pizza Nakajima then attempts to attack Sakamoto but is easily defeated while the Dondenkai hitman office spies on the entire ordeal. Sakamoto reveals he is aware of their hidden camera and warns them against coming after him before destroying the camera. However, despite his wishes to lay low, Sakamoto remembers that he promised to spend the day with Aoi and Hana at the Sugar Park amusement park. Shin and Lu take it upon themselves to protect Sakamoto so he can focus on his family, and working together are able to thwart Janitor Hitman Kurii Ning. However, another hitman, Tatsu, is able to evade Shin's clairvoyance and gets within striking distance of Sakamoto on a roller coaster before Shin realizes his mistake and throws both himself and Tatsu off the ride. Shin ends up being temporarily blinded by Tatsu's poison, but he is able to successfully fight back and defeat Tatsu by reading Sakamoto's mind as he observes the fight and mentally coaches Shin.
4	"Hard-Boiled" Transliteration: "Hādo-Boirudo" (Japanese: ハードボイルド)	Yoshihide Ibata	Yoshihide Ibata	Yoshinori Deno & Miyako Kamiya	February 1, 2025 (2025-02-01)
Sakamoto interrogates Tatsu, who corroborates that the bounty was placed by the JAA, the Japanese Association of Assassins. He then asks Sakamoto if he was part of The Order, a legendary group of assassins that is considered an urban myth. Sakamoto refuses to answer, but Tatsu guesses that he is right. Sakamoto decides to let Tatsu go, which surprises him. Tatsu then encounters the assassin pair Boiled and Obiguro, who are also after the bounty. Meanwhile, Sakamoto, Shin, and Lu spend the rest of the day at the park with the family, with their final stop being the haunted house attraction where Boiled and Obiguro have set up their trap. Boiled is able to separate Sakamoto from the others while Obiguro captures Shin, Lu, Aoi, and Hana and keeps them hostage. Boiled relentlessly attacks Sakamoto using a rocket powered gauntlet and explosive balls to keep the upper hand, venting about how he greatly respected Sakamoto and believed they were friends during their time at the JCC assassin school, only to feel betrayed when he found out Sakamoto never truly cared about or even remembered him. As he is beaten down, Sakamoto finally remembers Boiled through the time he showed him the chemical composition of the gunpowder he uses for his explosive balls and gauntlet. Sakamoto then revives himself, with his body no longer fat and returned to his original hitman form, so he can fight Boiled with his true capabilities.
5	"Source of Strength" Transliteration: "Tsuyosa no Wake" (Japanese: 強さの理由（わけ）)	Takatoshi Suzuki	Masaki Watanabe	Masaki Hinata & Yoshinori Deno	February 8, 2025 (2025-02-08)
Being thin again, Sakamoto's speed and strength is greatly enhanced, and he manages to beat Boiled into submission, stating that even though he is no longer a hitman, he remains strong due to his desire to protect his family. Meanwhile, Obiguro becomes extremely impressed with Lu's drunken kung fu style that allows her be evenly matched against her, and lets everybody go out of respect. Witnessing Sakamoto's true strength, Boiled's respect for him is restored and he agrees to stop pursuing the bounty. Aoi learns about the bounty and angrily reminds Sakamoto that one of their family rules is that they not keep secrets from each other, and tells him to put the matter to rest. Sakamoto, Shin, and Lu head to the Dondenkai headquarters, where they find the entire office wiped out. They also find Nagumo, who explains that The Order, the JAA's special squad of the most elite assassins in Japan, has been tasked with investigating a string of murders of hitmen by a mysterious individual only known as "X". He also implies X is also responsible for the bounty, given the murders started at the same time the bounty was posted. Realizing that he has gotten weaker in the past five years, Sakamoto begins training to regain his strength while Shin and Lu fend off hitmen looking for Sakamoto.
6	"Heisuke Mashimo" Transliteration: "Mashimo Heisuke" (Japanese: マシモ ヘイスケ)	Yūki Taki & Tomoko Hiramuki	Susumu Nishizawa & Yūki Taki	Masaki Hinata & Yoshinori Deno	February 15, 2025 (2025-02-15)
Amateur freelance hitman Heisuke Mashimo decides to take on Sakamoto's bounty, hoping that the one billion yen will bring him out of poverty and help take care of his pet bird Piisuke. However, when he enters Sakamoto's store, he does not recognize Sakamoto, who successfully bluffs him into thinking he entered the wrong store. With few other options for income, Heisuke decides to enter a paintball competition with a one million yen prize. However, Sakamoto also decides to enter the same contest in order to get the money needed to fix the damage all the various hitmen have caused to his store. Heisuke is disheartened to hear that only teams are allowed to participate in the competition, and Sakamoto and Shin take pity on him and allow him to join their team. When the competition starts, Sakamoto and Shin are shocked that Heisuke is actually an extremely talented marksman. Unfortunately, a drunk Lu accidentally reveals to Heisuke that Sakamoto is indeed his target. Heisuke switches his airsoft rifle with a real one and reluctantly targets Sakamoto and Shin. Shin uses his clairvoyance to pinpoint Heisuke and Sakamoto destroys his rifle with a thrown rock. Heisuke realizes he cannot defeat Sakamoto, but the latter compliments Heisuke's sniping skills. However, they are forced to use the prize money to fix all the damage Heisuke's bullets caused. Later, Aoi tells Shin the story of how she first met Sakamoto while Sakamoto warns Shin not to read Aoi's mind.
7	"Jurassic Bastard" Transliteration: "Jurashikku Yarō" (Japanese: ジュラシック野郎)	Yoshihiro Nishio	Hironori Tanaka	Miyako Kamiya, Yukiko Ban & Yuko Iwaoka	February 22, 2025 (2025-02-22)
While Sakamoto and Aoi are attending a school event, Shin and Lu are left to mind the store. They both get into an argument and when Lu complains about how uncomfortable she feels that Shin can read her mind, he gets upset and leaves the store. A team of scientists then arrive and capture Lu, mistaking her for Shin and intending to take him back to the Lab that gave him his clairvoyance. Shin and Sakamoto give chase, but are thwarted by the scientists' hired hitman Seba, who can turn invisible. Shin leads Sakamoto to the Lab, hidden inside the Okutabi Science Museum where he explains that he was raised there, but does not recall the scientists there being malicious. After defeating the Lab's robotic security and entering the Lab itself, Shin learns from the scientists that an assassin group led by a hitman named Kashima seized control of the Lab and took the director hostage, forcing them to research new methods of assassination. Meanwhile, Lu finds herself imprisoned with the director, Asakura, who tells her he has a plan to break out. Shin and Sakamoto defeat one of the assassins, Mad Horiguchi, and Sakamoto promises to liberate the Lab and save Shin's childhood home. Outside, Order assassins Shishiba and Osaragi arrive at the museum to investigate a tip given to them by Nagumo.
8	"Sakamoto's vs. the Lab" Transliteration: "Sakamoto-shōten bāsasu Rābō" (Japanese: 坂本商店 vs LABO)	Kōki Onoue	Yukio Nishimoto	Masaki Hinata, Masaru Shindō & Yuko Iwaoka	March 1, 2025 (2025-03-01)
At the store, Heisuke finds Aoi saddened that Sakamoto and the others have left, so he sends Piisuke to find them. At the Lab, Horiguchi quickly recovers and continues his battle with Sakamoto and Shin. Meanwhile, Asakura tells Lu about his and Shin's pasts. Many years ago, a friend left Shin in Asakura's care. Inspired by Asakura's research into supernatural powers, Shin volunteered to be Asakura's assistant. One night, Shin accidentally drank a chemical Asakura was working on, which gave him his psychic powers. However, the other scientists soon grew afraid of Shin and Asakura tried to create a cure for his powers. Offended at everybody's fear of him, Shin decided to run away from the Lab. Learning that Shin has come to rescue the Lab, Asakura unlocks the cell and escapes with Lu. Upstairs, Sakamoto and Shin are able to overcome Horiguchi's drugs and gadgets and defeat him for good. They then head out to find Lu, be are separated by a pit trap. Meanwhile, Shishiba and Osaragi confront Kashima, asking him for information about "Slur". Sakamoto then drops down from the pit trap, and Shishiba and Osaragi leave Sakamoto to handle Kashima while they pursue Slur. Shin is ambushed by Seiba, but is able to mark Seiba with his blood, allowing Heisuke to snipe him.
9	"All Aboard" Transliteration: "Kakekomi Jōsha" (Japanese: かけこみ乗車)	Takatoshi Suzuki	Tetsuo Hirakawa [ja]	Miyako Kamiya, Yuko Iwaoka, Yukiko Ban, Yoshinori Deno & Masaki Hinata	March 8, 2025 (2025-03-08)
Despite being wounded, Seiba is able to ambush and wound Heisuke as well. Using his last bullet, Heisuke triggers a fire sprinkler which allows Shin to see and knock out Seiba. Meanwhile, Sakamoto continues his battle with Kashima. Despite his numerous cybernetic enhancements, Kashima is still no match for Sakamoto who easily defeats him. However, with Kashima's defeat, a self destruct system in the Lab is activated, causing the entire complex to begin to collapse. Shin and Heisuke head to the lower levels and reunite with Lu and Asakura, who subsequently apologize to Shin. Shin then uses his clairvoyance to find all of the scientists still trapped in the Lab and evacuates them. Meanwhile, Shishiba and Osaragi manage to recover surveillance footage of Slur, while Shin encounters Slur himself, who requests he greet Sakamoto in his stead. After everybody is safe, Asakura thanks Sakamoto for taking care of Shin, and Sakamoto and his employees return home for a family meal.
10	"Bathhouse Roughhouse" Transliteration: "Sentō Mōdo" (Japanese: せんとうモード)	Yūki Taki	Yoko Yanai & Yūki Taki	Masaki Hinata, Yukiko Ban, Yoshinori Deno, Masaru Shindō & Yuko Iwaoka	March 15, 2025 (2025-03-15)
With everybody still weakened from their experience in the Lab, Sakamoto decides to have the whole family relax at a local bathhouse. However, the clerk at the front desk, Yutaro, is an amateur hitman who recognizes Sakamoto. He attempts to use covert traps hidden in the bathhouse to kill Sakamoto, but they all end up failing. Eventually, Yutero gives up, realizing that Sakamoto is too far out of his league. Two of Yutero's old bullies then arrive and begin harassing him, prompting Sakamoto to intervene and covertly knock out the bullies before complimenting Yutero's unique traps. Realizing Sakamoto knew he was a hitman all along, Yutero decides to quit being a hitman and focus on running the bathhouse. Later, Lu's family consigliere Lu Wutang approaches her and requests that she take leadership her family's mafia clan, but she refuses, preferring her more peaceful life with Sakamoto. In order to settle matter, Wutang challenges Sakamoto, Lu, and Shin to a gambling competition in an underground casino. If Wutang wins, Lu must rejoin the mafia, but if Sakamoto wins, Wutang will give information about Sakamoto's bounty.
11	"Casino Battle" Transliteration: "Kajino Batoru" (Japanese: カジノバトル)	Yoshihide Ibata	Susumu Nishizawa	Masaki Hinata, Yukiko Ban, Yuko Iwaoka, Miyako Kamiya & Masaru Shindō	March 22, 2025 (2025-03-22)
Despite not knowing the rules of the casino games well, Sakamoto and Shin are able to leverage their hitman skills and clairvoyance respectively to win their games while Wutang relies on card counting. As he plays, Wutang recalls how Lu befriended him despite him being a social outcast, and ever since then he swore his complete loyalty to her. At the end of the time limit both sides end up in a tie with the same amount of chips. Wutang then has everybody participate in a match of Old Maid as a tiebreaker, with the team that gets stuck with the Joker being the loser. Shin attempts to use his clairvoyance to give his team an advantage, but Wutang reveals he has already deduced the nature of Shin's ability and overloads his mind with a deluge of mental calculations, knocking Shin out of the game. Despite the setback, Sakamoto is able to gain the advantage by tricking Wutang into take the Joker. However, Wutang's guards mutiny so they can take Lu by force, causing Wutang to team up with Sakamoto and Lu to defeat them. In order to stay by Lu's side, Wutang becomes an employee for Sakamoto and reveals Slur recently freed four infamous serial killers: Dump, Saw, Apart, and Minimalist to eliminate Sakamoto.

Other media

A promotional video for the manga's eighteenth volume, starring Saori Izawa [ja] in the role of a store clerk, was released on August 2, 2024.^[33]

A smartphone game developed by Goodroid, titled Sakamoto Days: Dangerous Puzzle (SAKAMOTO DAYS デンジャラスパズル, Sakamoto Deizu: Denjarasu Pazuru), is set to be released on April 2, 2025.^[34][35]

Reception

By October 2022, the manga had 2.2 million copies in circulation;^[36] over 4 million copies in circulation by November 2023;^[37] over 5 million copies in circulation by May 2024;^[38] over 5.5 million copies in circulation by August 2024;^[33] over 7 million copies in circulation by December 2024;^[39] and over 8 million copies in circulation by March 2025.^[40]

The series ranked sixth on the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2022.^[41] Manga author Hiromu Arakawa recommended the series with a comment featured on the obi of the sixth volume.^[42] Sakamoto Days was nominated for Best Print Manga at the 2021 Next Manga Awards. It placed sixth out of 50 nominees, but won the U-Next Prize.^[43] The series was nominated for the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2022.^[44]

In a review of the first volume, Katherine Dacey of The Manga Critic recommended the series, praising its art and fight choreography. She ended her review with: "If some of the later chapters aren't as tightly executed as the first, Sakamoto Days nonetheless achieves a good balance between character development and karate-chopping."^[45] In a positive review of the first volume, Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network wrote that the "first volume is, for the most part, a lot of fun", and that "[i]t establishes a good cast of characters [...] has an entertaining premise, and it's executed well."^[46] Sheena McNeil of Sequential Tart commented that the series' premise could appeal to fans of Kousuke Oono's The Way of the Househusband and its tone to fans of Akira Toriyama's earlier works, known for their blend of action and comedy. She found the story's content particularly engaging due to the protagonist's endearing relationship with his family and the dynamic he shares with Shin.^[47]

Reiichi Narima of Real Sound [ja] commented that, despite the protagonist's comic appearance, Sakamoto Days is an entertaining action series with well drawn action scenes, comparing them to the ones from Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira. Although Narima stated that the series was initially focused on comedy, he noted the shift in focus toward battles, making it a more standard Weekly Shōnen Jump series as it develops.^[48][49]

Allen Moody of THEM Anime Reviews praised the anime for its humorous premise and execution, particularly Sakamoto's over-the-top skills and the contrasting youthful energy of supporting characters Shin and Lu. The villains also received acclaim, though the reviewer noted the season's unresolved ending, expressing excitement for the second half.^[50]

Notes

1. Production staff information is taken from the ending credits of each episode
2. The first two episodes released simultaneously on Netflix Japan, while subsequent episodes are released a week before their televised broadcast and international streaming release. As such, the episode table uses the latter dates.