In case you haven’t noticed, Sakamoto Days is suffering from Blue Box syndrome. That is to say, Netflix is once more releasing episodes a week behind Japan in the rest of the world. Why? It’s as if to remind us that for all the good Netflix is doing in anime, they’re still clueless about distribution of it. Not a huge deal but as ever, makes covering the show (if indeed I decide to do so) a PITA.

As for the show itself, I sort of find myself at the same place with the anime that I was with the manga at this point. It’s amusing but not striking me as exceptional in any way. And while I continue to think the production itself is fine (much to the disappointment of those who assured us it was going to be a disaster and will continue to insist it is whatever the reality turns out to be), this is not a Nige Jouzu/Tengoku Daimakyou situation where the anime is so good it brings a lot of added value. So for SakDays the inherent quality of the series is likely to carry the day one way or the other.

One thing that stands out for me is that this is not a HeroAca situation where we have an inherent basis – like quirks – to explain the weird shit that’s going on with some people. Espers, shapeshifters – none of this is normal, yet at this point we have no explanation (even SxF gave us one for Anya and Bond) for why they exist. That’s not to say it won’t come eventually but at this point, it marks a narrative oddity. The shapeshifter, BTW, is a guy named Nagumo (played by Hanae Natsuki, the anime kaiju talisman) who makes his debut impersonating Sakamoto well enough to fool Shin and Lu (the talking should have given him away).

Nagumo is also a hit man, naturally. And while he makes a move as if to go after Sakamoto’s life one gets the sense he’s just playing, and the real reason he’s here is to warn Sakamoto that there’s a billion Yen bounty on his head. One which he says “we” aren’t going to pursue. With that much money (still in the underworld rumor stage) hanging out there, the course of the plot is pretty obvious – every hit man with a pulse is going to take a shot at it. And given that Sakamoto has been out of the game so long and was a semi-mythical figure to begin with, they’ll generally assume he’s going to be an easy mark.

Indeed, it’s Shin who comes off as the main character here – which is not surprising, given that Sakamoto rarely talks even in his head (Sugita Tomokazu is working about as hard as the Man City keeper in a 3rd round cup tie). He and Lu (who’s kind of annoying BTW) take on the mantle of Sakamoto’s advance guard, which is especially critical as the latter has a family outing to Sugar Bunny Land (or whatever the place is called) coming up. That’s where Shin’s broadcast-receive ability comes in very handy, and the first couple of challengers (pizza guy and janitor) are no trouble. But once the “vibe” guy shows up, things get a little stickier.

From there it’s pretty much the standard SakDays pattern as established already – big action set pieces with some wild stunts, except this time it’s Shin at the heart of it. Sakamoto giving Shin – blinded by poisoned blades – orders during his bare-fisted bunny battle with Vibes was cool. Very much unrealistic but clearly, that’s not going to be a factor here. We’re still in the infancy of the story here and it’s a WSJ title, so almost all of the footwear is surely yet to drop. As such it’s “we’ll see” mode for me with Sakamoto Days at this point.