Sakamoto Days by Yuto Suzuki

With Spy X Family being the darling of the Spring 2022 season some people are already asking what will be the next big hit from Shonen Jump. The answer to that is very clearly Chainsaw Man. But after that, my guess would be Sakamoto Days. It does not have an anime right now but I think it will really take off when it does. It is essentially the Grosse Pointe Blank anime with a dash of Nobody and Barry.

Taro Sakamoto was the anime version of John Wick. He was the world’s greatest assassin that criminals would use as the Boogeyman. But one day he fell in love, He settled down after having a kid with his wife, got a job at a convenience store, and basically passed into legend. But with a young psionic boy and a former triad princess working at the store under him, his past has recently been catching up to him.

Yup. It is another shonen anime with an older protagonist aka the Reverse Thieves Jam. This is some next-level dad fiction. A portly father who is also a badass is usually the staple of seinen, not shonen. They still have the teenage workers so that the shonen demographic is not left out but they are secondary enough so the manga can still be called Sakamoto Days.

While the series is mostly a comedy series it has a good amount of action. It is a balanced combination that mixes the strengths of both genres and keeps the series lively. If the series was all comedy I don’t think it would be as strong but the comedy adds a little depth so the action does not need to ramp up all the time. That is why I made the Grosse Pointe Blank comparison in the first place.

I’m not sure when Sakamoto Days is getting an anime but when it does this series will blow up big time. Plus this will probably be a good substitute for fans of Spy X Family when that wraps up. So now might be a good time to give it a look before that happens.

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-Alain