Who is the current king of manga? Without any possible dispute, whether in terms of sales or popularity, the crown goes to One Piecewhich Netflix is already exploiting well with a live series and an anime reboot in preparation. But recent months have seen the end of publication of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen and a few other contenders, so that one could fear that Eiichirō Oda’s work would feel alone at the top of the Shonen empire (genre which primarily targets boys and adolescents).
Nay! The new generation is already here and intends to stand out with original concepts, like Chainsaw Man or Taste to name just a few. Two publications which have already been entitled to their animated adaptations, notably on Netflix for the second. Except that for five years, another manga has been very, very much talked about, to the point where its sales curve is aiming ever higher: Sakamoto Daysby Yuto Suzuki. Currently, he can even be considered the prince of manga. However, we had to wait for its twentieth volume (released in Japan) for it to finally be adapted into an anime, letting the competition get ahead in this area. Today, an injustice has just been lifted, today we celebrate the first day of Sakamoto Days.
The small dishes in the big ones
In the world of assassins, Taro Sakamoto is a legend. He has as many enemies as admirers. Except that one fine day, the worst disaster happened to him: he fell in love. Abandoning his old life, he got married, had a child, got older, gained weight and opened a neighborhood convenience store. From now on, Sakamoto stays away from violence and is forgotten. But when Shin, a young telepathic assassin, tracks him down, the father of a family and manager of a respectable business sees his past knocking at his door and the troubles that go with it. But when it comes to protecting his own, his adversaries will quickly realize that he has lost none of his unique talent.
At the helm of this anime, we find the TMS studio, known for their work on Lupin the Third, Cat’s Eyes, Détective Conan or even Dr. Stone. The production was entrusted to Masaki Watanabe, whose talent we could see for staging the fights on Dragon Ball Super: Superheroes. And he is only the first name of a creative team where everyone has already worked on one of the heavyweights of Japanese animation. In short, the cream of the crop has been brought together to make Sakamoto Days the major anime of the start of the year on Netflix.
As it has done for all its previous animated productions, the streaming platform has decided on a weekly broadcast and it is only the first episode which is revealed this Saturday, shortly after the end of Ranma ½ , another little gem resurrected from the dead by the SVoD service.
One episode may seem very short to form a definitive opinion, at first glance, on the overall quality of this first season, however, two things must be taken into account. The first is that like any reader of the manga, we know very well where the story is going to take us and believe us, you are not ready. The second is that in an ultra-competitive sector, it is important to succeed in attracting people from the first episode otherwise you will not see people coming back for the rest. So the whole question is, does this first episode pay homage to Suzuki’s work and does it sufficiently make a new audience want to stay hooked?
Quality animation without sparkle
Far be it from us to knock on the TMS studio which did a very good job of transcribing Suzuki’s features. The graphics are of exemplary fidelity to the paper work and we sometimes have the impression of seeing the pencil strokes around the characters. The murderous impulses of our father were animated in the same way as they appear in manga. As for Watanabe’s contribution, we must recognize that the episode takes on another dimension when there is action on the screen, right from the introduction. We appreciate this demarcation between the violent sequences and Sakamoto’s family life all the more because this contrast is precisely at the heart of the manga, as if we were constantly passing from one world to another, sometimes without transition.
And it is this same loyalty that can be criticized in a sense. Because the TMS studio never reappropriates this aesthetic to bring a touch of modernity, of madness. Where works like Ranma ½, Dandadam or Chainsaw Manto cite only our previous examples, have been able to stand out from their models, each in their own way, Sakamoto Days does not revolutionize anything. So the early reader will not necessarily find added value in switching to the animated format, especially since the readability of the action sequences is already the mangaka’s strong point.
Sakamoto Days, our Saturday meeting
Concerning the story itself, it also respects the master’s plans to the letter, and no one will blame him for that. Because what makes the strength of Sakamoto Daysit is as much its alliance between violent action and its absurd and referenced humor, as the writing of its central protagonists. In the way of One-Punch Manour former assassin is very far from the stereotype of the classic shonen hero. Old, mustachioed and paunchy, we can say that he is the anti-hero par excellence. And yet, what an aura!
For those who are embarking on the adventure for the first time Sakamoto Daysthe series is an invitation to get rid of prejudices and misleading appearances, in the company of a colorful troupe where each member finds their place within a family that will continue to grow. Here, the central figure is not a carefree spirit, he is an adult with responsibilities, he is a model for a younger generation, he is the manager of a convenience store in socks and sandals who would ridicule John Wick. We’ll have fun, we’ll get hooked and we’ll be amazed in just twenty minutes, so what more could you ask for?
Source: www.journaldugeek.com
