Overview (Spoilers Below):
Hoping to win the million-yen prize, Team Sakamoto enters the shopping district’s survival tournament and teams up with a completely clueless sniper.
Our Take:
The hits just keep on coming as Sakamoto confronts another hitman seeking to claim the bounty: Heisuke Mashimo. However, unlike Boiled, Heisuke doesn’t pursue Sakamoto as revenge against him. Instead, he aims to use the reward to bring him out of poverty and take care of his pet bird, Piisuke. While he appears amateurish at first, his surprisingly impeccable sniping skills actually make him another force to be reckoned with for Sakamoto and his allies. Unfortunately, his gullibility and overly sensitive side usually get the better of him due to him not recognizing Sakamoto upon their first encounter. But that didn’t stop them from crossing paths again at the shopping district’s paintball tournament, where Sakamoto and Shin enter to fix the damage the hitmen caused to his store.
This episode was something I was looking forward to for quite some time, and it unsurprisingly did not disappoint. It wasn’t just because of Heisuke’s formidable skills as a sniper but also because of the voice actor for the character that almost all of us are familiar with: Xolo Maridueña. Maridueña has been widely known for his role as Miguel Diaz from Cobra Kai, which just finished its entire run, and as Jaime Reyes in Blue Beetle, which I thought was completely underrated. He’s also proven to be quite talented in the animation department, having recently voiced Fightmaster and Dropkick in Invincible. He is also set to star in the upcoming animated Smurfs reboot, believe it or not, which hasn’t been making a great first impression through its first trailer.
Going back to Sakamoto Days, “Heisuke Mashimo” showcased further that Xolo Maridueña hasn’t lost his touch regarding his consistently entertaining charm. Heisuke’s delicate personality might initially annoy some viewers, but the episode effectively balances this with his compelling backstory. Throughout the episode, he strives to gain acceptance from his peers despite feeling only valuable due to his sniping skills. This is mainly due to Xolo Maridueña’s vocal performance, which provided plenty of entertaining humor from his personality, and the thrilling confrontation between him and Sakamoto during the tournament. Regarding Heisuke’s capabilities as a sniper, we may see this sensitive hitman on the field again sooner rather than later.