English Dub Review: Sakamoto Days “Casino Battle”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The crew faces Wutang in a high-stakes casino showdown to learn who issued Sakamoto’s bounty.  Meanwhile, X sends a group of vicious assassins their way.

Our Take:

Usually, we would cap off an arc or season with a flashy and exhilarating showdown between good and evil.  However, Sakamoto Days provided a different approach to conclude its season’s first half: gambling.  You read that right, folks.  Instead of a good old-fashioned battle against Wutang and his mafia gang, Sakamoto and the crew are tackling the casino underworld by gambling their way to the top.  Given the show’s comical tone amid the intense violence, it’s unsurprising that the retired assassin would wind up in this predicament, but that doesn’t make the confrontation less exciting.  No need to worry, though, the “fighting” part only occurs when Wutang’s clan decides to take Lu by force.

This series would’ve taken the typical approach by including an “end all, be all” showdown to conclude the season’s first cour.  Instead, “Casino Battle” offered a more humorous and low-stakes direction to its formula while maintaining the show’s violent yet light-hearted tone.  Additionally, the episode sheds more light on Wutang’s eagerness to be by Lu’s side via a flashback, in which Lu befriended Wutang despite him being an outsider for his intelligence.  With Lu being the only person who sees him as more than just a social outcast, Wutang swore to be loyal to her no matter what.  Because of this, Wutang becomes the latest addition to the Sakamoto family in order to maintain his vow.

Now that the first cour has reached its end, it’s safe to say that Sakamoto Days has the makings of being one of the year’s best anime.  There have been concerns about its translation from page to screen, but all those worries seem to have disappeared upon witnessing it.  As someone who hasn’t read the source material, I was hoping for another fun and action-packed addition to Netflix’s anime collection, and it did not disappoint.  Regarding its animation style, Masaki Watanabe’s direction, and mixture of action and humor, the series is a refreshingly fun take on the retired assassin concept that surprisingly offers more hits than misses.  If the upcoming second cour is anything like we’ve seen in the first, especially with the four dangerous assassins on the loose, we could be looking at an anime worth placing on our watch list this year instead of a hit list.