REVIEW: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Episode 5 — “Source of Strength”

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 entertains viewers with more hilarious hijinks. It shows how dangerous the world of assassins can be but also emphasizes how close Sakamoto and his family are as they face the many dangers ahead. The episode resumes where the last ended with Lu (Ayane Sakura/Rosalie Chiang) fighting Obiguro to ensure Shin’s (Nobunaga Shimazaki/Dallas Liu) safety.

Instead of an intense, nail-biting, high-stakes, gory fight with a person’s life on the line, the fight between them is just a short goofy bout. Lu shows some combat prowess but is also belligerently drunk and doesn’t take the fight seriously. That is, until Sakamoto’s family is brought up, and Obiguro insults Lu for thinking she is a part of the family.

Lu goes off about how much she cares for her newly found family, and it’s clear that, like Shin and Sakamoto (Tomokazu Sugita/Matthew Mercer), she’s willing to put her life on the line for them. However, Obiguro finds Lu amusing, stops the fight, and they instantly become friends. The scene has an entertaining juxtaposition of goofy and sweet, proving the anime doesn’t always take itself seriously, even in moments when it probably should.

However, the fight between Boiled and Sakamoto takes the goofiness and intensity up a notch. Skinny Sakamoto goes all out against Boiled and quickly overpowers him. In Sakamoto Days Episode 5, the anime shows Sakamoto at his strongest when fighting for the safety of his family.

Family proves to be Sakamoto’s secret to success, giving him strength.

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 further proves that Sakamoto and his group are a tight-knit family that defends each other no matter what and that their strengths come from having something worth fighting for. Their fight is further elevated by the wacky superhuman acts the two perform, such as Sakamoto grabbing and throwing bombs with ease, the two crashing and flying into buildings unharmed, all ending with Boiled posing in a cool way like nothing happened despite him bleeding profusely.

Not only is the fight between the two incredibly entertaining, but the animation from TMS Entertainment is also excellent and well-choreographed. The ridiculous hijinks in between blows are also incredibly funny and entertaining. The Sakamoto theme song heard during their fight is also the cherry on top of the whole bizarre cake. Despite playing for about a minute at most, it still matches the high-octane and ridiculous nature of the whole scene. The music and fight scene blended excellently, enhancing the fight and showcasing great editing in the process.

Clearly outmatched, Boiled relents and admits that he can’t beat Sakamoto, but the conversation gets interrupted as Sakamoro’s wife, Aoi, approaches. As usual, Aoi is quite sharp and quick-witted. She understands the situation by overhearing Boiled and Sakamoto discussing the bounty on Sakamoto’s head and scolds Sakamoto for not telling her.

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 makes it clear Aoi is not only smart but can also be scary, which isn’t a surprise and is even expected from the wife of an ex-assassin who’s able to keep him in line. Aoi’s mental fortitude and strength are displayed quite well. Instead of panicking upon learning her husband is actively being hunted by assassins, she assesses the situation and concludes that the family deals with it together however they can.

Now fat again, Sakamoto groups up with the gang and decides to visit an underground information broker to find the location of the Dondenkai headquarters. The broker has an odd yet interesting gimmick of only dealing information in movies, and they find the location in a mobster movie. The group finds the location, and they infiltrate the building through some wacky sneaking around. Meanwhile, the anime finally reveals the mysterious and dangerous assassin group, The Order.

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 reveals the mysterious group, The Order.

Members of this group all have very different personalities, but they’re all violent, sadistic psychos. This is chiefly seen through one of the assassins stabbing a waiter’s hand on the dining table while the others look on unfazed and unbothered at the brutality. The group is approached by a representative from the JAA who highlights how rare it is to see so many members of The Order together, despite only four of them being present. Apparently, there are eight active members, and they’re all more insane than the previous, which isn’t a surprise judging by the first impression alone.

The Order is tasked with finding a serial murderer who only hunts down assassins. The scene does an excellent job of emphasizing how brutal the assassin world is and what kind of person would become one. Additionally, it shows a stark contrast to the earlier scenes of Sakamoto Days Episode 5, exhibiting the wholesome nature of Sakamoto’s family.

Sakamoto’s group reach the end of the building and find that all the hitmen are dead. They also run into Nagumo (Natsuki Hanae/Aleks Le), the only living person in the room. Similar to his first introduction, he plays a sadistic prank on the group before catching Sakamoto up to speed on the murderer targeting assassins. Nagumo is as sadistic as his teammates but is clearly fond of Sakamoto and his group and often gives them advice. This proves that Nagumo and Sakamoto’s history together still holds strong and that Sakamoto has allies even in the worst places.

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 ends with a brief look at the murderer and his calling card and how Sakamoto and his family are still dealing with the hitmen coming after him, but this time as a family. Future episodes will likely see Sakamoto’s group encountering the assassin hunter and members of The Order in some way, and it’ll be good to see how their strength as a family is tested with these encounters.

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 constantly switches between goofy and serious moments but does a good job of showing the two sides of the coin. Coupled with the entertaining and hilarious hijinks, Sakamoto Days Episode 5 proves to be another well-balanced and entertaining episode.

Sakamoto Days Episode 5 is streaming now on Netflix, with new episodes every Saturday in January and February.

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