REVIEW: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Episode 11 — “Casino Battle”

Sakamoto Days Episode 11 is one of the most fun episodes of the season. It shows how well Sakamoto and his group can handle themselves when thrown into an unfamiliar situation. It showcases the main characters in entertaining and engaging ways and reminds viewers of the impending threat they will face.

Sakamoto Days Episode 11 sees the group in the casino as they begin their effort to defeat Wutang in a gambling competition. Despite not knowing all the rules, Shin (Nobunaga Shimazaki/Dallas Liu) lunges head first to a game of Poker, where his opponents can quickly tell he’s new at this and plan to take advantage of him. Unsurprisingly, Shin uses this to his advantage and wins with his mind-reading ability. On the other hand,  Sakamoto (Tomokazu Sugita/Matthew Mercer) wins roulette games by using his strength to flick a chip to manipulate the wheel.

These zany interactions and actions are what you’d expect from the Sakamoto’s group but they still manage to be funny and entertaining. The competition also shows the creative uses of Shin and Sakamoto’s abilities and how well they can use them even in casual situations. However, it’s hard not to point out that  Lu (Ayane Sakura/Rosalie Chiang) did nothing to contribute yet again. And while their rapport and dynamic are still humorous, all she did was bicker with Shin while he was trying to do his job.

The Sakamoto can’t outwit Wutang.

Meanwhile, Wutang flexes his intellect by winning all his Poker rounds through memorization and ingenuity, proving he doesn’t need any crazy skills to accomplish his goals, just his brain. This fact is further emphasized by a flashback showing how a young Lu and Wutang met. Lu reaffirmed his intellectual abilities from a young age, and this flashback explains why he’s so obsessed with her. However, while this flashback scene does an adequate job of giving context to Wutang and Lu’s relationship, it doesn’t add much to the story, nor does it expand on the characters substantially. It only reiterates what Episode 10 already revealed.

The two parties collect their earnings and find that they are tied. This discovery prompts a rather interesting tiebreaker game of Old Maid. This game lets the characters show off their abilities in interesting ways yet again. When swapping cards, Sakamoto shows off his inhuman speed, but Wutang’s intelligence is the most impressive. He instantly notices when Sakamoto is cheating and not only notices when Shin is reading his mind but counters it by overloading his own brain with thoughts to prevent it.

Unfortunately, despite this, his gang underlings turn on him quickly, and he has to bluff his way out of getting shot. This betrayal prompts a short but creative and well-choreographed fight from TMS Entertainment between Sakamoto’s group and the mafia men. Sakamoto uses environments such as pool balls, cues, and cards to fight, which makes it entertaining to watch. It also shows Lu fighting for the first time in a while and finally contributing to the team.

Wutang shares vital information in Sakamoto Days Episode 11.

After the fight, we see Wutang helping out at Skamoto’s shop. He reveals that the serial killer Slur was the one who put the bounty on Sakamoto’s head. Now he’s freed and hired some especially dangerous criminals who have a collective body count of hundreds and like to kill their victims in the most brutal ways. These include decapitation, ripping out entrails, and shaping humans into balls of flesh. The end of the episode shows these peculiar criminals, and according to Kashima, they can only be described as “pure evil.”

The end of Sakamoto Days Episode 11 features some incredibly gory details and shows, for the first time in a while, that the series is not afraid to show some of the dark side of the criminal world. It also reminds viewers that while anime has goofy moments, things can quickly turn dark.

Sakamoto Days Episode 11 does an impeccable job of balancing serious and goofy moments and highlights the main characters in entertaining ways.  “Casino Battle” does a fantastic job of wrapping up the current arc and setting up some exciting stuff to come next cour.

Sakamoto Days Episode 11 is streaming now on Netflix, with new episodes every Saturday.

Previous Episode | Next Episode