REVIEW: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Episode 15 — “Round and Round the Tower”

There’s no denying that, all in all, Sakamoto Days Episode 15 is fun enough. But it’s that enough that keeps dragging the series down. Based on the manga written and illustrated by Yuto Suzuki, Sakamoto Days damns itself by being purely serviceable.

It’s most noticeable in these high-octane standoffs, such as the one between Taro Sakamoto (Tomokazu Sugita) and Apart in “Round and Round the Tower.” It’s not poorly animated, but it does nothing to elevate the source material beyond what Suzuki is already accomplishing in a 2D medium. In fact, the adaptation by TMS Entertainment somehow flattens the effect.

Directed by Yoshihide Ibata, Sakamoto Days Episode 15 has its highlights – but most of them are character-driven rather than visual. It’s the gag of Apart sitting with Sakamoto, Shin (Nobunaga Shimazaki), Lu (Ayane Sakura), and Heisuke (Ryōta Suzuki) following the former’s battle on the Tokyo Tower. This playfulness adds a lot. The humor helps alleviate the frustration of the action sequences. 

To its credit, the show has improved, and there’s at the very least weight behind the impact of Sakamoto’s blows, but the anime relies heavily on stilted, free-frame images. To have characters hurtling through the air with no sense of freefall-or movement, period-strips the action of necessary velocity and depth. It’s simply two characters against spinning backgrounds, rather than two characters in a desperate descent. 

Sakamoto Days Episode 15 works best with character-driven moments.

Thankfully, the character moments give Sakamoto Days Episode 15 enough intrigue along with the introduction of our major villain, Slur (Daisuke Namikawa), and his right-hand man, Gaku (Koki Uchiyama). After Apart tells Sakamoto his life story, explaining how he became a serial killer, Sakamoto brings him back to the shop for intel. It’s there that we begin to learn more about Slur and his nefarious plans. Unleashing the killers was merely a distraction so that the Order would be busy tracking them down while Slur and Gaku infiltrated the JAA. 

It’s a strong introduction and, despite its brevity, is the highlight of Sakamoto Days Episode 15. With interesting character designs and strong voice actors, Slur and Gaku are fit to become two of the best characters in the series. The teaser may just be the beginning, but it’s a strong, confident introduction to two pivotal characters in the story. And despite their evil intent, they’re still introduced with the series’ requisite humor. 

But it’s a shame that, otherwise, Episode 15 is dull. Sakamoto might learn how to fight with his new body weight, but that doesn’t change how the fight is rendered. And while there’s humor in Apart being spared by Sakamoto and coming to in such a familial, comforting setting, his backstory (however brutal) grinds the story to a halt. 

Slur and Gaku steal the show in a brief introduction in an otherwise frustrating episode.

Sakamoto Days Episode 15 is undoubtedly the beginning of the next major arc in the series. There will be less need to fill in and fewer unnecessary flashbacks once the story picks up. There’s no doubt that the style and aesthetic of the series works in the adaptations’ favor. From the classic, espionage-inspired score to the vibrant, pop-art colors and bold lines of the character designs, the series maintains a signature look befitting the story it’s telling. But the room for improvement is vast and in dire need of a shake-up.

The animation remains stiff and, rather than add anything to the existing source material or try to do in the anime what can’t be accomplished in the manga, the series is happy to stay the course. But where the series goes from here is so interesting, so visually dynamic and in constant flow, it would be a shame to see the series continue to play it safe. 

Sakamoto Days Episode 15 is, without question, a sidestep before progressing into the next leg of the series. But even so, the visuals remain lackluster and disappointing for a series whose source material is so vibrant and kinetic. The characters, primarily our core ensemble, remain lovable, and the style of the adaptation is strong, so it’s still worth watching. But as the story continues to expand, it deserves animation that follows suit. 

Sakamoto Days Episode 15 is out now on Netflix.