REVIEW: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Episode 16 – “Slice Slice Dance”

In the best-directed installment of the series to date, Sakamoto Days Episode 16 momentarily absolves itself of its past errors. Directors Yūki Taki and Shūji Miyahara, along with storyboard artists Yukiko Ban, Yuko Iwaoka, Masaki Hinata, and Yoshinori Deno, create a wonderfully tense showdown that is, for once, amplified by the specific color gradings and filters. It’s a pivotal moment in the series, and, due to the direction, it feels as such for both newcomers and longtime fans. 

The main push of Sakamoto Days Episode 16 follows Slur (Daisuke Namikawa) and Gaku (Koki Uchiyama) as they infiltrate the JAA. The strength of these opening sequences largely depends on the instant charisma and “cool” factor of this duo. They’re a fun pair of antagonists that highlight one of the sillier gags of the series – that all of this, from the violence and the many assassin organizations, is normal.

The assassins are essentially all working desk jobs as they’re attacked. And while the designs of these disposable background characters fit into the background, it does at least allow Gaku to show off his power. 

Slur and Gaku elevate the story immediately. 

Along with the help of an undercover ally, they decimate the Kanto branch, killing all JAA assassins who foolishly try to get in their way. The opening finds its second beat of fresh air with the arrival of the mysterious Order member Takakura, whose indiscernible mutterings and large katana announce an immediate, striking threat.

While the moment still loses the impact of the source material where mangaka Yuto Suzuki instilled a monstrous aura to his arrival, it still conveys a necessary sense of danger. We need to believe he could realistically scare away Gaku, who wields a giant mace and seems unconcerned with the carnage taking place around him. 

All of this crescendos into the major standoff between Slur and Sakamoto (Tomokazu Sugita). The latter of whom immediately identifies the former as Uzuki, a man he went to school with. It’s through this showdown that Sakamoto Days Episode 16 proves one central point: Shin (Nobunaga Shimazaki) and, to a degree, Sakamoto, are not prepared for this fight. They survive, but it’s by the skin of their teeth as they withstand a pummeling at the hands of Slur. 

Shin learns the hard way that he’s out of his depth.

Shin, in particular, is a weak spot despite believing he’d grown in his recent fights. He simply can’t keep up with Slur or his movements, with Sakamoto often having to rescue him at the last moment while also telling Shin to stay back and not involve himself. The action is much more fluid in these moments, with an epic-scale perspective. The framing heightens the stakes as we see how fraught their location is as Slur continues to taunt Sakamoto, threatening his daughter to see if that forces him to lose his cool. 

It’s where we get the first significant development in Sakamoto and Shin’s dynamic, with Shin’s voice being the only thing that pulls Sakamoto back to his mental clarity. This is necessary because just as the fight stalls, Gaku appears with Takakura on his tail.

The entire sequence continually ups the ante as we wait for someone to be grievously injured due to the mayhem of it all. Sakamoto Days Episode 16 might still lack the necessary sense of movement to really capture the kinetics of the source material. Still, the art direction and animation take a definite step up. 

Sakamoto and Uzuki’s reunion pushes the story forward. 

It all ends with a bang with Slur’s ally setting off a suicide bomb to take Takakura down, leaving him and Gaku able to escape. But while the action is intense and the visuals improved, the narrative lacks weight due to the pacing and writing. While we don’t know the characters who died, the impact of the death toll feels more potent in the manga. Here, the report is flippant despite how many lives were lost because the fight and its lead-up are breezed through. 

“Slice Slice Dance” ends on a moment of major setup. Sakamoto gains information from Nagumo and Hyo, and he, along with Shin, plan to infiltrate the JCC to gain greater intel. It’s a significant turning point for a series that, up until now, has been a more extreme version of a hangout anime. Now, there are real stakes and objectives to move the plot forward as Sakamoto must deal with someone from his past putting a stake on his life. 

Sakamoto Days Episode 16 shows vital signs of improvement with an intense centerpiece brawl. As the animation steps up and the story becomes more gripping, the anime may be able to salvage its more flawed pieces into a worthy adaptation. 

Sakamoto Days Episode 16 is out now on Netflix. 

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