Netflix’s SAKAMOTO DAYS takes painstaking efforts to faithfully capture the manga’s magic and visual language. However, the anime’s acquisition by the streamer in the first place is a testament to how Netflix already recognizes SAKAMOTO DAYS’ international appeal. Suzuki’s original manga is still going strong after more than 200 chapters and 22 volumes, yet the franchise’s universe has already significantly expanded in the five years since SAKAMOTO DAYS’ debut. There are original SAKAMOTO DAYS novels, a spinoff manga titled Sakamoto Holidays, and a video game, plus more to come. The anime adaptation comes along at the perfect time, as the manga remains one of Weekly Shonen Jump’s top titles. As of May 2025, SAKAMOTO DAYS’ manga has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.
Netflix picking up SAKAMOTO DAYS is just one of its many recent decisions to take over the anime streaming market with some of the most talked about titles of the past few years. The company has the streaming rights to Dandadan, Ranma ½, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, and Delicious in Dungeon while also producing its own original anime like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and Pluto. There are even plenty of vintage, retro classics like Hunter x Hunter, Death Note, and Neon Genesis Evangelion in Netflix’s anime library.
SAKAMOTO DAYS’ shonen supremacy speaks to a larger pattern in the medium right now that reflects the demographic’s cyclical nature. Coming off the “Dark Trio” trend where violent and vicious titles like Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku, and Chainsaw Man reigned supreme, there’s now a positive push toward the meticulous worlds of assassins and contract killers. Spy x Family, Mission: Yozakura Family, and Yakuza Fiancé are some of the biggest anime in recent years, all of which wrestle with the same subject matter and themes, only for SAKAMOTO DAYS to operate as the culmination of its perilous peers.
What makes SAKAMOTO DAYS so successful when it comes to assassin and serial killer subversions is how it never forgets to emphasize a loving warmth that’s present in these cold contract killers. SAKAMOTO DAYS is rich in allies and enemies, yet it’s more interested in the loving, found-family aspect between Taro, Shin, and Lu rather than ranking who is the strongest.
“Families have a bond from the beginning, but it is necessary for strangers to build a bond with each other,” says Ito. “I believe that the inclusion of various situations and emotions in the process of building a bond makes the story richer and more sympathetic.” Ito credits these chosen bonds as a prevailing factor in why SAKAMOTO DAYS has struck a chord with so many viewers and that it’s so much more than flashy gunplay.
Taro Sakamoto’s duality as his murderous past begins to threaten his happy retired life with his wife is easily one of the character’s most endearing traits. A switch flips in Sakamoto’s brain whenever his loved ones are put in danger, but he also undergoes a radical physical transformation that broadly underscores the anime’s themes and Sakamoto’s multitudes. While it may seem simplistic, Ito views Sakamoto’s middle-aged and out-of-shape design as an easy factor for the series’ success and an effective icebreaker for on-the-fence skeptics. “Simply put, I think it’s unique and interesting to have the main character be overweight.” Ito doubles down on Sakamoto’s subversive nature and how he breaks so many shonen protagonist stereotypes right down to his largely mute nature. “I also think the way he doesn’t talk much is appealing.”
