Sakamoto Days

Episode 15

So it seems like we are getting shorts at the end of every episode for the foreseeable future, and this week's centers around Heisuke. Since he's such a likeable guy, everyone's been hanging out with him in their spare time, and seeing him have all this time to hang out with them individually mostly just serves to remind them that he doesn't have any kind of day job (though given that Sakamoto's hiring standards don't seem particularly high, you'd think he'd have extended the offer by now). It's not particularly funny, but it is at least nice to know we'll be getting a bit of levity in between all these big fights, so hopefully the show keeps these going for as long as possible.

As for the actual episode, the bulk of it sees the continuation of Sakamoto's fight with the serial killer, Apart, and it goes out with a bang. While the early parts of this fight don't provide anything as memorable as Sakamoto punching Apart off a building last week, we do get some cool theatrics like Sakamoto smashing him through some windows with a ladder or Apart using his wires like spears, and they all do a good job of keeping the battle exciting. In between all this, we get Apart's backstory, and while it's nothing too gut-wrenching, it is at least a bit more compelling than what we've gotten from the other killers. Growing up, Apart had trouble connecting with and befriending other people, but kept getting encouragement from his dad to keep trying. When those efforts kept failing, he started becoming violent, and when his dad tried to get him help, only to be told that nothing was wrong with him, he turned on him, and killing him set Apart on a path to try “understanding” people through murder. While this backstory still isn't exactly sympathetic, it does at least feel a bit tragic, even if some of that tragedy is dampened by learning that Apart is this guy's actual name. That's not too bizarre by general anime standards, or even this show's universe, but it feels like his dad was setting him up to fail even before he turned into a serial killer.

At any rate, hearing Apart's pleas to be understood does elicit some pity in Sakamoto, so he decides to do what he can to save him. “Saving” in this case apparently translates to using Apart's wires to spin him around the tower like a yo-yo, but it's easily one of the coolest action climaxes the show has given us so far, so I'm not about to sit here and argue with Sakamoto's methods. Once the dust settles, Sakamoto and the others try to get some information about Slur out of Apart, and he ends up being a little touched by how kind and welcoming they are compared to all the rejection he's used to. In isolation, this would be a sweet moment, but while I'm all for scenes of villains discovering empathy or seeking redemption, it does feel like a bit of a weird thing to attempt with a character who's a literal serial killer. With all those murders weighing him down, the idea of him attempting to turn his life around feels like it would need a lot more moral introspection than a series like this would spend time on, but I guess it does at least speak to Sakamoto committing himself to looking out for other people instead of trying to end them.

While the battles with these serial killers ultimately didn't amount to much beyond some good action scenes, we do at least get some decent set-up for what's coming next when Apart reveals they were just meant to be a distraction. Slur's real goal has been to attack one of the JAA headquarters, and while that raises the stakes here quite a bit, learning that the JAA has multiple office buildings that they barely bother to hide is so inherently goofy that I couldn't help but laugh at that revelation. That aside, given that Slur has mostly operated in the shadows up to now, his storming the JAA with only one new helper by his side should finally give us an idea of what he's capable of beyond looking intimidating, and hopefully it'll prove to be worth all the build-up.

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Sakamoto Days is currently streaming on Netflix on Saturdays.