Sakamoto Daysis one of the biggest manga running inShōnen Jumpright now, and that’s created a lot of hype for its upcoming anime. The manga boasts some of the most creative and all-around gorgeous action of anyshōnenmanga, so if a competent anime studio found a way to bring that to life, it would solidifySakamoto Days’ reputation as one of the best manga someone could read.
There’s been incredible hype for theSakamoto Daysanime, but that’s started dying down for the worst reasons.The first full trailer forSakamoto Dayswas recently released, which gave people their first extended look at what the anime would be like, and unfortunately,everything presented in theSakamoto Daystrailer has people feeling skeptical about the anime’s quality. Some of the concerns are more exaggerated than others, but unfortunately, it’s far too easy to see why people are feeling nervous about its quality.
Sakamoto Days’ Animation Is Nothing Like What People Were Expecting
Most people were expecting the action of theSakamoto Daysmanga to translate into incredibly crisp and fluid animation, not unlike shows likeJujutsu KaisenandOne-Punch Manseason 1, but instead, what people saw was a lot of slow movement and scenes that recreated the manga as opposed to doing anything creative with the source material. Nothing in the trailer looked bad, butthe main problem people are having withSakamoto Daysis that it doesn’t appear to be thesakuga-filled production they expected, and people are already losing hope and interest because of it.
As for why the animation looks relatively subpar, the blame might fall on the animation studio, TMS Entertainment. 2025 is set to be an incredibly busy year for TMS Entertainment as in addition toSakamoto Days, they’ll be working onDr. Stoneseason 4, the newDetective Conanmovie, and the second half ofBlue Box, soSakamoto Days’ animation quality might be because TMS Entertainment is too preoccupied with other projects to put their all into it. It’s understandable if that’s the case, but it’s disappointing for anyone who wantedSakamoto Daysto be a top priority, regardless.
While people are within their right to criticizeSakamoto Days’ animation, calling it outright bad is a very egregious exaggeration. Based on the trailer, the anime appears to be doing a competent job of bringing the manga to life, even if it doesn’t have a lot ofsakuga, so while there are criticisms to be had,much of the discourse surroundingSakamoto Daysseems to stem from people unfairly expecting it to be of similar quality to shows likeJujutsu KaisenorMob Psycho 100, even though it’s rare for an anime to get an adaptation on those levels.
While animation should always play into an anime’s overall quality, as more and more anime with consistently gorgeous animation have come out, some people have taken to feeling that anything other than that is automatically terrible, and as such,Sakamoto Daysis the latest anime to be subjected to criticism just because its animation isn’t among the greatest in anime. Ideally,Sakamoto Dayswill better show off what it’s capable of when it properly premieres in January 2025, and once it does, it will regain a lot of the hype that’s been lost thanks to the trailer.
Sakamoto Days
Cast
Sakamoto Days centers on Taro Sakamoto, a former top-tier hitman who has traded his life of crime for a peaceful existence running a convenience store. Despite his attempts to leave the underworld behind, Sakamoto’s past catches up with him as old rivals and dangerous enemies reappear, threatening his newfound tranquility. Forced to defend his family and business, Sakamoto must draw on his lethal skills while navigating the humorous and unexpected challenges of balancing his ordinary daily life with the chaos of his former profession.
