Sakamoto Days, one of the most anticipated anime of the Winter 2025 anime season, is now streaming on Netflix.

The manga has been serialized in Shonen Jump since November 2020 and is one of its biggest current hits, especially considering that a few long-running major titles, like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia, concluded last year. The story is written by Yuuto Suzuki, who had previously published Garaku and Locker Room in the Shonen Jump+ app, gaining recognition as a mangaka, which later allowed him to begin writing Sakamoto Days.

Covering the 55-page first chapter of the manga – initial chapters are often longer than the 20-page standard of Shonen Jump manga – Sakamoto Days blends a fun slice of life story with action-packed scenes, portraying the life of a man who previously worked as a hitman for a crime organization trying to protect his family while the criminal underworld refuses to let him walk away from his past life.

What we see in this episode is the beginning of a promising Netflix hit.

Former gunman living a quiet life

The first episode introduces the main characters of the story: Shin, Sakamoto’s former partner, Sakamoto himself, his family, and some mafia bad guys that set the tone for what’s to come.

Five years prior, Taro Sakamoto, a legendary hitman, suddenly quit the criminal underworld to live a quiet family life after falling in love and opening a convenience store. Sakamoto’s former employer isn’t content to let sleeping dogs lie, however.

Shin, with access to enigmatic telepathic powers, is ordered to kill Sakamoto for leaving the organization without its consent and visits his former partner’s legitimate business to carry out the deed. Taken aback by Sakamoto’s skill despite his obvious weight gain, Shin, unable to carry out the task, leaves the job unfinished.

While there’s no explanation for how or why he has these powers, they allow Shin to learn his enemies’ movements, to a degree that makes them almost fourth-wall-breaking.

Shin then decides to ask the boss to spare Sakamoto, but the conversation doesn’t go the way he hoped. Cornered by the mafia, Sakamoto shows up to rescue him in a slick action sequence that concludes with Shin resolving to follow in his former colleague’s footsteps and start a new life working an honest job at Sakamoto’s store (with paid overtime).

Given the events in the manga, Shin is expected to learn the family rules in the next episode. As previewed in the trailers, the most important rule is that no more killings are allowed. We are likely to see more of the family’s daily routine before meeting another major character — it seems unlikely, but not impossible, that Lu will be introduced before Episode 3. She is another one person who will soon join the family.

Addressing the animation’s quality

Since the first trailer was released, fans have been voicing concerns about the adaptation’s animation, especially related to a perceived lack of consistent action scenes in the trailers.

Upon watching, action scenes might lack fluidity, but whether that’s to a degree that detracts from the source material is debatable, especially as the result feels like a creative decision to show the action sequences without relying too much on 3D animation.

The end product feels like it prioritizes impact over movement, but the animation does its best to maintain the manga’s style, complemented by a tension-ramping soundtrack.

Debut episodes for Shonen anime tend to be the most consistent ones, so we’ll have to see if the quality will have any substantial drop in the upcoming week. 

If the studio is using “simpler shots” to deliver the sensation of action consistently through the season without overworking the staff with action scenes, then it’s a welcoming decision. For now, Sakamoto Days’ jump from page to screen has achieved a promising start.

While waiting for the next episode, check out more anime coming this season. You can also check out our recaps of more Winter 2025 premieres, including Zenshu, Dr. Stone Season 4, and Solo Leveling Season 2.