Netflix’s SAKAMOTO DAYS Is Locked and Loaded For Part 2 Return

This article is presented in partnership with Netflix and appears in the Den of Geek x Sakamoto Days special edition releasing in mid-July. Sakamoto Days Part 2 releases on July 14.

“Their friendly nature may be the reason why they are loved by the audience.” 

This is what acclaimed anime producer Genki Ito attributes to the popularity of SAKAMOTO DAYS’ heroes, who just so happen to be cutthroat killers. SAKAMOTO DAYS, Netflix’s newest anime streaming sensation, revolves around assassins, serial killers, and Tokyo’s seedy criminal underworld. However, these death dealers have become so beloved among fans that they have their own line of adorable plush toys and cute merchandise. 

Audiences want to make small talk and go to amusement parks with Taro Sakamoto, Shin Asakura, and Lu Shaotang rather than fear their extermination skills. It’s this unique affability that turned SAKAMOTO DAYS into appointment viewing for the 11 weeks that it dominated Netflix. Now, the show resumes its celebrated freshman season with its highly-anticipated second half. SAKAMOTO DAYS Part 2 is set to reach even greater heights than its first batch of episodes, which makes it the perfect time to get locked and loaded with the hit anime series and its fast-paced assassination shenanigans

SAKAMOTO DAYS is a radical story of revenge and redemption that follows a revered assassin’s return to the craft decades after permanently holstering his weapon for a simpler life. SAKAMOTO DAYS has won over streaming fans with its anime adaptation, which kicked off in 2025 with 11 episodes. However, nobody would be talking about the anime without its inspirational source material, the manga written and illustrated by Yuto Suzuki. His series’ storytelling and character development have received praise, but it’s the mangaka’s detailed artwork and panel composition that made audiences fall in love with SAKAMOTO DAYS’ universe. 

“I believe that the cool artwork style and the easy-to-understand storyline are the reasons why it is widely recognized by many audiences,” confirms producer Ito, who cut his teeth as a production manager before becoming animation producer on the series Yowamushi Pedal, Haikyu!!, and 2019’s Fruits Basket for TMS Entertainment. Ito has certainly been involved with popular anime properties, but SAKAMOTO DAYS has the potential to be his biggest project yet while also one of TMS Entertainment’s top titles. Ito’s previous series have featured kinetic action and outlandish scopes that likely helped him prepare for SAKAMOTO DAYS’ endless assassin exploits. 

There’s so much potential to go wrong when manga gets adapted into an anime. The right animation studio and creative team are paramount. Unfortunately, plenty of beloved manga fail to gain traction as anime because the wrong studio picks up the project. Ito was well aware that it was essential for them to stick the landing in this department.

“We knew from the beginning that it would be a challenge to reproduce Suzuki-sensei’s drawings, which are of a very high quality,” the producer says. Undeterred, Ito found a way to not only honor Suzuki’s artwork but also put his own stamp on the franchise through the addition of color, timing, and voices. 

These extra elements make SAKAMOTO DAYS an even more overwhelming experience, but that was part of the fun and the challenge of bringing the story to life. “It is very difficult to construct the action in a 360-degree view of locations and objects,” says Ito. “This is one of the factors that caused headaches for the director.” 

This is saying something, considering that the director in question, Masaki Watanabe, has previously helmed other iconic battle shonen series like Bleach and Rurouni Kenshin. Ito is proud of all the anime’s fight sequences but singles out the battle on the train from episode nine, “All Aboard,” as a favorite. Trains, amusement parks, museums, and casinos are just some of the creative battle environments in SAKAMOTO DAYS Part 1, while Part 2 promises that viewers should expect the unexpected.

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.”

Ito goes on to expound how Sakamoto’s “against the grain” nature even carries over to the assassin’s fighting style. In a world of careful killers who try to leave as little as possible to chance, Sakamoto is someone who thrives on spontaneity and improvisation. That’s not to say that he’s ill-prepared. He’s just someone who can’t help but rewrite the rules, just like how SAKAMOTO DAYS is reinventing the expectations of a broader shounen series. 

“Taro Sakamoto uses anything around him as a weapon,” reiterates Ito. “His enemies fight with various signature weapons of their own, but Taro Sakamoto fights with things found around him.” Ito considers this to be comical and innovative, but the same praise can be placed on SAKAMOTO DAYS as a whole. A tendency to innovate rather than fall into a formula is why fans are excited for the continuation of this story.

The new SAKAMOTO DAYS episodes are set to adapt some of the manga’s most acclaimed material. SAKAMOTO DAYS Part 2 goes all-in on the series’ Death Row Prisoners Arc, which was teased during Part 1’s final episodes. The Death Row Prisoners Arc is the anime’s longest story arc yet and one that pits Sakamoto and company up against four renegade convicted killers. In many ways, this storyline is SAKAMOTO DAYS in its purest form, and the anime’s decision to frame Part 2 around this momentous storyline is only going to create more fans. “There are various assassins who attack,” Ito explains. “Comical characters, cool characters, scary characters, gentle characters. They’re good spices for the story.” 

SAKAMOTO DAYS has a strong cast. However, it sometimes feels like the anime’s supporting characters are the real secret weapon in this killer arsenal. These heightened hitmen and their signature styles function as compelling, believable world-building that feels natural. Ito agrees that a distinct character design and visual aesthetic can sometimes tell the audience just as much as any backstory. Eleven episodes in, SAKAMOTO DAYS now has the luxury of the audience having a better understanding of its characters and universe. An emphasis on longer, serialized storytelling builds momentum for SAKAMOTO DAYS. It’s also Ito’s preferred type of story to tell. “I become more attached to the characters,” he admits.

These eclectic supporting characters include a skilled marksman and his parrot sidekick, a camouflage technology expert, and a clairvoyant psychic. One assassin makes his targets talk backward, while another is basically a human Swiss Army Knife of weapons. These are characters that you won’t find anywhere else, and they’re more original than John Wick’s many standout assassins. SAKAMOTO DAYS’ murderers’ row of murderers actually lives up to the hype and delivers.

SAKAMOTO DAYS’ killers are psychologically rich opponents, yet they’re also responsible for a heavier focus on constant combat as SAKAMOTO DAYS turns its action up a notch.

“From this point on, SAKAMOTO DAYS itself will feature a lot of battles,” Ito says. Articulate action set pieces are at the center of many of Part 1’s best episodes, so it’s not exactly surprising to see SAKAMOTO DAYS further embrace this energy as its characters take on greater threats. It’s always exciting when a shounen series finally shakes off any growing pains and figures out its ideal plotting and pacing. For SAKAMOTO DAYS, that is the Death Row Prisoners Arc. 

The titular death row prisoners find ways to properly push the heroes out of their comfort zones. These new episodes are also an opportunity to shine a brighter light on the cryptic X (Slur), the anime’s main villain and the evil genius who has been pulling many of the strings in this prolonged attack on Sakamoto and his family. X (Slur) is one of the most popular characters from SAKAMOTO DAYS’ manga, but his appearances in Part 1 barely amount to a cameo. Part 2 is really when X (Slur) gets to let loose and the show provides a deeper look into this twisted mind. If Taro Sakamoto fits into the worlds of John Wick or Kill Bill, then X (Slur) belongs in Hannibal or David Fincher’s Se7en. X (Slur) is a splash of cold water that’s a shock to SAKAMOTO DAYS’ system, albeit for the better. 

Ito isn’t oblivious to X’s vocal fans and the power of a character who is shrouded in secrecy. “There are characters who are not only strong and cool but also mysterious,” he says. “I think everyone is curious about this special character because we don’t know his background, and we don’t know his personality. I think we can’t take our eyes off him because he is mysterious, and we don’t know what he will do.” Unpredictability is always something that has helped SAKAMOTO DAYS stand out from its peers. In Suzuki’s universe, boring and predictable is a crueler fate than any assassination. 

Ito can’t wait for SAKAMOTO DAYS fans to experience the more challenging storytelling that’s on tap in the anime’s future. He is also acutely aware of not just the anime’s passionate audience but how they are also best served by preserving the twists and turns that are to come.

“I can’t say too much because it would be a spoiler,” deflects Ito on some of Part 2’s finer details and where Sakamoto and company may end up. Nevertheless, Ito remains optimistic about the new episodes’ reception. “Please look forward to it to see how everyone’s relationship will deepen even further.” 

Ito is elated over SAKAMOTO DAYS’ success, which makes him extra careful not to spoil the experience for any fans. After all, SAKAMOTO DAYS may be on the list of Netflix’s hits, but being on a “hit list” means something very different in an anime that’s full of assassins.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Part 2 premieres Monday, July 14 on Netflix. New episodes premiere on Mondays through Sept. 22.