I didn’t know “ex-Yakuza trying to live a peaceful life” would become a manga genre I absolutely adore, yet here I am, falling in love with another series about a trained killer who just wants to chill with his family. Of course, said trained killer isn’t allowed to chill, which means he has to defend his right to eat ramen while running a convenience store because you can’t just up and leave “the organization.”
With Sakamoto gaining so much weight everyone assumes that he’ll be an easy target. This leads to the chubby, soft-spoken lead fully embracing the phrase “F*ck around and find out.”
Synopsis
Time has passed peacefully for Sakamoto since he left the underworld. He’s running a neighborhood store with his lovely wife and child and has gotten a bit … out of shape. But one day a figure from his past pays him a visit with an offer he can’t refuse: Return to the assassin world or die!
Just a guy trying to live a carefree life with his family
Last year I fell in love with The Way of the Househusband, a manga series about a former Yakuza boss who settled down in favor of becoming the best househusband he could be. It’s an immediately charming story where the main character, Tatsu, puts the deadly precision and focus of his Yakuza days into cleaning the house, making the perfect meal, and trying to make sure his darling wife has a fantastic birthday. He occasionally has run-ins with folks from his previous life, but when they see how intense being a househusband can be (those supermarket sales ain’t no joke) they gain a new sense of respect for Tatsu.
Sakamoto Days has a similar vibe. Sakamoto was a legend in the underworld, but he’s left that all behind after falling in love. He’s married, has a child, and runs a convenience store with his family. Where the manga differs from Househusband is the fact that Sakamoto still fights. He’s got folks from his past coming to kill him, so he often has to defend himself and his new easy-going life. However, he doesn’t ever kill his would-be assassins, having promised his wife that he would never kill again. Instead, he utterly humiliates them by defeating them in ridiculously comical ways.
Because how do you explain to the higher-ups that a guy stopped your bullet with a cough drop he spit out?
You gonna catch these chubby hands
One of the main gags of the manga is the fact that Sakamoto doesn’t look like he could handle himself in a fight. This, 10 times out of 10, leads to his opponents being utterly decimated by him. What I like about the series is that Sakamoto never has a moment where he’s lamenting his weight gain. He’s actually perfectly happy with the way he is, more importantly, his weight isn’t a detriment to his skills at all. Just because he’s fat now doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of taking on an entire group of men or, um, stopping an out-of-control bus with a traffic stop sign???
I greatly appreciate Sakamoto still kicking ass at the size he is now instead of having him feel discouraged about his weight, or worse, having him fumble about because “I’m out of shape.” He still gets the cool action shots—convenience store apron, flip flops, and chubby face included.
I especially enjoy the fact that Sakamoto does NOT care what people think of him or the life he’s leading. He’s fighting because they keep coming at him, then once the fight is over he goes right back to doing what he loves (and, sometimes, getting others to join him).
He’s not trying to prove himself as a fat protagonist, he’s just trying to live his life in peace and will end you if you attempt to take his joy away from him. Honestly, everyone should just leave this man alone, unless they want their knives to be broken by a set of tongs used to pull the meat out of a frying pan.
The first volume of Sakamoto Days is available today!
(Image: Yuto Suzuki)
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