Slur brings in four murderous psychopaths to take down Sakamoto.
Much like the previous episode, the latest issue of the anime was also void of high-octane action. Instead of flexing their muscles, the characters worked their brains at the casino to defeat Wutang, which proved to be immensely difficult. But now, they have bigger and much more dangerous things to worry about. Episode 11 was also the final episode of the first cour of Sakamoto Days, and unfortunately, the anime failed to live up to the manga even in the finale.
Spoiler Alert: This article contains massive spoilers from the anime.
Sakamoto, Shin, and Lu vs. the genius Wutang
Image: TMS Entertainment
Despite not having much action, the episode was pretty fun to watch, namely because of Wutang and his idiosyncrasies. We learned how Lu had saved him from bullying years ago, which motivated him to use his intelligence as a weapon and climb the ranks in the mafia. His card counting in the episode was also impressive, although someone more acquainted with Poker on Blackjack will be a better judge of the technicalities. Shin and Sakamoto both used their powers to win money at the Casino. Their methods, although underhanded, tied them with Wutang.
The four of them playing Old Maid was also pretty funny. Despite saying he won’t go easy on her, Wutang took the Joker from Lu when she started crying while looking at her cards. It was also impressive how he was able to fry Shin’s brain with information when the boy tried to read his mind. In the end, he loses to Sakamoto, and all his men turn on him. When Sakamoto and Lu save him, Wutang admits defeat and says he will tell them about who put the bounty on the protagonist’s head. The first part of the episode was funny, albeit a bit lackluster.
Dump, Saw, Apart, and Minimalist
Image: TMS Entertainment
At the store, Wutang tells Sakamoto that it’s probably Slur who put the bounty on their heads. However, he still doesn’t know who is the person behind this dangerous organisation. He tells them that a few days ago four dangerous death row inmates died in a prison, with their faces burned off. All of them were serial killers with a specific MO. One of them filled their victims with holes while another cut their bodies into pieces. The third one scraped all the flesh of them while the last one compressed his victims into tiny balls. Interestingly, ever since they died, dead bodies were found around Japan with the people killed the exact same way.
It seems that Slur got these serial killers out of prison to do their bidding. We learn that the four inmates are - Dump, Saw, Apart, and Minimalist. The deer-faced Kashima meets up with them at a restaurant and hands them a sheet. On it are the details for Sakamoto, Nagumo, Osaragi, and Shishiba. It seems that Slur is hell-bent upon getting rid of anyone who stands in their way, even if it means endangering the lives of citizens by letting go of dangerous criminals. Unfortunately, the scenes which were supposed to be intimidating failed miserably due to the spotty animation of the show. Instead of ominous, the four new characters looked out of place and awkward.
Image: TMS Entertainment
As it was the final episode of cour 1, I feel like I'm free to judge it. From a person who loved the manga by Yuto Suzuki, the Sakamoto Days anime felt like a tired and uninspiring copy. The show trimmed some filler segments from the manga, which messed up the pacing. The backgrounds felt completely lifeless and even the animation was mundane and spiritless. It was disappointing to see such a dull adaptation of one of the most exhilirating manga series of the last few years. Hopefully, the second cour of the anime, which is coming out in July 2025, will be a bit better in terms of action and animation.
Learn about Maomao and Jinshi’s newfound dynamic in our The Apothecary Diaries review. Beru and Jinwoo’s battle was one of the peak moments of the Solo Leveling anime.
