Netflix truly hit the goldmine this particular season of anime, gaining what is potentially the strongest anime of the entire Winter 2025 season. I have checked out quite a lot of new anime this season and while this Winter season is stronger than most of the seasons in 2024, there is one that stands tall above the rest. Sakamoto Days is the funniest and most heartwarming Winter 2025 anime thus far.
For those who haven’t checked it out yet, Sakamoto Days follows the titular Sakamoto. A former hitman, Sakamoto left the underworld life behind him in exchange for raising a family and running his very own convenience store. Of course, his old life comes back to haunt him, as a whole swathe of the underworld now wish to eliminate him. The series follows Sakamoto and the other characters around him as he tries to protect his newfound life.
Sakamoto himself is one of the more fascinating protagonists. He says very little in the series, including a mere two lines or so in total throughout the first episode. His quieter personality lends well to this idea of a powerful but lovable teddy bear-like father vibe that he gives off. There is something endearing about how much he shows his love for his new life and family without needing to say a word.
It helps that the rest of the cast is quite talkative. Shin, in particular, is a younger former hitman that comes after Sakamoto to finish him off in the first episode. In classic anime fashion, it turns out Shin isn’t that bad of a guy and he ends up joining Sakamoto in the end. Shin is life of the party, having a surprising amount of the story focus on him.
I appreciate how Sakamoto Days allows its supporting cast to thrive, like Shin. The same goes for other characters that appear later, which I won’t spoil here. They each come to feel like a true misshapen family in a sense. They are characters worth rooting for. Shin and Sakamoto’s wife Aoi will likely go down as some of my favorite anime characters this year.
While the story premise is quite serious in Sakamoto Days, don’t let this fool you. It is actually the funniest anime series of the Winter 2025 season. There are many gags and goofy moments throughout. It helps that there are ridiculous characters like Shin. But even Sakamoto himself has hilarious scenes like catching a bullet with chopsticks.
This humorous aspect of the series pairs well with the more action-heavy sequences. After all, Sakamoto has to fight off legions of criminals. The animation style is perhaps my least favorite part of this series. It looks a bit too light on the borders and shadings, but this is part of the charm. In fact, TMS Entertainment captures the original manga style quite well, which looks like this.
Thankfully, the lighter animation style helps the action look great. The fluid nature of the less detailed animation works well with the intense fights throughout Sakamoto’s convenience store, abandoned warehouses, and more. There is generally fantastic action here, evoking vibes of how Spy x Family handles its mix of action and comedy.
Even only with a few episodes available thus far, Sakamoto Days should end up as one of the best anime series of 2025. It is by far the funniest series of the Winter 2025 season, with its ridiculous set of characters and scenes. But it balances this so well with action-packed moments and heartwarming family themes. If there is one anime series that is a must-watch this season, it’s Sakamoto Days.
Sakamoto Days is streaming right now on Netflix.
Published: Jan 28, 2025 8:00 PM UTC