MANGA REVIEW | "Sakamoto Days" - Volume Thirteen
It’s often fun diving into the past of a shonen hero. Before he was the tubby grocery store-owning killing machine, Taro Sakamoto was a more fit assassin-in-training. But he almost never got to be an assassin, due to his and his cohorts flaky ways of battle. In Volume Thirteen of Sakamoto Days, not only do we see the moment he earns his assassin ranking, but also where Sakamoto first crossed paths with the one known as X.
This volume focuses on young Taro Sakamoto, alongside Nagumo and Akira’s mother Rion. After being faced with expulsion, the trio are sent to go on a mission to assassinate a high-ranking target known as “Steel Dragon”. Not only is this mysterious foe formidable, but no one who’s gone to take him down has ever returned alive. (In fact, that’s the point of the mission, as the school feels it’s best to kill unruly students rather than expel them.)
From there, Sakamoto Days follows the three on the mission. They are joined by a fourth member, known only as Uzaki. At first, he’s the kind of guy who abhors killing, only to see that violence is the thing he does best. What follows is a wild fight in a department store, much like the kind you’d see in a PARCO around Tokyo. No one knows who are innocent civilians, nor do they know where the killers are lying about. But when they do show their faces, it leads to the kind of chaos we’ve come to love in this series!
Neckties, jewelry, high-end dresses, and even a washing machine are used as tools of destruction. The body count reaches respectable levels, with each kill or choke-out, showcased with delightful detail by mangaka Yuto Suzuki. Sakamoto and Nagumo going one-on-one with the Steel Dragon is the highlight here, as they throw everything they can into the fight with pure precision. When Rion and Uzaki join in on the fight, the adrenaline reaches octane levels normally seen in a Jason Statham movie.
Of course, the mission doesn’t end in the department store. Nay, after their fight with Steel Dragon, the students have another mission they need to take on in order to stay in school. What looks to be a “normal” escort mission evolves into more chaos, which — thankfully — these soon-to-be-expelled students have a knack for. There are snipers, grenades, and — the staple of many action films in the early ‘90s — a cute kid whom Sakamoto entertains with a gag that hints at his future life.
Alas, this volume of Sakamoto Days ends before the flashback can conclude. But it does shove in one last twist that I’m certain many people will see coming. However, it does the reveal in a good way, and shows Taro Sakamoto’s future enemy as a man with some kind of heart. The question is, how will he lose that vital organ that keeps him from going too far off the deep end?
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
