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Sakamoto Days Half 2 Episode 2 has simply dropped, and followers are buzzing. However not simply due to the jaw-dropping motion or Osaragi’s murderer-like class, however as a result of the John Wick vibes at the moment are unimaginable to disregard. From flashy violence to secret organizations and assassins with redemption tales. Sakamoto Days not solely attracts inspiration from John Wick’s world, nevertheless it additionally pays direct homage. Right here’s each John Wick reference we discovered in Sakamoto Days.
A Retired Murderer Is Pulled Again In
At its core, each Sakamoto Days and John Wick share fairly an identical story. A legendary murderer who left the bloodshed for a girl, solely to be pulled again into the underworld he left behind.
Taro Sakamoto, the world’s most feared hitman, left all of it behind for a quiet life along with his spouse and youngster, operating a quiet comfort retailer. However as Half 2 Episode 2 tells us, that calm is brief-lived, particularly when your previous carries a bounty in your head.
Simply as Baba Yaga is understood and feared by nearly all in the underworld, so is Sakamoto. Individuals whisper it with worry, enemies tremble on the point out, and his calm presence oozes hazard. The similarities are unimaginable to disregard.
And the place John Wick was motivated by loss and revenge for his canine, Sakamoto is motivated by his household’s security.
A Greater Authority: The JAA vs The Excessive Desk
That is maybe one of the best John Wick reference in Sakamoto Days. It explains how there may be order inside chaos. So a lot is going on, and but nobody is batting an eye fixed. As a result of there’s a increased order, folks sitting on the high of the meals chain who’re controlling occasions and outcomes.
The JAA is the Excessive Desk equal of Sakamoto Days, with hierarchy, guidelines, and ruthless enforcers. Add the JCC (Japan Clear Creation), an murderer faculty, and lethal elites like Osaragi, and also you’ve bought a completely realized murderer society that doesn’t disguise in the shadows; it exists proper underneath the nostril of on a regular basis life, unapologetically fashionable and lethal.
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The Cleanup Crew – Floaters vs Cleaners
In Episode 13, we encounter the Floaters, the JCC (Japan Clear Creation) operatives who clear up crime scenes after a bloody hit. They’re fairly just like the Cleaners in John Wick, the crew led by Charlie, whose males mop the bloody flooring. One other scene we see in Sakamoto Days which is taken proper out of John Wick’s underworld.
Floaters obtain a day by day wage of 15,000 yen as they’ve the bottom-danger job in JCC. Whereas in John Wick, the Cleaners cost a gold coin per physique.
It’s a obtrusive reference, nevertheless it pays off in including to each franchises’ dense underworld mythology. Each franchises are constructed round underground organizations with guidelines, hierarchy, and lethal enforcement models.
Stylized Violence and “Gun-Fu” Anime Model
Certainly one of Sakamoto Days’ robust factors is its beautiful motion. The battle choreography is John Wick-level. Sakamoto fights and kills with chilly precision. He makes use of all the things from frying pans to pens as lethal weapons, recalling Wick’s legendary improvised kills. Sure, even the pencil.
In Episode 1, Sakamoto storms a comfort retailer with nice ferocity, each motion fluid and momentum-pushed. That’s attribute of “gun-fu” model. A fusion of gunfighting, martial arts, and making use of the environment is firmly rooted in each sequence, a cinematic really feel that made John Wick a legend.
And in Half 2 Episode 2, Osaragi will get stabbed intentionally simply to realize the higher hand, an eerily related scene to Wick stabbing himself to attain a kill. The resemblance is uncanny.
The Murderer with One thing to Lose
Whereas each Wick and Sakamoto bear the burden of the previous, Sakamoto’s story provides one thing new: a household. He’s greater than a hitman who needs to retire; he’s a husband and father, certain to stay in peace. Whereas Wick is a person pushed by loss, Sakamoto’s story is one in every of redemption.
Every battle he will get into isn’t nearly staying alive; it’s a battle to maintain his household protected in a means in order that he doesn’t break his promise in the method. That inner wrestle offers Sakamoto Days an emotional depth and a that means to the story, so each punch that connects is extra private and each shut name hits more durable.
Allies, Enemies, and Fashionable Archetypes
Simply as Wick will often be a part of forces with allies similar to Sofia and Marcus, Sakamoto additionally possesses his personal vibrant and formidable set of allies by his facet. Shin, Sakamoto’s telepathic apprentice, does greater than crack jokes. He provides us an perception into Sakamoto’s quiet resolve.
The characters’ design, aptitude, and preventing kinds all contribute to Sakamoto Days’ distinctive aesthetic, one which’s unmistakably influenced by Chad Stahelski’s slick, neon-lit motion route.
The Continental Makes an Look as JAA Headquarters
Yuto Suzuki has by no means been shy about the place his inspirations come from. From identify-dropping Exhausting Boiled to embracing popular culture motion film references (and even naming characters after mainstream titles). His ardour for John Wick, The Equalizer, and motion films of the ’90s is stamped on each scene and web page. Even the JAA headquarters is harking back to the Continental Resort – an iconic and fan favourite John Wick reference.
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However right here’s the twist: Sakamoto Days isn’t copying. It reinvents. It takes the previous “retired murderer” cliche and turns it into one thing candy, humorous, and unapologetically over-the-high. The result? A narrative that’s not merely appropriating model, it’s reshaping it.
Remaining Ideas
If you concentrate on it, Sakamoto’s story is type of an alternate model of what John Wick’s life may’ve been if his spouse hadn’t died. Santino would possibly nonetheless have come to Wick along with his marker, threatening to kill his spouse, which might have dragged Wick again into the underworld, not for revenge, however to guard the lady he loves.
With each new episode, Sakamoto Days is exhibiting it’s greater than merely “anime’s John Wick.” It’s creating its personal place in the motion style with worldbuilding and feelings that run deeper than mere revenge.
Sure, references to John Wick are all over the place, however the soul of the story belongs to Sakamoto. And now that Half 2 is coming, there’s no query about it: if John Wick has a non secular successor in anime, it’s Taro Sakamoto.
