Summary
- Sakamoto can transform into his prime form for a significant strength boost, but it’s not a typical power-up he can just turn off.
- Sakamoto’s prime form is activated by weight loss, increasing his strength by over three times compared to his overweight state.
- Sakamoto will learn to embrace his regular form’s strengths rather than relying solely on his prime form for combat.
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Warning: The following contains spoilers for Sakamoto Days Episode 5, “Source of Strength”, now streaming on Netflix.
At the end of Sakamoto Days episode 4, “Hard-Boiled”, when it seemed like Sakamoto had finally met his match, he emerged from the smoke… except now he’s all young and fit again? This version of Sakamoto is known as his Skinny or Physical Prime form.
Taro Sakamoto is a 27-year-old convenience store co-owner and ex-assassin. Yes, he might look like an old man in his fifties (or older), but he is, in fact, only 27. Due to his retirement and living with a loving wife surrounded by good food, Sakamoto gained a lot of weight throughout the years. He’s still far above average in terms of combat ability, but he’s obviously nowhere close to how he once was when he was still physically active. That’s where his prime form comes in.
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What Is Sakamoto’s Prime Form?
No, Smoking Doesn’t Make You Younger Kids
As mentioned above, Sakamoto’s prime form is when he looks like the young, deadly assassin that he was before meeting and marrying Aoi. Despite being out of shape these days, Sakamoto can drastically reduce his weight in an instant, revert to his fit younger self, and gain a substantial boost in strength, speed, and agility.
Funnily enough, neither the anime nor the manga has really given a proper explanation as to how it happens; it just does. One second, he’s a fat shopkeeper, and the next, he’s an assassin at his physical peak. When Shin asked him how it happened, Sakamoto simply said that it was the result of him “moving around” and losing weight. However, it’s clear that the transformation couldn’t just be chalked up to Sakamoto rapidly losing weight due to physical exertion. It’s not just his weight that changes; he also loses his mustache, so there’s definitely something more going on than just rapid calorie burn.
“Moving around makes you lose weight” – Taro Sakamoto
According to the manga, while in his fat form, Sakamoto only has 30% of the power his prime form has. So, turning into his younger self makes him slightly more than three times stronger, which is a huge boost considering he’s already a force to be reckoned with, even in his fat form.
Sakamoto’s prime form transformation isn’t like a typical power-up that he can just turn on and off. Well, he can turn it on seemingly easily enough, but he can’t just flip a switch and become fat again. Sakamoto stays in his prime form until he eats enough food to regain his weight and somehow grow back his mustache. As shown in Sakamoto Days episode 5, “Source of Strength”, the weight Sakamoto loses by transforming into his prime form can be regained in a single day.
Sakamoto Will Learn to Rely on His Regular Form More
Later in the series, if the anime is going to faithfully adapt the manga, Sakamoto will start to get used to fighting in his normal fat form. A healer they meet in the Sakamoto Days manga chapter 44, “Every Which Way”, will teach or give Sakamoto the ability to use more of his old strength even without going into his prime form. The healer’s reasoning for this is that Sakamoto has to learn how to properly fight with his fat body because it’s better to adapt to his current situation than keep trying to go back to what he once was.
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Do All the Order’s Assassins Have Super Powers?
Surprisingly, No
You’d think that since even some regular assassins like Shin have superpowers, the Order would have the people with the most broken powers in the series, but that’s not actually true. In fact, many of the Order’s members don’t have any flashy superpowers at all. However, one could argue that their speed, strength, and reflexes are superhuman, like Sakamoto’s.
Sakamoto can magically become young, and Nagumo, who was introduced in episode 4, has the power to shape-shift into other people. But the other Order members shown in the anime so far, Shishiba, Osaragi, and Hyo, all rely on physical combat using weapons or just their bare hands.
- Shishiba, the long-haired blonde who stabbed the waiter in episode 4, uses claw hammers when fighting or killing.
- Osaragi, the black-haired woman with a veil, also doesn’t rely on powers and instead uses a collapsible buzzsaw for her work.
- Hyo, the spiky-haired man with a metal jawpiece, uses brass knuckles. He prefers unarmed combat more than the other members of the Order, but has the raw power to compensate for the lack of range a typical weapon offers.
More assassins of the Order, both former and future, will appear in later episodes of Sakamoto Days, but again, a lot of them are just above-average humans with incredible skills but no superpowers.
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Sakamoto Days is now available to stream on Netflix. The release date for Sakamoto Days episode 7 is set to be February 15, 2025, at 6:00 AM PT.
