The following contains spoilers for SAKAMOTO DAYS Episode 8, “Sakamoto Store vs The Lab”, available on Netflix.
Summary
- Shin’s psychic powers origin story is revealed, showing a reckless childhood accident that changed his life forever.
- Sakamoto and Shin face a tough battle against Mad Horiguchi, with mind games and drug injections involved.
- Kashima introduces a new threat with weapons coming out of his body, while Shin handles an invisible suit attacker.
In the eighth episode of SAKAMOTO DAYS, more is revealed about Shin’s past. More specifically, we learn exactly how Shin got his psychic powers while living at The Lab in an episode that was definitely more exciting than the one before it, as more characters get involved in the scuffle. Sakamoto has his hands full fighting Mad Horiguchi in a battle that’s definitely a lot goofier than others we’ve seen in the series.
Overall, SAKAMOTO DAYS Episode 8 dares to reveal more about a character who turns out to have been holding back a lot about himself, and the involvement of Osaragi and Shishiba from The Order added an interesting and exciting dimension to the action.
RELATED
Sakamoto Days: Shin’s Past, Explained
Sakamoto Days has started exploring Shin’s Past. Who exactly was this psychic before joining Sakamoto?
The Nature of Shin’s Connection to the Lab is Revealed
The Tragedy of Shin’s Ability
As we saw in SAKAMOTO DAYS episode 7, “Jurassic Dude”, Lu was kidnapped by Kashima’s underlings and thrown in their holding facility alongside Asakura, the man who is, for all intents and purposes, Shin’s father. He explains to Lu that Shin was just a regular little boy in his childhood; rambunctious, stubborn, and energetic, but one day, while half-asleep, Shin took a giant swig of the green contents of a test tube that was sitting on a counter in the lab. Shin drinking the strange potion Asakura had created in his research into supernatural powers was straight out of the books of One Piece protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, who gained the powers of the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit after eating the priceless superfood because he was hungry.
Given that The Lab wasn’t able to replicate nor reverse what happened to Shin, there could be something special about his physiological constitution. At first, Shin’s powers were the source of awe for the other scientists around Asakura, but they gradually grew uncomfortable with having their deepest thoughts on display to a rambunctious scamp. Asakura tried to create the antidote, but as you’d guess, it never worked out, nor did Shin want to reverse the effects of Asakura’s work.
After an argument about the value of Asakura’s work, Shin left, and if there was ever a sign that the child was there illegally, it was the fact that none of the adults could report him missing or take it up with some kind of authority to locate him. At some indeterminate point, Shin becomes an assassin, and the rest is history. After hearing the full story, Lu and that idiot Tanaka are driven to tears, but Lu reassures Asakura that Shin doesn’t resent him or his powers, giving the scientist the push he needs to believe he deserves freedom. Using some concoction, Asakura ruins the lock on their cell and Lu takes out the guard with an axe kick for the ages.
Taking on the Mad Scientist
Sakamoto and Shin Have Their Hands Full
Sakamoto and Shin’s fight against Mad Horiguchi continues from episode 7, and the mad scientist has them against the ropes as his gimmicks take their toll. Shin’s speech is still backwards, while Sakamoto has been injected with some kind of agent that switches his intended targets with his allies, meaning that Shin has been getting a beatdown from Horiguchi and Sakamoto in this episode.
To make things worse, the scientist can toggle the effect of this agent on and off at will, so even as they try to outwit it, they are simply one step behind Horiguchi’s intelligence. When he claims that even the strongest assassins have had to kneel to the power of science, Shin responds that it doesn’t matter what trump cards he has under his sleeve, if he can read his mind, then it’s over.
Horiguchi unleashes a barrage of attacks straight out of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, injecting Shin with countless doses of drugs that leave him incapacitated. However, Sakamoto helps him back up as they prepare to end it. Horiguchi injects himself with his full cocktail of shoulder drugs, which turns him into a hulking giant, but neither Shin nor Sakamoto are fazed by it, with Shin doing what the internet would call “aura farming” by turning his back against his gigantified foe.
While Sakamoto throws his own JoJo’s flurry, while his attacks have been set to find Shin’s face, he uses Shin’s telepathy to communicate each coming attack so that he can dodge, letting Horiguchi catch the hands in his stead. If you pay close attention, you can see the impact frames from some of Sakamoto’s attacks as they land, in an effect that’s somewhat, very loosely, reminiscent of the Black Flash in Jujutsu Kaisen. After Horiguchi’s defeat, Sakamoto, Shin and the scientists clean up the mess and deal with wounds. They apologize to Shin for what happened in the past, but he says it’s okay because he likes his power and where he is in life.
The Weapon Man
“Eccentric” is Putting it Lightly
Shin and Sakamoto then head off to find Lu on the fourth level of the basement, but on their way there, the latter falls through a trap door that sprang open out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Kashima and two of his minions encounter Shishiba and Osaragi having made mincemeat of an indeterminate number of people. The two of them are there to look for Slur, but Kashima claims not to know what he’s talking about. Either way, Kashima’s activities at the Lab make him a target for elimination under the rules of the JAA.
Kashima’s minions threaten Shishiba, leading to two instantaneous decapitations. Kashima cries for his fallen minions, claiming that the two don’t value human life, highlighting the mental instability and otherwise insanity of reindeer-headed man. He unravels some of his stitches to reveal an arm of just blades, but Shishiba uses his hammer to knock his head, turning it 180 degrees for what would normally be an insta-kill. Just as he gets up again, Sakamoto falls on top of him.
Forgive me, I have a man-made skeleton, you see.
Shishiba introduces Sakamoto to Osaragi, who is immediately enamoured by the shopkeeper. She can’t help but compare to a fluffy giant teddybear. Upon hearing the name “Sakamoto”, Kashima identifies him as the only person who has ever inflicted a wound on “that person” (Slur). He takes it upon himself to kill Sakamoto and offer him up to his boss, revealing a bunch of guns coming out of his hands, knees, and one in his mouth.
While some of the other combat in the episode was decently animated, Kashima vs Sakamoto was another stiff affair with uninspiring choreo. Meanwhile, Shin has his hands full dealing with Seba and his invisible suit. He gets a bonus if he kills Shin. Or if he brings him in alive, he can’t remember, but he doesn’t want to work overtime, so he’s incentivized to take him out quickly. Shin suffers a deep gash from Seba in order to mark the invisible man with his blood, making him an identifiable target for Heisuke, who arrives just in time to send three bullets through Seba to cap off an eventful episode that was a small improvement on some of the series’ visuals.
SAKAMOTO DAYS is available on Netflix.
