The following contains spoilers for SAKAMOTO DAYS, Episode 10, “Bathhouse Roughhouse”, available on Netflix.
Summary
- Bathhouse episode full of laughs as a hitman fails to take out Sakamoto.
- Unexpected kindness turns a hitman’s life around in a comedic twist.
- Lu Clan’s consigliere Wutang triggers a casino episode with an underground gambling challenge.
SAKAMOTO DAYS brings the series’ obligatory bathhouse episode, with a small-time assassin foaming at the mouth at the rare chance to take out the legendary Taro Sakamoto, while Lu Shaotang’s past bubbles up as her family members send agents to retrieve her.
A solid episode with great humour, episode 10 gives us a little more context around Shaotang’s situation, and introduces a new character in the form of the Lu Clan’s consigliere, Lu Wutang, who becomes the trigger for what is going to be SAKAMOTO DAYS’ casino episode, a trope found in pretty much every spy, asssassin, or thief-themed media. Will the house win again this time?
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Bathhouse Shenanigans Ensue
A Small-Time Assassin Has His Hands Full
Stiff from all the commotion from The Lab arc, the Sakamotos go to a batthouse to get some rest and relaxation, and soothe their tired muscles. The clerk at the counter happens to be a small-time hitman who recognizes Sakamoto despite the weight gain, and immediately sets into motion a plan to take him out in his vulnerabie state. As you can guess, the hitman tries every single tool in his arsenal to get the better of Sakamoto, to no avail. With various alterations and mechanical gimmicks installed in the different parts of the bathhouse, the hitman remotely manipulates the jets in the jacuzzis while Sakamoto and Shin are using them to make them way too powerful for a normal person to be able to withstand, or crank up the heat in the sauna to the point of causing small fires to break out inside, all of which do a number of Shin but have the opposite effect on Sakamoto, who feels like he’s getting the treatment of a lifetime.
The jets thing sends Shin flying across the bathhouse, but it hilariously wasn’t getting blasted several meters into the air by a jet of water that caused him the gravest injury, but one of the most notorious causes of injury within the bathroom context: a bar of soap. The reason why this hitman won’t give up is because his future is riding on this hit: if he doesn’t get the bounty, he will be forced to take over the family business and abandon his ambitions of becoming a hitman forever. It’s a fairly normal story made really goofy by the fact that the guy actually told his parents that he was looking to become a hitman and had no interest in running the bathhouse. After freezing the water in the baths fails to kill Sakamoto, we get a fun montage of the poor hitman slowly losing his mind as every attempt he makes on Sakamoto’s life turns out to be no threat at all.
A Moment of Kindness to End It
Sakamoto Earns Himself Another Admirer
After their bath, Shin is incapacitated and Sakamoto has to carry him out to meet the rest of the gang. The bathhouse clerk who has been trying to kill Sakamoto can only grit his teeth in frustration as his target plays an intense game of ping pong with Lu Shaotang. He thinks back to the day he left home to become a hitman, treating us to a chuckle-inducing flashback to him, in the same clothes as the present, dramatically walks away from his dad who yells “You can’t be a hitman, you’re not even that strong!” The flashback further humanizes the character, as we finally learn that his name is Yutaro, which is absolute comedy considering that in this case, the “Yu-” in “Yutaro” is hot water, while the “-taro” is a generic suffix commonly seen in Japanese masculine names (Futaro, Hamtaro, Kentaro, Kitaro, Kotaro, Jotaro, Shintaro…) . The hiragana “yu” is seen on the bandana he permanently wears on his head in reference to the same thing.
Yutaro’s reflection leads him to feel a tinge of regret about the path he’s chosen, but he’s brought out of his introspection when bullies, probably from his childhood and high school days, enter the common area and start making fun of him for not being where he claimed he’d be when he left their town. They beat and berated him, insulting his father’s establishment, but Sakamoto made sure to make them pay, knocking one of them out with a ping pong ball, and pinning the other to a vending machine with a popsickle stick. Yutaro gets up and asks Sakamoto why he didn’t do anything despite knowing he was trying to kill him, but the legendary hitman says the baths were innovative. It had been years since Yutaro had received a compliment, and he was so moved by it that he decided to give up on becoming a hitman and taking over the family bathhouse. This episode of SAKAMOTO DAYS was off to a great start with this encounter, which was full of hilarious moments, including Yutaro’s father telling him it’s too late to want to take over the family business. It was good, clean fun, and an easily re-watchable SAKAMOTO DAYS mini-story.
Wutang Forever
A Figure From Lu Shaotang’s Past Appears
A group of men wearing clothing with familiar insignia arrive at the airport in search of a certain woman, whom it’s easy to deduce is Lu Shaotang, daughter of the Lu Mafia Clan based in China. When Sakamoto, Shin and Lu have lunch at a family restaurant, they are intercepted by the men, who rudely attempt to kill Sakamoto and Shin while they eat, but the two deal with their attackers with ease. Sakamoto slams his enemy into the table, hitting the button that calls for assistance from the waiter. There’s a chuckle-worthy moment when the waitress arrives to take the table’s order without reacting to the man sprawled on the table with two plates of pasta on his face. Lu recognizes him as Lu Wutang, the consigliere of the Lu family. She’s surprised to see that he’s alive. The reason he has come to Japan is to take Lu back to China to lead the clan, which has been headless since her parents’ assassination. She has no interest in doing so, but Wutang is adamant.
As you might expect, Wutang is yet another eccentric introduced to the cast of SAKAMOTO DAYS, and within minutes of his introduction, we see that he’s some kind of obsessive, creepy individual whose nose projects blood whenever Shaotang does anything he thinks is cute. In fact, he’s one of those characters who is fully obsessed with their superior derives not only pleasure but a sense of purpose from being complimented, or otherwise interacted with by them in any way. He’s a humourous addition to the cast, like when Shin challenged him to a fight, he exclaimed that he’s not crazy enough to challenge a hitman barehanded, standing literally at the door. He instead proposes that they engage in a triad-style battle for Lu Shaotang, adding an incentive: if Sakamoto participates, Wutang will give him information on the individual who put out a bounty on his head. Shin and Sakamoto refuse the offer, and refuse to give up Lu, but she accepts Wutang’s terms. Later that night, Wutang takes the three of them to a secret location to get changed into more flattering clothing before taking them to a second location: a casino.
This is a place where denizens of the underworld come to socialize. A place swirling with desire and money: an underground casino. I know you’re poor, so I’ve prepared 30 million yen in chips for you to use.”
Setting Up For the Next Episode
Did Someone Say “Casino Royale”?
Since he has absolutely no hope in a physical contest, the battle for Lu Shaotang is waged in the underground casino he takes them to. He gives them each 30 million yen in chips for them to use, and the rules of the contest are simple: the one who makes the most money wins. Unfortunately for Shin and Sakamoto, they know nothing about casino games or gambling, not to mention the fact that despite his eccentricities, Wutang happens to be extremely intelligent, enough to have claimed a leadership position in an organization that values martial arts. Within minutes, Wutang goes all in and wins, going from 30 million to 90 million in a single move. The upcoming episode of SAKAMOTO DAYS will be the Kakegurui episode as Shin, Sakamoto and Lu put whatever brain cells they have together to put up a decent challenge. Episode 10 of SAKAMOTO DAYS was a great episode from start to finish, perhaps enhanced by the general lack of combat or high-intensity action, and the emphasis on comedy, especially in the first half, made for one of the series’ most enjoyable episodes so far.
SAKAMOTO DAYS is available on Netflix.
