Taro Sakamoto's 14-year-old look in Sakamoto Days anime has fans in disbelief

Modified Jan 27, 2025 06:30 GMT

Sakamoto Days anime goes viral for Taro's recent flashback (Image via TMS Entertainment).

The Sakamoto Days anime has been a pleasant surprise for a lot of fans who were expecting the adaptation to be underwhelming because of what was shown in the trailers. However, the anime has hit the ground running and Taro Sakamoto's appearance has been a viral topic, including the recent flashback in episode 4, where he is seen as a 14-year-old and looking like an adult.

It has always been a running meme in the community that Taro's appearance changes greatly, with him looking like a man in his fifties after five years of marriage with Aoi. However, the Sakamoto Days anime doubles down on that, with him looking like a young adult in Boiled's flashback, and a lot of fans reacting to it.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and the people quoted and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

The Sakamoto Days anime goes viral because of Taro Sakamoto's appearance as a teenager

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The fourth episode of the Sakamoto Days anime featured the beginning of Taro Sakamoto's battle with Boiled, featuring the latter's flashback that explains his feud with the former legendary assassin. It is through this flashback that audiences get to see the protagonist when he is studying to become a hitman at just 14 years of age, although he already looks like an adult.

This scene shocked everyone, not only because of his appearance but also due to him still sounding like an adult, voiced by the iconic Tomokazu Sugita in the Japanese version. It also served as another example of how the former assassin's appearance continues to be one of the series' biggest sources of viral content, exemplified by his change after marrying Aoi.

Despite gaining weight during his marriage and looking like an older man, Sakamoto is still only 27 years old in the story, which surprises a lot of people in the Sakamoto Days anime. Moreover, his current appearances have been compared to coach Anzai from the legendary sports manga and anime franchise Slam Dunk, since they are eerily similar.

More reactions online

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The Sakamoto Days anime has been a pleasant surprise for a lot of people because, as mentioned earlier, the original trailers of the adaptation didn't live up to a lot of fans' expectations. This has been one of Weekly Shonen Jump's most popular manga among the newest products in recent years, so a lot of people wanted something of a higher caliber.

However, TMS Entertainment has managed to deliver the goods with the Sakamoto Days anime, maintaining the art style that has defined the manga, while also having the kind of animation that captures the kinetic energy of the fighting sequences. While it is difficult to predict how an anime is going to perform in the coming episodes, everything seems to suggest that it is going to be a major hit for the franchise.

Fans reacted to Sakamoto's look, saying:

"So he was meant to look young? I thought the anime was just being comedic like how some JoJo characters look like men when they're only 17 (like Jotaro). It didn't help that they didn't change the VA so him and Boiled still sounded like grown men despite being 14 and 15," someone said.

"14 years after military service, ain't no way he is supposed to be a teenager," another person said.

"Are we supposed to believe he's 14 in that right pic?" someone else said.

The Sakamoto Days anime has been one of the first heavy hitters of 2025, and the recent flashback of a young Sakamoto has certainly helped in terms of exposure.

Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay