Sakamoto Days: Netflix's Most-Watched Anime of 2025 Gets Season 2 and a Live-Action Film

The Hitman Who Conquered Netflix

Sakamoto Days, the anime adaptation of Yuto Suzuki's manga about a retired legendary assassin running a convenience store, became Netflix's most-watched anime series globally in 2025. The show earned over 100 million viewing hours and ranked in Netflix's global top ten for 14 weeks between January and September.

Season 1 Structure

The anime, produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Masaki Watanabe, aired in two split cours:

• Part 1: January 11 - March 22, 2025
• Part 2: July 15 - September 23, 2025

The series streams on Netflix worldwide with a one-week delay after Japanese broadcast on TV Tokyo.

A Divided Reception

The reception tells an interesting story of two audiences:

General audiences loved it — The series holds an 84% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5/10 on IMDb. Reviewers praised its unique premise, dynamic action-comedy blend, and the entertaining contrast between Sakamoto's deadly past and domestic present.

Manga fans were more critical — Hardcore fans of the source material expressed disappointment with the anime adaptation, citing concerns about animation quality falling short of the manga's innovative visual storytelling, uneven pacing, and character development. Some felt that in a stacked 2025 anime lineup, Sakamoto Days received a "below-average adaptation."

Season 2 Officially Confirmed

At Jump Festa 2026, it was announced that Season 2 is officially in development. A teaser trailer was released, though no specific release date has been confirmed. Given production timelines, new episodes likely won't arrive until 2027.

Live-Action Movie Coming April 2026

Beyond the anime, Sakamoto Days is expanding into live-action. A feature film releases April 29, 2026 in Japan, starring Snow Man's Ren Meguro as Taro Sakamoto and Fumiya Takahashi as Shin Asakura. The casting of a popular J-pop idol in the lead role signals the franchise's ambitions to reach beyond the anime audience.

The Manga's Standing

The Sakamoto Days manga has crossed 15 million copies in circulation as of August 2025, making it one of Shonen Jump's most consistent performers. The source material offers substantially more story than the anime has covered so far, with major arcs and character introductions still ahead.

Production Partnerships

TMS Entertainment has entered a business partnership with Taiwan-based R. Animation, aimed at building a production framework for "continuously delivering high-quality anime" through shared expertise — a response to Japan's ongoing animator labor shortage that has affected studios across the industry.

Despite the mixed fan reception, the numbers don't lie: Sakamoto Days is a mainstream hit that has successfully introduced millions of Netflix viewers to the charm of a chubby ex-hitman fighting assassins with shopping carts and canned goods.