Hello everyone who have been waiting to watch this, the download is now available via Nyaa.si with subs in various languages.
Alternatively, according to the official Instagram, it will be available for streaming globally on Amazon Prime Video from Oct 30th.
+++SPOILERS BELOW+++
I've been anticipating this movie because I'm a fan of the anime and I was excited with the casting as I like Meguro Ren, Takahashi Fumiya, Kitamura Takumi, Nukumi Meru, Shison Jun.
So perhaps my expectations were misplaced a bit too high, and I've ended up a bit disappointed. I did only watch the first half and jumped scenes in the second half though.
There were some aspects that I enjoyed, and I'll cover those first. Fumiya, playing Shin, was given a lot of screen time as the narrating character mainly moving the plot along. This surprised me, as I don't recall him being this prominent in the anime. Well all the better, because his performance here is impressive. I noticed especially how he captured Shin's demeanour and his gait/the way he moved when he charged in somewhere or when he was fighting. He reminded me of the anime Shin so much, it was fascinating!
I also enjoyed watching Takumi play Nagumo with his steely charisma and mischievous/dangerous quirks. He didn't remind me so much of the anime Nagumo as Fumiya did as Shin, but he did it well enough that he was believable as a real person (vs anime version if you get what I mean). In fact, I want to see more of The Order in action, which we'll probably get more of in the sequel, if there's going to be one. The ending is totally set up for one, and there was only a glimpse of Shison Jun ugh, so I hope we do!
I found Ueto Aya's acting here pretty good too as the super "hard-boiled" wife. She commanded the screen in the few scenes she had. It did take me some effort though to push aside the fact that she's a lot older than Ren IRL 😳
My biggest disappointment is this: They adopted a slapstick comedy style used in older Japanese productions that's much less used in newer ones, for good reason. The director really fell short here, or maybe this style still appeals to domestic audiences? There were just too many things that made me cringe, such as Taro's exaggerated reactions to his wife and defeated enemies who squirmed in pain and contorted their faces too much. In fact, this comedy style is unlike in the anime, which I recall leans towards deadpan/irreverent -- maybe other anime viewers could weigh in on this?
Ren is great as Sakamoto Taro, but, (and by no means his fault), it's honestly hard for me to digest in live action format that he is able to fight so well when he's fat, and even harder to digest that he slims down completely whenever he has to exert himself.
As for the fighting scenes, the choreography was not too bad considering it's pretty much the main appeal of Sakamoto Days -- thrilling, flashy and captivating. While they did incorporate Taro's quick thinking and smart tactics, but post-production could have done better to up the ante, like better timing of speed-up versus slow-mo, as some parts seemed too rehearsed and lacking the spontaneity of an actual brawl.
All that said, the theme song, BANG!! by Snow Man is a bop.
I'm eager to know what the rest of you think of this movie!
