Sakamoto Days Season 1 Episode 12: 10 Major Moments and Details

Qiuqa put together 10 key points after watching Sakamoto Days Episode 12.

1. The Condemned

Dump was seen tightly hugging a man, but suddenly, a barrage of spikes erupted, piercing the man’s back and killing him instantly. Dump walked away, leaving the area littered with the lifeless bodies of several other men he had already slaughtered.

Meanwhile, Wawan aimed his gun at Apart, who had barged into his room uninvited in the dead of night. However, Apart swiftly counterattacked with a flurry of razor-sharp threads, slicing Wawan’s body to pieces and decapitating him.

In a dark city alleyway, Minimalist finished wiping out all of his targets. His victims’ bodies had been crushed into small, dense spheres, resembling crumpled wads of paper. Minimalist looked eager to move on to his next challenge—an S-rank target.

Elsewhere, Saw lounged comfortably on a bed with a woman. He stared at his laptop screen, which displayed a message indicating that Dump had eliminated three D-rank targets, while Apart had successfully killed one B-rank target. Saw felt his comrades were far too eager to kill.

Unlike them, Saw’s principle was to thoroughly understand his target’s personality, past, and life story first—only then did he feel the genuine thrill of the kill.

2. The Information Video Store

Wutang said his goodbyes and left the convenience store, stating his intent to continue investigating Slur.

Before departing, Wutang entrusted Sakamoto with protecting Shaotang. He warned Sakamoto, Shin, and Shaotang to stay on high alert against the four death row inmates, emphasizing that these psychopathic criminals were entirely different from ordinary assassins or the mafia.

The next day, Sakamoto, Shaotang, and Shin visited a DVD rental store that dealt in underground information formatted as movies. Sakamoto told the clerk he wanted intel on the recent murders committed by the death row inmates. He then paid an information fee of $8,000.

Inside a mini-theater, Sakamoto, Shin, and Shaotang sat eating popcorn and drinking sodas. They watched a documentary detailing the terrifying abilities of the death row inmates Slur had sent to Japan to assassinate Sakamoto.

3. The Order’s Conversation

A cargo van cruised down the highway. Osaragi was behind the wheel with Shishiba in the passenger seat. In the back, Hyo, Takamura, and Nagumo sat together. Hyo told his teammates that anyone who dared mess with the Order—be it death row inmates or anyone else—had to be eliminated.

Shishiba argued that despite their death row status, the four were nothing more than amateur killers. He couldn’t understand why Slur had sent them to challenge the Order.

Suddenly, a fly buzzed over the sleeping Takamura’s head. Knowing Takamura’s habits, Hyo immediately ordered everyone to duck. Sure enough, his sleep disturbed, Takamura gripped his katana and swung it, cleanly slicing the van’s roof completely open in a flash.

The severed roof crashed onto the highway, causing a massive traffic jam as other drivers were forced to slam on their brakes. Nagumo casually pointed out that there were four death row enemies in total. Hyo replied that the four of them were enough to take on one opponent each.

4. Training Together

On the convenience store roof, Heisuke aimed his sniper scope at Sakamoto, who stood in front of the shop. To practice improving his accuracy, Heisuke fired his rifle down at Sakamoto.

Meanwhile, Sakamoto was training his reflexes and agility. With lightning-fast movements, he dodged the barrage of bullets Heisuke fired. Sakamoto even managed to catch one of the sniper bullets using nothing but a pair of chopsticks.

Accompanied by his bird, Piisuke, Heisuke praised Sakamoto’s incredible skill in catching 99 consecutive bullets. Sakamoto, however, felt disappointed that he had failed to catch just one. Heisuke was deeply moved to be training alongside Sakamoto, feeling that they were now true friends.

5. Low-Tier Prey

Shin then approached Sakamoto and Heisuke, who had just finished their training. Without warning, Shin launched a swift knife attack aimed at Sakamoto’s neck, but Sakamoto deftly caught his hand. In an instant, Shin’s form shifted, revealing himself to be Nagumo in disguise. Up on the roof, Heisuke was stunned by the lightning-fast transformation.

Nagumo revealed he knew Sakamoto was being targeted by the four death row inmates sent by Slur. However, he advised Sakamoto to just relax and focus on running his store, as the Order would handle the inmates.

But Sakamoto refused. He admitted he wanted to extract information about Slur and face him directly before the Order wiped him out.

Nagumo called Sakamoto naive for wanting to capture Slur alive. He then asked, “Do you want to know how the enemy sees you right now?”

Nagumo handed over a piece of paper: the execution hit list assigned to the inmates. One of Sakamoto’s glasses lenses cracked in annoyance when he saw he was only classified as a “B-Rank”—essentially, low-tier prey.

Nagumo casually mentioned that he himself was an “S-Rank.” Sakamoto was shocked that Nagumo’s rating was higher than his own. The other lens of his glasses cracked as well.

6. Saw Confronts Shin & Shaotang

Shin and Shaotang visited a home goods and pet store. Pushing a shopping cart, Shin told Shaotang he wanted to buy materials to repair the exterior of the convenience store, as the outer walls were riddled with holes.

However, Shin grew annoyed because she wasn’t listening. Shaotang was completely absorbed in holding a cat, rubbing her face affectionately against the adorable feline. A store clerk offered to let Shin hold a Shiba Inu, which he initially refused. Despite himself, Shin eventually found himself happily playing with the puppy anyway.

Suddenly, all the animals in the store became restless, as if sensing an incoming threat. Shin and Shaotang were confused. They quickly realized the cause was the arrival of Saw, who had tracked them down.

Saw declared his intention to slaughter Sakamoto’s family and friends so that Sakamoto would taste absolute despair before his own death. Saw then swung his axe at Shin, sending the boy flying backward into a merchandise rack. The violent attack sent shoppers into a panic, scrambling out of the store.

Shin and Shaotang immediately recognized Saw as one of the four death row inmates. Saw himself was surprised to see Shin still alive, having assumed his axe strike had been fatal. He then realized Shin had blocked the attack using a crowbar. Impressed, Saw praised Shin’s quick reflexes for surviving the lethal blow.

7. Shin in Shock

Shin demanded to know how Saw knew his name. Saw simply glanced at a piece of paper—the inmates’ execution hit list containing all their profiles. From it, Saw knew that Shaotang, daughter of the late Lu Clan boss, was ranked C, while Shin, a former assassin and esper, was only given a D-Rank.

Shin suddenly felt incredibly awkward. He asked Saw again, “Wait, is my rank really lower than Shaotang’s?”

Saw told him to read the paper for himself. After seeing it, Shin dropped to his knees in frustration, struggling to accept the harsh reality that Shaotang—a raging drunk—was considered a higher-tier threat than him.

But Shin didn’t stay down for long. He charged straight at Saw. Saw swung his axe, but Shin quickly pulled a large bag of pet food off the shelf. The axe tore into the bag, spraying kibble directly into Saw’s face. Using the opening, Shin delivered a fierce kick straight to Saw’s jaw.

“After I beat you half to death,” Shin snapped, “you’re going to fix my rank!”

8. Saw’s Rampage

Saw attached a long rope to the handle of his axe to extend its attack range. Shin tried to read Saw’s mind to anticipate his next move, but he only heard one word echoing relentlessly in the psychopath’s head: “Kill.”

Saw then hurled his axe, whipping it around with the rope. The weapon relentlessly tracked Shin and Shaotang wherever they ran.

Eventually, Saw’s axe struck a pressurized gas cylinder. Shaotang immediately grabbed Shin and shoved him away from the blast radius just as a massive explosion ripped through the store.

Saw immediately doused himself with a bottle of ethanol to disinfect his fresh wounds. He then tossed the bottle toward Shin and Shaotang, who lay sprawled on the floor before him.

Shin quickly scrambled to his feet. He was deeply worried to see Shaotang wincing in pain after shielding him from the blast. Half-conscious, Shaotang caught the strong scent of alcohol from the ethanol bottle lying nearby.

Shin was consumed by guilt over his own weakness. He couldn’t protect Shaotang—and she could very well die if he failed to take down Saw.

9. Sakamoto’s Assessment

Back at the convenience store, Sakamoto mentioned to Heisuke that Shin and Shaotang had been out shopping for an unusually long time. Heisuke reassured him that they were surely fine. Even though he didn’t know Shin during his assassin days, Heisuke acknowledged that Shin was pretty tough. He also believed that Sakamoto, who had been Shin’s partner when they were both active hitmen, knew exactly how capable the boy was.

Sakamoto agreed that Shin possessed the potential to be truly strong. However, he explained that Shin had never experienced a true life-or-death battle, meaning he hadn’t yet reached his maximum potential. Heisuke admitted his own experience was lacking, but Sakamoto noted that Heisuke was different.

Meanwhile, after sending Shin flying to the floor again, Saw revealed that he wished he had Shin’s esper abilities just so he could know what the boy was thinking in the final moments of his life. Saw then detailed his grim plan: after slaughtering Shin and Shaotang, he would kill Sakamoto’s wife and daughter, then beat Sakamoto to the brink of death, leaving him to suffer the agony of losing everyone precious to him.

Saw approached the overwhelmed Shin, who was struggling to stand. He swung his axe down toward Shin’s back. But fueled by the sheer determination to protect Sakamoto’s family, Shin astonishingly managed to dodge the attack—even when the probability of a direct hit was ninety-nine percent.

Saw was stunned to realize that Shin, despite having his back turned, had caught his swinging arm before Saw’s right hand had even begun its motion.

10. Shin’s New Power

Shin calmly stated that he could see Saw’s future. He explained it much like the Benjamin Libet experiment—where brain activity precedes conscious action. The experiment proved that the brain initiates movement roughly 300 milliseconds before a person consciously decides to act.

Using his esper abilities, Shin could now read the subconscious activity in Saw’s brain. Shin spun around to face Saw and unleashed a devastating barrage of punches, battering Saw until he coughed up blood and collapsed.

Saw tried to slash at Shin with his axe, but Shin easily dodged it—having already “seen” the movement 300 milliseconds before Saw actually executed it. Because of this, it was as if he could see into the future, allowing him to anticipate every single strike with ease.

Shin then leaped into the air and drove a brutal punch straight into Saw’s face. The impact launched Saw backward, sending him crashing to the floor, completely grounded.

Shin declared that thanks to his battle against Saw, he had discovered a brand new ability within himself. He firmly vowed that he would never let Saw lay a finger on the people he loved.