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Warning: The following contains spoilers for Sakamoto Days Episode 8, “Sakamoto’s vs. the Lab”, now streaming onNetflix.
Even though every other assassin and their mother has Sakamoto in their crosshairs inSakamoto Days, for some reason, the Order isn’t after Sakamoto. The Order is the most elite group of assassins in Japan, and Sakamoto’s first encounter with them shown in the series is with Yoichi Nagumo, a master of disguise who could perfectly copy anyone’s appearance. InSakamoto Daysepisode 3, “Welcome to Sugar Park!”, Nagumo warned Sakamoto that someone had placed a 1 billion yen bounty on Sakamoto’s head and that assassins from all over the country were now after him. But why didn’t Nagumo, or anyone else from the Order, try toclaim the bounty for themselves?
The Order’s members are so skilled that many assassins don’t even believe it exists and just think it and its members are myths, because no one can bethatstrong. Sakamoto was also once a member of the Order,but after marrying Aoiand quitting being an assassin, he has grown out of shape. He’s still far above your average human in terms of skill and power, but he’s definitely let himself go compared to his past self. In Sakamoto’s current state, it should be relatively easy money for anyone in the Order to kill him and get the 1 billion yen, and yet, for some reason, they haven’t.
Sakamoto Has the Order’s Respect
Being an Ex-member Has Its Perks
The thing is, some of the Order’s members respect Sakamoto based on the time they spent together when he was still in their ranks.Nagumo even cares enoughabout him to let him know about the bounty’s existence just so he’d be better prepared for the assassins coming after him.
InSakamoto Daysepisode 8, “Sakamoto’s vs. the Lab”, Sakamoto encountered two more members of the Order, Shishiba and Osaragi, and they also showed no interest in killing him for the bounty. Shishiba even greeted Sakamotolike an old buddyand showed no signs of malice toward him at all. Osaragi, on the other hand, is a newer member, and by the time she joined, Sakamoto had already retired. So, she doesn’t share the same respect Shishiba and Nagumo have for Sakamoto, and even thought he looked weak and would lose to Kashima, another powerful hitman. However, even she showed no desire to kill Sakamoto for the bounty. That wasn’t her mission at the time, so she didn’t care.
Since they’re thetop brass in the world of assassins, every member of the Order is likely wealthy beyond belief, so it’ll probably take more than money for them to go after an old friend or someone they respect. They’d need a more personal reason than that.
Doesn’t The Order or the JAA Kill Its Retirees?
In other pieces of fictional media, it’s common for secretive or violent groups to kill any of their members who want to leave. Whether it’s to maintain the group’s secrecy or done in a distorted sense of honor, it’s just a common tropein media like this. However, that’s not the case with the Japanese Association of Assassins (JAA) and the Order, whichisa subfaction of the JAA.
Now, that might confuse some people because wasn’t Shin hired to kill Sakamoto because he retired from being an assassin inSakamoto Daysepisode 1, “The Legendary Hit Man”? Yes, he was, but the JAA didn’t make that call. The JAA doesn’t have a rule against retiring assassins, but it seems there’s also no rule preventing its members with twisted values from killing anyone who retires. Thehitman group that hired Shinwas just a bunch of people who believed that an assassin who gives up their life of killing doesn’t deserve to live anymore. They’re more of the exception, not the rule.
Fortunately, it seems that the Order and its members are above that kind of pettiness. They only deal with high-profile targets and anyone who disrupts the delicate balance of power in the assassin world. Speaking of which, they’re after a target like that right now.
The Order Is Currently Preoccupied
Killing Slur Takes Priority
Other than being respected by the Order, Sakamoto is lucky enough that the group currently has more pressing matters at hand. Amysterious man known as Slur or Xhas been viciously killing assassins all over Japan. The ordinary, rank-and-file JAA assassin doesn’t stand a chance against Slur, so the Order has taken it upon itself to deal with the threat. Its members and resources are currently being spent on investigating and hunting down Slur, so it wouldn’t really do them any good tomake an enemy of Sakamotoright now.
However, it’s been hinted at several times now that the bounty on Sakamoto’s head and the appearance of Slur are connected. So, who knows? Maybe a battle between the Order and Sakamoto is still to come.
“… one thing I do know is that this little string of massacres here and the 1 billion yen bounty that’s on Sakamoto’s head both started at the same time.” - Nagumo to Sakamoto, Shin, and Lu
Sakamoto Days is now available to stream onNetflix. The release date for Sakamoto Days episode 9 is set to be July 10, 2025, at 6:00 AM PT.
