Crime
Grosse Pointe Garden Society
The seemingly charming members of The Grosse Pointe Garden Society hide their involvement in a murder in NBC’s drama.
Shin Asakura takes a deep sigh. He doesn’t want to assassinate his former coworker. But rules are rules.
You see, five years ago, Taro Sakamoto was the world’s premier hitman, revered by others in his craft and feared by all evil men. But then he fell in love with a convenience store clerk, Aoi, and the two got married and had a child. She told him that they could only be together if he promised to stop killing people—and for five years, he’s held true to his word.
But the Boss doesn’t care about a love story. No hitman can just walk out of the business without his say-so. That’s why, after searching for Taro for years, the Boss demands that Shin slay the man.
And as Shin looks on the former hitman, he can’t help but think the job will be simple. Taro gave up the criminal underworld to run a family convenience store … and with all the noodles and sitting around at the cash register, he’s grown fat.
But as the bullet fires from Shin’s gun, a piece of candy fires from Taro’s mouth, deflecting the bullet. A few moments later, and Shin is unconscious. He wakes to a warm meal and friendly smiles. Touched by the kind experience, Shin abandons the Boss and starts working in the convenience store, too.
That’s one threat down. But now that Taro’s location is known, there are plenty of others who’d like to take down the once-famous hitman, too.
And they’ll take whatever chance they can get.
Mix legendary fictional hitman John Wick with a scene from Spy x Family, and you’ve got Sakamoto Days, the story of a hitman-turned-fatherly convenience store clerk whose peaceful life is continuously threatened by adversaries from his former occupation.
But make no mistake: though Sakamoto Days is a comedy, it’s likewise filled with all the action and violence that comprise your standard John Wick film. Taro’s enemies fall by the dozens, shot, stabbed and strangled. And though watching Taro catch a bullet with chopsticks may be a cool scene, it means there are only moments before that adversary meets a blood-soaked end.
If the animated violence doesn’t get you, the language might, since in the first episode alone, we hear an f-word and four s-words. Oh, and as a sidenote: Shin can read minds, so do with that what you will.
Sakamoto Days looks as if it may come with some sweet moments and messages that, for once, praise the peaceful life of a family man above the blood-covered action hero. But Taro’s circumstances often require that action hero to emerge, leaving those sweet moments tasting a little metallic.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Shin tracks down Taro, hoping to assassinate the man. But the job will be far more difficult than Shin expects.
Taro shields himself from incoming bullets by deflecting them with a blade and catching them with chopsticks. His enemies are shot, stabbed and strangled; and blood sprays all over the scene. A man is hanged, choking to death. Someone takes a bullet to the leg. Shin shoots and kills some men, too.
And even after Taro chooses to stop killing, his enemies still receive grievous wounds. Some get shocked. He punches another man’s teeth out.
A man attempts to punch a boy in the face, but Taro stops the man by forcefully grabbing his wrist. Taro imagines stabbing the man in the throat with a ballpoint pen. He also visualizes killing someone by knocking the man hard against the head. Shin, being clairvoyant, sees these thoughts with horror.
Shin, excited by seeing an old friend, bangs his head over and over on his steering wheel, causing his car to rock back and forth. A passing mother can’t see inside the car, and she covers her child’s ears and tells him to look away. A man showers, though nothing is seen. A boy pokes at some dog droppings.
Someone smokes a cigarette.
The f-word is used once. The s-word is used four times. We also hear “d-ck” and “b–tard,” both used once. “D–n” and “h—” are used three times each.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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