~{Story}~
Well, Sakamoto desu ga is exactly as the premise says it is. The series revolves around Sakamoto doing wacky, yet fabulous stuff in very weird comedic situations. He’ll avoid bullying, smoke bubble, run like the Darwin Evolution diagrams, create subliminal messages in split-seconds… you get the point. People say that there is no such thing as perfection. They clearly haven’t heard about Sakamoto. He has the girls being deredere for him, the guys being tsundere for him, and birds being dandere for him… yeah, that’s the power of Sakamoto’s charm. Sakamoto is primarily episodic, as each episode (or more like half of an episode) revolves around a comedic situations involving Sakamoto. The series doesn’t have a major plot in the series until the very end, but that’s not the highlight of the series. The highlights are the comedic situations throughout the series. The writing of these comedic situations is somewhat genius and the tiny stories themselves are very unique and creative. And the ending is satisfying enough to be a fitting conclusion to the series, that doesn’t need any more continuations. It leaves a lot of questions open, but that’s what maintains the charm of the series – who is Sakamoto really?
Story: 5/10
~{Presentation}~
If there’s one thing that’s fabulous in Sakamoto desu ga besides Sakamoto himself, it’s the style. The way the series presents its comedy is fantastic. Characters will talk about the most absurd things in the most common fashion, OST will be an intentional mismatch for the situation to create more comedy, and Sakamoto will make the most bizarre things look like a typical day for an average teenager. For an anime that heavily relies on one joke for laughs, it manages to do so properly. The amount of creativity the series has makes it very impressive. Sakamoto’s jokes may come from a randomly generated joke machine, but it manages to blend these absurd elements together that it makes is feel consistent. The series also has moments when the series takes a serious tone in situations, and this is when the series starts to break apart. The serious moments don’t seem tense enough to be serious enough and they only make the moments boring. Though it is necessary to have these moments to create a main story, it’s just that it feels so out-of-place that it feels like I’m watching a different series. Luckily these moments end quick and the comedy kicks in again. But there are moments when the series can be heartwarming, such as its conclusion and its final moments with Sakamoto.
Presentation: 6.5/10
~{Character}~
Sakamoto desu ga is all about Sakamoto and Sakamoto, nothing more, nothing less. And for a series that primarily focuses on one character, it is important for him to be likable and good as a character. Well, Sakamoto is more than that, as he’s fabulous! Sakamoto is a character without any flaws and perfect to the core. But he’s not a Gary Stu, because he’s too extreme to be so. He’s more like a parody of it. Sakamoto’s character is here to pull fun at other characters from other series that are considered perfect. And a formula like this can get boring quite easily, but Sakamoto manages to keep us entertained by going through even wackier situations. He doesn’t have a backstory, and there’s no real depth to him, but that would ruin the purpose of the series. Sakamoto has always been a mystery with his inhuman abilities, and it’s up for the viewers to decide who his really is. No matter what he is though, he’s still Sakamoto. Even though the series primarily focuses on its protagonist, the supporting characters are also fun and likable. You got the tsundere bully Acchan (who plays a bigger role near the end), bully victim Kubota, delinquent Hayabusa, and much more. The series does feature an antagonist, but he never ends up being an interesting character.
Character: 5/10
~{Art}~,
Considering Studio Deen’s track record of having subpar art, Sakamoto desu ga’s art quality is a lot better than most of their work. For the most part, it’s very clean and consistent, and the series manages to have good detaining even for background objects. The backgrounds are really good looking and have a good amount of details. Deen was always good at having detailed architectures, and Sakamoto is no exception. Characters also look clean and neat, though they do lack some detailing. Character design is quite interesting, as the perfect Sakamoto is shown to have glasses, which was an interesting choice. Acchan’s toque also makes him stand out a lot. And overall the character designs are good and somewhat unique.
Art: 6/10
~{Animation}~
This is where Sakamoto desu ga starts to stumble. Studio Deen doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to production values and animation fluidity. However, they managed to nail Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu’s quality from last season, so one could hope they would do the same in Sakamoto. Sadly it’s only okay, nothing more. Character fluidity is quite lacking and disappointing and backgrounds, though they look good, feel very static and flat. And the series heavily relies on still shots so less will need to be animated. Though these still shots might have good art, the lack of animation in them shows that they were used to cut corners. Hey, at least the animations in the OP are great…
Animation: 5/10
~{Voice Acting}~
The voice acting in Sakamoto desu ga is fabulous to say the least, as every character Is done with near perfect. Although, that is expected with such a good cast. Midorikawa Hikaru nails it as Sakamoto. His tone in his voice is always kept in an even level, just like how a perfect character like Sakamoto would talk. He makes sure to make his character lack emotion, yet not feel dead. He might have been the best choice for Sakamoto. Sugita Tomokazu does an outstanding job as Acchan, which it to be expected since Sugita is a wonderful seiyuu, especially for comedic situations. His over-the top tone in certain situations is hilarious. And Sugita nails his love for Sakamoto, by adding a girly tone to Acchan whenever he goes deredere for Sakamoto. Ishida Akira does a role I’ve never seen him do before. It astonishes me how he’s able to do Kubota so effortlessly. It just shows how talented he is. Other well-known seiyuu are also part of the series, such as Horie Yui, Nakahara Mai, Suzuki Tatsuhisa, and they all do an excellent job in what they have to do.
Voice Acting: 8/10
~{Music}~
I guess you can say that the music is Sakamoto desu ga is the “coolest”. The OP, “COOLEST”, is absolutely perfect for a series like this. The vocals are nice and the lyrics are ridiculous (and it should be like that), and the music is great too. The OP matches the context of the anime so well because Sakamoto is indeed the coolest. The ED, “Nakushita Hibi ni Sayonara”, is also quite good. It’s not as memorable as the OP, but it’s nice enough. The vocals are nice and the music is soothing. The background music in the series is great and it works well with the series. Sakamoto’s theme, which you’ll be hearing a lot, matches every over-the-top situation Sakamoto’s in. Overall, the background music may not be the most inventive, but it works well with the anime.
Music: 7/10
~{Enjoyment}~
Sakamoto desu ga is always a blast to watch. Very few comedy anime can make me laugh in every episode, and Sakamoto succeeds in doing so. The series is just so over-the-top, absurd, and ridiculous, that it’s hard not to find enjoyment out of it. Sakamoto’s perfection is to die for, and it’s always fun seeing him in weird, comedic situations. Whether it be running like the Darwin Evolution diagram, or Sakamoto using curtains to make breasts, or uses a balloon gun to threaten bullies, Sakamoto does all of this in ease and it’s fun seeing him do so. He remains a mystery throughout the series, and it’s up for the audience to decide who he really might be. Is he actually human or is he an alien? It’s up to you to decide.
Enjoyment: 7/10
In the end, Sakamoto desu ga is a comedy you don’t want to miss out on. Parody comedy anime are pretty rare to see these days, so finding one that actually works is a blessing. The series is all about Sakamoto, nothing more, nothing less. It may be repetitive for some, but it’s impossible to deny the sheer creativeness and uniqueness the series has to offer. You won’t see comedic situations like the one you’ll see in Sakamoto. The production values are a little off, and the serious moments aren’t too great, but the comedy makes up for it. Do yourself a favor and fall in love with Sakamoto’s fabulousness. You won’t regret it!
+ Sakamoto’s a cool protagonist who manages to entertain throughout the series
+ Comedic situations are absurd and ridiculous, yet creative and inventive
+ Fitting and somewhat heartwarming conclusion
+ Fantastic voice acting for Sakamoto and the major supporting characters.
- Production values are lacking
- The serious tone, when it appears, don’t work well for the series
Overall: 6.2/10
