subparreviewing

Sakamoto Days was recommended to me by a friend of mine and I honestly was skeptical. However, this anime delivers every episode. The initial premise captures you and the great characters keep you engaged. The narrative revolves around Taro Sakomoto, a renowned assassin who has retired to live a normal life with his wife and daugher; however, retirement isn't so easy when you're an assassin. Due to this, Sakamoto meets and develops relationships with those who try to kill him in a slice of life fashion. It definitely has potential to be one of the top anime. It has emotion, comedy, intense fight scenes, and great pacing. The voice acting is top notch for either dub or sub, the soundtrack is a nice calm vibe, and the art style/animation is clean and crisp. Definitely worth a watch and even a rewatch.

Lazarus doesn't really do anything unique or mind-blowing. Like his previous works, the protagonist on a wild goose chase in search of something. In this case, he's in search of a doctor who holds the only cure for a medicine that will eventually kill everyone who took it ever. The premise is actually pretty tame, realistic, and contained compared to other Watanabe's works. The characters aren't really standouts, even the protagonist. I would say it's worth the watch if you like his other works Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, Samurai Champloo but Lazarus honestly falls short of all of these titles by far. The dubbing also isn't good and breaks the gloomy vibe. I'd suggest the sub if you really want to not break immersion because sometimes the English VA is just...bad. The soundtrack, as per usual from Watanabe, delivers. The score during most scenes helps enhance the gloomy aesthetic that it's going for. Not a bad work by any means but it's not a must watch either.