Sakamoto Days’ massive failure in the anime adaptation has made fans wary of the upcoming The Beginning After the End series. Sakamoto Days had been one of the most-anticipated anime of 2025.
However, when the show started airing, it quickly became evident that the series massively compromised its quality in trying to stay faithful to the manga. As such, whether the upcoming summer release will fall victim to the same fate has concerned fans.
The author of the web novel recently addressed those concerns in an interview. Thankfully, if the author’s words are anything to go by, fans can take a breath of relief. Although only time will tell how things play out in the end, for now, things seem to be looking promising.
Sakamoto Days turned its groundbreaking story into a lazy mess in its quest for faithful adaptation
Sakamoto Days’ anime adaptation has been long awaited in the fandom. Especially since the manga has been groundbreaking in combining action, and gut-punching emotions with a side of humor to balance it out.
However, when the anime finally started airing, the reception was less than stellar. The reason behind that was the way the series failed to retain the essence of the manga to its fullest.
Moreover, the animation garnered criticism, with many claiming it to be stiff and chunky in places with weird cuts. This particular aspect drew attention as the scenes in the manga moved with such smooth fluidity. For what it’s worth, the anime adaptation tried to stay as faithful as possible to the manga.
However, in its quest for faithful adaptation, the animation turned into a lazy mess that severely lacked the details one would expect from the action scenes. Interestingly, what turned out to be its saving grace were the original anime scenes.
Although they seem to be few and far between, as most of Sakamoto Days seems like a direct copy-paste of the manga, they seem to be working for the best. This seems to be the exact thing that has shaped Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Demon Slayer into the industry giants they became in such a short time.
It will be interesting to see if they learn from their mistakes when the next season pops up. At any rate, this is the exact reason why The Beginning After the End anime makers should be wary of being too faithful to the source material. It turns out the director agrees with that sentiment.
The Beginning After the End author gives hope to fans about the series after Sakamoto Days’ massive fail
The author of The Beginning After the End appeared for an interview during the recently held IGN Fan Fest. TurtleMe’s Isekai web novel has gained a massive fan following since it began serialization in Tapas.
A webtoon with Fuyuki23’s illustrations soon followed, increasing its popularity. Now, the long-awaited anime adaptation is set to start airing in April 2025. As such, the anticipation in the fandom has been off the charts.
However, after Sakamoto Days’ massive failure, fans have also grown wary about the upcoming series. Addressing those same concerns, the author noted that the anime stays faithful to the source material “for the most part”. However, the director has his own vision for the story, “and so far, it’s been really cool seeing those”.
In the end, the anime is a very different medium compared to the comic and the novel. And so you know the director coming in as the expert in this medium as the anime, I’ve learned a lot about how the same story might be told in a little bit different way.
The upcoming anime is being produced by Studio A-Cat and written by Umeki as well as Takamitsu Kono. The director, Keitaro Motonaga, has long been hailed for his Digimon movie series.
As such, fans are hopeful that The Beginning After the End will be able to balance the web novel with positive anime additions perfectly. Moreover, they also hope that the upcoming series will finally make them forget about the hot mess that Sakamoto Days turned out to be.
Sakamoto Days is streaming on Netflix. The Beginning After the End, on the other hand, will begin airing in April 2025.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
