Sakamoto Days: Shin’s Wild Powers Explained

The anime adaptation of Sakamoto Days has finally made its debut. The gorgeous first episode exceeds fans’ expectations, giving the anime a perfect premiere. Based on Yuto Suzuki’s manga on Weekly Shonen Jump, Sakamoto Days is an action comedy following Taro Sakamoto who was once feared as the greatest hitman of all time. Five years ago, he retired as an assassin after getting married. He is now out of shape but also living a peaceful life with his wife and daughter.

However, in the first episode, Shin Asakura comes knocking at his door after being forced by a few hitmen who are targeting Taro. The story reveals that Shin has psychic abilities. Taro, who once worked with the young man is well aware of his abilities. In fact, Taro doesn’t directly talk to Shin but uses the latter’s abilities to his advantage. The story also reveals that Shin’s powers are handy in more than one way. While the anime seems like a normal action drama, Shin’s psychic powers hint that all kinds of powers might exist in the world.

Warning: Spoilers from the Sakamoto Days manga ahead!

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Shin Has Several Psychic Powers in Sakamoto Days

Although the anime introduces him as a clairvoyant, he develops all kinds of psychic powers in the later arcs. He grew up in the Okutabi lab under the care of his foster father, Asakura, and developed psychic abilities as a result of secret research. Firstly, his clairvoyance allows him to read the minds of people within a 20-meter radius. He uses electromagnetic brainwaves, so this ability isn’t always active. Instead, he can tune into their minds like a radio.

However, this ability has a serious disadvantage since he can’t read the thoughts of people who are too overwhelming for him or if the opponent is faster than him. Later on, he developed precognition, which allows him to see the future actions of someone by reading their motor-readiness potential. The only drawback is he can use it for 5 minutes a day as overusing this ability causes intense pain. In the manga, Shin recently developed the ability to control people’s minds.

He can forcefully rewrite his target’s thoughts and make them comply with a new action. Just like his other abilities, Shin’s mind control also has a major drawback. He can’t use it on the same person multiple times. In the manga, Taro and his team plan to overthrow JAA. However, going against Japan’s strongest association is by no means an easy feat, even for Taro. Hence, Taro, Shin, and Heisuke must train and improve their skills.

Shin shows great promise in physical combat but he needs to improve his psychic abilities. Upon suggestion from Nagumo, he infiltrates the JAA Prison with Heisuke to find Atari, a Fortune Teller. Not only does Atari have incredible psychic abilities, but she’s also a skilled fighter. Shin hopes to find her and improve his own skills with her help. This means the manga will continue to focus on his growth and he might gain new powers along the way.