Sakamoto-san Desu Ga Episode 1 [ First Impression ]

This show is the funniest thing I have ever seen, and I’ve had a few days to think about it. At first glance Sakamoto-san Desu Ga or ‘Haven’t you heard, I’m Sakamoto-san’ seems like it might be pretentious. Oh, it’s about a perfect guy who is perfect at everything. Yawn. He is probably some attractive douchebag in a Ferris Bueller way. No. I was wrong. Never compare my beloved Sakamoto-san to someone so foul, says me and likely everyone else in existence. Sakamoto-san Desu Ka is a story about a flawless human being who does everything flawlessly- much to the ire of people around him. He doesn’t do it for praise or intentionally, however, he just happens to be that lucky. Imagine if you always rolled a 20 on a d20 dice: you would be Sakamoto. As it stands, many people dislike him because of this.

But that doesn’t really go well for them. You see, everytime Sakamoto encounters a difficulty he experiences some new magic in his life. Bullies throw water into a bathroom stall? He has his umbrella with him. Those bullies throw out his desk? No problem, he will sit on the window sill as cherry blossoms fall and the wind gracefully strokes his cheeks so every girl in class can be amazed by his wonder. Bullies are sick of it and move to beat him up? Oh, they accidentally started a fire and he helped them get the attention of the teacher so they don’t all die when they’re trapped in the room. Even moreso, he doesn’t sell them out to the teacher and makes them all admire him even as they dislike him. That is what Sakamoto does repeatedly, over and over, simply using his graceful presence to always one up any negativity in his life.

The only way to genuinely describe this series is to talk about why it’s so funny: if Sakamoto was simply loved without hatred it would be an awful show. Instead the universe still exists with terrile things in it, things that Sakamoto just seems capable of changing. A bird is caught in the wind after its wing breaks? No problem, he’ll chase after the bird, jump onto debris in a raging river and then use his umbrella to be swept up in a tornado where he catches the bird and once he catches the bird the sun will then break through and all the terrible weather will dissipate. This show knows it’s full of crap and that’s why it’s absolutely perfect. At one point the entire class acts like a bee in the classroom means everyone is going to die, then Sakamoto-san duels the bee in an epic stinger fight before letting him out the window to be free.

Yes. That’s why you should all be watching Sakamoto-san Desu Ka – the show does not take itself too seriously. The show genuinely keeps itself afloat every moment you think it might get stale. I am not good at covering comedy shows but I’m going to give this one a shot: Haven’t you heard, he’s fucking Sakamoto-san, even I can talk about how amazing he is.

First Impression: Please God let this man exist.

Oki