Mohsin Lag 
Sakamoto Days is the best pure action-comedy of its generation, and its premise is the whole joke: the greatest hitman alive fell in love, got married, and retired to run a convenience store — and now the entire underworld wants to collect on his legend while he defends his quiet life with the deadliest improvisation in anime. Every episode is the same question answered a new way: what household object becomes a weapon in the hands of the world’s most reluctant fighter? The fights are spectacular. The domesticity is the point.
That’s the list below: action comedies about violence and the people trying to live normal lives around it. Retired killers, hidden monsters working retail, and the specific comedy of overwhelming power applied to embarrassingly small problems. Some picks match the premise directly, some match the fight choreography, some match the specific warmth of a killer choosing peace. I’ll tell you which.
| # | Anime | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One Punch Man | The spiritual predecessor, and the comparison Sakamoto Days gets more than any other. Saitama is the strongest man alive… |
| 2 | The Way of the Househusband | The closest premise match on this list, and the one Sakamoto fans get recommended most. A legendary yakuza boss — feared… |
| 3 | Spy x Family | The family pick, and the warmest show on this list. Twilight is a master spy who needs a fake family for a mission, and … |
| 4 | Buddy Daddies | The hitmen-with-a-baby pick. Two professional killers end up co-parenting a four-year-old girl, and the show is about tw… |
| 5 | Mob Psycho 100 | The animation-flex pick. Mob is the most powerful psychic alive and wants nothing more than to be a normal middle school… |
| 6 | Gintama | The comedic ancestor, and the show every action-comedy is secretly in conversation with. Gintama is a samurai comedy abo… |
| 7 | Hinamatsuri | The found-family comedy pick, and one of the funniest anime of the last decade. A yakuza mid-level boss finds a telekine… |
| 8 | Spy Classroom | The ensemble pick, included for the “elite operatives, chaotic teamwork” energy. A spy master assembles a te… |
| 9 | Kaguya-sama: Love Is War | Not an action show at all — included for the one thing it shares with Sakamoto Days more than any fight scene could: the… |
| 10 | Tiger & Bunny | The finale pick: corporate superheroes, and a veteran hero past his prime partnered with a rookie for the ratings. The c… |
1. One Punch Man
The spiritual predecessor, and the comparison Sakamoto Days gets more than any other. Saitama is the strongest man alive, bored by it, and the show’s comedy is the gap between his overwhelming power and his total lack of dramatic awareness — the same gap Sakamoto runs on, aimed at groceries instead of heroism. The first season is the best action-comedy anime ever made, with fight animation that still hasn’t been beaten. The later seasons are less consistent, but the character work never stops being funny. If you love Sakamoto’s “unbeatable guy, minor problems” rhythm, this is the origin point.
2. The Way of the Househusband
The closest premise match on this list, and the one Sakamoto fans get recommended most. A legendary yakuza boss — feared across Japan — retires to become a househusband, and the show is his daily life: cooking, couponing, intimidating shopkeepers by accident, and treating domestic chores with the intensity of gang warfare. It’s Sakamoto Days with the fights filed off and the domesticity turned up to eleven. The animation is famously minimal (it’s basically a motion comic, and that’s part of the joke), but the comedy is razor sharp. Extremely rewatchable, extremely cozy.
3. Spy x Family
The family pick, and the warmest show on this list. Twilight is a master spy who needs a fake family for a mission, and his “wife” is an assassin and his “daughter” is a telepath — each performing normalcy while hiding their real selves from the others. It shares Sakamoto’s deepest subject: dangerous people trying, against all their instincts, to be ordinary. The comedy is broad and the action, when it comes, is genuinely excellent. It’s the easiest recommendation here and the most broadly lovable anime of the last decade.
4. Buddy Daddies
The hitmen-with-a-baby pick. Two professional killers end up co-parenting a four-year-old girl, and the show is about two men who’ve never been gentle learning, episode by episode, to be. It shares Sakamoto’s belief that the funniest and most moving thing a violent man can do is choose domesticity — and it commits to the emotional side harder than most of this list. The action is good, the comedy is warm, and the finale earns its tears. If you love the “killer chooses peace” theme more than the fights, this is your show.
5. Mob Psycho 100
The animation-flex pick. Mob is the most powerful psychic alive and wants nothing more than to be a normal middle schooler — which is exactly Sakamoto’s tension, with emotions instead of groceries as the trigger. The fights are the best-animated in television, full stop, and the show’s message is the same as Sakamoto’s: power is the least interesting thing about a person. It’s also quietly one of the funniest shows ever made. If Sakamoto’s choreography is what hooked you, Mob Psycho is the ceiling of the art form.
6. Gintama
The comedic ancestor, and the show every action-comedy is secretly in conversation with. Gintama is a samurai comedy about a war veteran running an odd-jobs business in an alien-occupied Edo, and it does everything — slapstick, parody, gut-punch drama, some of the best fights in shonen — often in the same episode. It shares Sakamoto’s tonal tightrope: absurd comedy from characters with genuinely violent pasts, with the past treated seriously when it matters. It’s long (over 300 episodes) and the first stretch is rough; the investment pays back with interest. Start from episode 3 if the first two bore you.
7. Hinamatsuri
The found-family comedy pick, and one of the funniest anime of the last decade. A yakuza mid-level boss finds a telekinetic girl from the future in his apartment, and the show is their aggressively weird domestic life — him trying to raise her, her using psychic powers to skip school and win cooking competitions. It shares Sakamoto’s core comedy: powerful people and dangerous situations colliding with the mundane, played completely straight. It’s less action-forward and more emotional than it looks. The season is self-contained and nearly perfect.
8. Spy Classroom
The ensemble pick, included for the “elite operatives, chaotic teamwork” energy. A spy master assembles a team of washout agents and must turn them into a functional unit for an impossible mission — and the show’s comedy is the gap between their lethal skills and their spectacular personalities. It shares Sakamoto’s love of professionals who are also deeply unserious people. The mystery structure is more serious than the comedy suggests, and the twists land. Not as funny as the top of this list, but a solid genre entry with good action.
9. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
Not an action show at all — included for the one thing it shares with Sakamoto Days more than any fight scene could: the comedy of hyper-competent people treating a small thing with life-or-death seriousness. Where Sakamoto treats grocery runs like assassinations, Kaguya treats confession like thermonuclear war, and both shows run on the same engine — the gap between stakes and scale. It’s the funniest anime ever made, and if Sakamoto’s comic rhythm is what you’re after, this is the purest version of it.
10. Tiger & Bunny
The finale pick: corporate superheroes, and a veteran hero past his prime partnered with a rookie for the ratings. The connection to Sakamoto is the specific joy of professionals doing a job with competence and complaint — heroics as shift work, with the same dry “this is my job, not my identity” energy Sakamoto brings to the convenience store. It’s more sincere than comedic, but the chemistry between the leads carries it, and the world-building (heroes with sponsors, points, and PR) was ahead of its time. Worth it for fans of the genre’s quieter pleasures.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What’s the closest anime to Sakamoto Days? The Way of the Househusband for the premise, One Punch Man for the comedy engine, and Buddy Daddies for the warmth.
- Is Sakamoto Days finished? The anime’s first cour aired in early 2025 and a second cour followed. The manga is ongoing and one of Shonen Jump’s biggest current titles.
- Which of these have the best fights? Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man (season one) are the ceiling for animated action. Sakamoto’s own choreography remains its signature.
- Which should I watch first? One Punch Man for the origin point. Househusband for the closest match. Mob Psycho for the best show on this list.
Sakamoto’s whole story is one joke told beautifully: the deadliest man alive just wants to sell you onigiri. The ten shows above are the ones that understood why that’s funny — and why it’s a little sad, too.
Still hunting for your next binge? Our funniest slapstick anime roundup and our our ranked list of anime with the best animation guide are the natural next stops.
