Sakamoto Days Tops Netflix’s Most-Watched Anime List for 2025

Netflix’s Engagement Report crowns ‘Sakamoto Days’ as the platform’s most-viewed anime series in the first half of 2025. The adaptation of Yuto Suzuki’s manga racks up 24.4 million views and 106.4 million hours streamed worldwide. This marks a breakout for the action-comedy, outpacing established franchises in viewer density.

The report spans January through June 2025, measuring completed views by dividing total hours watched by runtime. ‘Sakamoto Days’ Season 1, with its 11 episodes, achieves this lead through concise, binge-friendly storytelling. Naruto follows with 40 million hours viewed across hundreds of episodes, while Demon Slayer Season 2 trails in views at 18.2 million.

Suzuki’s original manga debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in November 2020, serializing 22 volumes by June 2025. Circulation surges from 7 million copies in December 2024 to 15 million by August 2025, fueled by the anime’s global reach. TMS Entertainment produces the series, directed by Masaki Watanabe, blending hitman lore with domestic humor.

Protagonist Taro Sakamoto retires as Japan’s top assassin to run a Tokyo convenience store with his wife Aoi and daughter Hana. Past enemies resurface, forcing Sakamoto to deploy superhuman skills non-lethally. Key allies include teenage clerk Shin Asakura, a sharpshooter with 100% accuracy, and hacker Lu Tian, whose debut episode demands intricate animation for his “strong yet adorable” design.

Voice cast features Tomokazu Sugita as Sakamoto, reflecting the character’s gravelly restraint. Episodes average 24 minutes, emphasizing quick cuts between family slices and over-the-top fights. Watanabe notes production hurdles like budgeting and staffing shortages during a 2025 Anime Expo interview, yet praises the manga’s script fidelity.

Ranking second overall is ‘Devil May Cry’ at 18.2 million views, followed by ‘Mashle: Magic and Muscles’ with 7.9 million. ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Season 1 logs 7.8 million views, ‘Dandadan’ Season 1 hits 7.5 million, and ‘Solo Leveling’ Season 1 reaches 7.4 million. These figures highlight shorter seasons’ edge in Netflix’s metric, favoring new releases over legacy series.

‘Sakamoto Days’ ranks 33rd among all Netflix TV titles for hours viewed and 79th for viewership. Its success stems from exclusive global licensing, unavailable on competitors like Crunchyroll in key regions. Kaata Sakamoto, Netflix’s VP of Content, calls it the highest-viewed Japanese anime over any six-month span.

Production wrapped Season 1 in late 2024 for a January 2025 premiere, aligning with Winter cour schedules. Episode budgets prioritize fluid combat choreography, drawing from Suzuki’s dynamic paneling. No renewal confirmation exists for Season 2 as of October 2025, though metrics suggest swift greenlight.

The series’ appeal lies in subverting assassin tropes: Sakamoto, now overweight and balding, wields everyday objects as weapons. Flashbacks reveal his Order affiliation, a hitman guild enforcing global balance. Antagonists like the Slur group test his pacifism, escalating from store brawls to citywide chases.

Netflix’s anime slate expands with five adaptations greenlit in 2024, post-‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’. ‘Sakamoto Days’ boosts Shonen Jump’s digital sales by 30% in Q1 2025. Viewer demographics skew 18-34, with 62% international outside Japan.

Watanabe’s direction incorporates practical effects for Sakamoto’s acrobatics, blending CGI with hand-drawn sequences. Soundtrack features high-tempo tracks underscoring comedic timing, composed by a team echoing ‘One Punch Man’ influences. Manga arcs post-Season 1 introduce Heisuke Mashimo, a prodigy chef turned fighter.

Global buzz peaks in Southeast Asia and Latin America, where dubbed versions in 15 languages premiere simultaneously. Promotional tie-ins include Suzuki-signed merchandise and in-app games simulating hitman missions. The report’s release on July 18, 2025, coincides with Comic-Con panels teasing future expansions.

This milestone underscores anime’s streaming dominance, with Netflix investing $500 million annually in Japanese content. ‘Sakamoto Days’ exemplifies IP adaptation success, mirroring ‘Arcane”s benchmarks. Full-year data, due December 2025, projects 200 million hours total viewed.

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