I was pretty sure I knew how Sakamoto Days would play out — trope as old as time, a retired hitman gets pulled back into the world of assassins and crime. I figured he’d be juggling his double life, hiding the more violent and dangerous aspects of his job from his sweet, unknowing wife.

And for about four and a half episodes, it played exactly into my expectations. I was pleasantly entertained by the secret double-life hijinks, though not necessarily on the edge of my seat. But midway through the fifth episode, the show took an unexpected turn — for the better.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the first six episodes of Sakamoto Days.]

Five years prior to the start of the show, legendary hitman Sakamoto left his life of crime to marry his wife, Aoi. Though

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