While Spy x Family is a Shonen Jump+ hit, Sakamoto Days is well-loved among Weekly Shonen Jump readers. Both series even received anime adaptations, even though there’s a disparity in the series’ popularity. The Summer 2025 anime line-up debuted the second season of the Sakamoto Days anime while Spy x Family will drop its third season in Fall 2025. At its core, both series are action-driven with covert missions, assassins, and spies. However, while Sakamoto Days is praised for its fight choreography and unique premise, Spy x Family’s charm lies in blending the slice-of-life elements and action, which makes it more appealing, especially for casual viewers.
However, both series begin with heartwarming family tropes. Spy x Family bases its entire story on the premise of a fake family, which, surprisingly enough, is filled with adorable moments thanks to Anya. The main characters are hiding their true identity to keep up the facade of an ordinary, loving family while fighting to protect the peace between two warring nations. Meanwhile, Sakamoto Days focuses on Taro Sakamoto, a legendary assassin who quit his job five years ago after falling in love. His peaceful life with his wife and daughter gets disrupted when he gets a bounty on his head and is forced to find the culprit behind it. While both series are engaging, Spy x Family does one thing far better than Sakamoto Days.
Spy x Family Still Focuses Consistently on Family, Unlike Sakamoto Days
Although both series begin with the family dynamics, Spy x Family is the only one that maintains that premise, while Sakamoto Days has become purely a battle Shonen with rare heartwarming moments with the family. We still see heartwarming moments in the Forger family: Anya keeping the family tied together, Loid ensuring his family is happy for the sake of the mission, and Yor doing everything she can for their sake. The story has come a long way, and we have seen several challenges the main characters have gone through.
There are several action moments thrown into the mix, but the story stays true to its core, which is exactly what the audience came here to see. Meanwhile, Sakamoto Days was always action-driven, blending family dynamics in between. However, now it focuses only on that, with rarely any scenes with the family. In the beginning, we used to see them together most often, but not anymore.
The story took a drastic turn in the JCC Transfer Exam Arc, which began in Chapter 55, and it hasn’t been the same ever since. Aoi, Hana, and even Lu just became kind of like filler characters who sometimes show up when the story needs a break from the consecutive fights. Not that it’s a bad thing to focus on action, especially for a WSJ series, but the series’ beginning gave another impression.
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