A brief chat with Baby Assassins: Nice Days director Yugo Sakamoto

For roughly the past year, I have co-hosted a YouTube channel called “TimesSqKungFu” with my friend Frankie Balboa. A creation of his to get his thoughts on action cinema and film color grading out into the wild, it has morphed into a channel that discusses not only upcoming Blu-Ray releases but also fun things like interviewing the people behind the films he enjoys.

As part of the 23rd New York Asian Film Festival this year, Frankie and I were given a chance to interview Baby Assassins: Nice Days director Yugo Sakamoto. As you’ll know from my review on the site, I loved the film, and Frankie and I have been big fans of the series. It was an honor to get to send some questions over to learn some extra insight from Sakamoto-san himself.

While this type of cross-promotion between TimesSqKungFu and Flixist won’t be the norm in the future, I felt it was important to get this video highlighted by as many people as possible. It’s also a way for me to shout out Frankie, who has been a tremendous help in my life and given me something more to strive for. You can watch the full review below and the entire written transcript will be available to read.

Hey everyone! My name is Peter Glagowski and welcome to a somewhat different episode of TimesSquareKungFu. During the New York Asian Film Festival this year, Frankie and I were given a chance to send some questions over to Baby Assassins director Yugo Sakamoto about the latest chapter in the Baby’s saga [Baby Assassins: Nice Days]. While we couldn’t meet with him face to face, through the help of the NYAFF’s translators (shoutout to Koichi Mori, Qing Jin, and Claire Gu for setting this up), we were able to pick his brain a little about what he hopes to achieve with Nice Days.

Just a heads up, there will be some light spoilers in this interview regarding Nice Days, which does not have an official US release date yet. In Japan, the film will be hitting theaters on September 27, 2024. Interestingly, the recently announced TV series Baby Assassins Everyday will be premiering on September 4, 2024, likely as a way to promote the new film in the weeks leading up to its release. As with the previous two Baby Assassins films, Well Go USA will be handling distribution in the West.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the interview, which I will be narrating over some clips from Baby Assassins 1 and 2. Sakamoto-san answers the majority of the questions, but producer Yuusuke Suzuki chimes in on a couple to add some extra insight.

To kick things off, Frankie asked Sakamoto-san the following: I noticed the Baby Assassins are a lot more tactical in this film compared to the previous ones. Is this something that is going to transition into the TV series? Sakamoto-san responded, “It’s simply because we wanted to shoot a lot of action! We tried to keep the atmosphere of the previous films but make it more like Mission: Impossible.” Suzuki-san added, “We wanted to enter the next phase of the series, after the first two films.”

Interestingly, I noted this similarity in my review on Flixist.  The action design in Nice Days is not only a lot more dynamic but seems to be taking some cues from Hollywood action. While that might sound dissatisfying taken at face value, I mean it in the best possible way. Action director Kensuke Sonomura has borrowed from the recent greats instead of relying on quick cuts and disorienting camera angles to trick viewers into thinking something cool is happening.

Following up on that first question, Frankie asked: The film is very different from the last two films in approach and tone. It is way darker. Was this something you had in mind when you started making these movies? Suzuki-san predicated Sakamoto-san’s answer by saying, “I requested that he make the film more action-oriented than the previous ones,” which absolutely shows in the final cut.

Sakamoto-san responded, “I don’t think it was very dark at the script stage. I think the character of Kaede Fuyumura (played by Sosuke Ikematsu) also began as a more humorous character, but as I was filming, I realized I love violent films and I ended up going overboard.”

To that end, Frankie complimented Ikematsu-san’s performance and wanted to get some insight into the direction of the character. He asked: Sosuke Ikematsu is a fantastic villain in this film and [he] reminded me of Yusaku Matsuda’s character in Toru Murakawa’s The Beast to Die. What was your inspiration behind such a character?

Sakamoto-san was quick to congratulate Ikematsu-san on his performance and answered, “I’m proud that we could create a great villain and have to thank Sosuke Ikematsu for that. I wanted to create a character with a complex inner life, but without making the audience feel too much sympathy for him.” In the final film, that is absolutely achieved. There is even a brilliant bit where Mahiro is boxing in his apartment while the assassin’s guild is searching for him which then transitions into his past life. It adds a layer of complexity to the antagonist that was missing in previous Baby Assassins films.

To wrap up our discussion on villains, I wanted to know how Sakamoto-san is crafting villains for the upcoming TV series. His response was humorous, with him stating, “I would like to have an enemy such as a tax accountant who’s chasing the assassins.” That, to me, sounds like an incredible adversary. A villain the babies can’t simply kill as it would cause more headaches than if they just dealt with him through proper legal channels. As for what Sakamoto-san is planning for the TV show, he simply said, “I have a lot of great things in mind, like crawling around and wielding knives!”

The next obvious topic of discussion was about lead actresses Saori Izawa and Akari Takaishi. They are instrumental in not only making these films work but also in creating an appealing duo to hang these stories on. Frankie asked Sakamoto-san: Saori and Akari have great chemistry in these films. How much input do they have in the creative process?

Sakamoto-san stated, “We give them quite a lot of freedom to perform their roles. Sometimes I let them improvise and try new things. They don’t make big changes, but I do ask them to modify a lot of nuances in the dialogue.” I also asked about the type of training the two go through, but at this point in the series, they are well-rounded. “We just had them do a lot of practice since the two of them already had a pretty good foundation,” Sakamoto added.

That solid foundation likely came in clutch considering the choreography in Nice Days is a bit more brutal. As Frankie noted in his question: The choreography in this film is way more brutal. What was the most challenging aspect of it in making this happen with Kensuke Sonomura? Sakamoto-san said, “I think it’s about creating drama. I think he gave us a lot of flavor and made the action scenes more emotional. That’s the wonderful thing about Mr. Sonomura.”

To wrap up our interview, Frankie and I felt it would be insightful to learn more about Yugo Sakamoto himself. We both wanted to know which films directly inspired the story and progression of Nice Days, to which Sakamoto-san said, “I would say Crayon Shin-chan: Fierceness That Invites Storm! Yakiniku Road of Glory and No Country for Old Men.” Certainly, an eclectic mixture of films, though the themes from both are readily present in the final cut.

Frankie then inquired about what genres Sakamoto-san might like to tackle in the future. He asked: You are a very experimental director with fascinating films such as Legendary Hit-Man, Kunioka, and Yellow Dragon Village. Would you ever consider doing a full horror film? With Baby Assassins Nice Days, the tension and look of the film almost feel like one.

Sakamoto-san responded, “I would like to try it someday because I really like thrillers, suspense, horror, and absurdity. Something without laughs, something that will make everyone gasp.” He’s getting closer to that with Nice Days, which you’ll see when the film gets a wide release.

Since Frankie and I both have a background in video games, we couldn’t leave this question out: Do we expect the Baby Assassins universe to be in other mediums, like video games? Because Hideo Kojima recently discovered the films and is a huge fan. Sakamoto-san stated, “It would be great to see an open-world game set in downtown Japan where an assassin is on a mission.” To me, that sounds like something ripe for Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios to tackle.

To cap off the interview, Frankie questioned which Japanese films Sakamoto-san would recommend: Baby Assassins is such a marvelous film and you are one amazing director. What Japanese films will you recommend to people who love your films? Sakamoto-san responded, “I would recommend the films Linda Linda Linda and Blue Spring. Both of them have a uniquely Japanese atmosphere.”

Thanks once again to the New York Asian Film Festival and director Yugo Sakamoto for taking the time to answer these questions for us. If you couldn’t tell by now, Frankie and I are both big fans of Baby Assassins and are eager to see where the series goes in the future. If you haven’t seen the films yet, Well Go USA has some solid Blu-Ray releases available for purchase. Both films are also available to stream via Hi-Yah!