Sakamoto

Sakamoto (阪本) is a black cat that was found by Nano and Hakase. Sakamoto is able to speak while wearing a red scarf made by Hakase. He is older than both Nano and Hakase (20 years old in cat years), and prefers to be called "Sakamoto-san" to emphasize his authority. He lives in the Shinonome Lab.

Background

Sakamoto is a middle-aged cat. In the anime, his original owner was Nakamura, who originally named him Taisho, though he ran away due to Nakamura's aggressively bad care. Sakamoto was found on the street by Hakase and was soon adopted by Hakase and Nano. Hakase gave Sakamoto his name, only because the name from the box he was found in had the label "Sakamoto". With neither Nano nor Hakase knowing how to care for a cat, the latter quickly invented a scarf that would allow him to speak like a human being, only to discover his personality was far from the cute animal they anticipated.

Appearance

Sakamoto is a black cat sporting a red scarf. The iris of his eyes are narrow and vertical. He has no visible mouth.

Personality

Sakamoto acts like a middle-aged man and usually speaks in a condescending tone towards Hakase and Nano, though he tends to act helplessly like a common cat when the situation calls for it. Sakamoto enjoys what other cats likes to enjoy, such as playing with toys or small objects, but tries to hide it from Hakase and Nano so as to avoid being seen as immature. Despite this, every so often he will openly embrace his more wild side.

Relationships

Hakase

Hakase gave Sakamoto the ability to verbally communicate like a human. Although Sakamoto demands a respect that an elder should receive, Hakase usually does not comply. She torments Sakamoto by inflicting him with comically twisted physical abuse, usually in the form of a childish booby-trap. Hakase calls him by the name "Sakamoto“, instead of "Sakamoto-san", implying that she doesn't regard him as an elder. She puts the blame on him whenever she has made a mistake, an example of this was when Nano scolded her for eating snacks before sleep, which she blames him by saying Sakamoto told her to eat the snacks. Regardless of this, both of them do have fun times with each other, such as when Nano leaves to return books to the library, Hakase gets the idea to finish Nano's Daruma doll's eyes so she can get praise from her, but after finishing painting the eyes, they are off. Sakamoto comes in and tries to help Hakase by giving her the idea to paint a line across the Daruma doll's face, making it look like it is wearing sunglasses. Hakase and Sakamoto find this hilarious and can't stop laughing until they're shocked by Nano announcing she's back home.

Nano Shinonome

Nano gives Sakamoto food and takes care of him, unlike Hakase (which she asked). Nano usually treats Sakamoto as an elder, but at times she sometimes treats Sakamoto like any other house cat, as well. Nano calls him "Sakamoto-san", respecting him as an elder. Due to this, Sakamoto views her as the more reliable member of the household, but he still holds himself above her in terms of maturity.

Kana Nakamura

In the anime, Nakamura is Sakamoto's former owner. Nakamura was a careless cat owner, leading her to do things such as trying to feed him instant ramen and bathing him in scalding hot water. He quickly escaped at the first opportunity, leaving him utterly terrified at the idea of returning to her, despite knowing she had good intentions.

Yuuko Aioi

In the manga, Yuuko is aware of Sakamoto's ability to speak, which fills her with wonder and amazement. Sakamoto tends to ignore Yuuko since despite never doing anything she asks of him, she is always amazed by the fact he can talk alone.

Character songs

• "Sakamoto-san no Nyaa to Iu to demo Omottaka"
• "Sakamoto-san no Neko Jealousy"
• "Shinonome Kenkyuusho no, Kyou mo Heiwa Desu"
• "Kikyuu ni Notte Dokomade mo"
• "Tabidachi no Hi ni"

Etymology

• The surname Sakamoto means "heights, slope" (阪) (saka) and "base, root, origin, source" (本) (moto).

Image Gallery

See: Sakamoto's Image Gallery

Nichijou Anime Official Guide Book, Fan translation by LordSanic664.

References