Sakamoto Days: Who is Rion Akao?

Rion as seen in the Sakamoto Days manga
Rion as seen in the Sakamoto Days manga (Image credit: Shueisha)

Sakamoto Days features a variety of fascinating and charismatic characters, but very few hold a candle to the formidable Rion Akao. Despite having died seven years before the current story’s timeline, she continues playing a crucial role in guiding the main characters and the antagonist.

Rion Akao is the aunt of Akira Akao and one of the greatest prospects to ever come out of the JCC assassin-training program. In the past, she had been a close friend of Nagumo and Sakamoto, enjoying her days sparring with them and completing missions. Rion is shown to be a carefree and reckless woman who cares little about the consequences of her actions.

She jumps into action without thinking, which can often lead her into trouble. Additionally, Rion also lacks tact during conversation and can speak her thoughts with no filter. At the same time, though she may initially seem to be brash and rude, Rion is an incredibly caring and warm individual.

Rion as seen in the Sakamoto Days manga (Image credit: Shueisha)
Rion as seen in the Sakamoto Days manga (Image credit: Shueisha)

She loves her niece, Akira, and dreams of creating a world where kind people can stay kind. For its sake, she is willing to shoulder the burden of killing others herself. Rion trusts Sakamoto and Nagumo but also worries about them when the stakes are at their highest.

Her introduction in Sakamoto Days came during Taro Sakamoto’s Past Arc, when the protagonist was explaining his connection to the main villain, Uzuki. During this series of chapters, fans got attached to one particular bright figure in Sakamoto’s life, Rion Akao.

Rion was a powerful individual who could go toe-to-toe with Kindaka, the co-founder of the Order, and was tasked with a mission, along with Sakamoto, Nagumo, and Uzuki, to escort the JAA Chairman’s wife and daughter. She impressed with her skills, battling dangerous enemies and not cowering in the face of deadly assassins.

However, her main character trait in Sakamoto Days is her unwavering belief and kindness toward others, especially Kei Uzuki. Even after Uzuki was manipulated by his brother into killing Kindaka during their mission, Rion kept an open mind and heard him out. She discovered how Uzuki’s friends at Al-Kamar were being held hostage by Asaki and decided to help them.

As a result, she abandoned the entire world of assassination just for the sake of a friend she met recently. Together, the duo lived an enjoyable life for a year, strengthening their bond and coming up with a scheme to save the children at Al-Kamar. At this point, Rion was carrying out separate assassination missions for the sake of earning money.

Unfortunately, during her final outing, she was killed by Uzuki himself, who had been threatened by Asaki. Even as she lay at the edge of death, Rion tried to comfort the guilt-stricken Uzuki, praising his strength and reaffirming her goal of wanting to create a world for kind people.

Rion’s death is the main motivating factor for Kei Uzuki in Sakamoto Days. The shock of her passing caused him to steal her personality through his dissociative identity disorder. In the recent chapters of the manga, this antagonist has caused the entire world to go into chaos by giving every ordinary citizen a license to kill.

Uzuki explained that this was in line with Rion’s objective and that he wanted to see if the result of his actions would destroy society or create a world for kind people that his friend wished for.


How powerful is Rion Akao in Sakamoto Days?

As mentioned, Rion Akao was believed to be an assassin of the same caliber as Taro Sakamoto and Nagumo. She fought with the two often and was more than worthy of being selected into the Order. Apart from her enhanced senses, speed, and reflexes, Rion’s main ability during battle is her ability to see paths.

Uzuki thinks of Rion as seen in the Sakamoto Days manga (Image credit: Shueisha)
Uzuki thinks of Rion as seen in the Sakamoto Days manga (Image credit: Shueisha)

Rion had a visual ability; she could see lines that indicate the potential ways in which she could attack enemies. Through these paths, Rion rapidly adapts during battle and eliminates foes in the most efficient way possible. Even Kindaka recognized the danger of this skill, due to which he blinded Rion using alcohol.

Rion is also handy with knives, guns, and all forms of pistols, maintaining her position as the third-best shooter to emerge from the JCC. Hence, it is not an overstatement to consider Rion one of the best fighters in Sakamoto Days, who died an early death solely due to her shock of fighting Uzuki.

Edited by Sangeeta Mathew