Reviewed by Alicia Glass
In the third installment of the Baby Assassins series, teenage hitpeople Chisato and Mahiro visit the coastal town of Miyazaki, on a combination mission and vacation, when they encounter a fellow bloodthirsty assassin as a new rival!
A good many people in the audience at the Pac-Arts Spring Showcase 2025 hadn’t seen the first two Baby Assassin films, and were relieved when the art director of the fest assured them it wasn’t necessary in his introductory speech. Of course the same two actors were kept for the lead roles of Chisato (Akari Taikashi) and Mahiro (Saroi Izawa), and that’s why we’re here right? Make sure you have at least one extra ammo clip and let’s get into this!
So Chisato and Mahiro are here visiting the coastal city of Miyazaki, doing the fun things vacationing teenagers enjoy doing, mostly involving the beach and sampling the local cuisines. Chisato is elated and terrified to discover it’s Mahiro’s birthday soon, and vows to wow her with the best beef dishes to be had here in Miyazaki ever. But first, our work as baby assassins is never actually done and our tiny lady killers have to flip, roll, and shoot their way out of their next assignment!
The only problem is, well, this rival assassin, a complete nutjob with his logbook full of kooky information, former kills and meandering timelines, known as Kaede Fuyumura (Sosuke Ikematsu), seems to have gotten there first. And after some rather fist-and-foot-flying confrontations, the assassins guild our Babies work for decide to send in backup, whether they like it or not!
Backup consists of two senior assassins – the constantly-annoyed and admonishing Iruka Minami (Atsuko Maeda) and her well-meaning if bumbling pal who professes to not wanting to use guns at all, Riku Nanase (Mondo Otani), and that’s it. Not that our Babies want or think they need backup anyway, but lets be real here, Mahiro got her butt kicked in the initial encounter with Kaede, and that’s kind of giving her usual confidence a serious downer. And because our Babies are forever a pair, Mahiro’s suffering is affecting Chisato too, causing them to inject their usual cheerful banter with sharp barbs. Though their initial reactions to the seniors is all kinds of strained, eventually Chisato and Mahiro both learn to appreciate the concept of backup, being not only a trained killer who has your back with an extra ammo clip, but also people just like them to talk to for advice on such matters.
The Japanese pop culture references sprinkled throughout the film are best understood if the viewer happens to be some kind of otaku, but it’s not a requirement to actually enjoy the film. Director Yuga Sakamoto has directed all three of the Baby Assassins films in his now-signature style with clear manga and anime influences, along with callbacks to the likes of John Wick weary warrior scenes and the “bullet ballet” influence of fellow director John Woo.
Zany, wacky, over-the-top and in-your-face with a hail of bullets, Baby Assassins Nice Days reminds us that while there will always be rivals, its never a weakness to ask for help with the final showdown!