Tokyo Revengers Fanart (Patreon)

One thing I did do on my break was catch up on a newer anime series I've really been enjoying - Tokyo Revengers! 

I'm so into this show... the two characters depicted here are Mikey and Draken and neither of them are the "main" character but they are sort of the focus of the show. They are middle schoolers (?? seems impossible) who run one of Tokyo's delinquent bike gangs in 2009. The show has a lot of violence and death, but it also has a lot of heart and I always find myself rooting for these boys mixed up in a bad situation to get themselves figured out 🥺 Maybe it's because I'm older now I have such a different reaction to these characters who are actually quite young. 

It has a lot of crying and fighting (my favourite thing in anime, be still my shonen-anime-loving heart) , and the style and character designs are really slick!!!

The writing in terms of the plot and characters is also very well done and gripping except.... I don't really like the central premise? [This next part of the review is a bit spoilery, like... episode 1 spoilerly but nothing major]

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The main character is actually this "nobody" type of person who gets sent back in time through unexplained means to relive his teens and try to change the future. He's trying to save the life of his girlfriend... who he broke up with in middle school and hasn't talked to in 12 years (uh)... and he tries to save her life by getting into worse and WORSE trouble with this gang that ends up killing her (???)

The time travel aspect is SUCH a distraction from the plot I actually care about (Mikey and the gang). It doesn't seem to serve the gang plotline, or themes, or... anything. And 24 eps in we still have very few hints of why or how this mysterious power is supposed to work. 

It almost feels like the creator (Ken Wakui) really really wanted to write about bike gang delinquents in 2009 but that was too... specific to sell as a manga series right now so it had to be wrapped up as a pseudo-Isekai...

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I guess that's the end of the spoilers. Ironically I really like the character of Hinata (the girlfriend), I think she's quite well-written and well-rounded despite her plot being a bit... tropey. Bleh. 

Anyway!! The 24-epsiode season just wrapped so it's a really good time to watch the series if this interests you :0

(And if you want to watch a time travel Isekai where you go back in time 12 years to save the life of a girl you sorta knew... but done well, watch Erased.)