To those of you that watch anime on a regular basis must already be aware of a popular show called Tokyo Revengers. You can find this show online or on Crunchyroll.com (now owned by Sony). I’ve been watching this anime from the beginning and was intrigued by the storyline and even some of the characters. The show isn’t finished yet, and I normally wouldn’t do an anime review until it’s completely finished, regardless if it’s for one season or many. The animation is great! I love anime that are visual eye candy even when there’s not a lot of action – the art style of everything, from the characters to the city setting is just spot on. I tend to watch my anime in Japanese for the simple fact that I’m studying the language and I believe Japanese voice acting is much better than its English counterparts. I know that’s not true for some anime, but in more recent years, in my opinion, that’s been the case. The storyline for this anime is a kid named Takemichi somehow goes back in time to stop a gang called Tokyo Manji Gang or Toman, for short, from following their normal trajectory of mess-ups, crimes, and even death, in order to prevent his girlfriend from dying by their hands in his present timeline.
Now that the niceties are out of the way, there are some things that I really need to get off of my chest. I’ve watched some slow-burning anime in my life and eventually, I found out it was all worth it in the end. There’s always some sort of balance with slow-burn anime, especially if the climax and/or ending is a huge payoff for the watcher. Tokyo Revengers would have you believe that’s what’s in store for you – but it’s not! Most of the characters in this anime are run-of-the-mill stereotype nerds, bullies, and gangsters trying to do the right thing that are somehow intellectually enlightened, or just not smart at all. This even applies to the main protagonist Takemichi and his friends. These are kids that have been bullied every day by older kids that just so happen to be part of a gang that Takemichi joins later on. When you think of gangs, you think of tough guys and people that can fight…right? Well, you’re in for a very sad surprise here because everyone except for Takemichi and his friends can fight, and are actually good at it. Takemichi literally cries his way into Toman because he made such a huge impact on the leader, Mikey.
The time-traveling element would usually make the story intriguing because anything is possible with time travel. One of my biggest gripes with this show is the lack of character development and growth for Takemichi. I won’t ruin everything for you, but he goes back in time and gets into a fight and loses – and this is where his journey begins. Every episode involves Takemichi doing something to alter the timeline, getting into fights, and CLEARLY LOSING, then declaring how he’s going to change just to be back at square one in the very next episode. So to save you some time here’s how it looks:
Takemichi alters the timeline —> gets into a fight and loses—-> cries in anger about how he’s going to change—-> Takemichi alters the timeline….you get the idea. Rinse and repeat. I have watched every episode with bated breath to see Takemichi finally learn how to fight and have one of the most epic fight scenes I’ve ever witnessed in anime, but it never happened. You’ll see some of the stronger supporting characters get into fights and even win, and you’ll feel like something good happened that made the episode worth watching, but once Takemichi gets punched in the face, that feeling quickly goes from excitement to disappointment. I honestly have never seen such a horrible show as Tokyo Revengers, but then again I haven’t watched every anime out there. I feel like I’m robbing myself of one of the most exciting payoffs an anime fan can get, but always, and I mean always without fail, I find myself tuning out of the latest episode of the week whenever they elude to a fight. Save yourself the time, energy, and unnecessary frustration, and just skip this altogether. There are some ALRIGHT moments in this anime and hopefully, the manga is 10x better, but if I had to rate this on a number scale then I’d give it a 5/10. And that’s being generous.
Tips for Tokyo Revengers fans
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Hey! I’m Lais a.k.a. Chipz-N-Stix and I love video games and nerd culture overall. I typically do reviews and impressions on video games as well as offer some helpful tips and tricks to enhance your gaming experience. From time to time I tend to touch on certain topics that get you thinking – things that would matter to the individual. I’m also a self-proclaimed Pokemon Master but that doesn’t mean you can outright challenge me. I have to “motivate” my team for that!