Episodes: 24
Aired: Apr 11, 2021 to Sep 19, 2021
Studio: LIDENFILMS
Genre: Action, Sci-fi, Shounen
Duration: 23 min. per ep.
Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)
Add to list on MAL
MY RATING: 7 out of 10
Takemichi Hanagaki’s second year of middle school was the highest point in his life. He had respect, a gang of friends he could count on, and even a girlfriend. But that was twelve years ago. Today, he’s a nobody: a washed-up nonentity made fun of by children and always forced to apologize to his younger boss. A sudden news report on the Tokyo Manji Gang’s cruel murder of the only girlfriend he ever had alongside her brother only adds insult to injury. Half a second before a train ends his pitiful life for good, Takemichi flashes back to that same day twelve years ago, when he was still dating Hinata Tachibana.
After being forced to relive the very same day that began his downward spiral, Takemichi meets Hinata’s younger brother. Without thinking, he admits to his seeming death before flashing back to the past. Takemichi urges him to protect his sister before inexplicably returning to the future. Miraculously, he isn’t dead. Stranger still, the future has changed. It seems as though Takemichi can alter the flow of time. Given the chance to prevent his ex-girlfriend’s tragic death at the hands of the Tokyo Manji Gang, Takemichi decides to fly through time to change the course of the future.
via MAL
I’ve been seeing a lot of Tokyo Revengers posts in my Facebook stream eversince it was aired. Saying that I wasn’t interested was an understatement. Without reading its synopsis or watching its trailer, I instantly added it to my to-watch list.
Seeing that it was THAT popular, having expectations is impossible not to have at all when I started this series. Let’s see if it reached my expectations, shall we.
Opening & Closing Themes + Song
I didn’t particularly like the opening theme when I first saw it, but it gives a 90s anime vibe because of its animation and character design. I just learned to appreciate its opening once I finally got a grasp of the plot. The song isn’t usually my favorite upbeat anime song, but after watching a few more episodes, I think it suits well with the opening.
It is important to note that Tokyo Revengers only has 1 opening theme but 2 closing themes. Usually for a 24 episodes long season, we’ll get 2 pairs of opening and closing. I think for this one a single opening is enough since it pretty much covered what to expect for this series as a whole.
As for the closing themes, I actually liked both as well as the songs. The first closing is more on the romance – romantic relationship between Takemichi and Hina, while the 2nd closing theme is giving off a cool vibe. I especially love the Tokyo city lights starter, and ofcourse seeing all the Tokyo Manji gang looking so cool, *wink.
Story
I absolutely don’t have any idea that this one is going to be a time travelling series. I was even dumb enough to think that it was isekai while watching the first episode, lol.
Time travelling isn’t one of my favorite plots but I don’t specifically hate it since I’ve watched some time travelling series before that I truly enjoyed.
Tokyo Revengers reminds me so much of Erased because the main character also goes back to the past to save someone special to him (aren’t all? hahaha). Aside from the saving, the main character also reminds me a little of the latter.
I personally think that the combination of gangs and time travel is pretty clever. That said, I can see how Tokyo Revengers creates a strong foundation for its own version of time travelling. It can be a bit confusing to some since time travelling is never simple, but I guess that’s the beauty of it.
I’m a bit antsy lately, so I wasn’t a big fan of anticipation that one of the key characters of this series will turn bad. Maaan, I was so noisy while watching this series lol. There’s some really annoying characters here making me mad at some point. And that ending just sealed the deal for me, hahaha. Instead of giving this one an 8, I have to reduce it to 7 because of that.
It’s pretty irrational of me, but I love my HEA hahaha. I’ll let you discover it for yourself, *wink.
Btw, there’s a lot of violence in here (especially fist fighting), so watch with caution.
Characters
Just like most shounen series, Tokyo Revengers also have a long list of characters. Seeing that this is only a 24 episode series, we’ve only got to really get acquainted well to those characters that matters most in this current season (seeing that the manga is still ongoing, I am assuming that there will be a new season coming in the future).
Takemichi
For a wannabe delinquent, he sure is a cry baby and doesn’t know how to fight. During the first few episodes, I wasn’t really interested in him. The only thing I find interesting about him is his ability to go back in the past.
But as I watch further, I’ve got to see more and understand his character a little better. He’s a crybaby and sometimes a coward, but we’ve got to see here how he tried so hard to fight the odds in order to save not just Hina but also his friends.
Hina
Since she’s not one of the main characters, we’ve only got to see a little of her, but of all those short appearances, you can really see that she’s a badass. I especially like the part where she stood up on Mikey.
Mikey
It’s not Tokyo Revengers without Mikey. Almost all Tokyo Revengers posts I’ve seen have him in it and after watching this series, I can definitely see the appeal.
Mikey is a founding member and leader of Tokyo Manji Gang. He usually looks cool with that imposing and commanding aura of his, but is pretty much carefree and loves to joke and play around.
Aside from that, what I also love about him is his devotion to his friends.
Draken
If you mention Mikey, Draken’s name is pretty much what comes next (to some the order may interchange). Despite the way he looks, he’s a very decent guy. His environment is not ideal for a child to grow up in, but despite that, he grew up as a good person.
I really love seeing his interaction with his friends, especially Mikey. It just warms my heart <3
Baji
Unlike the top members of the Tokyo Maji gang, Baji doesn’t have a lot of exposure in this series. But if you talk about Tokyo Revengers, you can’t possibly talk about it without being reminded of the sacrifice he made for his friends.
He looks pretty aggressive but once you get to know his backstory, you can’t really help but feel really sad and emotional about what happened, huhuhu.
**
Aside from that lineup, Tokyo Revengers also have an impressive list of antagonists. Man, just thinking about them makes me hate that ending even more!
Art
As mentioned above, Tokyo Revengers’ animation and character design is pretty much the same with the 90s anime style. You can pretty much see it on their hairstyles lol. Newer anime looks amazing, but I personally love the 90s anime aesthetic.
For those who have been watching newer animes a lot lately may find this one “ugly” (I have to use the term used by a certain reviewer on MAL), but I actually think it was pretty. There might be some characters that almost look identical except for their hairstyles, but I am certainly digging the overall art.
Voice Actors
As usual, I love the original dub (Japanese), *wink. The English dub on the other hand is ok on some parts, but could be better.
***
I may not have liked the feeling of anticipation that one of my favorite characters may turn bad while watching this series. I still think it was a good series overall.
If you like a nice twist to your time travelling story, you may want to give Tokyo Revengers a try.
Btw, I’ve created more GIF of this anime here.
