Tokyo Revengers gained a lot of popularity as soon as the release of the anime. Even the manga sales blew up after that. The anime series completed its first season on the 19th of this month and it was renewed for a second season soon after. The manga was released in 2017 and sold more than 17 million copies only in that year.
Also, as was revealed in September 2021, over 40 million copies of Tokyo Revengers manga are now in circulation. In the first half of 2021, the manga series became the third best-selling manga, leaving top manga like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen behind. Tokyo Revengers is nearing its finale and fans are all the more eager to find out how the future turns out.
The story revolves around Takemichi Hanagaki, a 26-year-old part-time worker. Following his ex-girlfriend, Hinata Tachibana's death, he found out about his powers of time-traveling. Somehow, he had traveled back to 12 years in the past when he was still dating Hinata Tachibana.
It was also the time when Toman, short for the Tokyo Manji Gang, was responsible for Hinata's death, was at its peak. Takemichi swore that he will save Toman from getting ruined by Tetta Kisaki and also save Hinata Tachibana from dying in the future.
He met Mikey, the commander of Toman, and Draken, the vice-commander and Mikey's best friend. The three quickly became close friends and helped each other in every way possible. Here, we will find out whether Tokyo Revengers portray teenage Issues in a bad light.
1. The Plot Revolves Around Delinquents
Mikey's dream is to create a new age of delinquents. He admires his older brother who was the founder of a popular biker gang. Mikey wants to recreate that era when everyone would think of delinquents as cool with their super-loud motorcycles, boldness, fighting all the time, and taking care of their own problems.
The series tries very hard to make his dream sound really cool. However, judging from an audience's point of view, the first thought that would come to their mind is that there is nothing right or cool about fighting all the time.
2. Underage Motorcycle Riders
The story focuses on middle schoolers around the age of 14 or 15, which is not even the legal age of getting a driving license. In Japan, 16 years of age are eligible and the characters in the series have been riding motorcycles ever since they were 11 or 12.
This is also showing the kids in a bad light since no one would encourage such small children to speed through the road on their bikes.
Tulisha Srivastava
3. Almost No Mention of Parents
The biker gang members skip classes, engage in fights, ride motorcycles, wear their gang uniforms, and even smoke.
However, there is almost no sign of their parents who should worry about their kids getting in a fight or being hospitalized. The series perhaps tries to ignore that addition since it won't help much in the plot progression.
4. Murder and Assaults
Although Mikey envisions delinquents having fistfights all the time, the reality is far much harsher than dreams. In almost every arc of the series, there have been attempted murders with knives and guns. There was even a sexual assault case done by middle school students.
Also, Tetta Kisaki intetntianlly ran his bike over Emma. Draken dies of gunshot wounds in the final arc. All of these things combined portray lots of cringiness since they are all done by teenagers.
Bottom Line
Tokyo Revengers is a great series and is fairly popular as well. Although there have been mixed reviews about the series in the past, loyal fans still love to watch it for the sake of entertainment. For better or the worse, even the mixed reviews invoke curiosity among the audience, compelling them to watch it.
All things considered, Tokyo Revengers can be a bit cringy at times but the added element of time travel adds a certain flicker to it. There's no denying that the constant plot twists of the series keep the audience glued to it, regardless of whether they complement or criticize the show.
Tulisha Srivastava
Tulisha Srivastava
