Review of Tokyo Revengers

Tokyo Revengers I remember when the anime was released in 2021 and had gathered quite a lot of hype around it. It was compared to other similar works like "Erased" and seemed to be rather popular. Well at least for the first few months, somewhere in the middle of it, people suddenly stopped seeing any of the anime on YouTube or anywhere else, it was like it was gone and there was no trace of the fans. After I started watching this anime, I understood why that was the case. Despite all expectations, this anime/manga is blessed with a very interesting concept, especially for thriller fans. Wehave unexplained murders, time travel, and a protagonist who wants to stop it all. None of this is new or revolutionary, but it is a relatively good and successful approach. Nothing can go wrong with that, can it?
At least that would be the case if the author had any idea how to write a plot and use his protagonist.

This whole anime makes no sense, has no context, and is more random than my closet. Nothing here is explained and is done for the sole purpose of moving the story forward. No matter what you see, no matter who the protagonist suddenly meets, "It happened that way because the plot wanted it that way". You can cope with that a few times, every series has something like that, but here it's almost at every conceivable moment.

[Story & Characters]

As I said, the plot revolves around time travel, but it's not a one-off but a recurring one. The protagonist returns again and again to change the past. This whole concept of time travel makes no sense whatsoever, but it is what it is. His moving and emotional motivation to do this is the death of his former school friend Hinata Tachibana. Who he... He hasn't seen her for 12 years and has forgotten that she even existed. But after seeing her again as a teenager, he immediately realized that he had a crush on the 14-year-old. But before that, he didn't seem to care whether she lived or died. In between, many smaller events are part of the larger problem that the protagonist has to deal with. Ultimately, that's how the series plays out.

It's no surprise to know that the protagonist is often an "eyesore" and is very often completely overshadowed by popular supporting characters. And here the author has gone out of his way to make the protagonist seem like the most annoying and unbearable existence. Not only is he a complete loser, but he's a permanent crybaby, and has 2 motivational speeches every episode without developing in any way. And then he also tries to cheat on his "girlfriend", whom he wants to save and loves endlessly. And not with another character, but with a random girl in the brothel.

The rest of the main characters are relatively one-dimensional personalities, at least in the first season, but as the second season progresses they start to develop more personality. The ONLY interesting character in the whole series is Chisaki. And I swear on my mustache, I would never have finished watching the anime if Chisaki wasn't an interesting villain.

[Conclusion 4]

I understand why you don't hear about the anime and manga these days, it's just... hard-core mediocrity with a relatively poor realization. There's hardly anything good about the first season, except for the backstory of Mikey's brother. That and Chisaki were the only two highlights that I found interesting. Everything else is not even worth watching.

[Enjoyment 4]