Review of Tokyo Revengers

Déjà vu. The dictionary tells us déjà vu is an unpleasantly familiar feeling. Tokyo Revengers made me feel déjà vu because it is the latest of many overhyped shounen adaptations with nothing to offer except for animation. But this adaptation of a multimillion-dollar franchise has the unbelievable audacity to look like it was animated on a shoe-string budget in the early 2000s. Its utterly unremarkable story about middle school gang wars is only worsened by sluggish pacing and ugly art. Two middle school gangs wrapped in a turf war lead to the murder of an innocent person—one man has the power to prevent it all. Takamichi isa 26-year-old loser with no future. After finding out his middle school crush died in a car crash, he’s given a chance to challenge fate. Mysteriously, Takamichi is granted time travel abilities. He to a fixed period, 12 years ago. Upon reaching the past, he collides with two angsty teens playing dress-up as gangbangers: Mikey and Draken. The President and vice president of the leading gang responsible for his ex-girlfriend’s death. There are two sides to the middle school turf war—Tokyo Manji Gang, a band of tough-as-nails bikers who value loyalty and honesty above all else. Secondly, the Black Dragons, known for their belligerent behavior.

After his first foray into the past, Takamichi is sent back to the future™, where his life has suspiciously continued. He finds out his past alterations carry over in the present, such as a new scar on his hand. How the time travel mechanics work in Tokyo Revengers is left to our imagination. There’s hardly any logical consistency, and that’s the bare minimum. To travel between time periods, Takamichi has to shake hands with Naoto, the brother of his deceased girlfriend. For what reason? How does this work? Don’t think about it. When Takamichi returns to the future, the past Takamichi does not recall anything that happened. While Takamichi is in the past, he is shown sleeping in the future upon his return. Other times he reappears at different locations doing mundane daily activities. The time skips beg many questions: Does the past Takamichi inhabit the mind of the present one? The young version of Takamichi loses his memories; how does that affect his relationships with his girlfriend and the Tokyo Manji gang? Exploring these questions would make for a much more compelling and intelligent show. It is better not to think about the time travel mechanism of Tokyo Revengers because the more you do, the less it makes sense. A logically tight anime like Steins;Gate utilized its time travel element to tell a more compelling story, but it feels tacked on here.

The death of Naoto’s sister, Hinata, inspired him to seek justice alongside Takamichi. Assumably he utilizes his police power to track down criminals and map how they went from delinquents to a life of crime. Naoto’s purpose in the story is primarily as a plot device to assist Takamichi. Secondly, to motivate him to keep fighting. Namely, he slaps some sense into him after he has one of many emotional breakdowns. Speaking of which, this guy cries a lot—Takamichi puts every other crybaby shounen protagonist to shame. His frustratingly immature personality makes any potential investment in the show a difficult task. He is the kind of character who gets his lunch money stolen, beaten up, and shoved in a locker on the same day. Rather than coming up with rational solutions, he gets his ass kicked, blames himself, then metaphorically cries in someone’s lap until the problem disappears. The times he stands up for himself are few and far between. Weak and emotional character traits can make great protagonists. But rather than intervening, he is usually a helpless bystander—this defeats the purpose of traveling back in time. This man is 26 years old, yet 15-year-olds constantly outsmart him. Although he knows what will happen in the future, he only uses that information to say, “Hey, look, I remember that guy from the last episode!” The anime adapted two out of the five arcs, so Takamichi has time to redeem himself. Are you willing to struggle through an additional mediocre 24 episode season? I’m not.

Though he grows to care about the Tokyo Meji gang members, Takamichi is driven to save Hinata. That must mean she’s a pretty great character, right? Or is she just a damsel in distress with a personality as deep as a puddle? She is more like a carrot at the end of a stick used to move the plot forward. She exists to add stakes, not to be a nuanced character. The occasional romantic moments between Hinata and Takamichi (in the body of a teen) attempt to be touching and heartfelt, but they come off as concerning. Remember, he’s 26, and she’s like 15 at most. Thankfully, her relevance is next to none, and their romance is mainly written off later. Despite her importance in the plot, Hinata has the least screentime out of every main character. Lack of character development is an issue that extends to everyone; the Tokyo Manji kids are thinly drawn archetypes. A few of them have aside backstories to give us an explanation of the gang’s origins. Draken and Mikey get the most screentime, and they’re two of the best characters in the show. Draken has sympathetic reasons for staying by Mikey’s side and wanting to protect him—there’s palpable tension when he is in danger. Mikey is a loose cannon because of traumatic experiences the show touches on in his backstory. I wanted to see more of them. If only their characterization wasn’t forgone in favor of uninteresting plot development. Ultimately Tokyo Revenger’s most vital point of writing was its wild Jojo’s-esque characters, but begrudgingly it is a plot-driven story.

I’m thankful the anime’s tone stays pretty consistent. There’s no misplaced comedy to worry about, unlike Demon Slayer and its contemporaries. If anything, Tokyo Revengers can create a tense atmosphere; dramatic orchestral music plays during emotional moments and guitar riffs during tense confrontations. Dr. Stone’s excellent soundtrack was composed by the same musician… but the similarities are a little too plentiful. There’s not enough nuance to Tokyo Revengers’ OST. Frankly, it lacks a distinct or memorable identity and is another annoying source of déjà vu. The use of foley combined soundtrack is what makes the fights feel impactful—the squelching of a goon getting slugged sounds visceral. The sound effects enhance the atmosphere, but the art ruins it completely. This anime looks like it was created in 2005 and sent to the future along with Takamichi. Even up close, the characters’ facial proportions appear poorly drawn. Whenever there’s a group of people on screen, they look laughably warped. If you’re familiar with studio LIDENFILMS, you’ll recognize their work. They cut corners as often as possible.

For a show that strives to be believable, its dialogue is melodramatic to the point it’s unintentionally funny. The gang members have superhuman strength that’d make them more suited to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. In a different show, that’d be badass, but it’s difficult to suspend my disbelief when a 15-year-old takes down a guy twice his size with one kick. Their hyperbolic personalities fit their young age, but middle school students look much more youthful than these guys. It’s not like they are living in the inner city. Unless the screenwriters cut out background details, they seem privileged enough. Seeing kids put on tough-guy appearances is cringe-worthy. Although, the voice actors do a fair job of conveying the faux machismo of each middle school boy (most of which look and sound like they’re 25 years old).

Seeing the dozens of middle schoolers rumbling in the streets of suburban Japan constantly made me wonder: Where the hell are their parents? Does no one see these kids are trying to kill each other? There is no one in this mid-2000s setting except for children. There are no parents, no police, not even an ambulance to pick up the kids bleeding onto the street. Excluding Takamichi’s family makes him less relatable and believable. Do his parents not care that he comes home bruised and beaten every night? If they do, show us more.

Tokyo Revengers has an enticing premise: Go back in time to save your friends from a life of crime, despair, and early premature death. The show wastes half of its runtime on childish playground brawls following thinly written juvenile gangbangers. No doubt the complete lack of animation is to blame for the mind-numbingly boring Bloody Halloween arc.