One of the most popular manga right now is Tokyo Revengers.
The series itself started in 2017, although it seems to have become popular recently.
The anime, which started to be released in 2021, and the live-action movie, which was also screened in the summer of 2021, have had a great impact on the sales of the manga, which seems to have accelerated in recent years.
I also started reading Tokyo Revengers after watching the anime.
I’m sure there are some of you who have not read Tokyo Revengers yet, but are curious about it.
In this article, I would like to introduce what is interesting about Tokyo Revengers.
If you haven’t read it yet, or even if you have, please read my writing.
A brief synopsis of the story
I’m sure many of you have thought, “I wish I could go back in time.
I think we all have our heyday in life, when we say, “Those days were good.
The important setting of Tokyo Revengers is time travel.
It’s not about going to the future, but about traveling back and forth between the present and the past.
The main character of the manga, Takemichi (26), is portrayed as a bad person. He runs away all the time, he’s a part-time worker, he’s unattractive, and he’s not a nice guy.
However, even Takemichi (the main character) had his prime years in life.
That was when he was in junior high school.
Takemichi was a Yankee in junior high school, and he also had a beautiful girlfriend named Hina.
Unfortunately, Hina (his girlfriend) has long since left him.
One day, while Takemichi was watching TV, he saw a news report that Hina was involved in an incident.
Then, by chance, Takemichi travels back in time to his junior high school days, when he was in his prime, and tries to change the past in order to save Hina.
Thus, the story moves back and forth between the present and the past, and various developments occur.
As a side note, I’m sure many readers can relate to Takemichi when he says, “I had the most fun in my life when I was in junior high school. Those will empathize with Takemichi.
What makes me empathize even more is the fact that Takemichi’s middle school days were not actually very cool.
When he travels back in time, his friends seem to be having fun, but when Takemichi sees himself in middle school as an adult, he is surprised at how tacky he looks.
Also, as soon as he returned to the past, he was beaten up by a senior Yankee.
It seems that Takemichi had forgotten about this bad memory, and by going back to the past, he was reminded of it.
Memories can always be cleaned up, but maybe those fun times we had become just unconsciously beautified.
I can’t help but think about this when I look at Takemichi.
What I was saying is a little off topic, but “boyfriend goes back in time to save his girlfriend” is a very common storyline, isn’t it?
And “Yankee manga” is also a common story.
However, in this easy story to understand, Tokyo Revengers has unique point of interest.
I will introduce some of the interesting points below.
Upward and Downward Modernity
Takemichi struggles to change the past, but unfortunately, there is a past that can be changed and a past that cannot be changed.
Of course, if you can’t change the past, the present won’t change either.
However, even if you think you have changed the past, somehow when you return to the present, you may find that the present has become worse.
In other words, even if Takemichi is successful in going back to the past, the present day may not have changed at all or may have gotten worse.
The relationships between the many characters are so intricately intertwined that it is only when all the various conditions and situations mesh together that the present day finally changes for the better.
This difficulty in “changing the past” is both tantalizing and interesting.
To make things more complicated, changing the past also changes the enemies and allies of the present.
It’s a little hard to understand, so I’ll use Doraemon as an example to explain.
Doraemon and Nobita can also use a time machine to go to the future and the past, right?
In one future, Nobita is married to Jaiko, while in the other future, he is married to Shizuka.
However, in both futures, Gian, Suneo, and Shizuka are still friends.
Of course, Nobita’s character also remains the same. He’s a screw-up in every future.
However, in the case of Tokyo Revengers, depending on what kind of past you change, the enemies, allies, and even the personalities (good and bad) of people change drastically.
A person who was a good guy and an ally in the present day, but he may be portrayed as a bad guy in the other present day.
I think one of the interesting things is that we can see how the same person’s life can change drastically due to such “accidental environments”.
Every time I go back and forth between the past and the present, I am amazed at how much the characters change.
I’m afraid I’m using a lot of analogies, but the changes in the characters remind me of a junior high school reunion.
It reminds me of a junior high school reunion, where the old guy has changed so much! As Takemichi travels back and forth between the past and present, the reader can witness the changes in the characters.
On the other hand, no matter how much he travels back and forth between the past and reality, there are characters who somehow remain almost the same.
As you can see, stories about changing the past tend to focus only on the parts that have changed, but there are also very well-crafted parts about “What is the past that doesn’t change” and “Who are the people that don’t change?
Simple Man : Takemichi (main character)
When you hear the words “the past changes,” “stays the same,” and “time travel,” it sounds like a very difficult story.
In fact, there were several times when I had trouble understanding what was going on as the story went back and forth between the past and the present.
However, Takemichi, the main character, does not understand the situation any more than the reader.
Therefore, Takemichi continues to act in a very straightforward and simple manner.
The setting and development of the story are difficult, but Takemichi’s actions and ideas are simple, so his simple and straightforward actions in the midst of difficult developments seem bold and refreshing.
Takemichi also has an aspect that is typical of a protagonist, as he is the center of the story.
However, there is no scene where he solves the case by himself with his brain and skill.
Takemichi is a weak fighter, and compared to his monstrously strong allies, he is portrayed as an ordinary person that everyone can relate to.
Although Takemichi is unable to solve the case directly, the story proceeds by giving him some small opportunity to change the past by working on the people around him.
In other words, Takemichi is always standing between others and just creating a small opportunity for a better present.
Takemichi plays a behind-the-scenes role as a catalyst who brings out the best in those around him, despite being the protagonist.
Although he is an ordinary person, Takemichi leads with his heart, and the people around him are moved, and the past gradually changes.
In this way, there are many people who are saved by him.
However, of course, the one who needs to be saved the most is Hina, but there is one more person.
Mikey, the second heroine.
The most popular character in this work is Mikey, a.k.a. “The Invincible Mikey”.
Mikey is small in stature, but he is literally invincible.
Every time he gets into a fight with a Yankee, the petite Mikey always overwhelms his opponent.
If you’ve read the book Attack on Titan, you can imagine the cute Captain Levi.
Anyway, Mikey is the strongest, and Takemichi and his friends are always helped by Mikey.
However, Mikey, the strongest and the most reliable, is also the one who is protected.
The heroine to be protected in Tokyo Revengers is Takemichi’s girlfriend, Hina.
And the purpose of this story is to save Hina.
However, within the straightforward “boyfriend saves girlfriend narrative”, there is actually a contradictory purpose: the hero, who is a weak fighter, saves Mikey, who is invincible.
Why would the weak help the strong?
This is the key to this story.
At first glance, Mikey appears to be strong, but this is only one part of Mikey.
We tend to judge others based on their image, but we are reminded that people have many sides to themselves and are not simple beings that can be easily grasped.
This is Why Tokyo Revengers Popular
Did you find Tokyo Revengers interesting?
Probably the reasons why people find Tokyo Revengers boring are that the fight scenes are too violent, easy settings or the main character is too hot.
However, Tokyo Revengers has a number of twisted storylines and human dramas in its setting, which seems to be
trite, such as Yankees who spend all their time fighting, time travel, and the hero who never gives up.
As Takemichi moves back and forth between the past and the present, you will wonder what changes and what does not change. Takemichi, helps to build up the human relationships. The weakest man saves the strongest man.
If you haven’t read it yet, please try to find the “unique fun” in the Tokyo Revengers.
