There are a few elements that make up Tokyo Revengers and make it so unique and enjoyable. The anime is essentially a combination of time travel and city gangs. Before this, I loved the idea of time travel, and hated the idea of gangs. Now I can appreciate the genre a lot more. The story is from the perspective of a punk after he grows up and is struggling with life. He's a really relatable character at the start as he's really just a pretty normal person. Thus when he needs to get closer to the gang in his city to save an old freind, we see gradually how it's really not that bad.
Meanwhile the time travel aspect doesn't appear too much - just giving enough direction to guide Takemitchy. But this isn't a bad thing and just makes the plot feel more three dimensional. Furthermore, he can only go back/forward a precise amount (many years), so he can't simply go back and fix his mistakes.
Then there's the intro. The theme song is honestly the best theme song for any anime I've even heard. If you've not heard the full version, I highly recommend it - the name of the song is Cry Baby. It so perfectly fits the feel of the show.
Of all the characters, the only one actually lacking is Takemitchy himself. He essentially plays the eyes and ears of the audience so we can see into this gang life we're unfamiliar with. Many times this works well, but Takemitchy is very emotional to the point that he will just watch and think about what's happening in front of him for a long time before acting. Initially this is put down to him being afraid due to being bullied by the gang in his youth, but even after he "gets over it", he waits a long time before taking any actual action, just panicking that everything is going wrong. This is somewhat understandable as people don't change easily, but can make the audience frustrated when everyone else is acting immediately.
However the other characters are all great. Unlike normal anime fasion, we haven't been told any backstories of their behaviour explicitly that often, and when we are it's to emphasise the relationships between characters. We can sense just how much the top members care about each other, and that makes it powerful when something happens to them, such as with Baji and Draken.
Kisaki makes for an excellent villain, using his brains rather than raw power to force himself to the top. He has no redeeming factors so far, so makes him a great person to hate, while doing it in a way that only Takemitchy (and a few others) know his true intention.
The plot brings us on a great journey from where Takemitchy started, to how his become connected to the gang, how he helped influence it, and eventually become a captain. It was hard to be sure of anything that would happen, and watching Takemitchy perservere to make change happen felt really good. The plot began to feel a bit repetitive when it became "you need to save this person" twice in a row, but with Baji it turned out completely differently and that difference hits hard. Watching things change slowly over time really gives it a lot of impact, and even more so, seeing the result of what changes he makes in the future.
This anime was an incredible experience well deserving of a 9/10. It's not perfect, but it really explores a new perspective well, and knowing that most of this could be real really gives it a lot more impact. I'm really hoping for a second season and to see where it goes after that last cliffhanger.
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