Tokyo Revengers’main character starts roughly; however, it cannot be denied that over the course of the first season Hanagaki Takemichi grows and starts taking responsibility for his actions. He becomes a strong Shonen character and becomes a respectable character that everybody around him can find reliable and even somewhat inspiring. All of this without being able to fight to save his life,Tokyo Revengersshowsthat Takemichi’s true strength doesn’t lie in physical aptitude, but rather a strength of will and growth of character.
In the early episodes, the audience gets to see Takemichi in his old, cluttered apartment, but more than that they get to see him at his lowest, and even some of his more flawed character traits. He’s cowardly at first, he’s easy to give up at first, and oftentimes is emotional to a fault. However,once he travels to the pastduring the first major arc of the series, Takemichi slowly grows and acknowledges his flaws. Given a second chance to reconstruct himself and make a better future, he pushes himself to bring out the best of himself when he finally faces off against his old tormentor, Kiyomasa, the representation of everything that Takemichi wanted to run away from.
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Power Vs Will
Tokyo Revengersis a show that portrays a lot of supporting characters with the ability to hold themselves in a fight, and in the case of the Tokyo Manji Gang, participate in fights for the sake of others.Mikey, Drakken, and other membersof the gang can fight and win with their physical strength. However, Takemichi lacks physical strength and often isn’t winning his fights. He can’t beat his opponents and can’t save the people he cares about by defeating people. However, he tries and tries to be better as a person, standing his ground even if he can’t be stronger like the rest of the Tokyo Manji Gang.
Eventually, Takemichi starts improving upon his real strengths of never giving up and always standing back up from the harshest of beat downs or the darkest of futures due to his choices. Takemichi, through his growth of character and strength of will, manages toinspire the other characters to do betterand fight harder. Because if the weakest individual on the battlefield refuses to give up no matter the obstacle in his way, then what reason do the other members of Toman have to give up and not try?
Slow-Burn Growth
Regardless, it’s very clear to see that Takemichi as a character has true strength that lies not in power but in the will. However, this isn’t to say it is very easy for the young man to endear to every audience member. He must make a lot of mistakes to learn where he needs to improve and correct those mistakes as the future becomes darker and grimmer each time he returns. Considering the show is a slow burn, it is very much possible to lose a few audience members to time as the story remains focused on Takemichi’s growth rather than his power or strength.
However, none of this is to discourage those from watching Takemichi’s greatest successes. After all, when the chips were down, he did not run away when it mattered to save Drakken. Even after choking Kiyomasa to unconsciousness, his close group of friends joined in the fight against the rest of Kiyomasa’s group because they were inspired and motivated by Takemichi’s act of selflessness and willpower to succeed and commit to the mission. This allows the audience to root for Takemichi to succeed in his attempts to change the past for a better future, fromwanting to save Hinata Tachibana,his former middle-school girlfriend from the past, to eventually saving a group of friends he made in the past.
TokyoRevengersfocuses not just on the strength of the body, but on the capacity, we all have to grow into better versions of ourselves from the beginning and move to the future. No matter how difficult the obstacles that come between him and what Takemichi is fighting for, he inspires the people around him to keep on fighting and becomes a reliable individual who has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. It can be said that Takemichi’s personality comes across as silly at times, and maybe a bit too emotional for the most part, however, there isalways a certain level of sincerity.
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Takemichi’s Future Endeavors
What this means going forward can vary, as with the upcoming second season of Tokyo Revengers coming in January 2023, as a lot of factors can happen for Takemichi’s growth. For one, he will have to deal with surviving a near-death experience against the mastermind of the suffering and theTokyo Manji Gang’s descent into violence, Kisaki Tetta; and finding a way to go back to the past and fix the events that will be recapped from the past. Takemichi may face more obstacles, and soon enough a battle that once again highlights his best character traits while further cementing him in the new role as a captain in Toman.
Overall, Takemichi’s true growth is unconventional for most Shonen anime, as whereas in shows likeNarutoorBleach, the main character grows in strength as they overcome their obstacles, putting their new techniques and lessons to good use. Since Takemichi is portrayed as a Shonen character without any supernatural abilities, and is established as not the greatest fighter inTokyo Revengers, the author Ken Wakui instead focused on providing us a character a that grows as a person. Something that many in the audience can find relating themselves too and even rooting for, as Takemichi is the underdog, and his true character growth lies in the ability tostand up when the going gets tough, and his endurance is the physical manifestation of his will to grow, and to never surrender.
Tokyo Revengers Season 2 will air in January 2023
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