Tokyo Revengers is Japan’s top-selling manga property this month, the first series not named Kimetsu no Yaiba or Jujutsu Kaisen to hold that throne for at least a year.  Sure, Kimetsu would surely still be at the top if it hadn’t ended, but still – this is an impressive run.  I’m still at a bit of a loss as to why those series became monster hits, as they both seem to me well-executed if unspectacular takes on very generic shounen formula.  Tokyo Revengers has its share of annoying quirks to be sure, but I can at least sort of get it – this is not mass-produced and formulaic.  It’s not groundbreaking – Erased and A Distant Neighborhood are better executions of the basic premise – but this series has a spark of inspiration to it that most manga don’t.

What I will say is that this is the first episode in a while that hasn’t had one of those head-scratcher plot hole moments.  Everything held together well and more or less made sense, even if things did get a bit silly at the end.  As it turns out the key figure in all this is Pah-chin – real name Hayashida Haruki – so I guess I should belatedly note that he’s played by Kimura Subaru.  Of course it was Pah-chin’s run-in with Möbius that set off this gang was in the first place, but he more directly than ever acts as the driver of events here.

The way this plays out doesn’t materially change my view of any of the characters involved.  I still think Mikey, while admirable in a morbid sort of why, is pretty much a psycho.  He has “honor” in his delinquent way, but his worldview is twisted, as witness his take on Pah-chin’s “fight” with Osanai (take the boxer over the brawler every time).  Doraken isn’t exempt from that criticism – he’s part and parcel to all this nonsense to be sure.  But he still seems more grounded and simply common-sensical than Mikey.  Almost like he’s the only one keeping Mikey tethered to reality in any way.

Mikey’s vicious (and instant) demolition of Osanai seems to put an end to Möbius’ fighting spirit pretty quickly (maybe too quickly, but I won’t quibble).  Mikey is a badass, that can’t be denied.  But it’s Doraken who steps in when the not-quite unconscious Osanai is about to jump Mikey with a broken bottle.  The police arrive (someone having tipped them off, which I’m assuming ties us in to adult Osanai’s remark about the whole thing being a setup), and that seems to be that.  Until Pah-chin steps in and stabs Osanai in the back (also part of the set-up perhaps?), then decides he’s going to turn himself in to the cops, which is the real trigger of Mikey and Doraken’s falling out.

All this is a reminder, in fact, of how tame Japanese youth gangs are compared to most countries – just look at how shocked everyone was that Pah-chin had a knife.  A knife, I tell you!  That’s as good as explanation as any for how cowed the Möbius-es were by Mikey’s takedown of their boss.  On the escape route, Takemitchy passes out from the beating Osanai gave him before the main event.  Which I was kind of happy to see, actually, because Tokyo Revengers could do to prove it acknowledges that there are physical consequences to getting the crap beat out of you over and over (which Takemitchy has certainly been doing).

It’s Emma who’s by Takemitchy’s bedside when he wakes up in the hospital, and she’s distraught over the fight between Doraken and Mikey.  That’s not unusual it seems, but this one is different.  It’s not a good time for Takemitchy to be bedridden for three days recuperating, though it does give him a chance to complete a 2500-piece puzzle.  First his quartet of goofballs bros show up to visit, then Doraken, and finally Mikey.  The sparks – and the bikes, and bats, and skateboards – really start flying when that happens, and it’s pretty clear this dispute between them is serious business.  Maybe Takemitchy in seriously pissed-off mode is enough to douse this fire, but TR will have to do a good job selling that for it to be believable.