Yes, I know – technically that should read “(End) and Series Review”. But there’s no point in pretending Tokyo Revengers isn’t going to have a second season – and a third, and however many it takes to completely adapt the manga (which is still ongoing). It’s a mild surprise it wasn’t announced at the end of the last episode but neither was Kimetsu or JJK’s (the latter is still not officially official), and Attack on Titan waited years too long because of Wit. The only question is when it will air, and whether we’ll get the equally inevitable theatrical anime film before or after. This series is a monster hit like those others, and the timing is all driven by how best to maximize its earning potential.
The other question, then, was how the anime would choose to end this season. I figured it’d be some sort of cliffhanger whether we got a real-time announcement or not, and indeed it was. In the past, the first big reveal (much expected) is that Walhalla is officially merging with Toman. And of course, Kisaki is taking the credit for setting it all up. The second (almost as predictable) is that Takemitchy is going to be the new captain of the first division – so ordained by Chifuyu, who declares himself emotionally unable to cope with replacing Baji himself.
The unintentionally ironic moment when Takemitchy says “Toman is still going to become evil” – because of course it’s already evil, it’s a street gang – was the standout of this scene for me. But even here, it’s plain that Chifuyu is the key figure. He knows the truth about Kisaki – knows what Baji’s dying words were – and if he’s playing along with this, it means it’s the long game he’s partaking in. For Takemitchy this is both a victory and a setback, but I think he has to conclude that it’s easier to try and fight Kisaki from a position of power on the inside than from the outside.
I’m not totally clear why he’d choose to immediately go back to the future here, though I suppose there’s the matter of his body’s physical survival to consider. The future he returns to is clearly very different, even if he does wake up at the video store (is that a rule?) in 2017. Now he’s a customer, and he lives in a flashy high-rise with his old middle school buddies acting as dogsbodies for him. The old Toman gang is mostly still around, and acting like annoying middle-school brats with lots of money and booze to play with.
You knew things couldn’t be rosy or you wouldn’t have a story, of course. At the big meeting of the higher ups there are some new faces mixed in with the old ones (and apparent bad blood between the two groups) and mention of the “Black Dragons”. There are some missing faces too – Mikey of course, who’s still off the grid (and maybe dead) in this future, and Doraken (who’s definitely dead). Kisaki turns up, still acting as the head of Toman in Mikey’s name, and takes Takemichi and Chifuyu aside for a private talk. He confesses for setting up Bloody Halloween and “accidentally” causing Baji’s death, and offers a toast – but at this stage it’s pretty clear what’s actually happening.
Add Chifuyu’s name to the list that Takemichi hasn’t been able to save, but of more interest to me is the way Kisaki reacts to Takemichi’s demeanor during this whole hit. He clearly suspects something weird is happening with Takemichi, I don’t think that’s ever been in doubt. The tears are surprising though – I suppose they could be stage tears but what would Kisaki possibly have to gain from that, given his and Takemichi’s respective positions? In the larger sense this whole clusterfrick just calls to mind for me how misguided Takemichi’s entire program is. Why bother trying to “reform” a criminal gang? It’s always going to end in tears, one way or the other – it’s the nature of the beast. What he should be doing is trying to sabotage Toman out of existence – but then, he’s never been the sharpest knife in the drawer…
All in all it’s a pretty good way to wrap up the season, I think. Tokyo Revengers has never been high art but I am interested in seeing what happens next, and somehow despite (or because of) his utter uselessness there’s something mildly endearing about Takemichi. What really grinds my gears about Tokyo Revengers is that I think the series’ entire point of view vis a vis Toman is out of whack, but I guess that’s all part of the suspension of disbelief factor (which is very high with this show generally speaking). As populist pulp this series does work pretty well, and the fact that I felt inclined to finish a season when I didn’t with Kimetsu or JJK must say something. Bring on season two, then – whenever that may be.
leongsh
September 20, 2021 at 1:23 amTakemichi jumped back to the future to find out from Naoto to work out the next course of action. However, due to his new status as the 1st Division Captain in the new past, the Takemichi of the past went along with whatever the course of direction that the expanded Toman went towards. The captains of the divisions end up becoming top senior executives of the Toman criminal gang it has become.
Lurk-chan
September 20, 2021 at 10:23 amWell, not gonna lie, for all its shortcomings the series had, this last episode had me hooked – so much that it even took me surprise, when suddenly the end credits popped up, signaling the almost end of the episode. And boy, talk about a cliffhanger, this sure leaves me wanting to find out what happens next.
I think, the time jumping aspect is where the series was strongest. Seeing the changes in the future his meddling in the past have brought, and jumping back trying to change the outcome of some other key events, were the parts that really kept me interested. The more of a shame it is then, that the second half of the series did barely make any use of the time travel aspect, besides the initial jump to try and prevent the outcome of the Bloody Halloween.
Not that it did him any good, because that new future he found himself in, sure didn’t turn out to be pleasant. Mikey still missing, Draken now executed, instead of in solitary confinement (Did the crime he committed, become even more grievous in this future?). Surprisingly absent from his old group of friends was also Akkun, or Hina for that matter. Now that Kisaki hadn’t ordered a hit on Takemitchi (yet), did she get a free pass in this future, I wonder? Also what does it say about the “other” Takemichi, to end up as one of the top dogs of what might just as well be a Yakuza family. At this point, he isn’t even “that one new kid”, but he has been around with them for over 12 years. It sure would’ve been interesting to see, how he is viewed by the others now.
That is to say, this also doesn’t really seem like the kind of company a cop family like Naoto or Hina might want to be around. Assuming Hina really did survive in this timeline, and got off of Kisaki’s radar, would Naoto even be willing to allow any more meddling in the timelines, to potentially endanger her? After all, he couldn’t care less about Toman and is only concerned about his sisters well-being.
As for Kisaki, this was probably the most we have seen of him in the series so far. And his ability to play the 4D chess is sure not to be discounted. In fact, having setup the events of the Bloody Halloween, in such a way, that whatever the outcome, he would win, sure speaks for his cunningness. And it sure does not speak well for Takemitchi, to have been outplayed this hard, even though he is the one with future knowledege of said events. Standout moment here is clearly the moments before the ending. The tears and him declaring Takemitchi his hero. The hero thing might’ve been sarcasm, but the tears? Why even pretend to cry moments before blowing out one guy’s lights? There might be more to Kisaki that has been shown so far. And it really does make want to find out what happens next!
leongsh
September 20, 2021 at 7:03 pmIt means that the continuing Takemichi went with the flow of the Toman gang. As to how he is viewed, you have seen it when he got out of the car and went he entered his penthouse. When he entered the penthouse, everyone inside stood up and bowed to greet him. He is viewed, treated, and respected as the boss of their division. Ruthless enough to have survived the 12 years, with Chifuyu’s help to guide him through to not getting squashed ans that he would have gotten some protection by being close to Mikey.
JHNSeph
September 21, 2021 at 5:31 pmDraken was already on death row in the previous future, his execution has just been fulfilled by now.
The future seems to be fundamentally not changed all that much, just Takemichi’s position in that future. So Akkun and Hina might indeed be safe now, because they don’t have to be collateral damage to killing Takemichi now.