An interesting premise this show has. A twenty-four-year-old man who has largely been unsuccessful in life ends up going back in time after being shoved in front of a train. He now has the chance to fix the past so that in the present his former girlfriend isn't killed in a conflict involving the Tokyo Majin Gang, the same group of delinquents he ended up running away from in the past. Eventually, he can start moving back and forth between the present and the past armed with the knowledge he needs to change the future.
The first thing to note is the kind of violence to expect in Tokyo Revengers. It doesn't present violence in an over-the-top or exciting kind of way like you would see in something like Hellsing or One Piece. I wish I could think of an example off the top of my head that's anime (I know they exist, but for some reason, I am blanking), but it's more comparable to something like an American gangster movie like the Godfather. It's brutal and uncomfortable to look at, and this is to the show's benefit. At least for the most part. While the show does portray violence like this, for the most part, it is a bit jarring when you see a few characters who you are supposed to be rooting for just kind of joyously involved in over-the-top violence. It's not like it was a mix from the show beginning either, so when it starts with the fun violence it feels like a bit of an unwelcome tonal shift.
That is to say, I still think the show does a good job at making you feel like things are brutal when it counts. Every time you see Takemichi, who was never really cut out to be a delinquent, gets beaten down it feels serious. When his little crew of friends gets the shit kicked out of them and they are forced to act as the slaves of these gang members you feel their pain. Not to mention the many time's people are beaten close to death. Something that helps is despite the violence, not many people die. So when something like that does happen, it feels important. The show knows how to effectively use its violence.
A thing that is a bit odd is how memories work for Takemichi, and how the jumping works. When he jumps back, it will be exactly twelve years before that date. So he jumps back October third, he will be in October third twelve years ago. He stays there for a week, he comes too in the present on October tenth. His memories are a bit odd because he doesn't know what happened in the years between then and now. Once he jumps back, he doesn't know what he did between the times he was in the present. Mostly this creates silly circumstances rather than anything that substantial, but it does a good enough job at showing the changes happening in the future.
There are times I feel the trips to the future are a bit pointless as you don't learn anything you didn't already know. Most of them are fine, but sometimes it does feel like it's just padding out the length. It is great that it's up to Takemichi to piece together what causes the Tokyo Majin gang to go evil by learning about events soon to happen in the past with knowledge only he has from being close to Mikey, the leader of the gang.
What carries this show more than anything is Takemichi's growth throughout. At his core, he remains the same guy, but he's starting to come to terms with his weakness, the fact he is never going to be able to be the powerful delinquent he originally wanted to be and being able to stand up regardless of all that. It's helped along by a great cast of characters. From his friends he originally became a delinquent with to the heads of the gang, you have a varied and enjoyable cast of people to like.
The show can suffer from the pace feeling a bit off. Sometimes things just take too long to happen even when you already have an idea of where everything is going, and when they do an episode or two mostly as a light-hearted comedy but it doesn't add to the show, as well as only being minimally funny. There are quite a few funny bits in the normal episodes that act as comedy relief, these episodes didn't need to be there.
The show also doesn't have the most interesting cast of antagonists. It's a bunch of evil gangster stereotypes they are up against, with two exceptions. I don't know about the show's main antagonist, as we don't yet know much about him besides the fact he's responsible for the present state of the Tokyo Majin Gang. I'll say I'm interested, but it's one of those things I don't know if the payoff is going to be worth it come season two.
Despite some poor pacing and villains, the show is carried by a great cast and premise. The atmosphere is almost always on point, the violence looks fantastic, and it's got me interested in what's coming season two. It's ending up one of my favorite shows of the year and is a great example that you don't have to be perfect to win someone over so long as you can do at least a few things very well. So long as you don't mind some gritty and uncomfortable levels of violence, I recommend this one.
Excelleng review thanks for sharing it, id only heard good things so it was nice to read some critiques