On the verge of death, Takemichi caught up with a Mikey in the middle of a suicide attempt, he who had sunk too far into darkness. When his friend begs him to help him, Takemichi finds himself thrown back into the past, but only 10 years back this time. There, he realizes that the terrible situation of Tokyo: The metropolis is now divided between three gangs who are fighting, and Mikey could be at the head of one of them…
This time, we are there. Tokyo Revengers, one of the most popular fighting shonen of recent years, has reached its final arc as far as its release in our regions is concerned. A long act of 8 volumes, of which this 24th opus is the real starting point, dedicated to putting an end to the story of Takemichi and the members of the late Tokyo Manji, dissolved by Mikey before the latter sinks into the chaos. A kind of audacity on the part of Ken Wakui who seemed to have completed his script, with the words of Tetta Kisaki. But that’s without taking into account the altruism of the work’s protagonist, Takemichi, who wishes to save one of his dearest friends, after having rescued Hina from her disastrous fate.
The previous volume was an appetizer of the final arc that really kicks off. And in a context where the Tokyo Manji is no more, new pawns have to be put in place, so as to justify a last war between gangs on which the fate of Mikey will depend. So the author takes his time to set the scene, show the hero’s friends in their peaceful days, and introduce a new threat to which the stakes of this act are linked.
Somewhere, we feel that we are entering what could be too many arcs, a feeling that comes from the large number of characters introduced, as if we had to compensate for the fact that many figures have concluded their respective progressions. However, Wakui manages to overcome this feeling by exploiting his universe, bringing back characters who still have to say, and presenting figures linked to the long history of Tokyo Manji, which itself depends on that of the Black Dragon. In this sense, despite some fears, the program turns out to be attractive, and this beginning of the arc presents a whole boulevard of interactions which could prove to be crisp, if the mangaka exploits them judiciously. In the meantime, these early events deliver on their promise, setting the stage for new high-stakes gang battles. For the moment, the promise holds true, and we expect Ken Wakui to have enough to deal with this last long part by punctuating it with strong moments. The whole being played around Mikey, the most charismatic character of Tokyo Revengers with Draken, as much to say that there is something to do. So let’s hope the Kanto Manji arc isn’t the dreaded arc too many.