Ken Wakui’s manga has just ended, but the author is not finished with his saga.
Ken Wakui’s career began with a first manga in 2005, the seinen Shinjuku Swan, already based on delinquents in a very dark universe, where pimps, hostesses and prostitutes form the cast in an unattractive Tokyo slum setting. On the strength of this first success, the young author then embarked on a second work, tokyo revengein 2017. Taking the gang war setting as its main plot, the shōnen adds supernatural elements to it, integrating an amazing time travel system, as well as a gallery of colorful characters.
back to college
Takemichi Hanagaki is a 26-year-old young man, drifting from one odd job to another, with no great destiny. Everything changes the day he learns of the death of his former college girlfriend, Hinata Tachibana, in a gang war involving the Tokyo Manji-Kai. As he comes home from work, he is pushed onto the subway tracks. But instead of dying, he finds himself immersed in a time journey that takes him back to his 14th birthday. He then decides to do everything to save his friend, and discovers that by shaking hands with her little brother, he can go back and forth between the present and the past.
Multiple futures
Far from representing Manichaean characters, tokyo revenge plays on its supernatural aspect to present very different characters in their past and present lives. The hero will also get to know his enemies in a completely surprising light, making his adventures even more mysterious, and the search for a happy ending more complex. While the manga has just ended in Japan, and we are waiting the second season of its anime adaptation in January 2023, Weekly Shōnen Magazine announced the development of an additional story arc, as well as a spin-off dubbed Tokyo Revengers Extra. The particular frame of the manga lends itself perfectly to this kind of exercise.