Art: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Now I had no idea what the hell I was expecting when I was first exposed to this new series, but goddamn dawg. From episode 1 alone, I was immediately hooked; Tokyo Revengers is Erased done right in my opinion. 2021 has given us a few stinkers so far, but this is by far my favorite anime of the year right next to Evangelion 4.0 and Nagatoro. I do have little nitpicks here and there, but they are super minimal, and they don't ruin the experience in any ways.
The first episode alone riled me in so fast; a young guy named Takemichi who lives by himself in a messy apartment travels back to his middle school days when he was a delinquent in order to prevent the fate of his delinquent friends, and his girlfriend. Its such a simple, yet extremely well done premise, and it always hits.
I may not be a big fan of how the eyeballs have a very square shape to them, but an anime where the art style stands out is always a welcome in my eyes. The animation is very solid, (especially in the backgrounds) but some of the fight scenes could be a tad bit better. It was kind of easy to tell that some of the fist fights were lacking budget, but overall, everything else looked good. I also found it interesting how this anime had the dudes in early to late middle school, and yet they all look and sound like small young adults, even when they were 12 and 13 years old. Most anime will have middle school guys be voiced by ladies, even if they are 14 or 15 yrs old, but this show is an exception. That tells me that all the guys in this show are early bloomers.
Yuuki Shin did a phenomenal job as Takemichi; other than having an extremely small roll in Beastars, this was my first real exposure to Shin-Kun, and I thought he did excellent. His scream in episode 12 was so perfect, it sounded like Yuuki really was traumatized in the voice recording studio. It was also very nice hearing Tatsuhisa and Yoshitsugu again because I'm very fond of those two seiyuus. The OP absolutely slaps, and I'm so happy they kept it the same for all 24 episodes. The EDs are also pretty decent, but goddamn, the OP just tops both EDs.
This show has a very strong cast of characters; although Takemichi is a bit of a cry baby, (no pun intended) he's a very relatable guy, and I sympathize with him a lot (especially in episode 12). And on top of that, he's got some literal thick skin from all the the moments he gets his ass socked by other delinquents. I really look forward to seeing his development in season 2 because currently, he keeps repeating himself saying that he needs to get stronger, but isn't actually putting in the work or trying to get stronger. All of Manjirou's gang members are always respecting and bowing down to him, and putting him as superior to them, but this doesn't boost Mikey's ego to an unhealthy height, which is what I love most about Mikey. He's a very careless dawg, and even with all his delinquent minions supporting him, it doesn't make him think highly of himself above others or anything. All the other characters have their little traits, but since this is only 24 episodes, we'll all have to wait until the 2nd season to see their characters expand.
This show is absolutely fantastic at making you have fun with it so much, that you can very easily forgive and ignore the little errors. The plot twists and cliffhangers are some of the absolute best I've seen in a while, and episode 12, episode 16, and episode 24 are all perfect examples of that. The pacing is absolutely perfect, and the suspense is always present. Episode 12 legit shocked the hell outa me when the camera zoomed out and showed that Hina wasn't actually sitting down; that episode also kind of woke me up to realize that car accidents can be a lot more deadly I thought they were. The end of episode 12 was the moment this became of favorite anime of 2021. Episode 16 where Baji and Kazutora wanted to steal a bike for Mikey, only to discover that Mikey's brother already had a cycle ready for him was another win win in the series. And the aftermath of Baji and Kazutora getting caught red handed after they misunderstood only made the moment better. And on top of all that, the 24th Episode where Takemichi was in the present, and shit went south was such a fine ass cliffhanger, and it seriously makes me curious wanting to know what will happen next.
Overall, Tokyo Revengers was one fire anime, and I'm holding my damn fingers crossed for a season 2. If your into suspenseful action crime stories, plot twists and cliffhangers, or young teens going at war with each other, then this show is right up your alley. I really don't like the direction that seasonal anime have been going since covid started, (especially in this year of 2021) but once again, Tokyo Revengers is my favorite anime of 2021 right next to Evangelion 4.0 and Nagatoro. But with all that being said, thank you for taking the time to read my review; this is R.S.Soria signing out.
