Takemichi Hanagaki is a loser. Honestly, that’s the whole point. When we first meet him in Tokyo Revengers television show season 1, he’s a twenty-six-year-old dude living in a trashed apartment, apologizing to his younger boss, and realizing his only middle-school girlfriend just died in a gang-related explosion. It’s depressing. It’s also the perfect hook for a show that basically reinvented how we look at the "yankee" or delinquent subgenre of anime.
Most people went into this show expecting a standard battle shonen. You know the type—the main character gets a power-up, punches a god, and saves the day. But Tokyo Revengers isn’t really that. It’s a messy, emotional, and often brutal time-travel thriller that treats its middle school characters like high-stakes tragic figures. If you haven't seen it yet, or if you're trying to figure out why your Twitter feed was nothing but blonde pompadours and "Toman" jackets back in 2021, you've gotta understand that the first season is where the foundation for this entire massive franchise was laid.
Liden Films took Ken Wakui’s manga and turned it into a cultural phenomenon. It wasn't just the fight scenes. It was the clothes, the weirdly specific hierarchy of the Tokyo Manji Gang, and the absolute desperation of a man trying to fix his past by getting beat up repeatedly.
The Weird Logic of Time Travel in Tokyo Revengers
Time travel is usually a headache. In the Tokyo Revengers television show season 1, the mechanics are actually pretty straightforward, even if they're kinda bizarre. Takemichi discovers he can leap exactly 12 years into the past, but only by shaking hands with Naoto Tachibana, the brother of his deceased girlfriend, Hinata.
This creates a dual narrative. We see Takemichi in the present day, working with a now-adult Naoto (who is a detective) to figure out what went wrong. Then, he jumps back to 2005 to try and stop the specific events that turned a group of "honorable" middle school bikers into a murderous criminal syndicate. It’s a race against time. If Takemichi fails in the past, Hinata stays dead in the present.
The stakes feel real because Takemichi doesn't suddenly become a martial arts master. He stays a crybaby. He gets his face caved in. A lot. But his superpower isn't a punch; it's his sheer refusal to stay down, which is exactly what catches the eye of the show’s real stars: Mikey and Draken.
Mikey and Draken: More Than Just "Bosses"
You cannot talk about the first season without mentioning Manjiro "Mikey" Sano and Ken "Draken" Ryuguji. These two carry the emotional weight of the series. Mikey is the charismatic, terrifyingly strong leader of the Tokyo Manji Gang (Toman). Draken is his moral compass, the tall guy with the dragon tattoo on his head who keeps Mikey from losing his humanity.
The dynamic between these two is the heart of the first major arc. When Takemichi goes back, he expects to find monsters. Instead, he finds kids.
💡 You might also like: Dark Reign Fantastic Four: Why This Weirdly Political Comic Still Holds Up
That’s the nuance people often miss. In Tokyo Revengers television show season 1, the tragedy stems from the fact that these are essentially children playing a very dangerous game. Mikey loves kids' meals with flags on top. Draken lives in a brothel but acts more mature than any adult in the room. Their friendship is peak "ride or die," which makes the looming threat of their eventual fall into darkness much more painful to watch.
The Bloody Halloween Arc
If the first few episodes are about world-building, the "Bloody Halloween" arc is where the show goes from "pretty good" to "I need to binge this right now." This is the climax of the season. It centers on the conflict between Toman and Valhalla, a rival gang.
This isn't just a street brawl. It's a psychological war. We get introduced to Keisuke Baji and Chifuyu Matsuno, two characters who arguably became more popular than the protagonist. Baji’s betrayal—or supposed betrayal—and his deep history with the founders of Toman adds a layer of complexity that keeps you guessing.
The animation in these sequences, particularly the fight on top of the pile of scrapped cars, captures that gritty, hopeless feeling. It’s chaotic. It’s dirty. Characters don't give speeches mid-fight; they just swing until they can't stand.
Why Takemichi is a Divisive Protagonist
Let’s be real: some people hate Takemichi.
He cries. He screams. He fails to act when the viewer is shouting at the screen. But if you look at the Tokyo Revengers television show season 1 through a more empathetic lens, he’s actually one of the most relatable characters in modern anime. Most of us aren't secret ninjas. If we were dropped into a 100-person gang war, we’d probably be crying too.
His growth is slow. It’s agonizingly slow. But that’s the point. The show is titled "Revengers," plural. It’s about a group of people trying to reclaim their futures. Takemichi's strength isn't physical; it's the fact that he's the only one who knows how much everyone is going to lose. He carries the trauma of the future into the past.
📖 Related: Cuatro estaciones en la Habana: Why this Noir Masterpiece is Still the Best Way to See Cuba
The Soundtrack and the Aesthetic
The vibe of this show is 2000s Japanese delinquency peak. The "tokkofuku" uniforms are iconic. Liden Films leaned heavily into the "yankee" culture aesthetic—the bikes, the hair, the specific way they sit and talk.
And then there’s the music. "Cry Baby" by Official Hige Dandism is, frankly, a masterpiece of an opening theme. It’s jazzy, it’s frantic, and the lyrics perfectly mirror Takemichi’s struggle. It sets the tone perfectly: this is going to be emotional, messy, and loud.
Common Misconceptions About the Show
A lot of people think this is a show for kids because the characters are in middle school. It’s not.
Tokyo Revengers television show season 1 deals with heavy themes:
- Domestic abuse and the cycle of violence.
- The crushing weight of grief and "what ifs."
- How easy it is for good people to be corrupted by power and bad influences (like Kisaki Tetta, the show's master manipulator).
- The reality of juvenile delinquency in Japan, albeit stylized.
Kisaki Tetta is a villain you love to hate. He doesn't have fire powers. He’s just a nerd who is smarter and more ruthless than everyone else. He treats people like chess pieces, and watching Takemichi try to outmaneuver him is like watching a car crash in slow motion. You know it’s going to end badly, but you can’t look away.
Why Season 1 Still Holds Up
Looking back on the first 24 episodes, the pacing is generally solid. It covers the Toman Arc, the Moebius Arc, and the Valhalla Arc. By the time you hit the cliffhanger ending—which is one of the most cruel and effective cliffhangers in recent memory—you’re fully invested in these characters.
It’s about the "what ifs." What if you could go back and say the right thing? What if you could save the person who meant the most to you?
👉 See also: Cry Havoc: Why Jack Carr Just Changed the Reece-verse Forever
The show works because it grounds those high-concept questions in the very real, very sweaty world of teenage gangs. It’s not about changing the world; it’s about changing the outcome for a handful of people Takemichi loves.
The Cultural Impact
When Tokyo Revengers television show season 1 aired, it caused a massive spike in manga sales, eventually surpassing 70 million copies in circulation. It wasn't just a hit in Japan; it blew up globally. People were cosplaying Draken at every major convention.
It tapped into a nostalgia for 90s and 2000s delinquent media (like Crows or GTO) but added the modern "time leap" twist that kept the plot moving at a breakneck pace. It’s a series that demands you pay attention to the details. A single conversation in episode 3 might be the reason someone dies in episode 20.
Essential Insights for New Viewers
If you're just starting, don't expect a power-fantasy.
Expect a character study disguised as a gang war. Pay attention to the background characters, especially the founders of Toman. Their history is the "why" behind everything that happens.
Also, watch the uncensored version if possible. The Japanese version uses the manji symbol (the gang's namesake), which is often censored or altered in some international releases due to its visual similarity to other symbols, despite having a completely different historical and religious meaning in Buddhist culture. Understanding the manji as a symbol of luck and peace makes the gang's name—Tokyo Manji Gang—and their eventual descent into crime even more ironic.
Actionable Next Steps
To get the most out of the story after finishing the first season:
- Check the Manga Chapters: If you can't wait for more, start the manga at Chapter 74. This is exactly where the first season leaves off after that brutal cliffhanger.
- Watch the Live-Action Movie: Japan produced a live-action adaptation that is surprisingly good and covers a lot of the Season 1 material with a very high budget.
- Track the Timeline: Keep a small note of which "jump" Takemichi is on. It helps to track which characters are alive or dead in the current timeline as the show progresses into later seasons.
- Listen to the Lyrics: Re-read the translated lyrics for "Cry Baby." They provide a significant amount of insight into Takemichi's internal monologue that the show sometimes skips for the sake of action.
The first season is a wild ride of emotions, and while it's not always easy to watch Takemichi struggle, the payoff of seeing him finally stand his ground is worth every second of the 24-episode journey.