Warning! This review on Tokyo Revengers Chapter five contains spoilers. If you haven't seen the episode yet, I recommend watching it and then going back to read the review.
# 5 Releap
Tokyo Revengers Chapter five begins with Takemichi being fired from his job in the present. After researching with Naoto, he decides to go back in time as he only has two weeks left before Draken dies. His return to the past is very confusing because he is in an unexpected situation. After his escape, he meets Hina and they both answer Draken's call. Mikey reunited the whole gang because there is going to be a conflict with Möbius soon and everyone has to agree. Since this fight is the source of Draken's death, Takemichi decides to keep an eye on the boy to avoid his fight with Mikey. As he watches him, he discovers a different side to the two leaders of Toman, and that confirms his belief that they would not fight and split the gang.
Delinquent spirit
This time, let's put time travel aside and focus on the other notable aspect of this story, the criminals. I already pointed this out in my first review Tokyo Revengers He came to revive the almost extinct criminals of the Showa era. But what does that really mean? In essence, this means that these are not nasty criminals with all of the intonation, but rather young people with a rebellious spirit who don't really attack those who are outside of "their world". The difference between an ordinary criminal and one from the Showa era lies in the pride of belonging. They are loyal to their group and do not hesitate to defend their ideals. Yes, they don't bring their conflicts into the "real" world that the rest of the population lives in.
It must also be said that there are exceptions, not all criminals live by the same ideals. You can find the best example here at Möbius. This group evolves from a gang of rebellious youths to a group of real criminals. Because yes, being a criminal is not synonymous with being a criminal, not in these gangs. When the line is crossed and you include innocent people, you are no longer a criminal, just a criminal who needs to be corrected. Möbius' actions were notorious, and while self-righteousness may not be ideal, it needs to be done.
The difference between Toman and Moebius is that Toman will release things from his world. Toman's pride and Mikey's ideal is to create a new age of criminals who are respected and not feared. The battles are part of their world and they won't stop having them, but these are actions that don't try to harm outside agents. The meanness Möbius did by including a friend of Pachin's, and worse, his girlfriend, are acts that have no place in Mikey's ideals. It is not an age of terror that he wants to create.
Draken and Mikey
It must be said that these ideals of Mikey are not entirely born of himself. Of course, he believes in them and strives to achieve them, but there are numbers that solidify these ideas. The most important, of course, is his older brother, who, although he has already passed away, has a very important place in Mikey's memories. The respect and admiration for his brother hasn't waned over the years, and he's one of the main reasons Mikey wants to recapture those old days of glory. More inclined to the pride of the gangs as criminals than to the perception of society by them.
The other outstanding figure within this ideology is Draken. Well, we've already shown that he's not just his right-hand man when fighting and controlling the band. Draken is an extension of Mikey himself. It is a necessary addition to keeping a balance between his ideas, actions and beliefs. We could also think of it as Mikey's moral compass. Not only does he take care of him as a babysitter, but he also helps him understand his surroundings and appreciate things from different perspectives, not just his own. This helps us understand the park. Mikey would change so much without Draken by his side.
It is obvious to think that if we lose our moral compass, it will not take us too long to lose our north and stray from the right path. Recognizing and understanding these relationships helps us connect the past with the present. But the fact that someone is our moral compass doesn't make them infallible, there are opportunities for friction. For Takemichi, Mikey and Draken are discussing something unthinkable, but it's plausible. The greater our moral differences, the more room for friction. In the end, it is important to know how to fix these differences without resorting to separation, but rather to reconciliation. That will be Takemichi's job, not to keep them from fighting, but to reconcile them. Battles cannot always be avoided, but they can be fixed.
The Controversy of Ignorance
Many will know or have heard of the excitement created by the terrible censorship Tokyo Revengers outside of Japan. In short, the chapter that was distributed westward was full of blinding lights, static shots, and unnatural approaches. All of this to prevent the gang representative Manji from leaving. As you know, Mikey's gang name is "Tokyo Manji Gang" and Manji's symbol has a figure that is easily misinterpreted. I'm going to give you a quick and easy context to familiarize yourself with.
You should know that this has been a longstanding controversy as there has been a lot of controversy in Japan due to its resemblance to the swastika (卐) used by the Nazis, especially for the 2020 Olympics that was suspended. Among other things, the Japanese government considered removing the Manji symbol (Zeichen) from cards (Buddhist temples with Manji symbols) in order to avoid misunderstandings among the Western population. The Japanese refused to do this, however, as they had been using the mark for decades, even before Adolf Hitler adopted this mark from his party and gave it a completely different approach.
The Manji (卍) for Japan and other Asian countries has a completely positive and Buddhist meaning. In Manji, the vertical axis represents the union between heaven and earth, the horizontal axis represents the union between Yin and Yang, and the four arms represent the continuous movement of all elements. In this way you get a picture of the universe in eternal harmony and change. There are two types of Manji, the Omote Manji (卍), which represents peace, harmony and love, and the Ura Manji (卐), which represents strength and intelligence. The latter was chosen as a symbol by the Nazis, making it a symbol of hatred and racism in the West.
In Japanese Buddhism, the manji is a very important spiritual symbol, it represents the harmonious interplay of opposites, heaven and earth, day and night, etc. The manji is a symbol of peace, prosperity and happiness for millions of people. It is a sacred symbol of Buddhism, a religion known by around 46 million people in Japan. For the Japanese people it is a sacred symbol, for them this symbol is only positive, it represents health, happiness, luck and prosperity.
In the story of Tokyo Revengers Manji is also an important character, a character that has great meaning and from which the downsizing for the band name "Toman", "To" from Tokyo and "Man" from Manji comes.
Final comment
Tokyo Revengers Chapter five was a rather controversial episode due to the censorship. But removing the chapter itself was very good. As mentioned in the last overview, this is the introduction to the first great arch in history, the Möbius arch. As we have seen in this story, there are different mentalities and it is the conflict between these ideals that will bring us the drama that we can already foresee. It won't be easy for our protagonist, who has to try twice as hard because he is not the smartest. He has many shortcomings to make up for, but at least he has the determination to do so.
Before I finish with this review, all I can say is: have you seen anything nicer than Mikey being pampered? The truth is, the contrast that exists between the natural Mikey dating Draken and the leader Mikey of Toman in front of the whole band, I just love him. Another thing I loved was seeing Toman's generals, they don't know the love I have for each of them. Although they didn't have their formal presentation and with all the laws, just seeing them on the screen is enough to be fangirl all week.
Anyway, these were my impressions of this chapter. Tell me, what did you think of this episode? Which scene did you like the most? What do you think is the spirit of a criminal?
