English Dub Review: Tokyo Revengers: “Break up”

Overview: Takemichi (AJ Beckles) goes with Mikey (Aleks Le), Draken (Sean Chiplock) and the rest of Toman to welcome a new third division captain in that of Kiseki. 

Our Take: Man was I off base when I thought Takamichi was an absolute shoe-in to be the next third division captain of Toman! It really just seemed like it was a foregone conclusion in how crucial he was in helping Draken and saving the gang as a whole. I thought I had this moment pegged as one of those cliché moments when the character unsuspectingly thinks they are not going to be chosen for an important opportunity and then all of sudden is shocked when they are. But good on their actually being storytelling that defies expectations and does something unexpected.

The unexpected in this situation being Kiseki of course and how he becomes the captain instead. While definitely surprising, it’s also quite a puzzling and borderline idiotic character decision on Mikey’s part. He admits he needs Kiseki because of his strength but that he is indeed suspicious of him. Not to mention he was (or probably still is) a part of Mobius. I don’t know how many more red flags he needs to set off to know it’s a bad idea. No matter how tough he is, it makes little difference when he’s not trustworthy. But of course nobody knows this better than Takemichi himself as he punched Kiseki square in the face without so much as a second thought. 

I couldn’t help but belt out laughing, both in shock/awe but also in embarrassment too. Takemichi is completely within the right and it was really badass to see Hanagaki take action when he is often second guessing the moves he makes. But good God was that the wrong time and place and what a ridiculously stupid decision considering Kiseki hasn’t actually done anything in the past yet, nobody would understand his reasoning and now he’s undoubtedly been put on Kiseki’s radar. You really can’t get dumber than that. 

Of course the insanity must continue but this time with one of the division captains, Baji, joining the mayhem. And his first order of business is to sock the bejesus out of Takemichi. Based on that random irrationality and the way Mikey describes him, Baji definitely seems like that of a wild card but is also important to Mikey with him being his oldest friend and one of the founding members of Toman. I’d like to see more past scenes with them together, maybe one that goes into the story behind the photo and how they started the gang. It’s also nice that there is a clear job for Takamichi that’ll kill two birds with one stone in proving his strength and trustworthiness with Mikey and getting rid of Kiseki by bringing back Baji into the fold. But before the credits roll, there is a look at one last founding member that has gone unmentioned and one that has an important relationship seemingly with Baji. One that is no doubt to have an engaging chemistry with Mikey and the rest of the captains if he’s a founder and has gone undiscussed until now.