Tokyo Revengers – We are going to change the future!
Japan is a country of subcultures, since ancient times millions of Japanese people shared specific interests, styles of dress, and even unique slang with others to build a sort of community in which similar people could feel welcomed. Names like Kabukimono, Moga, Mobo, Ganguro, Gyaru, or Otaku are very popular terms that denote some countercultures that we may find in the Land of the Rising Sun. But there’s one subculture that since its birth has captured the imagination of millions of people throughout the world: Bōsōzoku!
Now a synonym of juvenile delinquency, this word is commonly used to refer to motorized gangs that engage in dangerous conduct in traffic, challenge their and other people’s safety, and threaten common people with violent acts. Present since the 1950s on the roads of the whole country, the term bōsōzoku was coined only in 1972, and soon became a widely used one. Seen by many boys and girls as a way to escape from the confines of society, the motorbikes were also considered like a sort of treasure to show everyone to get social score not only among the other bōsōzoku members but also among the opposite gender.
No Pain, No gain!
Through the decades, authorities tried with any means available to stop these noisy, disruptive, and dangerous gangs, but they’ve only worsened the situation. For example on June 17th, 1972, the attempts by local police to put an end to the night-time racing in Toyama City led to two days of intense rioting, with similar episodes in numerous other cities throughout the following weeks… due to these acts, the bōsōzoku turned into a new kind of lifestyle for young generations, helped to create thousands of brand new gangs from the Hokkaido to Okinawa, and this label started to be used in newspapers as a synonym of the working-class juvenile delinquents…
With so much popularity on their side, they have inspired an insanely big number of artists that gave them the chance to increase the awareness of this specific counterculture more and more. In opuses like Akira, Crazy Thunder Road, God Speed You! Black Emperor & Kunio-Kun series, we may find dozens of different people that following all sorts of reasons chose to become a bōsōzoku. The latest is Tokyo Revengers, in which we may see how the subculture is amazingly mixed with time travel.
We strive together!
Written and illustrated by Ken Wakui, and appearing in the 2017 #13 issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Tokyo Revengers is divided into six main arcs in which we may follow the adventures of Takemichi Hanagaki. Once discovered that the cruel Tokyo Manji Gang killed his ex-girlfriend, he go back 12 years in the past and change the future… filled with explosive battles, thrilling mature stories, and a more-than-wonderful art style; in a few years, Tokyo Revengers became an actual pop-cultural phenomenon acclaimed in every part of the planet.
Winning the Yahoo! Japan Search Awards, the 2021 Twitter Japan’s Trend Awards “Anime Award”, and the 44th Kodansha Manga Award, so far the manga volumes have been read by almost 100 million people, while in 2021, the anime was 7th most discussed TV show on Twitter.
Show everyone how this series is cool, punch, leap, somersault, and kick your way over across time and space to change the future!
Only the bravest bōsōzoku warriors can enter the alternative Japan of Tokyo Revengers. Do it or die; battle hard and take on the challenge, Hinata counts on you, help her to survive before it’s too late…
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