"Tokyo Revengers" is a series currently being serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and an anime adaptation titled "Tokyo Revengers" will begin airing in April 2021. The work falls into the so-called yankee/delinquent genre, but it also incorporates elements of time travel and suspense. We would like to introduce you to the author of "Tokyo Revengers," Ken Wakui!
Originally from Young Magazine?! Introducing Wakui's background!
Wakui's debut came in 2005 with "Shinjuku Host," published in Bessatsu Young Magazine. That same year, he began serializing "Shinjuku Swan" in Weekly Young Magazine, which ran for eight years before concluding in 2013. The series has also been adapted into a TV drama and a live-action film. He then began serializing "Budgerigar" in Weekly Young Magazine, which concluded in 2015. He then shifted his focus to boys' magazines, serializing "Desert Eagle" in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2015, which concluded in 2016. He has been serializing "Tokyo Revengers" since 2017.
His original occupation was a scout!?!?
Wakui's serialized work, "Shinjuku Swan," is a story about a scout. Not a baseball or soccer scout, but a scout in the nightlife world. It's a story that explores the very gray area of scouting girls for adult entertainment establishments. While works about the nightlife world are rare, they do exist. However, a work with a scout as its subject is unique. So, why did he choose such a subject? In fact, Wakui-sensei is a former scout for a real-life talent agency that was once Japan's top talent agency.
Explaining Wakui-sensei's Style, Genre, and Art Style!
The most distinctive feature of Wakui-sensei's work is their subject matter. His first serialized work, "Shinjuku Swan," is about a sex industry scout in the entertainment district. His subsequent work, "Budgerigar," is a suspense mystery. After moving to boys' magazines, his serialized work, "Desert Eagle," is a delinquent manga about the rise of the underworld. In general, I think his works are characterized by their strong underworld and violence as well as their numerous plot twists.
What is his art style?
His art style is a powerful, realistic gekiga (dramatic graphic novel) style that meticulously portrays the horror and realism of the underworld. Rather than being relatable, his characters are designed for realism, emphasizing drama and foreshadowing. However, this was his style in the young men's magazine Young Magazine; after moving to a boys' magazine, he adapted his art style to suit boys' magazines. While "Desert Eagle" still retains a young men's feel, "Tokyo Revengers" is a style that is clearly suited to boys' magazines, and is noticeably different from the art style of "Shinjuku Swan."
Introducing Wakui's masterpiece, "Shinjuku Swan"!
"Shinjuku Swan" is Wakui's signature work, a story about a sex scout in the underworld. The story begins when Shiratori Tatsuhiko, depressed after losing money at pachinko, is invited by a shady man named Shintora to start working as a scout in Kabukicho. After taking a job as a scout at the Kabukicho scouting company "Burst," the story follows his involvement in feuds and his expansion into other areas. While depicting his rise to power in the underworld, the story also unravels the mystery behind the massive conspiracy that lurks behind it.
Additional Information about "Shinjuku Swan"
This work was serialized in Young Magazine and ran for a total of 38 volumes. It was also adapted into a TV drama and a live-action film. Its most notable feature is its realism and horror, with its unusual subject matter of a sex industry scout, and the author's own background, which includes non-fiction. While there are several works depicting the underworld, this work is frightening in that it is difficult to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction due to the author's background.
Introducing Wakui's masterpiece, "Budgerigar"!
This work, serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from 2014 to 2015, is a five-volume series. Kanada Nana, a boy living in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, loses his memory after his classmate, Shima Hiwako, is murdered by someone. A personality called Memory, the embodiment of his memories, is born in his head. Why did Hiwako die? Then, assassins from a secret organization appear one after another before Nana. Despite his fear of his lost memories, Nana presses forward, uncovering the mystery hidden within him.
Additional Information about "Budgerigar"
The setting is the same as the previous work, Shinjuku Kabukicho, but this work has strong mystery and suspense elements. However, behind the mystery and suspense, there are also elements of supernatural battles, making it a different genre from the previous work, which had a more realistic feel. The illustrations are realistic in the style of gekiga, but the style itself feels more like a shonen manga than the previous work, which had not a single trace of shonen manga. Perhaps the author had been wanting to write shonen manga since this time.
Wakui's Masterpiece, "Desert Eagle"
This five-volume series was serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2015 to 2016. High school student Ringo Takamizawa becomes embroiled in the shady business of ID forgery, seeking revenge against the evil that ruined her mother. A chance encounter with fellow high school student Kazuki Washio leads the two into a dark world.
Additional Information About "Desert Eagle"
As Wakui's first serialized shonen manga, it combines elements of delinquent manga with his specialty of depicting the underworld. However, the fact that the main character is a high school student makes the story feel less realistic. While the series was canceled after just one year, the changes to the art style to suit a shonen manga format were fully utilized in the later Tokyo Revengers.
Wakui's Masterpiece: "Tokyo Revengers"
This work has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2017 and is still ongoing. A humble young man awakens to the ability to time leap, and in order to change the fate of his former lover's murder, he races to prevent the tragic incident that started it all, this time at the hands of the Tokyo Manji Gang, the motorcycle gang that started it all.
Tokyo Revengers Synopsis
Takemichi Hanagaki (Takemichi), a 26-year-old part-time worker, lives in a rundown apartment and is overworked and bullied by his younger manager. One day, he learns that his middle school girlfriend, Hinata Tachibana, was killed along with her brother, Naoto, in a Tokyo Manji Gang conflict. Furthermore, Takemichi himself is pushed off a train platform by an unknown assailant and is transported back in time 12 years before his death.
Synopsis Part 2
After reliving the past, in which Takemichi picked a fight with the Tokyo Manji Gang and got beaten up, he saves Hinata's younger brother, Naoto, from delinquents on his way home. He tells Naoto that Hinata will die 12 years from now, and Takemichi will be pushed off the platform and die as well. The handshake between them triggers a return to the present, but Takemichi is not dead. It was Naoto, who was supposed to be dead, who saved Takemichi. Naoto avoided his own death thanks to Takemichi's words and saved Takemichi. However, even though Naoto knew the future, he was unable to save Hinata. Takemichi and Naoto plan to change the future through a time leap in order to save Hinata.
Supplementary Information About Tokyo Revengers
This work incorporates all the elements of the underworld, suspense, and delinquent manga that the author has explored in his previous works. While this work seems to be packed with everything he wanted to achieve, the art style has improved from when it was in a seinen magazine to something that's instantly recognizable as a shonen manga, making it a very approachable work.
[Tokyo Revengers] Summary of the Author
I've put together some information about Ken Wakui, the author of "Tokyo Revengers." Looking back at his previous works, I feel that "Tokyo Revengers" is a culmination of everything he wanted to achieve. The changes in the art style and the book covers are quite distinctive, and it's clear that they were tailored to suit a shonen manga genre. This ongoing series has finally settled the score with his arch-nemesis, and I'm incredibly curious to see how things will unfold. The anime will also be airing in April, so be sure to check it out!
