In Season 2 of Tokyo Revengers, Takemichi Hanagaki and the criminal punks who accompany him on his time-traveling adventures experience a level of personalization that has never before been seen. Takemichi already has to deal with a variety of individuals, each of whom has their own objectives and interpersonal relationships, and now he must also navigate the conflict within the Shiba family. There could be a fatality if the brothers Hakkai and Taiju start fighting.
Recent Tokyo Revengers episodes suggest that despite the fact that he will kill his brother, Hakkai Shiba is not a bad kid and that Takashi Mitsuya, his role model and friend, has taught him some important lessons about real strength. The lessons that Yasutora “Chad” Sado discovered in Bleach are comparable to these ones. If Hakkai’s friends have faith in him, he might follow in Chad’s footsteps as the next criminal who turns his life around.
Hakkai Shiba Discovered True Strength in Tokyo Revengers
Bleach fans watching Tokyo Revengers Season 2 no doubt saw many parallels between the Mitsuya/Hakkai friendship and the Ichigo Kurosaki/Chad friendship in Bleach. In flashbacks, Hakkai and Chad are both portrayed as naturally strong boys who can easily beat up most other kids their age, but it’s not the right lifestyle for them. Their violence was empty and pointless — an exercise in miserable futility — until an equally tough, yet wiser and more benevolent, friend taught them that defending others as a loyal comrade is far nobler than winning street fights. At the time, Hakkai took that lesson to heart, which set him apart from his physically abusive older brother, Taiju.
In the Tokyo Revengers flashback, Takashi Mitsuya is shown to be a protective and responsible eldest sibling for his two younger sisters, similar to Ichigo’s relationship with his younger twin sisters, Karin and Yuzu, in Bleach. Mitsuya and Ichigo both taught their tough new friend that violence for its own sake is wrong, and encourage Hakkai and Chad to instead use their strength to shield others from harm. Indeed, Hakkai eventually chose to take all of Yuzuha’s beatings for her, a move that calls to mind Chad’s M.O. in more ways than one. This helped Hakkai find a new sense of identity and feel good about himself, but recent developments may cause him to revert to the violent thug he once was.
When Hakkai disregards Mitsuya’s advice on Safeguarding Others
However, nothing in Tokyo Revengers is ever easy, and troubled kids like Hakkai are easily drawn back into the drama and violence. In contrast to Chad in Bleach, Hakkai has an abusive elder brother whose heinous actions bring out the worst in everyone, including Hakkai. When Taiju’s abusive fists endanger their sister Yuzuha, Hakkai can no longer turn the other cheek – and the time-traveling Takemichi suspects him of murder. None of Hakkai’s friends will let that happen.
If Hakkai is planning to murder his brother on Christmas Day, then he has fallen far from grace; in his defense, though, he’s in a tough spot: he can’t easily escape Taiju’s wrath, and he’s just trying to protect his innocent sister. Not even Chad had such personal stakes on the line in Bleach, so if Hakkai is convinced to abandon his plan and rejoin the rank of reformed characters like Chad, it will feel truly earned. This will no doubt be a turning point for the character, and Takemichi can help Hakkai change the future where fratricide is seen as his only solution. Hakkai will owe his friends much if they can save him from himself and help him be the true defender his sister needs him to be.
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