cover image Tokyo Revengers (Omnibus), Vol. 1–2

Tokyo Revengers (Omnibus), Vol. 1–2

Ken Wakui, trans. from the Japanese by Project Ceres. Seven Seas, $22.99 trade paper (392p) ISBN 978-1-63858-571-8

Tough guys meet time travel in this Omnibus collection of a standard-fare, fairly juvenile teen-delinquent-drama manga series with a sci-fi angle. Hanagaki Takemichi, a former thug, gains the ability to travel back in time after falling in front of a train. When he learns on the news that his girlfriend from junior high, Hinata Tachibana, and her younger brother both died due to gang violence, Takemichi decides to try to use his powers to save their lives. But the mechanics of time travel prove complicated, and he ends up changing the past and future in ways he doesn’t expect, saving some people while accidentally causing the early deaths of others. Wakui’s art is quirky but occasionally off-putting, with thin lines and viscerally detailed brawls. The friendships between the gang members will draw readers in, but the girls that hang around lovelorn for the ruffians have little else going on. The time travel adds puzzle-like complexity to what would otherwise be a bonanza of teens brawling: most problems that arise are resolved by punching. Regardless, the series has proven a hit in adaptation, whose followers will surely revel in the ample fistfights and plot twists. (Aug.)