English Dub Review: Tokyo Revengers: “Turn around”

Overview: The war between Toman and Valhalla commences as Draken (Sean Chiplock) goes toe-to-toe with Hanma (Zeno Robinson) while Mikey (Aleks Le) contends with Kazutora (Joe Zieja)

Our Take: One thing that this episode harshly reminds me of, like a cursed phone alarm and without a shadow of a doubt, is how much of a wuss Takemichi is. But I’m batting 2-0 for here people because along with that and like I had so shrewdly theorized and deduced, Kazutora is batshit crazy and has lost his goddamn mind. 

Truly, I am at the point where I am starting to think Hanagaki has a fetish for getting his ass handed to him before he proceeds to wake the hell up and finally begin to take action in a productive manner. His appeal has never been in his fighting ability or even style but in his spirit, as this episode so perfectly highlights. However, his asinine impassioned decision making or lack of any kind whatsoever is frustrating to watch beyond comparison, especially as he flails about helplessly. Hopefully, this is the final wakeup call as a every turn he always needs some kind of pep talk to man the fuck up. Although those gripes aside, you didn’t fall in love with Takemichi because he’s the smooth talking James Bond type and as pointed out by Hinata’s heart to heart in his time of need, neither did she. She and the many other members of Toman were touched and able to rally together as a result of his grit and his kind heart. 

Someone who can more than pull his weight in a fight though is Draken. Toman’s second in command, while not without his fair share of memorable moments, has been given a lot of time to really flex his muscles like this battle provides him showing just how much of an absolute beast of a fighter he is. It’s too bad that it’s bogged down by very stiff animation that’s even non-existent at times with still frames with speed lines that’s common in action heavy sequences that give a poor illusion of movement. Even the character designs degrade throughout further cementing that although the all out brawl is cool in concept, it ultimately  falls flat visually. 

Kazutora always felt like he was beyond saving. Like he should just be pushed out to sea and given a funeral pyre with him still conscious of it. Thankfully he seems to be halfway there with being dropped in a blink of an eye by Mikey after bearing the brunt of Kazutora’s underhanded tactics. Kazutora’s derangement also feels more properly unpacked and not some odd character turn with his childhood serving as effective traumatic catalyst in how demented he shifts. Not to mention, Mikey finally understanding that Kazutora is his enemy not only shows his diligence as a leader and will make for an interesting next part to the battle in how it will proceed, if at all, as Kuzutora has been brought down along with his subordinates.