WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Tokyo Revengers Episode 5, "Releap," now streaming on Crunchyroll, as well as discussion of sexual assault.
Now that Takemichi knows Draken's death is the spark that will lead to the Toman Gang's eventual corruption in Tokyo Revengers, he has to make sure Draken doesn't die. But this proves to be more difficult than he thought when Draken doesn't want (or frankly, need) Takemichi's protection in Episode 5.
Takemichi can't afford to let Draken die, though. His death will have a severe impact on Toman -- especially Mikey, who will not only lose a best friend, but also his sense of right and wrong.
As Takemichi prepares to go back in time, he's armed with a few facts: Draken will be killed in a parking lot of Musashi Shrine on August 3, 2005. It'll be a brawl between 50 members. And in two weeks' time, Toman will be divided into two factions because of a fight between Mikey and Draken.
Takemichi's time leap has its flaws, one of which is that he'll often arrive in medias res. On his last venture, he time leaped into the middle of a fight. This time, he finds himself in a really unfortunate position: underneath a half-naked girl with no knowledge of how he got there in the first place. He immediately bolts out of there, but his luck is so bad that he runs into Hina right after. She realizes there's something weird about Takemichi: in the time that his 26-year-old self was gone, his 14-year-old self wouldn't have known what was happening, consequently hurting Hina with his indifferent behavior. Takemichi doesn't get much time to ponder this before he receives a call from Draken to come to Musashi Shrine.
At Musashi Shrine, the entire Toman Gang arrives on motorcycles, along with the girl Takemichi had met earlier whose name is Emma. Emma grumbles that she wants to grow up quickly so Draken will pay attention to her. Mikey gathers Toman and asks them whether they'll be willing to fight against another gang called Moebius after their leader, Osanai, fought with the 3rd Division Captain Pah-chin's friend and sent his girlfriend to the hospital after raping her. Pah-chin wants revenge but admits he has reservations, given how this would bring the entire gang into the conflict. But Mikey doesn't care -- if even one member wants revenge, then Toman will support.
There's no way around it: the censorship of the manji symbol has some serious effects on Tokyo Revengers' quality and narrative. In an attempt to avoid any misunderstandings around the symbol, there are scenes where the animation has either brightened up the lighting or darkened it in some areas, making for some really distracting shots. And in some cases, awkward transitions and cuts -- like a few seconds of a black screen -- replace the manji symbol, which detracts from the narrative. The extensive censorship is understandable for the broadcast to Western audiences but with the whole premise based on it being Toman's symbol, Episode 5's treatment of it doesn't bode well for the rest of the series.
Despite having his bodyguard offer rejected, Takemichi isn't dissuaded and follows Draken to a fast-food restaurant where he hears Mikey yelling. At first, Takemichi thinks this is the start of the fight that will drive the two friends apart but it turns out Mikey's throwing a huge tantrum over... not having a flag on his kid's meal. Draken quickly steers clear of disaster by sticking a flag in his meal, like he was anticipating the moment. A few minutes later, Draken gets angry at Mikey because the fearsome leader of Toman has decided to take an afternoon nap in the middle of the restaurant.
Where Mikey lacks, Draken makes up for -- Tokyo Revengers shows this when the two visit the girl in the Moebius conflict. Despite Mikey's protests and struggles, Draken forces him to bow to the girl's parents, apologizing to them and taking full responsibility for what happened. Although Toman aren't the ones who hurt her, their fights inevitably bring innocent people into the mix, no matter how hard they try to keep the two worlds separate. This isn't about right or wrong when it comes to facing those who have gotten hurt. It's about caring for people around you.
Mikey and Draken became the leaders of Toman for their strength and charisma. While Mikey would sacrifice the world for Toman and his friends, Draken is essentially Mikey's heart and his moral compass -- the only one who can keep him on the right path. Without Draken, Mikey, and consequently Toman, would self-destruct.
