WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Tokyo Revengers Episode 6, "Regret," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Mikey and Draken have already made a huge impression in just the first few episodes of Tokyo Revengers. Mikey's command over Toman is like no other and Draken's very presence sends ripples of terror through anyone who sees him. Not only are the two of them the ones leading Toman, but they're also best friends. Episode 6 reveals how the two most powerful members of Toman met and makes one thing perfectly clear: Mikey and Draken were just as badass when they were younger as they are now.
Draken was born in Shibuya's red-light district and lived in a brothel. At the age of two, his mother left him, and with his father out of the picture, Draken was essentially orphaned. Being unusually tall for his age, Draken quickly became a force to be reckoned with, beating up middle schoolers with ease. In fifth grade, he decides to get a dragon tattooed on the side of his head, cementing the fact early on that he isn't someone you want to mess with.
However, there's one gang Draken can't win against -- the Sameyama Crew. The leader reprimands him for being cocky and punching the middle schoolers, noting that there's someone else like Draken -- a kid from Seventh Elementary named Mikey. Hearing how Mikey defeated another strong gang leader, Draken shivers, assuming Mikey to be some holy terror.
When Draken finally finds him, he's shocked -- young Mikey's a total pipsqueak. He doesn't know how to react as Mikey comes up to him, lollipop in his mouth, and agrees to follow Draken to see the Sameyama Crew. Onsight, Mikey charges the leader, lollipop still in his mouth, launches himself into the air and dropkicks the gang leader to the ground in one ruthless move. The rest of the members run for their lives, leaving him and a stunned Draken alone. Mikey asks Draken to be friends and the rest is history.
Past episodes have shown just how important Mikey and Draken's friendship is and how the two of them complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. Draken's death had a huge impact on Toman, as seen with Akkun's suicide and Mikey's own demise after a downward spiral, caused by the loss of his emotional anchor. But Episode 6 delivers another punch in the gut by showing present-day Mikey on a rooftop above the Shibuya streets, with a familiar dragon tattoo on the side of his neck in memory of his best friend.
After time-leaping back to 2017, Takemichi and Naoto track down Osanai, the leader of Moebius who looks nothing like an ex-gang leader. Working a low-paying job under a demanding boss, Osanai confesses that back then, while Moebius did fight with Toman, they weren't responsible for Draken's death. Their fight was only meant to trigger unrest within Toman, and would, later on, result in Draken's death. Osanai can barely mention that this was all part of his plan before his terror causes him to shut up.
Takemichi time leaps back into the past to stop Mikey from fighting Moebius. He finds the Toman leader, Draken, Pah-chin and Peh-yan at a warehouse in the midst of discussing the fight with Moebius. As soon as he asks them to not fight Moebius, Pah-chin throws Takemichi to the ground. Takemichi warns them it's a trap, but Mikey is resolved to fight Moebius: mess with one Toman member, and you mess with the entire gang. There's no convincing Mikey, but Takemichi falls to his knees and refuses to back down. He only just became friends with Mikey and Draken and fighting Moebius would mean losing them.
Unexpectedly, it's Draken who speaks up in Takemichi's defense and tells Mikey they should probably tread with more caution. Although said with good intentions, Mikey takes it as Draken going against Toman. Once Mikey gets an idea into his head, especially if it means helping out his friends, there's very little that anyone else can do to change his mind. Mikey values his friendship with Draken a lot and not having Draken on his side feels like a betrayal.
Takemichi may have inadvertently caused a rift between Mikey and Draken, and with Osanai planning to ambush them with all of Moebius, Takemichi will have to think quickly on how he can save Draken before it's too late.
