Ken Wakui’s Tokyo Revengers was a series that picked up fame rather quickly, becoming an underrated gem with an anime too that gathered a lovely fan following. However, as the story progressed, there seemed to be a decline in a way that had everyone revolting against the series. By the end of it, the manga became just another addition to good projects with bad endings.
When the mangaka announced a fresh series to be in the works, it, unfortunately, got a lot of backlash because of the way things had turned out for his previous series. It wasn’t as if Wakui had stepped into uncharted territory knowingly. In fact, with his idea in mind, he wanted to do the exact opposite of that, finding a plot he knew much about.
Ken Wakui Didn’t Know Much About Delinquents
During an interview (via Tumblr), Ken Wakui talked about how Tokyo Revengers came to be. When the mangaka first had an idea for a delinquent-themed manga, he came to a standstill with an obstacle that only his editor was able to help with.
The editor in charge came to me and said at the beginning, ‘Draw a delinquent manga.’ But once I came to the conclusion that I didn’t know anything about the younger generation of delinquents nowadays and told the editor this.
While the idea in itself wasn’t too bad, seeing that shows such as Windbreaker worked so wonderfully as well. However, Wakui found a massive obstacle with how he knew nothing about modern delinquents. If it was still about the rebels of his own time, things would have been different.
Since he was unaware of the rebels of the age group he was targeting, there needed to be a different way to make the series work. As Tokyo Revengers needed to be picked up for serialization, his editor came up with the idea that in the end changed everything.
Ken Wakui Needed to Find Another Way Around
Ken Wakui had to figure out a way around his limited knowledge, unable to acquaint himself with the immense amount of knowledge present about the new-age delinquents. It was his editor who helped him out, finding a way to overcome the obstacle that had his own imagination limited.
He then said, ‘Can you draw something about a time period in the past you do know of and the main character can time leap through it?’ I think that’s how I came to start drawing it.
Upon his suggestion, the idea of a time traveling component came into the picture. Afterward, it became easier to incorporate the era of delinquents Wakui was familiar with.
The idea gave him room to grow his characters in the way he knew best while also adding in the factors of the rebellious group of kids he wanted. It was the perfect idea that brought about mystery, thrill, and action.
Tokyo Revengers is available to watch on Hulu.
