‘Tokyo Revengers’: Does Takemichi Beat Taiju?

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Based on the manga by Ken Wakui, Tokyo Revengers anime concluded its second season in April of this year. Following the gripping cliffhanger that left fans eagerly awaiting the next installment, Takemichi’s story in Tokyo Manji Gang continues. The second season introduces new characters who play a crucial role in altering the future depicted in the first season, with a particular focus on a gang that had its renaissance under a new leader – Black Dragon.

Black Dragon’s new leader was Taiju Shiba. He is a violent, bloodthirsty fighter whose strength is formidable and whose demeanor strikes fear into those around him. Takemichi confronted Taiju in a chapel on Christmas Eve, but he did not win the fight. Taiju overpowered Takemichi, who, in the end, stood against him with nothing but a resolve to put an end to each side’s determination to commit murder. Taiju’s blood started to boil as Takemichi refused to stay down no matter how badly beaten he was, which boosted the resolve of others who fought against the Black Dragon members. Taiju wasn’t defeated until Mikey arrived and knocked out his opponent with a single kick.

The fight alone involved multiple characters and was a culmination of everyone’s emotions and actions taken. The built-up tension and ties from the past all led up to a thrilling finale. Here is how it all falls into place.

Who is Taiju Shiba and what happened with Black Dragon?

The story of the Black Dragon reaches beyond the formation of Toman. Before Manjiro Sano, aka Mikey, decided to build a new era of hoodlums, his older brother, Shinichiro Sano, formed the First Generation of Black Dragon. Guided by their ideals, Black Dragon was the top delinquent gang in the Kanto region. This changed with the Eight Generation, which corrupted the ranks, and the gang lost its sense of unity and guidance.

The following Ninth Generation maintained the tainted course, as they continued to be a group with zero ethics and no ideals to uphold. Their leader, Shion Madarame, had a strong desire to defeat Mikey, the younger brother of Black Dragon’s founder. Mikey had, at that point, already created Toman – a new gang of hoodlums who upheld honorable ideals and sought to build a golden era for delinquents. Shion lost to Mikey, and Black Dragon fell apart.

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When the dust settled, Seishu Inui took the initiative to revive the gang by declaring himself the founder of Black Dragon’s tenth Generation. Later, once he witnessed Taiju Shiba’s strength and craving for violence, he recruited him as the tenth Generation leader in his own stead. As a result, Black Dragon transformed a militaristic group of fighters, almost mercenaries who feared their leader and would do anything for money.

Taiju Shiba, the new leader of Black Dragon, is the eldest of the three Shiba siblings. His brother, Hakkai Shiba, is vice-captain of Toman’s second division, and their sister, Yuzuha, shares a strong connection with Hakkai. The three siblings are bound by blood and a shared secret, which gives birth to feelings of great resentment and anger that have been harbored for years.

Taiju is an excessively violent man whose idea of discipline is beating his siblings to make them strong. His sadistic, aggressive behavior and outbursts of violence towards his siblings instilled terror and hatred in them, which led to a grim future where Hakkai left Toman and was determined to murder his brother.

How did Takemichi end up fighting Taiju?

Having seen the future once again, after Kisaki captured him and Chifuyu, Takemichi learned that Hakkai left Toman and murdered his brother, Taiju, for money. Consequently, Hakkai became the new leader of Black Dragon, who then joined Toman and became Mikey’s heavy hitter, who would do anything for money.

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With such a mentality, they didn’t fret about engaging in all kinds of criminal activities, including drug dealing, prostitution, illegal casino, loansharking, and murder. As a result, Toman was corrupted, and it became a huge criminal gang with zero ethics that even the police couldn’t touch.

The events that followed this turn of events ultimately led to another timeline in which Hina, Akkun, and old members of Toman were killed, with Mikey turning evil and going rogue. The money poured into Toman by Black Dragon and Kisaki’s violent, scheming nature corrupted Mikey, which was a change reflected in Toman. 

Thus, for Takemichi to change the timeline again, he had to change the key events that led to the undesirable circumstances that would follow. Having befriended Hakkai, he soon learns of the hardships in his family. Ever since their mother passed away, the two youngest Shiba siblings have been subjected to their brother’s beatings. Taiju had an idea of discipline instilled in his mind that required pain and violence to raise his brother and sister to be strong.

While Hakkai expressed no desire to ever become a leader, as he stated he values the freedom that comes with the lack of responsibilities and restrictions imposed by leadership, his brother’s violence and sadistic nature had him cornered. Taiju wanted Hakkai to join Black Dragon, which made Hakkai leave Toman.

However, his superior, Mitsuya, wouldn’t allow Hakkai to leave his position as a vice-captain unless Taiju promised that Yuzuha, Hakkai and Taiju’s sister, won’t suffer any abuse by his hand henceforth. This consequently meant that Black Dragon and Toman resolved their differences peacefully instead of through physical confrontation because the members of Black Dragon attacked Takemichi, a captain of Toman’s First Division.

Even though Taiju accepted the terms with a wide grin on his face, it wasn’t long after the truce was achieved that Hakkai turned to Takemichi in order to reaffirm his resolve to murder his brother to keep his sister safe. Because of this, Takemichi knew he had to get involved in Shiba family affairs and stop Hakkai from becoming a murderer.

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How did the fight end?

Once they learned when and where Taiju would be alone, Takemichi went ahead to meet Hakkai, while Chifuyu, Kisaki, and Hanma stayed behind to confront Taiju and buy Takemichi some time. Of course, things could not run smoothly when Kisaki was involved. While pretending to work alongside Takemichi and Chifuyu, he reaches out to Yuzuha and convinces her to murder Taiju, giving her the details of his whereabouts on the one night when he is always alone. 

Learning this made Takemichi understand what truly led to the future he saw. By making Yuzuha murder Taiju, Kisaki’s grasp on Hakkai tightened, as he knew Hakkai would cover for his sister, which in return meant that Kisaki would have the Black Dragon under his control. This allowed him to obtain an even greater authority in Toman and have a stronger impact on Mikey, whom he seems to be using as his star player.

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Guided by a strong resolve and determination to help his friend, Hakkai, and to save everyone in the future, Takemichi stood up to Taiju in a fight. Regardless of how many times he was knocked down, Takemichi dismissed the idea of defeat in this battle of David and Goliath, as losing would mean that his friends would die within twelve years.

He was brutally beaten but still stood up each time and continued to confront Taiju, whose blood started to boil because he was unable to force his opponent to stay down, but he instead kept attacking as ferociously as he could. As the fight progressed, Mitsuya also took Taiju on, while Chifuyu and Takemichi fought the two present members of Black Dragon.

Ultimately, Takemichi and Mitsuya’s resolve pushed Hakkai over the edge as he revealed the secret that had kept a firm lock on him all these years. Free from his chains, Hakkai joined Toman’s members in direct confrontation with Taiju and the two members of Black Dragon, which lasted until Mikey appeared and defeated Taiju with a single kick. In the end, while their physical strength wasn’t enough to defeat Taiju, their resolve kept them on their feet against the mighty fighter.

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