Manga artist Ken Wakui closes his successful manga Tokyo Revengers with the release of the 31st volume this Wednesday, July 3. An ending that may have disappointed many fans and that the author comments on exclusively for BFMTV. Warning: spoilers.
Tokyo Revengersit’s over. Released in 2019 without fanfare, and now printed in more than 70 million copies worldwide, the adventures of Takemichi, sent back twelve years in the past to save his former girlfriend from an attack committed by the yakuza, conclude this Wednesday, July 3 with the publication in France of its 31st and final volume.
When we meet Ken Wakui at the end of November 2023 in the offices of his publisher Kōdansha, located in the heart of the Jimbôcho district of Tokyo, a paradise for second-hand booksellers, the Japanese publication of Tokyo Revengers has been over for a year. Dressed all in Balenciaga, the author enters the interview room followed by his entourage, composed entirely of men, all dressed with as much care as he.
Smiling, he does not hide his relief at no longer having to imagine Takemichi’s temporal adventures, with a scenario that is increasingly complex to conceive. “There is the pleasure of having gone to the end of a long adventure. But also fatigue, that’s for sure,” summarizes the designer, who hides his eyes behind the smoked lenses of his large sunglasses.
Disappointment
And Tokyo Revengers has been punctuated throughout its 31 volumes by the bloody clashes between its characters, the manga concludes against all expectations with a “happy ending”. “It’s an idea that I had from the start”, insists the mangaka.
“Before we got to this happy ending, very dramatic things had to happen that would clash with this ending, to make it more striking.”
This ending may have disappointed many readers – who have not failed to make this known on social networks since November 2022. These often virulent reactions did not surprise him: “They were mainly reactions linked to the affection that each reader could have for the characters. I expected there to be such strong opinions and I am very happy that people are expressing themselves and giving their opinion.”
The mangaka remains very “proud” of this finale which had the merit of surprising his fans. “What I am most proud of is also having been able to show in the manga all of Takemichi’s persistence and character. I managed to show well what the character felt.” Since the first chapter, he has continued to evolve. Thanks to his returns in time, the tragic and cowardly hero has transformed into a charismatic figure.
Finish early
The success, however, forced Ken Wakui to modify his script during publication: “Tokyo Revengers was published in a weekly magazine that submits a popularity survey to readers every week. Depending on the result of the survey, we have to make some small changes,” recalls the mangaka.
“I had planned to finish my story earlier, but the editorial director at the time, Mr. Kurita, who is now on the magazine’s board of directors, told us to extend the story because it was doing well. He didn’t want us to stop,” the cartoonist further reveals.
“I had often heard of series that were extended in the Weekly Shōnen Magazine because of their popularity. I had never seen it in real life. I thought it didn’t exist,” reveals Ken Wakui’s editor, who admits to having found the choice of his editorial director “quite surprising.”
Ken Wakui offers a second explanation, linked to the demands of publication in a magazine: “Unfortunately, at the same time, in the magazine, too many manga were ending and it was complicated from an editorial point of view that so many series ended at the same time.”
“We discussed with the editorial director who told us that it would be good to plan about ten more chapters, which could be about what happened after the end of the story, to find out what happened to the characters, but in the end this idea was not retained and we preferred to modify the end a little”, specifies the mangaka.
“It was very difficult”
Throughout the development of Tokyo RevengersKen Wakui’s main challenge was not to get tangled up in his hero’s many back-and-forths between the past and the present. “It was very difficult,” he agrees. “I think that’s probably what occupied most of our discussions when we had our weekly meetings.”
“Even when I had a good idea, sometimes it wasn’t usable because of the way we managed these back-and-forths between the past and the present,” laments the mangaka who was able to count on his “tantô”, or his editor:
“He really helped me build the story. It’s more than just help. It’s a story that we built together through our discussions.”
Working on a successful manga like Tokyo Revengers was “very instructive” for him. “This is my first long series in a weekly. In fact, the construction of a story and the narrative is very different. Producing twenty pages every week is very complicated. It’s even more so when you understand how it works.”
“We understand that when you do a chapter you can’t end on a sad note, otherwise the readers won’t support you in the popularity votes,” he explains. “You have to think about how the chapter evolves to bring it to a kind of climax at the end of the chapter so that the reader remembers it. I learned a lot.”
New project
If the success of Tokyo Revengers definitely marks “a turning point in his career, Ken Wakui has not changed his life. Especially since the mangaka works under a pseudonym and rarely shows his face. “It hasn’t changed my way of working. I continue to draw in the same way,” he simply says.
On April 14, Ken Wakui launched into the Weekly Shōnen Jumpthe historic competitor of Weekly Young Magazinehis new manga Negai no Astra. A fantastic action story set against the backdrop of a yakuza succession war. Ten chapters have been published so far. When asked about his plans last November, Ken Wakui simply replied mysteriously: “I have a lot of ideas.”
It’s hard to know what direction his career will take from here. Ken Wakui has fulfilled “all the goals” he set for himself when he began pre-publication of Tokyo Revengers in the Weekly Shōnen Magazine: “Having a cartoon, being at least first in popularity polls. From that point of view, I’m proud of the journey that has been made.”
Tokyo Revengers volume 31, Ken Wakui (drawing and script), Aurélien Estager (translation), Glénat, 208 pages, 7.20 euros for the standard edition, 16.90 euros for the collector’s box set.
