The first Tokyo Revengers (2021) delivered satisfying action as well as an exciting exploration of the importance of finding a romantic desire to guide one’s actions. The first part of the Bloody Halloween duology – Destiny (2023), however, failed to deliver more of the same. The film did not only lack any noteworthy action, but ended up emotionally forced, especially for the spectator who has little to no prior knowledge of Tokyo Revengers and its rich cast of characters. Yet, can the second part of the duology, decisive Battle (2023), right the wrongs of the first? Can Tsutomu Hanabusa deliver a satisfying conclusion to its forced and failed build-up?

Let’s immediately delve into the structure of Tokyo Revengers 2:  Bloody Halloween – Decisive Battle. Spectators will have no difficulty to discern that the structure of turns around a simple opposition between love (eros) and hate (Thanatos).

Valhalla’s Kazutora (Nijirō Murakami) represents the dimension of hate and destruction. He is singularly driven by his twisted and quite contradictory desire to kill Mickey and destroy the Toman gang. Yet, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that this thirst for destruction is a defence mechanism to overcome and evaporate his lingering feelings of guilt – for killing Mickey’s unarmed brother. By demonizing Mickey – by turning him into his mortal enemy, Kazutora undertakes a radical attempt to rewrite the power dynamics between the gangs and receive the signifier ‘hero’ by the criminal Other. It is in the signifier ‘hero’ that he seeks salvation and that he hopes to erase the trauma of his own violence with. For Kazutora, only the gift of this signifier can give his horrible transgressive act of violence on Mickey’s unarmed brother its righteousness and structural necessity. Yet, will this search not orchestrate his own destruction? Or, to put it more psychoanalytically, is Kazutora’s conscious attempt to dissipate his guilt not unconsciously an attempt to organize his own destruction by Mickey’s hands? 

Takemichi (Takumi Kitamura), of course, represents the dimension of love. He is driven by the desire to change the past and rescue his beloved Hina (Mio Imada) from her untimely death. Despite his physical and mental weakness, he always finds the strength to crack his inhibited state, weather the kicks and punches he is subjected to, and deal with the various setbacks on his path to safeguard the thing he cannot lose: his object of desire.   

The power to create change lies, in our view, mainly in the sacrificial nature of his conduct – by instigating brawls he knows he cannot win. While many people will consider his eagerness to be beaten up as downright stupid, the pleasure he grants them always opens up a chance to make the Other listen to his signifiers – e.g. his plea to Baiji to not die during the bloody Halloween face-off, his heartfelt speech to put a halt to Mickey’s desire to destroy.

Yet, in Tokyo Revengers 2:  Bloody Halloween – decisive battle, Takemichi succeeds in creating change in others in a different way. Instead of willingly sacrificing himself to make his signifier heard, he succeeds in inspiring his fellow Toman gang members by his loudly-voiced unwillingness to stumble and the succession of sharp blows he delivers to members of Valhalla. For a fleeting time, Takemichi becomes a phallic sparkle that gives courage and grants strength.

In this sense, one can argue that Tokyo Revengers 2:  Bloody Halloween – decisive battle is all about Takemichi’s attempt to assume a more phallic position, a position that radiates strength and confidence. It is only by being such kind of subject that he believes he can protect Toman from its dangerous future and ensure that Hina, his beloved, stays alive.    

It might surprise some spectators that the flawed finale of Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween – destiny (2023) functions extremely well as the opening of the second part of this duology – the cliffhanger works so much better as a teaser for the violence to come. The reason why this sequence full of shocking revelations does not miss its dramatic effect in Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween – decisive battle is because it immediately introduces the spectator to the tangle of violence that Takemichi needs to untangle to rewrite the present and avert Hina’s death (General-note 1). Rather than trying to strengthen the impact of this sequence with a pattern of forced moments of emotionality, this sequence immediately confronts the spectator with Takemichi’s seemingly unsurmountable task. For audiences, and especially those who have little affinity with the source material, it is much easier to identify with a heroic task than caring for a quickly fading parade of vaguely developed characters. 

Some flashbacks are present within the narrative’s structure to deepen certain characters and explore their motivations – e.g. the visualisation of the reason why Chifuyu (Mahiru Takasugi), Takemichi’s ally believes in Baij (Kento Yamanaga). Luckily, Hanabusa does not over-indulge on such exploratory moments and, thus, maintain the steady pace of the narrative. Moreover, these moments end up working quite well because they are less about forcing feelings of sympathy for minor characters, but more about delivering moments of violent brawling for the spectator to enjoy.  

Yet, spectators who remember Takemichi’s true aim – i.e. to ensure that Hina stays alive – might be left disappointed by the film’s finale. This finale forgets to touch upon the effects of Takemichi’s intervention in the present and merely celebrates his phallic victory in the past.   

Just like Tokyo Revengers 2 Bloody Halloween – Destiny, the composition of the sequel is a straightforward blend between static and dynamic shots. Hanabusa brings the fighting choreographies, which effectively blend gritty realism with surges of otherworldly strength together, to life in a satisfying and engaging way.

The impact of the dramatic turns in the narrative is strengthened via the same three ways as in Tokyo Revengers 2 Bloody Halloween – Destiny: sudden shifts from dynamic to static moments to underline a speech-act or the physical and emotional impact of a certain act of violence, the use of slow-motion, and the use of dramatic musical accompaniment. However, these stylish elementsaffect the spectator much more satisfactorily in Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween – decisive battle because Hanabusa can exploit the dimension of urgency – Can Takemichi truly change this fate of Toman and Hina? – as well as utilize the spectators’ expectations to see the decisive battle splatter on the screen.  

Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween – decisive battle offers a much better experience that the first part of the duology. Hanabusa, discharged from the demand to visualize a bunch of moments of forced emotionality, can finally do what he does well: deliver dramatic moments whose origin lie in narrative twists or in unexpected turns in the bursts of violence. Our recommendation: skip the first part of the duology and enjoy its conclusion.

Notes

General-note 1: The fast-paced recap that follows the opening sequence means that the spectator can easily skip the emotionally and structurally flawed Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween – destiny (2023)