The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Tokyo Revengers, "Stand Alone", now streaming on Hulu.Another week another episode of Tokyo Revengers Christmas Showdown. Episode 3 of the second season titled Stand Alone had an important reveal for the story but was overall a poor episode in comparison to the first two.
Perhaps an overuse of flashbacks, some of them multiple times, or maybe the pacing and a few scenes of questionable animation, but it didn't have a great feeling. Nonetheless, Stand Alone is an important episode to look back to for one of the plot lines it opens that will definitely play a key role from now on. Next week fans will have a chance to see how this unfolds. Other ways to try to change the past are coming.
Hakkai's Plan
The episode kicks off after the cliffhanger where Taiju orders his younger brother Hakkai to beat Takemichi to death. As everyone could guess, this was never going to happen. At first everyone argues about doing it or not. Taiju bring up that family always goes first, it doesn't matter if Hakkai is on another gang, or if Takemichi didn't know this was Black Dragon's turf because at the end of the day, you have to obey your family. Specially if it's your older brother asking you for something. However, he refuses to do it. The matter is now back in Taiju's hands as he will do it himself.
Seeing that her brother can't stop what's about to happen Yuzuha tries to intervene and stop the fight. The ruthless leader of the 10th Generation of Black Dragon doesn't care that she is her sister and hits her to get her out of the way. Right after that, he goes back to beating Takemichi while Hakkai can only watch them terrified to the point of shivering. That's how afraid he is of his brother. With no one else to step up, Hina herself faces the giant monster that is trying to kill Takemichi. She begs him to stop and let them go away.
In this case, he just goes around her and continues beating Takemichi. He then tells Hakkai that if he wants something, let them go, he will have to offer something in exchange. He was expecting the situation to get to this point, so he made the deal Taiju was expecting. Leave the ToMan and join Black Dragon in exchange for letting Takemichi walk away. Now the pieces started to fit. This is the reason why he ended up in Black Dragon despite being so different from them. Although there was still a missing thing, he was supposed to murder Black Dragon's leader to take over. While they were carrying Takemichi to a hospital, Hakkai tells him that he was planning to do it regardless of what happened. Because he has something to fix in Black Dragon. That can only mean one thing.
You Are Not Alone
Next thing Takemichi wakes up in his bed and starts ranting about having to stop Hakkai, but if the only way is to fight the Black Dragon then they are in big trouble. What he didn't realize is that right next to him were all his friends. Akkun, Yamagashi, Takuya and Makoto were playing cards in the floor of his bedroom. They mention how awful is going to be fighting the Black Dragon. They are all now members of the Tokyo Manji 1st Division. Chifuyu is also there sitting in a chair in the back of the room.
The second in command of the 1st Division takes upon himself to explain the Black Dragon situation. He tells the story about how the Tokyo Manji only exist to help Kazutora fight them back. Also, how they have become a much aggressive and violent gang since Taiju Shiba took over. The ToMan won a fight against the 9th Generation, however the 10th Generation is more problematic. Taiju redesigned the uniforms, created the Murder Squad and sells his muscle to rich connections for protection and attacks of any kind. Despite being only two years older than them, he is a real criminal with a lot of power in the Kanto region.
After Takemichi being insistent about not wanting anyone to be involved in his problems Chifuyu asks him to go for a talk. They ride in the bike Baji left him. Takemichi starts trying to tell him he knows what he wants to talk about, but he was completely wrong. What Chifuyu actually wanted say was that he wants them to enjoy this because Baji didn't leave ToMan in his hands to stress him out. After hearing this words, Takemichi feeling that he can trust him with everything decides to tell him every detail about his time-travel. Chifuyu had already noticed some odd moments with him and believed his story. From now one, he is not alone. Together they will try to avoid the horrific future where Chifuyu himself was just killed by Kisaki.
The Dorayaki Strategy
The closing moments of Stand Alone focus on the ToMan high ranking officers reunion to determine the course of action after one of their captains got beat by a rival gang leader. The first thing Takemichi and Chifuyu need to change is Hakkai's switch to Black Dragon. To achieve their objective Chifuyu has a master plan, give Mikey a dorayaki to influence his decision. Everything goes according to plan, Hakkai asks to leave the ToMan and the perfect moment for Takemichi to act comes, but at the end it turned out to be just a ridiculous idea as Mikey thorws it away and continues the meeting. Their plan B was literally described in the notes as gumption. Chifuyu is certainly a great friend and companion, but not the brightest.
Finally, after Takemichi abrupt interruption, Mikey leaves the decision to Hakkai's captain Takashi Mitsuya. After a dramatic walk, he closes the episode with a shocking statement, he will not allow him to leave. Fans will have to wait until next weekend to find out if he actually meant that, or if he is just playing hard with someone he is very close with. Tokyo Revengers Christmas Showdown will continue to stream in Hulu in the US as things start to heat up with the Black Dragon.