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One of the biggest revelations of Tokyo Revengers chapter 272 was the existence of Manjiro’s Dark Impulses in this new timeline of the series. Since Shinichiro prevented his brother from being left in a coma, like in the original timeline, the fateful day in which Senju broke his toy arrived. As most fans are aware, this incident was the beginning of Mikey’s Dark impulses.
However, the latest chapter of the manga also seemed to imply that the Dark Impulses that live inside Mikey were not there in the original timeline. This has led the community to theorize that Shinichiro’s powers are the reason behind Manjiro being corrupted by the darkness inside him.
Continue reading to learn more about the issue and what it may mean.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for the Tokyo Revengers manga series.
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Tokyo Revengers proves that messing with time has consequences
In Tokyo Revengers chapter 272, fans witnessed Mikey attacking Haruchiyo for supposedly having broken his plane. As he did, a dark aura began surrounding him, although at that point, it was considerably smaller than what fans have seen in the past. Fans noticed that this only occurred due to Shinichiro traveling back to the past and stopping Mikey from dying.
As of chapter 271, the fandom is aware that time-leaping is not without consequences. In the original timeline, Shinichiro killed the first time-traveler by hitting him in the head with a pipe. In the canon timeline of the series, the older Sano brother died similarly, after being hit in the same spot by Kazutora.
Many fans consider this to be karma, a retribution to the actions you have committed in the past. We have seen many other examples of this phenomenon in the series. For example, Kisaki was killed by being run over by a truck after he crashed Hina’s car in an alternative future. In another alternative future, Kakucho shot Takemichi and Naoto, only to receive a bullet wound later.
It is almost as if karma is the driving force behind the time-traveling abilities that some characters in the series possess. Even Takemichi, arguably the noblest of all the time-leapers we have seen in Tokyo Revengers, has suffered from this. When he tried to change the past to save Hina, he ended up causing the death of a close friend, Baji.
When he tried to save Senju, Draken ended up being the one killed by the bullets that should have killed the girl. No matter what you do, there are consequences for your actions inside the series. It seems like Shinichiro’s consequence for saving Mikey was giving the boy self-destructive behavior in the form of his Dark Impulses.
Shinichiro may have saved him from his original death, but the Dark Impulses have taken care of ending Mikey’s life in almost every timeline. Whether it is by being shot, betrayed, or by his own hand, Manjiro’s death is a constant in every iteration of the timeline of the series.
Mikey’s darkness increases
Tokyo Revengers chapter 272 made it clear that Mikey’s Dark Impulses were almost insignificant the first time Shinichiro traveled back to the past. Throughout the series, fans have always seen Manjiro completely surrounded by the dark aura that symbolizes his impulses whenever these take over.
Their existence, while not yet confirmed by Ken Wakui, is almost certainly related to Shinichiro saving his brother. The more Shinichiro, or Takemichi in the canon timeline, tries to save Mikey from his inevitable demise, the more the boy seems to be taken over by his darkness. For some reason, Manjiro’s death is vital to the timeline of Tokyo Revengers.
The harder his friends and family fight fate to prevent his death, the more Mikey’s Dark Impulses push him into self-destructive behavior. The price to pay for Manjiro remaining alive in the series gives him the tendency to lose control over himself. This could be Karma warning those trying to save Mikey that his death will occur no matter what, and delaying it only causes more damage.
Sadly, each time our heroes have traveled back to the past to save Manjiro, his condition has gotten worse. During the final arc of the series, the blonde’s Dark Impulses have grown so big that he is unable to repress them anymore. Each time someone saves him, fate adds a little more darkness, as a reminder of the price to pay in exchange for Mikey’s life.
Final thoughts
As the series has progressed, it has been made clear that one of the most important lessons for Tokyo Revengers is Karma. If someone kills a person, they will most likely end up suffering a similar fate. If a person is saved from death, destiny will take care of the issue by making sure they end up dying.
This is most likely the explanation behind Mikey’s Dark Impulses. Karma wants to be repaid for sparing Manjiro's life. This concept will possibly be explored further during the flashbacks to Shinichiro’s life that are occurring in the manga at the moment.
We can only hope that Ken Wakui will finally reveal what force is behind Mikey’s Dark Impulses.
