The last few chapters of the Tokyo Revengers manga have been fundamental in understanding Mikey and his true feelings towards those around him. Thanks to this, fans have been able to figure out the people that truly defined Mikey’s life, for better or for worse. Even among those who changed his life for the better, some meant a lot more to him than others.
While the handful of people who have been allowed into Mikey's heart will always hold a permanent spot there, the manga's latest arc has also shown fans that he is not above using someone for his personal gain, especially if he has never cared about them.
In this list, we have curated five people who Mikey will always hold dear, as well as five others who never meant anything to him.
Disclaimer: This list contains spoilers for the Tokyo Revengers manga and reflects the author’s opinion.
Izana and 4 other Tokyo Revengers characters truly special to Mikey
1) Emma Sano
Family has always been one of the most important things for Mikey. After Shinichiro’s death, Mikey took his role as the protector of the family seriously, which is why he would never leave Emma out of his sight.
The boy loved his sister more than his own life, as she was one of the few rays of light that kept him from falling into darkness. Some of the most important moments in Mikey’s life featured Emma as an active participant.
Her death will always be one of Mikey’s greatest regrets, even though he had no fault in it.
2) Keisuke Baji
Baji was not just one of Mikey’s closest friends, he was also a founding member of Toman, meaning he has been by the former's side for years. He was one of Mikey's most trusted Division Captains, considering how he tasked him with the first division, which is arguably the most important.
When Baji tricked the members of Toman into believing that he had betrayed Valhalla, Mikey broke. He never expected a betrayal from someone as close to him as Baji. Sadly, Baji and Mikey were not able to properly talk to each other after Baji’s plan was revealed, since he died that same day.
Baji's death marked the first time in Tokyo Revengers when fans were scared that Mikey would lose himself.
3) Shinichiro Sano
For most people, an older sibling is amongst the most important people in their lives. Mikey was no exception to this and treated his older brother Shinichiro like a hero. For Mikey, Shinichiro symbolized everything he wanted to become someday - someone strong enough to get up after being defeated but with the heart to forgive his enemies.
The idea of creating a gang like Toman came directly from Mikey’s admiration of Shinichiro. His older brother was the famed first leader of the Black Dragons, something Mikey was extremely proud of.
When Shinichiro died, a part of Mikey did as well, taking with it the Mikey that used to believe in light over darkness.
4) Izana Kurokawa
Izana was Mikey’s brother in everything but blood. Despite the fact that Izana was not related to any of the Sano family members, Manjiro still considered him one of their own. No matter how jealous or rude Izana acted towards Mikey, the boy would always forgive him and love him despite everything.
Learning that Izana was the person who ordered Kisaki to kill Emma was the last straw before Mikey lost control. He went berserk on his adoptive brother and almost him with his bare hands.
Unfortunately, although Mikey was able to control himself and forgive Izana for his actions, Izana also died, at the hands of none other than Kisaki.
5) Takemichi Hanagaki
Tokyo Revengers Chapter 266 revealed to fans that Mikey has considered Takemichi as the person who changed his life for the better since they first met. After losing Shinichiro, Mikey believed that no one would ever be able to fill the void left in his heart. Spending time with Takemichi made him realize that the time leaper was filling that void, even though it was unintentional.
Takemichi is quite literally the light of Mikey’s life, as proven by the fact that his mere presence was enough to subdue his Dark Impulses. Even now, after Mikey has completely given up on being saved, he is still trying to save Takemichi, warning him to leave him alone.
Takemichi is the only person who can save Mikey from himself and Mikey is more than aware of this.
Kisaki and 4 other Tokyo Revengers characters who represent nothing to Mikey
1) Shuji Hanma
Hanma used to be Kisaki’s loyal partner and right-hand man during the first part of Tokyo Revengers. In this last arc, Hanma went from being Kisaki’s partner to one of Mikey’s best soldiers. Despite the fact that Hanma was directly involved in Emma’s death, Mikey accepted him as a member of Kanto Manji.
This speaks volumes about the lengths Mikey is willing to go now that his Dark Impulses are fully in control. Regardless of how important Hanma is to the gang, Mikey was not once affected by the boy being hurt or knocked to the ground. This proves that he sees Hanma as nothing more than a simple pawn that he can use and discard later.
2) Hajime Kokonoi
Koko is without a doubt the best administrator in Tokyo Revengers. The young man has been sought out by some of the most prominent gangs in Japan since the beginning of the series. At one point, he was a proud member of Toman, before the gang was dissolved by Mikey himself.
He was later revealed to be Kanto Manji’s top administrator, which meant Mikey was personally looking for him. However, Manjiro did not turn Koko into a member of his new gang because he was his friend, he did so only because of his abilities with money.
3) Tetta Kisaki
Before his untimely death, Kisaki was extremely close to Mikey, but not because they shared an emotional connection. Days after Kisaki became a member of Toman, Mikey spoke to him about his Dark Impulses, claiming that he did this because Kisaki would have no problem with Mikey’s darker half, as he was not as noble as the rest of Toman.
With Mikey’s blessing, Kisaki took advantage of Manjiro’s Dark Impulses to advance his goals of becoming Toman’s leader. Soon after Kisaki showed his true colors, Mikey threw him out of the gang as per Takemichi’s request, even though he himself had asked Kisaki to act that way.
Kisaki was no longer useful to Mikey, so he simply discarded him, without any hint of regret.
4) Kakucho
Kakucho is considered one of the most powerful fighters in the entire series. Not only was he Izana’s second in command, but he was also considered the leader of the Rokuhara Tandai. If Kakucho wanted to defeat someone, nothing would get in his way until his enemy was unconscious on the ground.
Mikey was aware of how strong Kakucho was, so he decided to make him one of the top executives of the Kanto Manji gang. Nonetheless, Mikey has never shown concern over Kakucho’s safety, so it is safe to assume that he simply recruited him due to his strength.
5) Hinata Tachibana
Hina is one of the most important people in Takemichi’s life. Because of this, she has been present in many important moments of Tokyo Revengers, like Emma’s death. After finding out that Emma had died, Hina tried her best to make Mikey and Draken feel a little bit better.
While Mikey was extremely grateful for this, he never once mentioned Hina in the series after that. He likely used to hear about her from Takemichi, seeing as she is his girlfriend, yet he never seemed to care too much about the girl. This indicates that Mikey may consider Takemichi one of his best friends, but he does not want to associate with the people Takemichi knows.
Final thoughts
Mikey is one of the most complex and closed-off characters in Tokyo Revengers. His life has been filled with death and tragedy, so it makes sense that he often finds it hard to establish a connection with other people. However, this has never been an impediment for him when it comes to forming meaningful connections.
Sadly, losing most people close to his heart made him turn into a darker and more ruthless version of himself. Mikey currently does not have time for connections and only wants to be associated with people who are of use to him. This may change soon, since Takemichi is fighting tooth and nail to save Mikey.
Until then, we can only hope that the Mikey we used to know will eventually return to us.