I haven’t mentioned it much before now, but Tokyo Revengers has a bit of a pacing problem. I know, I’m blowing everyone’s mind. An adaptation of a popular, ongoing shonen manga having pacing issues? Perish the thought! But as this season has gone along, what was once a deliberate pace has started to feel more like padding, and “No Pain, No Gain” especially shows it this week.
It’s not just that it starts with a two-minute recap of everything important from last episode, or the fact that this episode has Takemichi’s friends literally sit him down to explain the hierarchy of his own gang. Though those are rather egregious. It’s also in the way so much dead air sits between a lot of lines, or how Takemichi reiterates flashbacks to scenes we’ve already flashed back to at least twice in the past weeks, or how the camera will linger on one action for just a bit longer than…
