One of the more common complaints we hear at our busy hive is that age doesn’t make sense in Tokyo Revengers. Characters like Mikey, Draken and Takemichi are all around their early teens and it comes across goofy. However, here’s a real-world factoid for you readers out there. Most gangs have teens as gang members and that is a common theme around the world.

In America—for example—gang members often start in the early school days. This is meant to strengthen their resolve before they are too old. Plus, young gang members do get into school yard fights and gang battles almost daily! No matter the age, gang members should be avoided as they can be quite scary even if they aren’t in high school yet!

The world of Tokyo Revengers has been getting intense as of late! We have family death—we will not be revealing who dies—and opposing gang members infiltrating other gangs. Basically, the drama has just gotten more and more shocking, which makes every episode exciting! What is even crazier about Tokyo Revengers is that the drama isn’t all that un-relatable!

Again, avoiding spoilers, Takemichi has lost his ex-girlfriend Hina two times and it always stems from the Tokyo Manji Gang gaining psychotic members and losing those who kept them in control. Just like in the real world, gang hierarchy is important as new gang members—or younger members—tend to be rash with their decision making. That’s why Takemichi is so focused on going back in time to somehow become the leader of the Tokyo Manji Gang, so he can ensure his friends won’t be killed in the future and that their members will always stay in line. See, while the time-traveling element of Tokyo Revengers is quite sci-fi, the drama is all too realistic and quite relatable!

We all were—or are—teenagers and you can’t deny that your actions were quite similar to those in the world of Tokyo Revengers. When you got into a fight with a friend, it was usually over something stupid—for example, most of the fights Draken and Mikey get into—but things were resolved over a few laughs or after a quick brawl. The mindset most of the characters in Tokyo Revengers have reminds us of how we were as youngsters. Quick to prove ourselves and often making mistakes, sometimes with consequences.

Lastly, let’s be real for a moment. Those who complain about the ages of the Tokyo Revengers cast should think of the ages of those in other anime series. Most shounen series star little kids—Hunter x Hunter, for example—that are super powerful but aren’t even eligible for the world of high school! We could stand here all day naming every anime with teenage heroes who save the world—or try to take it over—and aren’t yet even in college…