Tokyo Vice - Season 2 

Tokyo Vice 🚨 (Season 2)

The Japanese hit crime-drama series Tokyo Vice, based on the real life memoir of the first non-Japanese reporter to work in Japan, has returned for its second and final season.

It picks up immediately where it left off, as Detective Katagiri (Ken Watanabe - Inception, The Last Samurai, A Memoirs of a Geisha) and reporter Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort - Baby Driver) are forced to direct their attentions elsewhere, after having their lives threatened by the Yakuza.

This leaves Katagiri sidelined at his desk doing paperwork, while Jake find’s a new story covering a young biker gang that has been neglected by society. Both men have come to terms with what their lives have become, allowing this season to play into the fact that there are “more stories going on in Tokyo than just the Yakuza”.

This gives the audience the chance to appreciate the full scope of this world we’ve been introduced to, before eventually being reminded of who this world will always revolve around - those with money, power, and most importantly, respect.

I’m not one to speak in hyperbole but I have to say it, this is officially my favourite TV series of all-time.

Tokyo Vice had shades of Heat (this was Executive Produced by Michael Mann so it makes sense), Goodfellas (showing the highs and lows of the fast life), and even The Godfather (an honourable code amongst men).

There are definitely moments of whiplash with the way the story navigates through the importance of each character, but it still managed to conclude its final End Game masterfully with the a cheer worthy conclusion to the strenuous ordeal that the beloved main characters had to face.

The main characters to me became secondary to the real story of this season, which was the completion of the origin story of Nakmato Sato.

He went from a wide eyed underling to playing an integral part in deciding the future of the Yakuza in Japan, and that origin story was the full circle moment this show crafted to perfection.

Sato was played Shô Kasamatsu, who deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Florence Pugh, Ayo Edebiri and all of the next generation of talent coming up in Hollywood right now. He was brilliant in this, and I can’t to see what he works on next.

What also allowed this whole series to excel the way it did was the stunning cinematography that birthed this aesthetic, that terrifically captured the gritty underworld of 90’s Japan.

And how I could forget, Ayumi Tanida (Alice in Borderland) was an absolute force to be reckoned with through his domineering performance as Yakuza boss, Shinzo Tozawa.

There’s no better (or worse) feeling than having that void from a show you fully immersed yourself in. It’s one of those watches I wish I could watch again for the first time. Sigh.

Gangster movies have been on the decline for the last decade but I promise you, Tokyo Vice is the mob story we’ve been waiting for you.

Enjoy!

9.2/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 55mins
Episodes: 10
Where: Streaming Weekly on Max (US) and Crave TV (Canada)

Tokyo Vice Review (2024) The Richmond Reviewer -  February 21st, 2024.

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