A new season is here
Then it was time for season two of “Tokyo Vic”e. There’s another deep dive into Tokyo’s club scene, as well as crime and relationships as the HBO Max drama continues.
Celebrated series Tokyo Vice has returned with a second season, which picks up after the cliffhanger where the first left off. In the main role we see Baby Driver– the star Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein, a struggling reporter trying to root out the Japanese equivalent of the Italian mafia, the Yakuzan.
It is interesting to see Tokyo Vice from the perspective of a trained journalist and although it cannot answer for all professional categories, it also gives a very credible impression in terms of police work and the Yakuzan in general. It is noticeable that Jake Adelsteins source material has established a clear overview of rituals, traditions and customs, not only within the Yakuzan but also Japanese society at large.
In many other series life as a criminal is glorified, but here both positive and negative aspects of that side of life are portrayed. Something that is interesting is how they have chosen to focus on one of the smaller Yakuza groups, or gumis/kais, which adds a form of character development. Sho Kasamatus Sato is exciting while, in a different way, equally pathetic in the way he deals with his oyabun, leader, and life as a yakuza member. It’s rewarding to see a show that explores gray areas, like what crime really is.
Different and realistic relationships
Tokyo Vice uses relatively unknown actors with brilliant performances. The series has a slow world-building with several parallel stories, each of which receives equal attention. What also reflects the real value of the series is the fact that they used almost as much English as Japanese to depict a clash of cultures.
The series offers realistic relationships that are fluid in that they come and go, Rachel Kellers Samantha and Ansel Elgorts Jake often falls out of favor with each other but at the same time finds togetherness in the next scene. This also applies to Jake and Sato, who drifted apart in season one. It remains to be seen if they will find their way back to what they once had.
The first two episodes of Tokyo Vice are now available to stream on HBO Max. Unlike the first season, which consisted of eight episodes, season two consists of ten.
