by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
TV shows that are based on real life events are hit and miss. When they’re good, they can be some of the best television has to offer. I remember the first time I saw The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. It brought a lot of nostalgia to an event that captivated the entire nation. I watched the Bronco chase (mainly because it interrupted the NBA Finals), and I remember hearing about key players in the trial. To watch it again on the small screen in a dramatized version gave me new context to the things I didn’t understand as a nine year old watching the news about the trial. There have been instances where television series based on real events don’t capture the spotlight. 2022 in particular has been strong for limited series based on real life events. So what do we make of the latest entry from HBO Max?
Tokyo Vice follows journalist Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort) looking to prove his worth at one of Tokyo’s finest newspapers. Skeptical of foreign journalists, Adelstein has to prove he belongs by working with his boss Eimi (Rinko Kikuchi) on stories to get him noticed. After snooping around a crime scene, Adelstein begins to unravel clues on the Tokyo underworld. He works with various sources, including cops like Jin Miyamoto (Hideaki Itô) and Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe), to piece together how the Tokyo crime scene operates.
Before proceeding forward, I do want to say that I’m taking Tokyo Vice at face value. I’m just commenting and analyzing the show put in front of me. I didn’t do any comparisons with how everything went in real life, although I am curious to see how different it was. I do understand stories like this can’t be retold verbatim and there have to be some embellishment for either entertainment purposes or just for general storytelling purposes.
The story for Tokyo Vice is wide ranging, where multiple threads are connected. It is pretty straight forward as a fact finding mission. It’s messy at times, though, because there are a lot of threads to piece together with not a lot of time to do it (the series is eight episodes). Not a lot happens for the first half of the series as the audience is trying to figure out the ins and outs of the Tokyo underworld, similar to Adelstein. We’re following two rival gangster clans that have an agreement to stay out of each other’s way (tale as old as time, right?), but we don’t really get to explore what each gangster clan does. We follow both leaders at given times and some interactions with Adelstein, but I didn’t really understand what he was investigating at the end of the day. He sometimes investigates criminal dealings, sometimes drugs, sometimes missing persons, but we don’t really get a payoff for how those stories turn out. This is more like a lesson in what makes the Tokyo underworld go round.
Stylistically, the lights and sights around Japan are beautiful. We see the grit and grime, but also see a lot of lovely visuals around the city. The overall aesthetics and set pieces are quite nice and are steeped in Japanese culture. I really liked how the art and set pieces blended together to give Tokyo a true identity. In addition to looking beautiful, I have to give a shout out to the opening credits. I loved how the opening credits follow a tattoo, which is important for the gangsters in terms of how decorated they are within the clan.
Character-wise, I really liked some characters, but there were some who I didn’t really understand what they were doing. Adelstein as a character is a dedicated journalist with a lot of drive and ambition. Props to Elgort for his performance. I don’t know for sure if he learned Japanese for the role or if he had it in his back pocket for some reason, but kudos for sure, regardless. I’m split on whose performance was the best. Adelstein as a character was flawed at times. He’s sloppy with his journalism and makes decisions that have dire consequences. He’s also extremely talented and is willing to learn to chase a story. His character is worth exploring, and he’s flawed enough to keep things interesting. I really like Watanabe’s performance as detective Katagiri. I’m starting to believe that we don’t deserve someone as talented as Watanabe. He brings such grace to this role as a cop that is a bit of a loner but for good reason. Everyone in this city has something to lose, so it makes people easily corruptible. On the flip side, a performance I really liked was from an up-and-coming gangster named Sato (Shô Kasamatsu). Sato’s story starts as a novice gangster, but he rises through the ranks quickly and brutally. He gains respect at breakneck speed, but he also loses a great deal. His story arc ends rather abruptly, but I’m curious to see what happens in seasons to come (assuming it comes back). The best character of the series though is the city of Tokyo — its dynamic, changing constantly, is unique. Similar to how Gotham City in Batman movies sometimes takes a persona, the feeling is similar for Tokyo in Tokyo Vice.
Some characters don’t really get a lot of time to shine. There’s a great deal of focus on Samantha (Rachel Keller) as she tries to navigate her own journey around Tokyo. She has a checkered past, but she’s got drive and ambition. Her story doesn’t really get a lot of traction until the last few episodes, but dropping a story like hers, which is a very personal story, seemed a little out of place at times. I would have also liked to see more of two gangster leaders, Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida) and Ishida (Shun Sugata). Maybe next season will explore more about each man’s initiation into a life of crime? There are also some periodic moments where we learn about Adelstein’s family back in America. It felt a little out of place, but maybe an origin story episode where we learn how everyone got to where they are in Tokyo would be good. They did this with Samantha briefly, but more people could use that treatment.
I didn’t like the season finale. It tried to do too much to not only pay off everything the season worked so hard to accomplish (it didn’t), while also setting up another season (it also didn’t). I’m not a huge fan of shows that leave a lot unresolved going into the next season. It felt a little sloppy. By the end of the season, there are too many balls in the air for the audience to juggle to focus enough attention. It needed to wrap up more stories.
Tokyo Vice is a gripping show that has a lot of good going for it. I really enjoyed the Japanese culture and aesthetics. The show is anchored by strong performances that make up for a messy storyline. This is a soft recommendation, mainly because there’s a lot of other shows based on true events that came out this year worth trying first. If you like crime stories or Asian culture, this might be for you. Most of this is subtitled as well, so multitasking with it is rather tricky to balance. I’ll be curious to see if there will be a season two in the future, because a lot is left up in the air. Until then, it’s a worthy addition to the watch queue from HBO Max.
Score: 7/10
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