The recent finale of the HBO Max crime series Tokyo Vice left audiences with numerous open-ended questions.
The series, loosely based on a memoir of the same name by investigative journalist Jake Adelstein, climbed the ladder of success instantly after its release on April 7, 2022. It had everything you’d want from a thrilling crime drama—cursing, deadly betrayals, violence, and sex.
The neo-noir thriller series sits 86% on Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ ratings. The slow descent of rookie journalist Adelstein into the Japanese mafia world is alluring, to say the least.
Was Tokyo Vice renewed for Season 2?
After a thrilling eight-episode run with multiple key characters, plot twists, and subplots, will Tokyo Vice return with a Season 2?
Yes, it will.
HBO Max renewed Tokyo Vice for a Season 2 on June 7. The writers promised even more twists and turns in the sequel. The series’ finale aired on April 28, which suggests that the incredible reception to the drama is what led HBO Max to green-light the sequel.
Quick Tokyo Vice Finale Recap
The finale episode, titled Yoshino, revealed a few secrets regarding the Yoshino district but raised more questions about Polina’s (Ella Rumpf) identity.
It starts with Jake and Samantha (Rachel Keller) helping each other find the latter’s friend Polina. He gets a tip that Polina was probably working at the Yoshina district to save enough money to pay off her debts.
Jake meets Ukai Haruki (Motoki Kobayashi), a news reporter, with Samantha to learn some new information on Polina and finally discover that she is (seemingly) working on a sex boat, that goes by the same name as the district, to pay off her debt.
Things get dangerous for Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) as he gets entangled with yakuza boss Shinzo Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida). He teams up with vice reporter Jin Miyamoto (Hideaki Itō) after catching him destroying evidence for Tozawa and learns that Miyamoto’s desperate to leave Tozawa’s grasp.
As luck would have it, Tozawa threatens to kill Katagiri’s family and informs him that Miyamoto’s dead. Katagiri eventually gets his family to a safe location.
For Jake, the reporter goes through tough times so much that the ambitious journalist even contemplates returning home.
There’s also the death of Sato (Show Kasamatsu) at the hands of an Ishida member, but it’s still unclear as his dead body wasn’t shown. He was stabbed and left to die.
Towards the end, Jake gets an anonymous tip about someone’s death (most probably Polina) at the hands of a Tozawa man. The footage becomes a means for Jake and Katagiri to reform their relationship, as they join hands again to expose and destroy Tozawa.
Possibilities for Season 2
With a thrilling finale that ties back to its pilot episode, Tokyo Vice Season 1 does close the loop. There are multiple subplots that Season 2 can focus on now.
Polina’s identity and who killed her is a major open-ended question. The footage revealed that she refused to sleep with a rich man and got killed because of it.
While trying to dig deep into Polina’s story, Jake will probably find a new friend or an enemy, because he would also have to search for whoever sent him the footage and the reason behind it.
Season 2 might also be able to give details on other key characters’ stories such as Miyamoto’s death, Sato’s murderer, and Tozawa’s medical condition.
About Tokyo Vice
Tokyo Vice is an HBO crime drama series created by J.T. Rogers based on Jake Alderstein’s 2009 book of the same name.
It follows a fictionalized Alderstein, who becomes the first Western-born journalist to work at a renowned Japanese newspaper. Here, he teams up with a veteran detective to uncover the crimes of the yakuza.
The cast includes Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller, Show Kasamatsu, among others.
News Source: Tokyo Vice
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