I have never felt the need to champion a TV show that was cancelled to be revived. As much as I may have enjoyed a show, if the powers that be had decided to nix it, oh well, there’s plenty of other shows to keep me occupied on TV. But as I looked over the shows I’ve watched this last year I reminded myself how much I really loved Tokyo Vice, especially this year’s Tokyo Vice season 2, and how disheartened I was that the show was cancelled by Max. So, let me get on my soap box now and make the case for why somebody needs to come in to make Tokyo Vice season 3.
Tokyo Vice was (loosely) based on the accounts of American journalist Jake Adelstine (Ansel Elgort) as he worked the police beat in Tokyo in the 1990s. The first two seasons focused primarily on Jake’s efforts to bring down the dangerous yakuza leader Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida), working alongside Tokyo detective Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe). The show also focused on Jake’s relationship with fellow American expat Samantha (Rachel Keller), rising yakuza member Sato (Sho Kasamatsu) and his fellow members of the Tokyo newspaper he works with, including his editor Eimi (Rinko Kikuchi).
Before I get into more specifics about where things were left in season 2 (SPOILERS ahead), Tokyo Vice was one of the most gripping shows I’ve watched in years. Jake and Katagiri’s pursuit of Tozawa was absolutely enthralling, taking us along piece by piece until the puzzle of how to defeat him all came together masterfully. But the show’s depth of characters is also one of its highlights, as I grew to care about the varying members of the yakuza we meet, Samantha’s dream to grow her own club and the personal lives of Jake and his fellow journalists. Creator JT Rogers crafted such an intricate and believable world that it’s impossible not to get drawn in.
And yet, after two seasons, Max decided to cancel Tokyo Vice. In defense of the streamer, with Tozawa killed and many of the other storylines that we had been following for two seasons in places of calm (if not fully settled), the Tokyo Vice season 2 ending works perfectly well as a series finale. But it did leave a number of tantalizing doors open to explore in future seasons.
Jake will certainly find a new story to pursue, while Katagiri likely won’t be able to stay retired for long. You have Samantha and Sato seemingly ready to begin a real relationship, but how will Sato’s new role as head of his yakuza gang impact things? Plus, Eimi is going to be taking on a new role, and who knows if we’ve heard the last from the Tozawas (Mrs. Towaza seems every bit as cunning as her late husband).
Before the fate of Tokyo Vice had been decided by Max, Rogers said that he was already planning for where the series would go next. Then once the official word came down he kept hope alive by saying, “We know there is more story to tell.”
It was fitting that Tokyo Vice first premiered when Max was still known as HBO Max, because the show felt in line with the long tradition of rich and gripping adult dramas that the premier cable network is known for and helped define peak TV. I can’t help but wonder if Tokyo Vice had premiered on HBO originally would it have been something the network fought harder to protect? We’ll never know, but I have confidence it would have been one of the best shows on HBO, just as it was one of the best shows on Max.
Now the question is who, if anyone will come and rescue it? Netflix is an obvious potential savior, as it has done similar things with other shows (Manifest, Cobra Kai). Honestly, I don’t care, but somebody please give Tokyo Vice the respect that it deserves and let Rogers and company keep making these fascinating stories if they want.
If someone points me in the direction of one of those online petitions to save Tokyo Vice, I’ll be happy to put my name to it.
You can watch both seasons of Tokyo Vice exclusively on Max in the US. In the UK it's available on BBC iPlayer and Sky Go.
