HBO Max recently dropped the first look trailer for their crime drama series Tokyo Vice. The first season aired back in April 2022, so it’s been a good long while since the sophomore season hit our television screens thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. So as we get ready for the second season, which debuts on February 8th, you now have a window of opportunity to catch up on the show, which is an underappreciated gem of a show that seemingly flew under the radar for a lot of people.

So what is Tokyo Vice even about? Executive produced by the likes of Michael Mann (who directs the first episode) and Destin Daniel Cretin (Shang-Chi), this show is a loosely biographical account of Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort), an American journalism graduate who becomes the first foreigner to get employed at the fictional prestigious newspaper Meicho Shimbun in the late 90s (in real life, Adelstein worked at Yomiuri Shimbun). Elgort actually speaks quite a bit of Japanese in the show, to the point where he was able to improvise his lines in Japanese, despite learning his lines phonetically. The amount of Japanese present in the show is also commendable; often Western shows set in countries that don’t speak English may throw in a line or two of dialogue for “authenticity” and then call it a day, but Tokyo Vice wisely put a huge emphasis on the Japanese language. Yes, the show still has English scenes, but I’d guess around 40% of the show is in Japanese and it helps with the immersion into both the city and its underworld.

Being a foreigner, something his Japanese colleagues like to remind him of, Jake finds himself at the bottom of the social hierarchy at his new job. After being essentially a paid intern, he’s ultimately assigned a chair at the police press department, just to take statements, nothing fancy in terms of work, despite his qualifications. It’s here where he eventually meets Ken Watanabe’s Hiroto Katagiri, a veteran detective in the organized crime division. The two end up striking an unlikely friendship; with Jake’s inquisitive mind and attention to detail leading him deeper into the underworld of Tokyo alongside Hiroto, who is very familiar with the Yakuza and seeks to use Jake’s skills for his own advantage.

Being a crime reporter, Jake is often met roadblocks, both due to his job title and the wildly different culture of Japan relative to his American upbringing. And much like in Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, the city and its institutions like to state that “murder does not happen in Tokyo”, implying there’s no dirt to unearth, but both Jake and Hiroto seemingly know otherwise. The Yakuza are everywhere, in the police department, government, and many other industries, so exposing them also sheds light on a lot of powerful “legitimate” individuals who don’t want their racket disrupted.

As Jake descends into the underworld, he meets Samantha, another American working as a hostess in a Tokyo nightclub, and Sato, a young upstart in the Yakuza whom Jake befriends. Samantha is a former Mormon seeking fortune and independence in Tokyo’s nightlife, where high rollers will pay good money just for a conversation, while Sato, her handler at the club, begins to question the Yakuza lifestyle, making him a potentially important source for Jake.

What the show does incredibly well is transport its audience to a time and place most of us haven’t been to. Even if you’ve visited Tokyo on business or as a tourist, you likely haven’t stepped into the neon-soaked underworld. Tokyo Vice thus feels almost like a documentary at times, giving us a behind-the-scenes look at a culture and subculture that’s so wildly different to Western audiences. This sensation really pops in the first episode thanks to Mann’s sleek digital cinematography, invoking Collateral. The docu-angle applies more to the culture and the city; Jake himself is very much the eyes for the audience; the foreigner who wants to learn more but may be out of his depth. This show is a crime drama, not a biopic on Adelstein.

But that’s not a problem; by having the protagonist be a foreigner and a journalist, we’re given a compelling and easy avenue for exploring uncharted territory and Elgort plays Jake with enough charm and likeability to bring us along into the underworld with ease. But his personal life and love triangle subplot aren’t anywhere as interesting as his investigation. Thankfully, this aspect of the show is never drawn out or cringy; it’s just not as engaging as the main meat and potatoes of diving into the world of the Yakuza or what it’s like being a foreigner in a prestigious Tokyo institution, where Jake is often belittled or antagonized for being different, despite his qualifications.

Whether by design or rushed writing, the show does seemingly fizzle out a bit come the end of the first season, but hopefully watching the two seasons back to back makes this narrative choice less of an issue. I’d say if you were a fan of Ridley Scott’s Black Rain or Michael Mann’s crime-centric filmography, then this may be the show for you. It feels like an intimate look at a criminal world that has massive amounts of influence and reach and the way the show is presented makes it feel authentic and lived in. The investigation is engaging and the overall presentation is top-notch, making season two an anticipated one for me.