The trailer for HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice showcases a neon-drenched Yakuza underworld
The streamer shared a first look at the new crime story from Michael Mann and J.T. Rogers
Aux News Tokyo Vice
HBO Max has released the first official look at Tokyo Vice, the long-in-the-works drama from executive producer Michael Mann and series creator and playwright, J.T. Rogers.
The compelling trailer introduces audiences to Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort), an American journalist in Japan covering the crime beat in Japan in the late ‘90s. “I want to know the real Tokyo,” Adelstein states in the trailer. “What’s beneath the surface.”
The series looks to take viewers from the sterile offices of Japanese newspapers to action-packed police raids, and the neon-drenched Yakuza-owned underworld of Tokyo. To immerse himself in both worlds, Adelstein aligns himself with vice squad officer Hiro Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) and Yakuza member Sato.
The touch of executive producer Michael Mann can be felt all over the trailer, hitting many Mann-erisms expected from the crime story auteur: themes of brotherhood, the grey area between cops and robbers, tough-guy dialogue (“A man without enemies is no man at all”), and a glimpse at a sword fight with Yakuza ninjas. And it all looks 100% cool.
The series is based on journalist Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir of the same name that recounted his time working as the first non-Japanese reporter at the Yomiuri Shinburn, one of the country’s largest newspapers. The book has yet to be published in Japan because according to Adelstein, “it steps on too many toes” and could result in “acts of violence.”
The project was originally announced back in 2019 and will finally premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, April 7. Mann will be behind the camera for the debut episode which was written by Rogers.
Tokyo Vice will follow an interesting release schedule, splitting the difference between the water cooler week-to-week model and the new binge-able streaming model. Three episodes will debut on April 7 and two episodes will run each Thursday after that leading up to the finale on April 28th.
28 Comments
who but a white male journalist could be a better person to tell this story.
Absolutely going to watch this, looks fun. I loved the book, and am willing to accept this will be almost nothing like it. My only gripe so far is everything looks really dark, which is kind of a weird thing to say about a show set in Tokyo, but, I get it.
It takes place in the early 90’s
Tokyo was only fully electrified in 2007
This looks really cringy. Like the trailer has a scene where someone is attacked by ninjas. Feels a bit like one of those “Hey look at how weird and mysterious Japan is” movies that reeks of Orientalism.
I’m a fan of Mann, but I have been struck by how often his protagonists have hooked up with an East Asian woman (which is how you can identify the one episode of Robbery Homicide Division he has a story credit on).Earlier I recall the miniseries he was supposed to be working on was about the Tet Offensive, but since he’s getting on in years and isn’t as productive as Ridley Scott I’m guessing COVID has killed that off. Would his depiction of Vietnam have been less cringey? I guess we’ll never know.
It looks like something from twenty years ago, down to the weirdly mannered line readings. I’ve seen store mannequins with better chemistry than Elgort and Caucasian Female.
It takes place 30 years ago so it should look even older?
The book covers a span of 12 years from 1993 to 2005. Adelstein then left Yomiuri Shimbun and published his piece about Tadamasa Goto’s FBI-arranged liver transplant in WaPo.
Hah – not the era in which it’s set, the production; it looks tonally dated, not as an aesthetic choice. It feels a bit camp.
1:10 that’s Linda Hamilton on the National Lampoon “buy this magazine or we shoot this dog” cover what’s your fucking problem Mr. Mann you don’t like Sigrid’s music videos or Linda Hamilton or lesbians?
Jake Adelstein is famously full of shit so I’m sure it comes off as very white boy’s Japan fantasy.
Got any sources I can check out? Can’t find much online outside of some Reddit threads and a link to a now-defunct WordPress blog.
https://tokyovicefactchecked.wordpress.com/about/
oh shit!
I guess Tonsa Geller wasn’t canceled enough to keep him from getting more work. Mann’s stuff is pretty much always worth checking out, though.
I get that it’s based on a real-life dude’s memoir, but do we need yet another story set in the East with a western white protagonist? Especially one played by Ansel Friggin’ Elgort.
Especially with a produce and show runner are also white dudes.
The yakuza are a joke now, though.
Pretty sure this takes place in ‘92 though
Plus this movie has a ninja attack in it. Pretty sure it’s not aiming for accuracy
I don’t think those were meant to be literal ninjas. They’re just guys with knifes and ski masks, a fairly standard criminal kit in a country where guns aren’t easily available.
Ah, okay. 🙂
Ansel Elgort?? Really?
If you think this looks horrible, watch Giri/Haji instead. If you think it looks amazing, watch Giri/Haji as a warm-up. It really is terrific and shamefully underseen
I could always use some more Michael Mann but WHY does Ansel Elgort and his stupid fucking name keep getting cast in lead roles of otherwise good-looking projects?? Fuckin’ hell…
I didn’t realize Tokyo Vice hadn’t been published in Japan but that kind of makes sense.I really liked the book. I really don’t like Ansel Elgort. Like West Side Story, this project had the misfortune of casting him before everything came out. Maybe I’ll give it a look. But I’m in no rush. I don’t even have HBO Max.
I was raised up watching “Crime Story” and “Miami Vice” (the series), and I only given up on Michael Mann after “Blackhat”. Should do that after “Insider”, really. Maybe after “Collateral”. Ok, “Miami Vice The Movie” was watchable – but all the signs of declining quality were there… But this? This has Rachel Keller (“Fargo” Season 2, “Legion”) in it!