FIF#207-Tokyo Vice (Season 2)

Three months after his crusade to take down the Tozawa Syndicate was crushed, Jake Adelstein continues his work for the Tokyo Meicho as a Crime Reporter.  Trying to steer away from Yakuza activity, Jake begins investigating other crimes in the city of Tokyo.  But while he and Detective Katagiri recover from their soul crushing defeat, their enemies are regrouping and new threats are emerging within the still present gangs looking to push tensions to all out war.  If they are to be stopped, Jake and Katagiri will have to bide their time and investigate every angle to assure no one escapes justice once again.

 
It's been two long years since that moment where a beaten, battered and repentant Jake showed up at an equally defeated Katagiri’s doorstep, looking to reignite their partnership to take down Tozawa.  I just rewatched Tokyo Vice’s fantastic First Season with a friend and damn I forgot how awesome and captivating this show was.  The tremendous talent of the cast, the sharpness of the writing and the generally attention seizing intrigue of the early 2000’s Tokyo setting all added up to one of my new favorite shows to watch.  Now, at long last, Season Two is upon us and my expectations are high as heck.  So it’s a good thing two years hasn’t dulled the shows luster or any of those aforementioned elements that made the First Season a must watch, so much so I did a First Impression on it back in 2022 (which you can check out here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/fif156-tokyo-vice.html)
 
The first half of the two episode premiere picks up exactly where the last season left off (literally starting like less than half an hour after Jake showed up at Katagiri’s doorstep).  The atmosphere hasn’t dulled and there’s no indication anything is going to get better immediately.  The end of Season One found Jake and Katagiri dropped to their lowest points and the Season Two premiere reinforces just how screwed they are at the moment.  They aren’t the only ones.  Both Sato and Samantha aren’t doing great either and I commend the premiere on giving everyone their fair share of screentime to both reintroduce them to the viewers and give them time to grieve, lick their wounds, or straight up heal from life threatening injuries.  As always, the cast is just superb at making you want to give their characters a long hug and hoping they get some serious payback in the season to come.
 
The second episode sees the time jump that I figured was going to happen in the trailer.  It works on two levels: showing the progress everyones made in three months and establishing new threats and egos that are bound to stir things up in the absence of certain crime bosses (for now).  In a way, the introduction of a hotblooded new Chihara-Kai veteran Hayama reminds me of HBO’s other mega hit series, The Sopranos, and how certain season would bring in similar types to disturb the peace for their own glory or just to give them an excuse to cause violence.  And while it’s good to see Jake and the others on the up and up, there’s plenty of underlying tension that something big is coming and when it does, they need to be ready for it.  I’m also looking forward to more of Miki Maya’s Nagata, who looks to be the one to light the fire under Katagiri to get him back into action; and Ayumi Ito’s Misaki, Towzawa’s Mistress who looks to finally be getting it on with Jake for better or probably a lot worse.  BTW Ayumi Ito has also voiced every Japanese iteration of Tifa Lockhart in the Final Fantasy VII series since 2005’s Advent Children, still reprising the role in the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
 
What can I say, Tokyo Vice is back and I have been waiting forever for it to do so.  Getting caught up on Season One wasn’t a bad move cause I forgot a lot more of it than I thought.  But going right into Season Two after that, the intensity is on the rise and the excitement and danger have never been this big and it’s only going to get bigger.  I guess it’s a foregone conclusion that I’ll be watching this Season intently week after week.  But a better question is: Should this show find a slot somewhere on my Review Queue for the Gundam Anime Corner?  That…might be something worth investigating Dear Readers hehehe.