Throughout its recent lifespan, HBO Max has introduced a plethora of original content to its service. This selection includes original series such as Our Flag Means Death, Station Eleven, Raised By Wolves, and DC-associated series like Peacemaker. HBO has shown no signs of slowing down its progress, as Japan-set crime series Tokyo Vice is slated to begin streaming on the service this April. Now, the thriller starring Baby Driver actor Ansel Elgort and Pokémon Detective Pikachu's Ken Watanabe has released its official trailer ahead of release.
Based on the eponymous novel by Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice follows a Western journalist working in Tokyo, Japan who faces off against a powerful Japanese crime boss. In addition to Elgort and Watanabe, the series features an ensemble cast that includes Rachel Keller, Ella Rumpf, Shun Sugata, and Kosuke Toyohara.
Destin Daniel Cretton, director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has directing credits on nine of Tokyo Vice's episodes, and Heat director Michael Mann produces and directs the pilot episode. The series' episode writers have written for a slew of big television shows such as Black Sails, Ray Donovan, The Terror, and Netflix's Cowboy Bebop.
Tokyo Vice releases at a time of renewed narrative media interest in Japan as a setting. Sony Pictures' Bullet Train, releasing this July, centers its action in the country, while smash-hit video games such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Ghosts of Tsushima have revisited the setting in unique ways. Studios have also been more eager than ever to adapt Japanese stories for film and television; Netflix, for example, is developing projects based on One Piece and Mobile Suit Gundam.
Ansel Elgort has appeared in major roles such as Caleb Prior in the Divergent franchise, Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars, and Tony in the 2021 film edition of West Side Story. Ken Watanabe most recently appeared in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but is also known for his roles in Inception and The Last Samurai (for which he received an Academy Award nomination). Watanabe is also an accomplished stage actor, having received a Tony award for his role in The King & I.
Tokyo Vice as a whole has the makings of a compelling nail-biting crime thriller. Here's hoping viewers give it a chance!
Tokyo Vice begins streaming on HBO Max on April 7th, 2022.
Source: HBO Max|YouTube