Michael Mann’s “Tokyo Vice” collection launched its eight-episode season over a three-week interval in April on Max (previously HBO Max).
Shot on location in Japan, the collection stars Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe in a narrative primarily based on journalist Jake Adelstein’s first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat within the Nineties because the worlds of crime reporters, beat cops and yakuza crime lords overlap.
The title scored superb critiques and by June of that yr was already renewed for a second season that aimed to start manufacturing shortly.
Filming started on the second run in November final yr and managed to complete its shoot three weeks in the past, getting all the pieces achieved simply days earlier than the actor’s strike started.
Talking with THR, producer Alan Poul revealed that the largest distinction between filming the primary and second seasons was how the locals handled the manufacturing:
“On season one, no one knew us. Individuals are typically hesitant about new issues in Japan, however not solely that, we had been a present that was loosely primarily based on a nonfiction memoir that was so controversial in Japan that it’s by no means been correctly printed — additionally, by the way, it offers with the world of the Yakuza.
So individuals had good causes to be hesitant about having any contact with us. Throughout season one, we acquired a number of flat denials on issues simply primarily based on the perceived affiliation with organized crime.
Now, on season two, everyone is aware of what the present is, and everyone is aware of that the present takes a really genuine Japanese viewpoint in describing Tokyo within the 90s. So we’re discovering many extra doorways opening and other people really welcoming us, and even soliciting us, on the idea of how a lot they loved the primary season. In order that’s a dramatic change.”
The collection has been praised for its cultural authenticity, and marks the very first big-budget U.S. collection to have been shot fully in Japan. The complete interview is up at THR.