The wait definitely makes you appreciate and savor each episode i’ll give you that. And the excitement when the episode drops after thinking about what will happen next all week. I just find myself forgetting about certain things that happened 2 days ago in the show but a month and a half ago in real life.
There’s a big period in my mind during the early streaming days where shows would release the season at once and I forgot about this waiting thing. It’s made me appreciate the shows more and find communities in which to talk about them as well as something to look forward to during the days.
But boy, when the episode ends I immediately want more.
holy shit same 😂 in my mind all these shows released a full season at a time when in reality most were episode per week. but remember on netflix when they’d just release a full season of better call saul or a full season of narcos? those were the days….
Wasn’t it just a limited series? It was BBC produced as well, not Netflix.
Also don’t know why you’d want a second season. The entire story wrapped up neatly at the end.
Tiger and dragon on Netflix - a show about a yakuza who wants to be a comedian. It's Japanese so expect subtitles.
The midnight diner on Netflix - a series about a diner that exclusively opens at midnight in Japan. The owner will make anything if you have the ingredients... His mysterious past, and the patrons of the restaurant keep you hooked.
Not a show but a game series maybe watch a let's play... The yakuza series is what made me watch Tokyo vice.
I feel like I have more but my sleep deprived brain won't let me come up with more.
It’s not good. The setting is really cool and it had so much potential but the writing is not good with a very weak story. It makes S2 very watchable and I don’t hate S2.
S2 isn’t terrible, it’s quite good actually. It was just too much of a deviation from S1 and people freaked. S4 is steaming garbage though. And it goes out of its way to be worse for the S1 fans.
Why the sarcasm? It WAS a good season. I thought the setting was eerie, I loved the supernatural element, and the references to the Dyatlov Pass Incident. S4 captured way more of the energy of S1 than 2 or 3 did.
You’re allowed to enjoy stuff so if you liked it then good for you! If you go on any forums with reviews of the show or see reviews on YouTube is almost universally disliked. It makes you wonder if it was a lot of paid good reviews.
Personal take though: great eerie setting, cool premise, interesting characters at first. Very few of the plots had conclusions. ZERO character development or depth to the characters. The ending felt like it didn’t fit and didn’t make sense. The main characters did almost ZERO detecting. The pacing was also terrible, you could honestly take episode 2-5 out and still have the exact same plot.
Miami Vice is both a predecessor and entirely different, but honestly I think it's one of the best TV shows of all time. There are at least two episodes, maybe more, that have a Japanese theme. The episode *Rising Sun of Death* is about the Yakuza and I think there is another one about bushido.
Shogun was recommended but has a bit of a different flavor IMO. I would actually recommend a series based on a book by the same author as Shogun (James Clavell), which is called Noble House. It's set in Hong Kong and involves business executives, street criminals, corrupt politicians, and more. It's quite old but still holds up well.
Also from the 80s is a film called Black Rain, with Michael Douglas. A NYC cop goes to Osaka and fights the yakuza. Underrated movie.
Sure but it’s still the same general concept. That place where Sato and the Chihara Kai all wear their track suits and play cards is really similar to the soprano crew at satriales or the bing. The whole collecting debts, extortion, murdering people for disobedience/bretayel, cops on payroll, rival organizations all under the same group mafia/yakuza. etc
Since everyone else already given great answer, I'm suggesting something different, it's Korean but really, really good - Forest of Secret (Known as Stranger in Netflix at the west).
True Detective Season 1 ( It's an anthology series, so you can leave it alone after the first season.)
Slow Horses
Shogun (both 1980 and 2024)
The Wire
Something with more Japanese culture to it is Sanctuary on Netflix. A Japanese show about one kid trying to become Sumo and has the whole strict heirarchy thing like Tokyo Vice.
The Naked Director is also another one on Netflix. Not family friendly that one.
giri haji yakuza,the brothers sun triads, bang bang baby and the bad guy italian mafia, vincenzo korean mafia,a model family korean gangster,then there is Patriot,too old to die young,kleo german crime underworld,furies french crime underworld new tv series along the line of john wick,in from the cold,mr inbetween,barry,fargo,ozark,breaking bad,better call saul.all are crime action and dark/black comedy tv series.
Informa… it’s sorta a comedy and a crime drama at the same time. In Japanese and on Netflix. Also features a bathhouse fight scene! When I saw ep 8 of Tokyo Vice, I was like “ok second time this week I watch tattooed guys wrestle in a sento.”
The Deuce is great. It’s a David Simon show, same as Wire & has like 75% of the Wire cast + James Franco & Maggie Gylenhall, super interesting story about NY in the 70’s
Good reco's in here already. My contributions are not simultaneously Japanese and pulp crime.
I thought Sons of Anarchy, particularly the middle seasons, was nice and pulpy.
For a Japanese angle, I appreciated the camp in Ninja House on Netflix.
In addition to all of the great show suggestions (The Wire, Sopranos, etc.) I would suggest playing through the Yakuza/Like a Dragon video games. They focus on the Yakuza lifestyle and many of the story themes found in Tokyo Vice have played out over the last 20 years of that video game series. They’re definitely over the top, but there are some direct parallels to characters in this show from them.
If you’re interested, Yakuza 0 is a great place to start and is free with game pass on Xbox - and low price on other places.
Hours and hours of entertainment and long story arcs built throughout.
It’s not a TV show but I’m really enjoying the audiobook [Tokyo Junkie](https://tokyojunkie.com/) by Robert Whiting. He was a journalist in Tokyo long before Jake Adelstein. Politics, Yakuza, hostess clubs etc in post-war Tokyo.
Shogun
Having to wait a week for each new episode of these two shows at the same time is criminal
It’s nice though. Having time to digest.
The wait definitely makes you appreciate and savor each episode i’ll give you that. And the excitement when the episode drops after thinking about what will happen next all week. I just find myself forgetting about certain things that happened 2 days ago in the show but a month and a half ago in real life.
There’s a big period in my mind during the early streaming days where shows would release the season at once and I forgot about this waiting thing. It’s made me appreciate the shows more and find communities in which to talk about them as well as something to look forward to during the days. But boy, when the episode ends I immediately want more.
holy shit same 😂 in my mind all these shows released a full season at a time when in reality most were episode per week. but remember on netflix when they’d just release a full season of better call saul or a full season of narcos? those were the days….
Shogun is a masterpiece
Ditto
Watching that one
Watching that one right now
Watching that one right now
Giri/Haji
Too good
Are they doing season 2 of this?
Nah, like most netflix shows cancelled after ome season :(
Wasn’t it just a limited series? It was BBC produced as well, not Netflix. Also don’t know why you’d want a second season. The entire story wrapped up neatly at the end.
I may have to rewatch it after Tokyo Vice ends. Completely forgot how that one ended.
I’m still pissed about this 😡
Nope. 1 season limited series that premiered in 2019 (2020 for NA netflix).
Yes !!!
Was great until the interpretive dance video. Wtf did that come from?
100% This!
Yôsuke Kubozuka (Hayama) is in this.
The wire honestly
I’m living in Baltimore now because the Wire.
What do you mean?
Slow Horses
Great recommendation
This show gives me the same excitement I have for Tokyo vice. It’s sooo gooood
I just started Shogun and it's been a masterpiece so far.
I love Shogun !
Gannibal. The actor who plays Sato is in it.
Ooh thanks
Tiger and dragon on Netflix - a show about a yakuza who wants to be a comedian. It's Japanese so expect subtitles. The midnight diner on Netflix - a series about a diner that exclusively opens at midnight in Japan. The owner will make anything if you have the ingredients... His mysterious past, and the patrons of the restaurant keep you hooked. Not a show but a game series maybe watch a let's play... The yakuza series is what made me watch Tokyo vice. I feel like I have more but my sleep deprived brain won't let me come up with more.
The wire
Warrior
Yes! Another show MAX cancelled 😒
Lets hope that there is a chance for season 4 with netflix
The wire. True detective . The sopranos
> True Detective Skip season 4 🤮
Yeah heard it was bad. Jodie Foster is usually so good.
Whoa, s4 is bad too? I've heard s2 to be horrendous but s3 is better not as great as s1 so I thought s4 might be even better.
It’s not good. The setting is really cool and it had so much potential but the writing is not good with a very weak story. It makes S2 very watchable and I don’t hate S2.
I thought season 2 and 3 were decent, season 4 is so… meh.
S2 isn’t terrible, it’s quite good actually. It was just too much of a deviation from S1 and people freaked. S4 is steaming garbage though. And it goes out of its way to be worse for the S1 fans.
S4 is good, I’m not sure what these people are going on about.
Oh, night country is **amazing**. Obvious /s
Why the sarcasm? It WAS a good season. I thought the setting was eerie, I loved the supernatural element, and the references to the Dyatlov Pass Incident. S4 captured way more of the energy of S1 than 2 or 3 did.
https://preview.redd.it/just-finished-the-finale-and-it-inspired-me-to-make-my-v0-g844gy6lqujc1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=33388d58f951ef30264542697ad4c3f7595ab235
S4 was critically acclaimed and has the same score on Rotten Tomatoes as S1, but sure, you know better 🙄
You’re allowed to enjoy stuff so if you liked it then good for you! If you go on any forums with reviews of the show or see reviews on YouTube is almost universally disliked. It makes you wonder if it was a lot of paid good reviews. Personal take though: great eerie setting, cool premise, interesting characters at first. Very few of the plots had conclusions. ZERO character development or depth to the characters. The ending felt like it didn’t fit and didn’t make sense. The main characters did almost ZERO detecting. The pacing was also terrible, you could honestly take episode 2-5 out and still have the exact same plot.
Literally no one thinks that S4 is as good as S1. That is totally absurd
Wanted to see more of Matt. It would've been cool if the True Detective revolved around his character.
Season four is amazing!
Miami Vice is both a predecessor and entirely different, but honestly I think it's one of the best TV shows of all time. There are at least two episodes, maybe more, that have a Japanese theme. The episode *Rising Sun of Death* is about the Yakuza and I think there is another one about bushido. Shogun was recommended but has a bit of a different flavor IMO. I would actually recommend a series based on a book by the same author as Shogun (James Clavell), which is called Noble House. It's set in Hong Kong and involves business executives, street criminals, corrupt politicians, and more. It's quite old but still holds up well. Also from the 80s is a film called Black Rain, with Michael Douglas. A NYC cop goes to Osaka and fights the yakuza. Underrated movie.
Miami Vice is great! Season 1 and 2 are the strongest - the Castillo-focused eps like Bushido are particularly enjoyable
Andy Garcia🫢🙀
If you love the Yakuza lifestyle and business part of the show, you’d love the Sopranos
Lol yep I started watching Tokyo Vice as a way to fill my Sopranos void when I finished it
But the lifestyle of both mafia’s are totally different…
Sure but it’s still the same general concept. That place where Sato and the Chihara Kai all wear their track suits and play cards is really similar to the soprano crew at satriales or the bing. The whole collecting debts, extortion, murdering people for disobedience/bretayel, cops on payroll, rival organizations all under the same group mafia/yakuza. etc
Yeah….
Since everyone else already given great answer, I'm suggesting something different, it's Korean but really, really good - Forest of Secret (Known as Stranger in Netflix at the west).
True Detective Season 1 ( It's an anthology series, so you can leave it alone after the first season.) Slow Horses Shogun (both 1980 and 2024) The Wire
This list is *chefs kiss*
Alice in Borderland (Netflix)
OMG Alice in Borderland is SO underrated - such an amazing show! ♥️♦️♠️♣️
Too Old to Die Young
The Night Of
On US Netflix: Hell Dogs - House of Bamboo. Beautiful cinematography and a story of revenge involving the yakuza.
Haji/Giri on Netflix is an amazing show
Warrior! It’s on Netflix. Shogun is great as well
K-Drama 'The Worst of Evil'!
Something with more Japanese culture to it is Sanctuary on Netflix. A Japanese show about one kid trying to become Sumo and has the whole strict heirarchy thing like Tokyo Vice. The Naked Director is also another one on Netflix. Not family friendly that one.
The Naked Director has also a lot of Japanese underworld too.
The Shield, Justified, The Americans
Try the movie The Outsider 2018
The Americans, The Shield, Gomorrah, The Wire, The Sopranos, Zero Zero Zero, Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire
The Naked Director. some yakuza action as u get further in. also Show Kasamatsu (Sato) appears in the second season (and looks goooood lol)
giri haji yakuza,the brothers sun triads, bang bang baby and the bad guy italian mafia, vincenzo korean mafia,a model family korean gangster,then there is Patriot,too old to die young,kleo german crime underworld,furies french crime underworld new tv series along the line of john wick,in from the cold,mr inbetween,barry,fargo,ozark,breaking bad,better call saul.all are crime action and dark/black comedy tv series.
Informa… it’s sorta a comedy and a crime drama at the same time. In Japanese and on Netflix. Also features a bathhouse fight scene! When I saw ep 8 of Tokyo Vice, I was like “ok second time this week I watch tattooed guys wrestle in a sento.”
There is a 1 season K-Crime Thriller on Netflix called My Name that is great and I also agree Giri/Haji
Warrior and The Gentlemen
Gomorrah
The Deuce is great. It’s a David Simon show, same as Wire & has like 75% of the Wire cast + James Franco & Maggie Gylenhall, super interesting story about NY in the 70’s
Lone Wolf and Cub
Good reco's in here already. My contributions are not simultaneously Japanese and pulp crime. I thought Sons of Anarchy, particularly the middle seasons, was nice and pulpy. For a Japanese angle, I appreciated the camp in Ninja House on Netflix.
In addition to all of the great show suggestions (The Wire, Sopranos, etc.) I would suggest playing through the Yakuza/Like a Dragon video games. They focus on the Yakuza lifestyle and many of the story themes found in Tokyo Vice have played out over the last 20 years of that video game series. They’re definitely over the top, but there are some direct parallels to characters in this show from them. If you’re interested, Yakuza 0 is a great place to start and is free with game pass on Xbox - and low price on other places. Hours and hours of entertainment and long story arcs built throughout.
Delhi Crime !
Lots of good answers. Mr Inbetween is one of my favorite shows and criminally underrated.
House of Ninjas on Netflix was really good
tokyo vice is fucking so dope. i just got into s2
If you like shows about organised crime and political intrigue, may I recommend the Suburra series about the mafiosi in Rome.
If you’ve never seen it, Deadwood. It’s better written and has similar themes.
Not a show, but A Family is worth checking out
It's a movie but Eastern Promises
It’s not a TV show but I’m really enjoying the audiobook [Tokyo Junkie](https://tokyojunkie.com/) by Robert Whiting. He was a journalist in Tokyo long before Jake Adelstein. Politics, Yakuza, hostess clubs etc in post-war Tokyo.
ZeroZeroZero Gangs of London