Tokyo Vice Season 2 Had A Major Advantage Over Filming The First Season

"Tokyo Vice" premiered on HBO Max (R.I.P.) back in 2022 and became a hit worldwide. That means a second season is on the way, although we haven't heard much about it. The first season boasted a pilot episode helmed by Michael Mann and told the story of an American journalist who moves to Japan to write for a Japanese newspaper. Just getting the job isn't easy, and once the writer (played by Ansel Elgort) lands the gig, he has to work his way up. Luckily, he teams up with a cop (Ken Watanabe) and the two explore the criminal underworld. 

Season 2 will likely continue this story and go off in new directions in the process. But when it came time to film season 1, things didn't go so smoothly. Speaking with THR, "Tokyo Vice" producer Alan Poul revealed that filming the first season in Japan was difficult. "On season one, nobody knew us," Poul said, adding: 

"People tend to be hesitant about new things in Japan, but not only that, we were a show that was loosely based on a nonfiction memoir that was so controversial in Japan that it's never been properly published — also, incidentally, it deals with the world of the Yakuza. So people had good reasons to be hesitant about having any contact with us. During season one, we got a lot of flat denials on things just based on the perceived association with organized crime."

That makes sense and it certainly sounds like shooting season 1 wasn't a cakewalk. But then came season 2. 

As mentioned above, "Tokyo Vice" ended up being a big hit worldwide. "Well, we're really fortunate that the first season was a hit worldwide," said Poul. "And even in Japan, where it was seen on the satellite network Wowow, it had a tremendous reputation. So we're coming back to a very altered landscape."

How altered? Well, it looks like people liked the show so much that the filmmakers are discovering they have more access to shoot season 2. "[E]verybody knows what the show is, and everybody knows that the show takes a very authentic Japanese point of view in describing Tokyo in the 90s," Poul stated. "So we're finding many more doors opening and people actually welcoming us, or even soliciting us, on the basis of how much they enjoyed the first season. So that's a dramatic change."

Poul added that "Making the show work as well for Japanese audiences as it does for Western audiences was a very key goal for our showrunner, J.T. Rogers and the entire producing team," and it's clear that approach paid off since more doors are now being opened to the production. But the question remains: when will we see season 2? The second season was ordered back in 2022, and it sounds like production has definitely begun. Hopefully, we'll know more about "Tokyo Vice" season 2 soon.