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We’re Going to Miss Vibing With Tokyo Vice
Season two of Max’s yakuza drama seems likely to be its last, so let’s celebrate its ineffable appeal while we still can.
The sophomore season of the yakuza epic that doubles as an argument for studying abroad displays steady improvement over the first, as the episodes broaden out into more of an ensemble piece while continuing to deliver on its promise of genre delights.But it would be wise to prepare for heartbreak: Given the pints of blood Max has been spilling in recent months, renewal odds aren’t looking too hot. Nobody conveys “man weighed down by the existential weight of masculinity” like Michael Mann, whose protagonists in Thief, Heat, Miami Vice, Blackhat, and Ferrari are singular figures prone to melancholy staring, weary affect, sly cunning, and an overall exhaustion with the experience of being alive. Tokyo Vice is selective with its big action set pieces (and they’re very good, in particular season one’s home invasion and assassination attempt against Chihara-kai oyabun Ishida), so the series’s visual language has become more dominated by these compositions, which reflect the interiority that Mann’s work has always been about.
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