No one likes crimes and no one should. But there’s something about crime dramas and thrillers that feels very stimulating. And that’s why there’s a huge audience for crime shows. It’s probably because of the thrill and the excitement that we get from seeing a crime solved or a desperate protagonist finally righting the wrong. It’s kind of satisfying to see that there’s always a way out of what seems to be wrong. The all-new HBO Max original,Tokyo Vicerenders the same experience to crime show fans.
The drama thriller series is based onJake Adelstein’s memoirTokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. It follows a young Jake Adelstein who joins Japan’s leading newspaper as a newbie journalist in the late 90s. The series focuses on how he learns to navigate through the dangerous world of the yakuza while seeking the truth and learns to become the journalist he always wanted to be. Created byJ.T Rogers,Tokyo VicefeaturesAnsel Elgort,Ken Watanabe,Rachel Keller,Ella Rumpf,Rinko Kikuchi,Hideaki Itō, andShow Kasamatsuin key roles, among many others.
From the first few episodes that have been released so far,Tokyo Vicehas earned a big fan following and rave reviews from all kinds of audiences. It’s stylish and dangerous, but captures the turn-of-the-millennium, coming-of-age story of a young ambitious man. It explores the gray areas of Japan’s legal system, and how it’s impacted by the yakuza, and eventually affects the media and the common people. And when you add it all up, it makes a gripping story of crime and one person’s determination to find the right way.
Now, if you have enjoyed watchingTokyo Viceand you’re looking for similar shows to watch next (or while you wait for new episodes), here are our seven best picks. These crime thrillers come from different places, different timelines, involving different people, but each of them is dark, perilous, and violent and promises to thrill you just likeTokyo Vice.
Related:‘Tokyo Vice’ Review: A Gripping Series That Lives in the Moments Between Acts of Violence
True Detective
The anthology crime drama revolves around inexplicable homicides and crimes across the United States and the detectives who are determined to seek justice for the victims. Each season explores a different place and crimes.True Detective’s highlighting elements are its self-contained, neo-noir style narrative in each story, an ensemble cast (with the likes ofMatthew McConaughey,Woody Harrelson,Colin Farrell,Michelle Monaghan,Rachel McAdams,Vince Vaughn,Mahershala Ali, etc.), and intimidating settings that will leave the audience in awe every time.True Detectiveis created byNic Pizzolatto, who is also a writer on the show along withScott Lasser(Season 2),David Milch(Season 3), andGraham Gordy(Season 3). A fourth season of the series is currently in the works.
This British Nordic Noir series comes from acclaimed Swedish screenwriterHans Rosenfeldtwho previously createdThe Bridge. The plot follows a former detective who returns to work and investigates an open case from 11 years ago involving a serial killer who seems to have become active in the present day.MarcellastarsAnna Frielas the titular protagonist who goes to great lengths to solve unpredictable and indescribable homicides connected to each other. The deeper she gets into the cases, the more complicated they turn out, as does her personal life.
Set among a complex set of characters, with intertwining storylines, the series is dark, gritty, and sensitive at the same time. WhileMarcellaprimarily deals with the detective’s resolve to uncover the truth, it also explores a woman’s emotional journey as a wife and mother and how it all comes together to create a powerful narrative, almost likeTokyo Vice.
Giri/Haji, also translated asDuty/Shame, is a British crime drama series that portrays the complex relationship between the law and the yakuza in Japan. Sounds likeTokyo Vice, right? Well, it is like Tokyo Vice, and it isn’t at the same time.Giri/Hajifollows a Tokyo detective, Kenzo Mori (Takehiro Hira) who travels to London to find his brother who is accused of killing the son of a yakuza leader.
While this story is also about the conflict between the legal system and what’s socially viable in given circumstances, it has a more personal narrative. However, likeTokyo Vice,Giri/Hajideals with self-discovery in an unknown land. Also, just like Jake lets himself into the underworld of Japan, Kenzo’s investigation also sends him down the rabbit hole of London’s criminal world.
Written and created byJoe Barton,Giri/Hajialso starsKelly Macdonald,Yōsuke Kubozuka,Will Sharpe,Masahiro Motoki,Justin Long,Anna Sawai, andCharlie Creed-Milesin main roles.
Related:Exclusive: ‘Tokyo Vice’ Main Theme Evokes the Gritty Underbelly of 90s Japan, Listen Now
The Sopranos
Created byDavid Chase,The Sopranosis considered to be one of the best and most successful crime drama series ever made for American television.
The plot follows the Sopranos, an Italian-American mobster family based in New Jersey, helmed by Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). The story focuses on Tony’s struggles as he balances his personal life, and family dynamics while leading a criminal organization and dealing with his rivals. His wife Carmela (Edie Falco), his protégé, Christopher (MichaelImperioli), and his therapist, Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) are the most notable characters in the story.
While you may not find any apparent commonalities betweenTokyo ViceandThe Sopranos, they both are essentially stories about the criminal underbellies of their respective societies. But behind all the violence and brutality, there are stories of personal conflicts, relationships, ordinariness, and common problems of day-to-day lives.
Miami Vice
Wondering ifMiami Viceinspired the name ofTokyo Vice? Maybe, maybe not. The 1980s hit crime drama series was produced byMichael Mannfor NBC, who also serves as an executive producer and director of the pilot forTokyo Vice. But that’s not the only connection between these two series. BothMiami ViceandTokyo Viceshare some elements in execution and theme, like the typical life in the city and the criminal world running parallel to it.
Miami Vicefollows two Metro-Dade PD detectives, Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) who work undercover in Miami. The series ran from 1984 to 1989 and became so successful and popular among fans that it also led to a movie adaptation in 2006 withJamie FoxxandColin Farrellin lead roles.
Breaking Bad
With a massive amount of awards and nominations, including critical acclaim, worldwide fanfare, and cult following,Breaking Badbroke a lot of records in a lot of ways we look at television shows. Created and produced byVince Gilligan,Breaking Badran for five seasons and led to another hit spin-off series,Better Call Saul, among other series, shorts, anda movie.
The neo-Western crime drama television series is about a common man disenchanted by life who goes rogue. Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an overqualified but underpaid chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with cancer, and to manage his expensive medical bills, he gets into making and distributing crystal meth with his student and business partner, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). But soon, things start to change as he finds himself sucked into the criminal underworld alongside the Mexican drug cartels.
Breaking Badis nothing likeTokyo Vicein story or characterization. But when it comes to the effect a story has on the audience, well, both the shows are powerful that way and live up to the expectation of a gritty crime show.
Narcosis nothing likeTokyo Vice, then why is this show on this list? Because the diabolicalness of the underworld is a key element in both the stories. And both the shows are a good peek into the respective locales of their respective decades, that is, Colombia in the 80s and Japan in the 90s.
This series details the rise of the cocaine trade in Colombia, focusing on the life story of a drug kingpin,Pablo Escobar.Narcosis essentially Escobar’s rise and fall as the leading producer and distributor of one of the world’s most valuable commodities and his cat-and-mouse game with DEA agents. Through gripping drama, the series explores Escobar’s dynamics with the law and legal entities, rival cartels, politicians, the military, and the public, and sheds light on this dangerous international trade in a never-seen-before raw and seedy narrative.
The first two seasons ofNarcosfocus on Pablo Escobar and his business empire while the third season takes off from Escobar’s fall. The show also has a spin-off series,Narcos: Mexico.
