Tokyo Vice season 2 episode 3 saw Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) and the police begin raids on the yakuza, but apparently, they're harsher than we knew. Katagiri meets with Ishida (Shun Sugata), who is upset his men were arrested during the Hishinuma raid (we previously thought they were just being escorted out). Katagiri explains things are different now. He’s sharing this because Ishida is one of the honorable yakuza leaders, but still, he should shut down Chihara-kai. Ishida scoffs at this, believing there is no Japan without the yakuza. Katagiri tells him this was his warning.
The message is loud and clear throughout Tokyo, as Jake's (Ansel Elgort) paper is trying to get to the bottom of how the police have already taken down two yakuza groups. This brings Jake back to reporting on the yakuza, which is only going to make things more dangerous for him.
Let's break down all the key things that happened in Tokyo Vice season 2 episode 4, "Like a New Man."
Shifting relationships
Many relationships are on shaky ground in this episode, starting with Sato (Sho Kasamatsu) and his younger brother Kaito (Atom Mizuishi). Kaito mentions he has been hanging out with Hayama (Yosuke Kubozuka), which worries Sato. He tells his younger brother he needs to stay away from Hayama, but Kaito believes Sato doesn't have any right to tell him what to do.
Meanwhile, as Jake works to get info on the yakuza raids, he goes to talk to Katagiri, but he is tight-lipped, especially in the presence of Ngata (Miki Maya). When Jake asks for something even off the record, Ngata shuts it down and says they're not available to the press.
Eimi (Rinko Kikuchi) is also having trouble with an investigation. Talking with her boss, Baku, about the fire in the A/V department, she thinks it's possible the A/V team did it intentionally. Baku decides to have some reporters investigate it, but not Eimi, specifically taking her off the project, which she finds suspicious.
A new relationship to note, Trendy (Takaki Uda) meets up with embassy worker Jason (Aoi Takeya) for drinks, eventually ending up at a gay bar. Jason wonders why people are seemingly put off by him explaining who he is, so Trendy explains in Japan they compartmentalize their lives, with the bar being its own thing they don't mix with the others. Jason says he prefers to be open about his life, which Trendy seems to respect.
But the biggest shift comes for Ishida. At a meeting of the yakuza leaders to figure out how to handle the increasing police pressure, Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida) surprises everyone by showing up, refreshed and re-committed, as he puts it. But his focus isn't on the police, it's on Chihara-kai's invasion of his territory. Ishida realizes Yabuki (Kazuya Tanabe) played him in thinking Tozawa was out of the picture and now their aggressive moves put them at risk. Ishida tries to convince Tozawa that the police should be their concern, and Tozawa needs to put "petty" grievances aside, like Ishida did when Tozawa tried to kill him in season 1. But Tozawa doesn't forget so easily.
Sato and Samantha's extracurricular activities
Sato and Samantha (Rachel Keller) go over the info she needs to get from Masa (Takayuki Suzuki) to complete her deal with the Chihara-kai. Sato warns her if she fails, he won't be able to protect her.
While Sato still clearly cares for Samantha, his interest in Erika (Hyunri Lee) continues to grow. Things are getting serious enough that when Erika hears Sato and Samantha had a prior relationship from the girls at the club, she clearly becomes a bit upset. She talks about it briefly with Samantha, who explains there's no issue with her dating Sato, but tells her to be careful. Erika knows this, as her son's father was also in a yakuza.
A pin has to be placed in that though, as Sato is instructed by Ishida to go with Hayama to Nagano to pick up guns from an old, exiled member of Chihara-kai for a potential fight with Tozawa. On the train, Sato asks Hayama to stay away from Kaito, telling him he would be in his debt, but Hayama isn't interested, saying he will continue to "take care" of Kaito.
For Samantha, she accepts Masa's invitation to have dinner at his house. She purposefully asks for the tour, which includes his office, where Samantha knows she is likely to find the plans that Chihara-kai are after.
Back on the beat
Jake has been calling Misaki (Ayumi Ito) to apologize but hasn't gotten a hold of her. One night when he is working she calls him and says they need to meet. She tells him Tozawa is back and he is no longer ill, instead he is "like a new man." She wants Jake to stay away, making him promise. Misaki says she won't go back to her old life and plans to see Jake soon, kissing him as she leaves.
Jake immediately calls Katagiri to tell him Tozawa is back. Katagiri gives Jake the same advice, stay away from Tozawa until they have more information. The words of caution are valid, as the next morning Katagiri finds photos of his daughters in the country in an envelope on his car, presumably left by Tozawa (though possibly another yakuza).
Jake does try to stay away, interviewing a lawyer for Hishinuma who explains the cops are using the obstruction to police duty law to detain and hold his clients without bail. But as Jake leaves the office he spots Tozawa and his wife (Makiko Watanabe) meeting with a lawyer, who says he'll deliver them both some kinds of documents soon (divorce papers?). Jake can't help but follow Tozawa to a building, whose address he gets Tin Tin (Kosuke Tanaka) to research.
Dinner dates
Eimi grabs a bite with Shingo (Soji Arai), talking about her concerns at the paper, but he eventually moves the topic to her brother, Kei (Keita). Eimi is hopeful about his new medicine, but she knows things can swing with him. Later, she has dinner with her brother, who also seems confident about the new medicine, which allows him to open up and ask Eimi if she is afraid of him like their parents were or hates him for having to give up her life in the US to come back and take care of him; Eimi says no to both. Kei then asks if he can meet Shingo.
Elsewhere, Sato and Hayama meet up with Ota, whom Hayama already knows. However, Ota won't have the guns until tomorrow, so they need to spend the night at his place in the middle of nowhere. Sato isn't thrilled about this, especially as Hayama and Ota get drunk and play five finger fillet, taunting each other.
Sato goes to the restroom, but when he comes out Hayama and Ota are gone. They eventually burst out of hiding and pin him to the ground and play five finger fillet with him against his will. But Ota flips the table, stabbing Hayama in the leg for making fun of him. This makes Hayama livid, who beats Ota up, grabs the knife and stabs him in the gut, then cuts his throat.
They have to get out of there now, so Hayama grabs a tank of gas and sets the place on fire. However, they forget the keys to Ota's truck in the house, forcing them to walk in the cold.
Samantha is having a better time on her date with Masa. As he cooks, she excuses herself for the bathroom, but instead goes into his office to look for the information she needs. While she looks, Masa cuts his hand and heads toward the bathroom to take care of it. As he approaches, Samantha finds the information in Masa's suitcase, takes a picture of it and tries to close the suitcase back up, but she can't, deciding to leave it. As Masa approaches his office, Samantha bumps into him in the hall, acting as if everything is normal and focusing on his cut.
However, as Samantha gets ready to go home, Masa does notice his suitcase is open and confronts Samantha about it.
Tozawa's power play
Jake continues to follow Tozawa. As he goes into another building, Jake is stopped by security and forced to wait outside.
Inside, Tozawa meets with Nakahara, who appears to be the original head of the gang Tozawa runs. Tozawa tells Nakahara it is time for him to step aside and let him do things his way, but Nakahara won't have it. However, when he attempts to have Tozawa escorted out, Nakahara learns his men already follow Tozawa and instead grab him. Nakahara warns Tozawa that word will get out on what he is doing, which Tozawa is counting on.
As Jake continues to wait outside, he sees a body fall to the ground, presumably Nakahara's.
Tokyo Vice season 2 episodes are released every Thursday on Max.
