Kishi Kaisei

Season 1, Episode 02 (02)

**Kishi Kaisei** is the second episode of the first season of *Tokyo Vice*. It was released on 7 April 2022 along with the first episode, *The Test* and the third, *Read the Air*.

## Synopsis

As crime boss Tozawa dangerously toes the line between territories, the rival Chihara-Kai scramble to collect dues.
Samantha protects another hostess, while Jake witnesses a confrontation that changes everything.

## Plot Summary

While in downtown Tokyo, Jake is chased by a man wielding a knife, who accuses him of being a pervert. Jake is able to escape when he runs into a police officer on the street, who intervenes and asks the man with the knife what is happening. The police officer looks confused when the man claims that Jake was inquiring about his wife's underwear.

Jake is having difficulty finding leads for the story he has been assigned to write. He talks with his friend X, who recently had a traffic story published, but is disappointed that it wasn't a more significant piece. Jake tells X that any story is still a story, but then has to leave the dinner to try to gather information for his own publication.

Jake approaches his supervisor, Emi, and asks for an extension on the deadline, but she is unwilling to grant it and tells Jake the story must be finished by 3pm. Jake complains that no one is willing to speak with him or provide any information, but Emi suggests he consider who he hasn't yet talked to. This gives Jake an idea, and he decides to seek out Miyamoto for information. Miyamoto tells Jake that there is no panty thief; rather, the wind blew the underwear away and the public jumped to the conclusion of a thief.

Jake returns to the newspaper and begins working on his story, but it is repeatedly declined by Emi and Jake has to keep rewriting it while also performing his other duties at the office.

Meanwhile, Samantha goes to a real estate agent to inquire about an apartment she is interested in renting, but the man is reluctant to show her around. When she presses him, he eventually tells her that the owner would be unlikely to rent to "someone like her," essentially rejecting her because of her gender. After leaving the real estate office, Samantha talks with Polina on the phone and the two make plans to meet later to help Polina find a gift for one of her clients.

At the police station, Funaki and Hiroto are questioning a thug in connection with the man who was murdered with a samurai sword. The man claims that the jogger just happened to run into him at the wrong time and that there was no premeditation involved in the death. Funaki is eager to accept this explanation and close the case, but Hiroto wants to investigate further and challenges Funaki on how he can believe such an excuse. Hiroto thinks that the man turning himself in is the Towaza's way of killing the story and ending the investigation before it can uncover anything.

The members of the Chikara-kai gang meet to discuss the recent attacks on businesses under their protection by the Towaza. While some of them are eager to strike back in order to avoid appearing weak and becoming further targets, they are told that this would make them look suspicious and draw the attention of the police. For now, they are ordered to increase protection fees and close ranks in preparation for a potential war with the Towaza.

After much effort, Jake's story about the lack of an underwear thief is finally approved by Emi to run in the morning paper. She advises him to use fewer adjectives, which he gratefully agrees to in anticipation of having his story published. He then decides to continue investigating the death of the man who set himself on fire and sets off to do more research.

Unsatisfied with the police investigation, Hiroto goes to question the dead man's wife. She admits that they were in debt and had failed to make payments to the Yakuza, but insists that this was not what led to her husband's death. She reveals that her husband was building a case against the Yakuza, involving lawyers, due to the unfair terms of their loan. She believes this is what led to her husband's death and agrees to show Hiroto the information he had compiled against the Yakuza shortly before his death. Jake arrives at the woman's house while Hiroto is there, hoping to ask her questions, but she turns him away, citing that the police have told her not to speak to the press.

Sato, meanwhile, has been visiting all the properties protected by the Chikara-kai, demanding higher fees for their protection. At an arcade, he is recognized as a "real yakuza" by two young boys who ask him if he wants to play a shooting game with them. Sato is embarrassed when he is unable to successfully kill any of the enemies in the game and is instead killed three times himself.

Back at the newspaper, Jake is hanging out with his friends when the paper manager approaches him and hands him a story to read. The story announces that the police have apprehended the underwear thief, and Jake is immediately criticized for writing that the thief was a myth created by the media. He is told to go to the scrapbooking department because he is no longer needed in his current role.

At the police station, Hiroto talks to his captain about their case and whether they need to investigate further. The captain is confused by Hiroto's theory that the Yakuza killed the man, pointing out that dead people cannot pay their loans, but Hiroto insists that there is more to the case than meets the eye.

Sato returns to deliver the money, but is thousands of yen short. When Kume questions him about this, Sato claims that the club owner will pay next month. Kume, however, knows that Sato was offered a night with one of the girls in exchange for a lower fee and slaps Sato across the face. He warns Sato never to lie to him again.

Jake receives a package from his mother and calls her. His mother tells him that his sister Jess's treatment isn't working and that he should come home; his father will get him a good job at a newspaper near them. Jake assures his mother that Jess is fine and that they shouldn't worry about her. He says he can't come home because he has just started at his new job and doesn't want to lose the opportunity.

Later, Jake talks with Miyamoto about the story he gave him. Miyamoto reveals that the story was a free favor, so it was worth nothing, and that he was just playing a trick on Jake. Jake begs Miyamoto to give him something worth a story or he will lose his job. Jake shows Miyamoto the matchstick box and asks him about it, but Miyamoto has no idea what the box represents or how it relates to any story worth publishing. Jake leaves the restaurant where he and Miyamoto were eating without paying the bill, sending a sarcastic message in response to the lack of a valuable story.

After leaving the restaurant, Jake goes to the club and talks with Samantha. They are interrupted when Sato arrives and wants to speak with Samantha. While Samantha and Sato are talking, Jake interrupts and begins talking with Sato as well. The two seem to get along well, but Jake has to leave early to catch his train.

Jake misses the train and has to sleep at the newspaper, but he is awoken in the middle of the night by a radio announcement of a crime scene at the club. Jake goes to check it out and finds Nakamura, a member of the Tozawa gang, holding Kume at gunpoint. Nakamura is about to shoot Kume, but Hiroto intervenes and talks him into handing over the gun. Jake watches from a distance and tries to take a photograph to use in his story, but he is eventually discovered by Hiroto and the others, who confiscate the camera reel but allow Jake to leave with the camera. Hiroto warns Jake not to write about what he has seen.

## Cast and Characters

### Main Cast

* Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein
* Ken Watanabe as Hiroto Katagiri
* Rachel Keller as Samantha
* Hideaki Ito as Jin Miyamoto
* Show Kasamatsu as Sato
* Ella Rumpf as Polina
* Rinko Kikuchi as Emi

### Co-Starring

* Eugene Nomura as Kobayashi
* Noemi Nakai as Luna
* Nobushige Suematsu as Gen
* Eita Okuno as Yuta
* Koshi Uehara as Taro
* Tetsu Sakuma as Kozo
* Yoshihiko Hakamada as Kamiyama
* Yuki Sato as Azuma
* Masaki Miura as Funaki
* Hiroyuki Watanabe as Ohara
* Rosaria Mokkhavesa as Malee
* Kaori Ikeda as Akido
* Keita as Kei
* Hono Meyabe as Mrs. Aoki
* Ippei Osako as Nakamura
* Jazee Minor as Tatsuya
* Motomasa Okui as Hasegawa

### Guest Starring

* Shun Sugata as Ishida
* Takaki Uda as Trendy
* Kosuke Tanaka as Tin Tin
* Masato Hagiwara as Duke
* Kosuke Toyohara as Baku
* Masayoshi Haneda as Kume

## Trivia

* The title of the episode *Kishi Kaisei* is an old Japanese saying that means: *wake from death return to life*. The significance of this to the episode is not mentioned, but the meaning is mentioned in discussion between Adelstein and Miyamoso.