Jake's (Ansel Elgort) pursuit to take down Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida) has driven him in the two seasons of Tokyo Vice, so does the journalist accomplish this goal in the Tokyo Vice season 2 finale? And what happens to the other characters that have been involved in the dangerous world of the yakuza? A lot unfolds, so we're here to help break down all the key points of the Tokyo Vice season 2 ending.
Heading into the finale, Jake had confirmation that Tozawa was an FBI informant, but that wasn't enough to print a story, they needed physical evidence. Especially as Tozawa is threatening Meicho reporters if they don't stop investigating, including stabbing Tin Tin (Kosuke Tanaka). Jake has gone to Sato (Sho Kasamatsu) for protection, but he can only do so much as Tozawa is squeezing them as the last gang preventing him from having complete control.
We're going to get into SPOILERS for the finale and season at large, so if you need a refresher on what's happened so far, check out our Tokyo Vice season 2 recaps.
How do they bring Tozawa down?
The key to bringing Tozawa down is the physical copies of his agreement with the FBI. Fortunately, Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) was informed by Mrs. Tozawa (Makiko Watanabe) that the documents would likely be in one of two places — the safe in Tozawa's hotel room or his yacht, The Yoshino.
Katagiri gets Ngata to handle the raid on Tozawa's hotel room, while he needs Misaki's signature to get a warrant to search the Yoshino, as she is the legal owner of the boat; which Tozawa did to keep him from legal troubles (ironic). Jake tells him where they are hiding out and Misaki signs the warrant.
Before Katagiri and Jake head out on the raid, Katagiri talks with Sato. Though he wanted to give Jake the chance to write his story and defeat Tozawa the clean way, with the Meicho shelving the story he knows the best way to ensure Tozawa is defeated is to let the other yakuza handle his punishment. So if they find what they need, Katagiri will give the proof to Sato. He later justifies this to Jake by telling him the right choice is not always the moral choice.
Katagiri and Jake find the FBI agreement on the boat. They have a deckhand call Tozawa and lie that he got away with the copies of the agreement to give the gangster a false sense of security. While Jake can't write the story on Tozawa as an FBI informant, he does find receipts for illegal political donations Tozawa made to Shigematsu, which would force him to remove himself from consideration as the next prime minister, giving Jake a new story.
When Sato has the FBI agreement, he shows it to all the other yakuza leaders, who realize Tozawa has betrayed them and must be punished. However, they will need someone else's help to ensure Tozawa can not weasel his way out of it: Mrs. Tozawa.
With the help of Misaki (Ayumi Ito) and Samantha (Rachel Keller), Tozawa is lured to a restaurant where he thinks Jake is coming so he can kill him, but instead, he is confronted by Sato and the other yakuza heads. Despite his attempts to brush off the accusations and justify his actions, the other leaders are not budging. As they thought, Tozawa attempts to make a deal using his wife's money, but she comes in and puts the final nail in his coffin, confirming she will not use her money to bail him out. That means his only way out is to take his own life, which he does, bringing an end to his reign of terror.
What happens to Eimi, Tin Tin and Trendy?
Jake's fellow reporters also have an eventful finale.
After being unable to find a home for Jake's Tozawa story, Eimi (Rinko Kikuchi) is confident his Shigematsu story is good to go, especially after she gets the OK from Baku (Kosuke Toyohara). However, she finds surprising resistance from her other boss, Ozaki (Bokuzo Masana), who reveals not only is he killing this story because it risks alienating the government, but he was also the one responsible for destroying the tape of Shigematsu and Polina. Eimi, disgusted by this practice, takes the story to Shingo (Soji Arai) who agrees to publish it if she comes and works for his magazine. She agrees.
It's a sad ending for Trendy (Takaki Uda), who learns Jason (Aoi Takeya) is being sent home after Jake revealed him as the source of their story with the FBI. After that, he says he wants nothing more to do with Jake.
Thankfully though, Tin Tin wakes up from his coma and appears to be on the mend.
What happens to Sato and Samantha?
Sato's efforts in keeping Chihara-kai together and helping take down Tozawa lead to him being given the role that Ishida held before him.
Samantha, meanwhile, makes a deal with Mrs. Tozawa for the mixed-use development project that she and Masa were previously going to offer to Ishida. But instead of being partners, all Samantha wants is a finder's fee of 10 million yen.
Samantha then visits Sato to tell him she needs to get out of Tokyo for a little bit to recharge and do some thinking, but that she'll be in touch, giving viewers hope that this relationship may still have legs.
What happens to Misaki?
One relationship that doesn't make it is that of Misaki and Jake. Now free from Tozawa, Misaki tells Jake she wants a life away from the yakuza and police, "a boring life." That is something she says Jake cannot do, so despite his protests, she ends things with him.
What happens to Jake and Katagiri?
The season ends with Jake and Katagiri sharing a drink at Katagiri's home. The detective has officially retired, but Jake believes he can't do nothing and will be back on the beat in two weeks. Echoing Misaki, Katagiri says Jake is the one who can't sit still, and that he'll always find a new story or opposing force to take on. He challenges Jake to meditate without his thoughts interrupting him for 10 seconds. Jake can't, using having to go to the bathroom as an excuse. Jake doesn't think Katagiri can do it either, so the detective tries. He lasts a couple of seconds before his eyes open, he smiles and he laughs.
So what does this ending mean? For Jake, it sets up that even though Tozawa is gone, the dogged reporter in him remains and he'll find something new to pour that passion/borderline obsession into (which offers some hope for an as-yet-unconfirmed Tokyo Vice season 3). For Katagiri, his inability to meditate suggests that Jake is right, retirement may not be something he is suited for, but his smile and laugh suggest that he isn't disappointed by that.
Watch all of Tokyo Vice on Max.
