Sumith Prasad
Jake Adelstein eagerly awaits the fall of Shinzo Tozawa to end up together with the latter’s mistress Misaki in Max’s crime drama series ‘Tokyo Vice.’ He has been planning to leave Tokyo and return to the United States if it is essential for him to become her partner. His long wait concludes when Hiroto Katagiri joins hands with Sato to ensure the death of the Yakuza kingpin. Tozawa gets forced to kill himself for turning against other leaders of the syndicate by teaming up with the FBI for his personal gain. Still, Misaki walks away from Jake, breaking his heart! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jake’s Scary World
Jake and Misaki build their relationship by putting their lives on the line. After getting together believing Tozawa is dead, they suffer due to the latter’s return from the United States as a more powerful man. Gradually, her secret concerning Jake starts to resurface, threatening her peace of mind. Everything she has gained from Tozawa disappears from her life. Ultimately, the truth about her relationship with Jake provokes her master enough for him to threaten to kill her mother. Even though she has feelings for the journalist, these happenings traumatize her enough to make her run away from the world of people like Tozawa.
Misaki then breaks up with Jake knowing that he cannot accompany her when she is leaving from where she suffered the most. Jake is a journalist who finds satisfaction in doing a good job professionally. He feels euphoric whenever he uncovers the truth, irrespective of the dangers associated with the same. Jake is selfless and self-sacrificing when it comes to his stories. Misaki doesn’t feel confident enough to share her life with a man who will prioritize his dangerous assignments over her. She has dealt with challenges throughout her relationship with Tozawa and after the kingpin’s death, she wants peace more than anything, which is something Jake cannot offer.
After a series of traumatizing events, Misaki is hoping for boredom. She doesn’t want anything eventful to happen in her life. Leading a very normal life is the only thing she is looking forward to. With Jake in her life, none of these may materialize. As Tozawa’s mistress, she knows Jake’s world very well. Misaki is aware of how many enemies the journalist will create when he writes about another potent figure who will replace Tozawa at the crime scene of the country. She doesn’t want to tolerate such enemies after dealing with Tozawa. Misaki likely believes that she and her mother didn’t get killed because of luck and she may not want to test it again.
As far as Misaki is concerned, Jake is a man who is after adrenaline-rushing experiences. She doesn’t want to force him to adapt to the boredom she is craving. Since Jake finds his rush by working in a world where anything can happen to anyone, Misaki chooses to depart from the same. She may not want a group of men showing up in front of her and her mother to threaten or stop Jake. The realization that they both want two different things in life convinces her to break up with him despite the affection they mutually share. Jake doesn’t take long to understand Misaki’s reasoning as he fails to count to ten while meditating without any intrusive thoughts.
In reality, Jake was a highly committed journalist who prioritized his work over his family while he was in Japan. He eventually married a Japanese journalist and they had two children. While investigating Tadamasa Goto, the inspiration behind Tozawa, the journalist didn’t usually remain with his family at night. He had to spend a considerable part of his time with police officers and sources to unravel the truth about Goto. After his wife and children moved to the United States, the FBI had to offer protection to them at one point. Considering these developments in Jake’s real life, Misaki’s decision to break up with the former’s television counterpart is understandable.
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