Sumith Prasad
The second season of Max’s crime drama series ‘Tokyo Vice’ ends with Hiroto Katagiri doing the “right thing” over the “moral thing” concerning the threat of Shinzo Tozawa. In episode 10, titled ‘Endgame,’ the police officer hides his plans even from Jake Adelstein to not let his hands be covered with the blood of the Yakuza kingpin. Tozawa faces an unexpected enemy when he is asked to explain himself in front of the heads of the syndicate. Samantha makes a significant decision concerning her life and departs from Sato, possibly only for the time being. Jake’s dreams of building a life with Misaki get shattered when the latter sets out to rewrite her fate! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Tokyo Vice Season 2 Finale Recap
‘Endgame’ begins with Samantha asking Sato’s help to protect Misaki from Tozawa. After learning about what’s hidden in Yoshino from the Yakuza kingpin’s wife Kazuko, Katagiri and his superior Shoko Nagata plan two raids on the same day. Jake calls Katagiri to explain what happened to him. He shows up at Jake and others’ hiding spot to garner Misaki’s signature to raid Yoshino since she is the owner of the boat. Jake then joins his mentor and they leave for Yoshino. Tozawa’s men find Misaki by following Katagiri but she runs away with Samantha and Sato before the former group can catch them.
Nagata conducts a raid at Tozawa’s office but fails to find anything valuable. By the time Katagiri gets into Yoshino, a crew member elopes with the document that reveals Tozawa’s deal with the FBI to become an informant in return for a liver transplant in the United States. Katagiri and his officers catch the man and garner the document. They also find pieces of evidence that prove Tozawa had been giving illegal donations to Jotaro Shigematsu, who is poised to become the next prime minister of Japan. Jake takes the incriminating documents against the politician to his boss Maruyama but her superior decides against publishing the story and adds that he destroyed Polina’s videotape to protect the newspaper company.
Tozawa asks Misaki to meet him if she doesn’t want to see her mother dead. He also makes it clear that he wants to see Jake with her as well. Without any other option in front of her, she agrees to the meeting. Maruyama is determined to expose Shigematsu and she takes the pieces of evidence to her ex-boyfriend and fellow journalist Shingo. He tells her that he will publish the story if it is written by one of his employees and offers his former partner a job without the intervention of people like her superior. Maruyama considers the offer but doesn’t offer an answer to Shingo.
Tokyo Vice Season 2 Ending: Why Does Shinzo Tozawa Kill Himself?
Even after Katagiri gets the evidence to prove that Tozawa illegally underwent liver transplant surgery in the United States, he decides against arresting the kingpin. The police officer has spent years trying to bring Tozawa down by capturing him. These years have taught him that his department is something the kingpin can easily buy in return for his freedom. Katagiri knows that the evidence in his hand is a dynamite that should be used wisely rather than legally. He doesn’t want to see Tozawa becoming untouchable by bribing his superiors and walking out of the prison with enough hatred to harm his family. Rather, Katagiri wants him dead for good.
That’s why Katagiri hands over the document to Sato. He wants other Yakuza leaders to learn about the betrayal of Tozawa, who informed the FBI about the American dealings of his peers and equals that resulted in multiple raids. After the major raids in the United States, the other clan leaders realize that they cannot trust Tozawa anymore. They accepted him as their leader to earn more money and not lose their empires rather than get betrayed. Thus, the Yakuza clan heads decide that Tozawa should die. Kazuko’s change of alliance becomes the last nail in the coffin for Tozawa, who built his empire using the money from the former’s family.
Before marrying Kazuko, Tozawa was a nobody. He became a powerful kingpin with the status and money of Kazuko. Still, he didn’t care for her. He banished her to their household and even went on to kill her loved one to become the emperor of the country’s crime syndicate. When she realizes that her husband is outgrowing her and her family, Kazuko decides to cut him down. She decides against providing him money to buy the trust of the other Yakuza leaders. Without Kazuko’s funds, Tozawa becomes a nobody. His own general betrays him, indicating that he cannot rely on his army anymore.
Tozawa realizes that he cannot avoid death when other Yakuza leaders have teamed up against him. He would have been able to fight them one by one but a war against all of them, including his wife Kazuko, is not expected to end with his victory. Such a war will also make him a condemnable man in his country where honor is valued immensely. He then chooses to kill himself rather than get killed dishonorably by his peers. In Japanese culture, a formal suicide is relied on to restore honor. Tozawa may not want the world to know that he was tortured and murdered like an animal by his enemies. Although he has returned from death once, he fails to repeat that feat.
Where is Samantha Going? Will She Return to Sato?
After Tozawa’s death, Kazuko becomes the new head of her late husband’s clan. Samantha meets her to reveal the details concerning a building project Masahiro Ohno was working on for the new Yakuza leader to buy properties around the construction site. She asks for a finder’s fee and Kazuko gladly accepts it. Samantha, with the money, bids adieu to Sato after promising that she will return for him. Even though he asks her where she is going, the American woman doesn’t answer him. Samantha must be planning to open a new nightclub somewhere far away from Sato and the troubles he had created in the past and the troubles he will create in the future.
Even though Samantha has a history of vanishing without a word, she is not expected to betray Sato’s trust by disappearing for good. Since she tells him that she will return, she is expected to keep her word. She knows that Sato is now the powerful leader of Chihara-kai who can use his resources to track her down if he wants to. Thus, she may return to him after opening a new nightclub or any other business venture to support herself in Japan. Samanatha must have realized that distance is necessary if she wants to remain together with Sato.
Samantha’s nightclub gets destroyed because she builds it right in the heart of Chihara-kai and Tozawa-gumi’s jurisdictions. It doesn’t take long for the place to become a battlefield and she may not want to lose another business in the same way. Even though Tozawa is dead, she is wise enough to know that someone may emerge to fill the vacuum he left behind to stand against Sato. She seemingly doesn’t want her business to suffer when her boyfriend’s enemies follow him to her. Therefore, Samantha must be separating her personal and professional lives by building a new venture far away from Sato, where she can peacefully run the same without getting identified as the partner of a potent Yakuza leader.
Once Samantha starts operating her business, she may occasionally visit Sato. After his ascension to the throne of Chihara-kai, she must have understood that she could not have him all her own. Samantha will only be a part of Sato’s life as he is obliged to look after the affairs of his clan and its members. His obligations may allow Samantha to focus on her potential business as well.
Why Do Jake and Misaki Break Up?
Jake has been longing for Tozawa’s downfall to reunite with Misaki. He not only loves her but also wants to build a life with her. When Samanth asks him about Misaki, he makes it clear that he is not with the latter just for fun. When Tozawa dies, he expects to share his life with Misaki without any fear, only for her to kill his hope by breaking up with him. After Tozawa threatens her and her mother’s lives, Misaki wants to stay away from the world of Yakuza as much as she can. She doesn’t want anything to do with people who can destroy her life in no time.
Misaki knows that Jake cannot abandon such a world. He is a journalist who thrives when he faces danger and Misaki doesn’t want any trouble associated with him in her life. After the rollercoaster experience with Tozawa, Misaki wishes to lead a calm life without any fear or bother. She understands that she cannot free herself from fear if Jake is her boyfriend and he continues to put his life on the line for his stories. Thus, they break up so that Misaki can start a new chapter of her life away from the realms of Yakuza. Both Samantha and Misaki make the same decision but the latter decides to completely cut her ties with her partner while the former chooses not to sacrifice her relationship with her boyfriend.
Read More: Max Saines Tribute on Tokyo Vice: How Did He Die?
