From the minute he appears on screen in the first episode of the first season of Tokyo Vice, Akiro Sato is an enigma. He’s not the hard-boiled detective Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe), and he’s not the worn-out fish-out-of-water American journalist Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort), finding his footing in the Far East. He’s not a good guy. He’s part of the bad guys but one who seems to struggle with that self-image as much as he craves it. Part of that is incredible showrunner J. T. Rogers’ direction, but another part is the brilliance of Shô Kasamatsu, the young Japanese actor who plays the character.
Tokyo Vice is a ’90s-inspired, neo-noir crime thriller based loosely on Adelstein’s assignment in Japan investigating the yakuza. After two seasons, the series was canceled despite compelling characters, well-braided storylines, and an impressive Asian cast, showcasing a multitude of backstories and acting ranges. Kasamatsu plays Akiro Sato, a young yakuza member who becomes a protege of Hitoshi Ishida (Shun Sugata), the head of one of Tokyo’s yakuza factions known as Chihara-Kai.
In the first season premiere, a scene shows Sato lingering on Jake’s face with a tormented longing look. Viewers don’t truly understand his motives. What is the thing that eats up at him, keeps him staring at people with that guilt-stricken, poignant look? Kasamatsu’s face embodies the purity of youth along with the agony of sin. Someone whose hands are covered in blood, but in the twisted, demented world he has to navigate, blood is not the question, but when can it be spared, and to whom does one twist and turn the blade?
Sato is the kind of reluctant hero in a way that he defies definition as such. In the world of the yakuza, it’s not all bad guys and gang wars, heroism and honor play a major part, but Sato, despite his ambiguous existence among those battling to the top, and his seemingly disinterest in a leader position, slowly carves his way along a Joseph Campbell hero’s journey and ends up on the top of the hierarchy. No one can deny his loyalty and his moral code -albeit unclear at first- but Sato, the young boy coming from a religious, pacifist house, will always carry that with him, even if he is too rogue to be a regular Japanese citizen who obediently follows the law.
Sato becomes an even bigger enigma as the series progresses. Through Kasamatsu’s grounded, subtle acting, this mystery is realized in everything the character does, how he slowly raises his eyebrows at people and drags the cigarette smoke to his swagger. He becomes indecipherable, not necessarily because he’s worth digging in but more of the air he places around himself.
Over the course of the series, it’s evident how biblical Sato’s character seems. He is Lucifer, he falls from Heaven (the parents’ house) to Earth (the yakuza) and part of him craves the heavens, even when he secretly enjoys the rotten nihilism of Earth, all the pleasures at his disposal. In contrast to the bland, one-dimensional Jake, Sato’s core is hard to find. In no way does he seek the truth or avenge a death. He is not a bloodthirsty maniac or power-driven like Hayama. He protects his mentor and his yakuza brothers, but a part of him is eager to escape, probably to a place where no one can recognize him. Sato loves being in the yakuza but never flexes his muscles too far. The depth of his layers is marked by the ink of the tattoos on his skin, but his soul is left intact, untouched by anything, not even the people he cares about.
As with all tormented heroes before him, Sato has a tumultuous romantic life, as complicated as his role in the yakuza. In a way, Sato didn’t want the life his parents coaxed him into. His restless spirit has led him to many dark places, none of which made him happy. What he secretly craves is a Japanese wife, who may or may not remind him of his mother, and in the second season, he finds his goal in Erika (Hyunri), but as his restless, violent-soaked soul defies that sense of safety and stability, he loses her.
Sato’s relationship with Samantha (Rachel Keller) is one of the strongest in the series. Her complexity and selfishness attract him. He knows Samantha is in this game for herself and cares for and about nobody, but somehow, he gravitates toward her like a moth to a flame. Every time he fails or screws up, every time he loses something he goes back to Samantha, and in her arms, he finds no judgment or hatred because she accepts everyone for who they are. Samantha is the most cunning, and heartless of all the Tokyo Vice characters, unlike Sato, her consciousness is clear because all she cares about are her girls and the hostess clubs she runs. Sato’s darkness finds a perfect outlet in her, but his innocence still craves light.
Sato -rightfully so- speaks so little, and that requires a lot of facial expression work from Kasamatsu. But where other actors convey this with exhausting eyebrow work, Kasamatsu’s melancholy stare, like a proper tortured poet in Taylor Swift’s department, captivates viewers and brings them into his world. He spreads his black wings and hovers them around himself, hugging himself into sleep, assuring himself of a tomorrow that no one believes in but him. A lost cause to his parents, and a hesitant leader to the Chihara-Kai, Akiro Sato is the dark prince of the Tokyo Vice universe, the Phantom of the Opera haunting the Japanese streets while everyone sleeps.
still courtesy of Max
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