Tokyo Swindlers

In my opinion, it was a very good film and had good potential, the actors acted well, the script was excellent, and the writing and director were excellent in every way. Japan is getting better than before and if it continues like this, it will be very good. The fact that they were able to show the series well in 7 episodes was great, I even introduced this series to a few of my friends and they loved it, it was a great series in general, I couldn't blink an eye for a moment when I started, it had a good start, it had a good ending, I had fun with it, I recommend others to definitely look at it.

As the review title implies, all episodes were stellar, gripping and addictive. All except the last one. The "empty room, bad guy waiting" setup... The melodramatic face offs between protag and Harrisson and the cop lady showing up. It was just not satisfying, and a kidney-wounded protag being able to keep Harrison on the ropes while wrestling for the knife. I wanted this show to be one-and-done, but I guess they have plans for season two (which will either turn into a generic detective cat-and-mouse, or find a way to resume like nothing happened, j-shows do have a habit of doing those). Good watch, held back by a bad last episode.

This story is based on a real crime happened in 2017 in Tokyo. The criminal group was much bigger than in the TV series, but mostly the stories are real and it's well performed. The guy in charge (Harrison Yamanaka in the TV series) was a legendary land swindler in real story, and he committed so many real estate sales frauds in the past like in the TV series. It is an interesting show to watch. I was not crazy about some fictional parts because some parts are so unrealistic like hitting by a car suddenly...etc. But I enjoyed the castings and the series overall. Btw, those criems are still actively going on in Japan 2024.

The story of "Tokyo Swindlers" would have been right for a decent 90- minutes heist movie. But they stretched it to now seven episodes. I guess they make more money the more episodes they produce and sell to a network. But you notice that the show quickly falls apart after the second episode when they ran out of ideas how to go on - let alone reach a total of seven episodes... The core idea of "Tokyo Swindlers" may even have been good at some point but by stretching it way over its limit it became unwatchable. What is also missing in this series are any kind of twists, surprises or thrills as you'd expect from a good heist movie. Not to speak of a clever and intelligent plot that keeps you guessing, or characters who are not who they seem. But nothing. If you really have to stretch a story why not fill the time with original and creative entertainment? I guess at some point the makers of bad shows like these just don't care anymore.

I am a huuuge fan of Korean and Japanese movies and tv series. Well at least I was. Recently a lot of what comes from there always turns out to be a huuuge disappointment instead. They all start out very promising but then fall apart rapidly mainly because of bad writing and directing. You also notice that they always stretch stories to more episodes they are good for and they do it in really dumb ways. I guess they earn more money for more episodes but you notice when they quickly run out of ideas just after a few good episodes. As a result storylines not only become hard to believe but right away ridiculous. Characters act in unbelievable and stupid ways and everything starts to become boring, non-sensical and laughable. "Tokyo Swindlers" is no exception, unfortunately. It starts out very interesting but declines rapidly just after a few episodes. What's more, I always waited for some intelligent twists, surprises and thrills like in great heist shows or movies. Just think of "The Sting", "Rififi" or "Topkapi". But no. Tokyo Swindlers just fizzles out with no twists, thrills or surprises in the most boring and stupid ways possible. I guess the makers of that show have never seen a really great heist movie before. But on the other hand, even "The Sting" from 1973 with Robert Redford and Paul Newman would have ended in total disaster, if they had stretched it out into eight or more episodes. But I think in contrast to the makers of "Tokyo Swindlers" the makers of "The Sting" would just have said "No" and "F*** off" to the procuction company. Grow some balls over there in East-Asia and stop ruining your cinema and TV that once was so great!

Everything stated so well as a 'con man' or heist series, there the right mix of suspense, wit, character development and fun in the series. You really wonder what happened to the con men that turn them into con men. You start caring for the characters cause they're not paper thin single dimensional characters. Things are going well in the first 5 or 6 episodes. Then it fell apart really quick in the last 2 episodes. As if they're told they have to wrap it up all of a sudden, the series got really dumb in a hurry. Plot conveniences, irrational thinking, rushed pace... It would have been so much better if they stopped after 6 episodes and leave the rest in season 2. It was still worth the time to watch but it really fell apart towards the end.

I made an IMDb account specifically to review this show. I haven't watched such a gripping drama in a long time, and as an English native I honestly wasn't expecting a Japanese thriller no less. The pacing, the exposition, character development, lead actors; all top tier. At times the acting was alittle bit faked and overboard; but those moments are literally only 1min out of 420 min. I think what works so well is how episode 1 is basically all you need: it summarises the MO of the entire series. The rest of the series then builds on this MO slowly, adding complexities and plot junctures that keep you clicking on the next episode. Brilliant show.

This drama was inspired by the estate fraud that happened in 2017 in Japan. The name of the deceived company was Sekisui House. The scammed amount was 6.3 billion yen. Ten members of the fraud group were arrested and convicted of financial fraud and forgeries. The fraud group was not as good as those in this drama. The woman who impersonated the landowner apparently gave the wrong birthday in front of the buyer, Sekisui House. But as this drama shows, Sekisui House did not conduct "verification by acquaintances," a measure that Japanese real estate companies normally take to prevent land fraud. Also as in the drama, when the request for approval to purchase land was submitted within Sekisui House, four board members were skipped and the president, who had already inspected the site, approved it first. Anyhow this drama taught me not to rush big deals. Good entertainment to watch.

We all know japan excels in anime but when it comes TV most of them were a miss at least for me, maybe coz I compare them to k dramas. This show surprised me! The plot was perfectly paced and would keep you at the edge of the seat throughout. The acting was strong from all the cast members and the music is really good but was overused a little. The screeplay is good along with the production value. The only thing I didn't like it how they slightly dragged the finale to may be make another season? I don't know. But the series could have be easily wrapped up in seven episodes! You can definitely binge this in a weekend!