Tokyo Swindlers

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 thought this series was one of the best Asian drama series I've seen on Netflix since Squid Game. It features some amazing actors. Not a dud among the entire very large cast. One huge problem though: The voice dubbing actors for Harrison the ring leader and the guy who plays the swindleing attorney, aren't consistently convincing and come across as over-striving amateurs. Takumi's voice actor may be reasonably cool, but these 2 bad dub actors render the English dub version virtually unwatchable by the middle point of episode 1. So that being said, I'm reviewing the original Japanese with English subtitles "Tokyo Swindlers" from this point onward. The ever impressive Go Ayano stars as Takumi, a cat loving swindler with PTSD who acts as an inscrutable foil to a psychopath mentor mastermind (who could be the devil himself he's so evil). How this series is not higher rated may have to do with its raw treatment of some very dirty business and a continual flow of of violent repugnant weirdoes with sick execution fetishes. Bottom line is this series is SO not for the squeamish and/or those who watch crime shows to root for one heroic protagonist who miraculously dodges every bullet. Special props to the theme music composer Takkyu Ishino. His claustrophic techno-pop is perfect for biting your nails to while you watch each adrenaline-laced scam unfurl. (And if you get hooked on Ishino's theme music like I did, watch the credits at the end of every episode for 4 full minutes of its trance-inducing vibe.)

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!

Wow. Great show. Solid narrative. Superb pace. Smashing suspense. Really excellently-written with fabulous character-development.

Characters are very interesting and dynmaic and the chemistry works super-well. From incredibly awkward paid people placed in big stake operations to the big evil boss to crazy personalities in Tokyo's underbelly. Top stuff.

I really loved this show. I'm 5/7th of my way through and I watch a lot of Japanese cinema and I'm now curious to see what other shows Hitoshi Ône will make. He has talant. This is definitely what Netflix needs more of.

Original and gripping drama with fabulous characters. Please do more of this Netflix.

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.