Tokyo Vice
Client
We follow Jake as we both literally and figuratively travel beneath the skin of Tokyo to uncover the elements that make Jake’s story so intriguing. The tattoo design itself is full of easter eggs, and many of the elements were intended to represent the different forces at play within the show.
James Robertson, Art DirectorTokyo Vice follows the story of an American journalist who dives deep into the dangerous Tokyo underground, navigating the interconnected web between organized crime, law enforcement and the press.
Our title sequence opens close up on a Yakuza tattoo seeded with iconography representing key elements from the show. As we move across, the symbols come to life, guiding our journey until we take a literal plunge into a stylized neon-lit Tokyo. We pass by money and other symbols of power and influence as we fall further and further from the upper floors of the sleek and professional down to the dark and seedy underbelly of the city.
Finally as the camera plummets toward the rain soaked ground, we crash through a puddle and continue through, as if there is no end to the descent. Our mirrored descent into darkness is overtaken by an animated Yakuza dragon which transitions us back to the iconic tattoo for the Main Title.
