67
287
11
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
3
Tokyo Swindlers centered the fraud genre on land swindles. A team of skilled crooks led by a murderous con artist kept going after bigger and riskier scores. A veteran detective and his new partner follow their trail which begins to be littered with bodies.
What I liked:
The production values were high. The cinematography and music were all slick.
The acting was quite good, there were the occasional clunkers, but for the most part, the characters were convincing.
Unlike a lot of dramas who won’t go there, the stakes were high for both swindlers and victims.
What didn’t work for me:
(Vague, but slightly spoilery)
This has been done before. Many times. I kept waiting for Takumi to show that he had been stinging Harrison, but alas he just wasn’t that bright. The twist was evident from the beginning because, it is a tired old trope that needs to be retired instead of retread.
The sinning nun made no sense to me. Sell the temple and go get her freak on whenever she wanted. Were there bodies buried there?
Harrison’s business model wasn’t sustainable. Word was bound to get out. Should have already been common knowledge.
None of the characters were likeable, especially Takumi. He might have a boyish face, be able to hang in there like a stallion, and been the victim at one time, but he kept the cycle of devastation, death, and revenge rotating. Hardly a sympathetic cause. For 5 years he had access to all sorts of information, yet he failed at the one thing he was supposed to be searching for which others found overnight. Harrison may have been right.
To sum up (no spoilers):
Tokyo Swindlers examined how far people will go to possess land and how far swindlers will go to make them think they are acquiring it. Too often victims are left financially ruined with little to no recourse. Even if the crooks are caught and spend a few years in jail, they still have access to the ill-gotten gains in secret offshore accounts making the risks worth it. In this drama, the police were hardly a threat, it was the “no honor among thieves” that held a knife or a piano wire to the throats of the swindlers. A short, cynical, at times gory watch.
18 August 2025
IF YOU HAVE TRIGGERS be forewarned:
Sexual Content, Gory Death scenes, Vomiting, and Drug Use
My personal pet peeve: The black character was the only uneducated, poorly dressed grifter :/
What I liked:
The production values were high. The cinematography and music were all slick.
The acting was quite good, there were the occasional clunkers, but for the most part, the characters were convincing.
Unlike a lot of dramas who won’t go there, the stakes were high for both swindlers and victims.
What didn’t work for me:
(Vague, but slightly spoilery)
This has been done before. Many times. I kept waiting for Takumi to show that he had been stinging Harrison, but alas he just wasn’t that bright. The twist was evident from the beginning because, it is a tired old trope that needs to be retired instead of retread.
The sinning nun made no sense to me. Sell the temple and go get her freak on whenever she wanted. Were there bodies buried there?
Harrison’s business model wasn’t sustainable. Word was bound to get out. Should have already been common knowledge.
None of the characters were likeable, especially Takumi. He might have a boyish face, be able to hang in there like a stallion, and been the victim at one time, but he kept the cycle of devastation, death, and revenge rotating. Hardly a sympathetic cause. For 5 years he had access to all sorts of information, yet he failed at the one thing he was supposed to be searching for which others found overnight. Harrison may have been right.
To sum up (no spoilers):
Tokyo Swindlers examined how far people will go to possess land and how far swindlers will go to make them think they are acquiring it. Too often victims are left financially ruined with little to no recourse. Even if the crooks are caught and spend a few years in jail, they still have access to the ill-gotten gains in secret offshore accounts making the risks worth it. In this drama, the police were hardly a threat, it was the “no honor among thieves” that held a knife or a piano wire to the throats of the swindlers. A short, cynical, at times gory watch.
18 August 2025
IF YOU HAVE TRIGGERS be forewarned:
Sexual Content, Gory Death scenes, Vomiting, and Drug Use
My personal pet peeve: The black character was the only uneducated, poorly dressed grifter :/
Was this review helpful to you?
