# Giri/Haji (2019)

> A fatigued Tokyo detective searches London's underworld for his mob-assassin brother as a yakuza war spreads.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79972

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 56 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, thriller, drama
- Created by: Joe Barton
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Takehiro Hira, Kelly Macdonald, Yosuke Kubozuka, Will Sharpe, Aoi Okuyama, Yuko Nakamura, Katsuya, Tony Pitts
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8001106/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: deadpan, tense, stylish, bleak, darkly comic

## What critics say

Viewers praise its stylish, Tarantino-influenced neo crime thriller look and its bilingual London and Tokyo underworld story, while finding the middle episodes conventional and the side characters underdeveloped.

## Synopsis

Giri/Haji (2019) is a British-Japanese crime thriller miniseries created by Joe Barton for BBC Two. Takehiro Hira plays Kenzo Mori, a fatigued Tokyo detective who travels to London on an ostensible exchange visit, and his search is for his younger brother Yuto, played by Yosuke Kubozuka, a gangster thought dead who now seems tied to the killing of a prominent yakuza figure. Kelly Macdonald plays Sarah, an entangled figure in London, and Will Sharpe plays Rodney, while Masahiro Motoki appears as Fukuhara in the Tokyo storyline. The engine of the series is Kenzo's need to protect his brother while finding him first, forced to navigate the treacherous waters of both London and Tokyo underworlds where every alliance is conditional and trust is scarce. Across a single run of eight hour-long episodes, the story alternates between the two cities as a yakuza war threatens to engulf Tokyo. Its shape is one continuing story rather than case-of-the-week. The mood is stylish and deadpan, with sudden violence undercut by awkward humor and a restless, neon-tinged atmosphere. Its visual energy and bruised tension invite comparison with the stylized crime work of Quentin Tarantino and with the gangster family drama of Peaky Blinders, appealing to fans of tense transnational crime stories.

## Shows like Giri/Haji

- [Ikebukuro West Gate Park (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/4689)
- [Smoking (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/70009)
- [MobLand (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/163272)
- [My Home Hero (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/127250)
- [Bodies (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/151040)
- [Collateral (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/66476)
- [McMafia (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/65611)
- [Murphy's Law (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/5828)
- [Ouroboros (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55231)
- [The Forest of Love: Deep Cut (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/86141)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt