Season 2 • Episode 1
UpcomingYusuke Nogi of Ryosho's Energy Development Division said that 10 times the official down payment was mistakenly sent to GFL, a local infrastructure company involved in a solar energy plant to be built in the Balkan Republic in Central Asia. Suspected of involvement, he heads to the Balkan Republic to collect the difference of $90 million. With the cooperation of his CIA friend Sam, Nogi obtained information that the terrorist al-Zaer had laundered the full amount of the contract money into diamonds and brought it out.
Acting
Sakai's sweaty desperation vs. Abe's glacial menace
Direction
Fukuzawa's seamless jumps between Tokyo boardrooms and desert standoffs
Writing
Shosha bureaucracy as weaponized storytelling
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'shosha' genre exploded post-2020 as younger Japanese audiences became fascinated with昭和-era corporate loyalty systems they never experienced. Vivant weaponizes that nostalgia into thriller fuel.
The 'Balkan Republic' is fictional but filmed largely in Mongolia; the production had to evacuate twice due to actual border tensions between filming locations.
JP
