If you’ve noticed a wave of Japanese TV chatter about a spy drama with a two-faced Sakai Masato, a desert (and now global) manhunt, and a giant corporate conspiracy — that’s VIVANT, and its long-awaited sequel is airing right now on TVer.

The Quick Answer

VIVANT’s sequel started July 26, 2026 on TBS’s Sunday drama slot and is airing in two consecutive cours (roughly six months). As of this writing it’s up to episode 17 (aired September 6), with episode 18 airing September 13. Episodes are available on TVer as catch-up for about a week after broadcast — free, but geo-blocked outside Japan, so you’ll need a VPN with Japanese servers to watch from abroad.

What Is VIVANT?

VIVANT is a TBS spy-thriller drama that first aired in 2023, built around Sakai Masato playing a character with two distinct personalities — a mild-mannered trading company employee by day, and something else entirely once the story leaves Japan. It opens as a corporate mystery — money going missing on a routine overseas transfer — and within a few episodes turns into a globe-spanning conspiracy involving a mysterious paramilitary organization, a secret Japanese intelligence unit nobody’s supposed to know exists, and a hero whose loyalties you genuinely can’t pin down. Season 1 took its cast (and cameras) into large-scale overseas location shoots — including extended sequences filmed in the Mongolian desert — with a plot that kept reversing its own premise every few episodes, to the point where figuring out who to trust became the actual appeal of watching it live, week to week.

That approach worked: according to TV ratings data, the show’s audience share climbed steadily across its run, from an opening episode in the low double digits to closer to 20% by the finale — a rare upward trend for a Japanese drama, which usually peak early and decline. It became one of the most talked-about Japanese dramas of the decade, and the kind of show people who don’t normally watch weekly TV made an exception for.

Why People Are Still Excited for the Sequel

Three years is a long gap between seasons, and the anticipation for this one is genuinely unusual for Japanese TV. Part of it is Sakai Masato’s performance itself — the way he visibly shifts into a different person mid-scene is the kind of thing that’s hard to describe accurately but easy to notice the moment you see it. Part of it is the sheer scale: this isn’t a drama shot on a handful of studio sets, it’s one that sends its cast to a genuinely different country every few episodes, with production values closer to a feature film than a Sunday-night broadcast. And part of it is structural — VIVANT is built to make you distrust everyone on screen, and that unease is exactly what keeps a mystery-driven show worth watching in real time instead of waiting for it to finish.

The 2026 Sequel: Cast and Story

The sequel picks up directly where Season 1 left off — literally the scene right after it ended. Sakai Masato returns in the lead role, alongside a returning cast of 26, including:

  • Abe Hiroshi as Nozaki Mamoru, a Public Security Bureau officer
  • Nikaido Fumi as Yuzuki Kaoru, the doctor drawn to the protagonist
  • Ninomiya Kazunari as Nokoru, the protagonist’s brother
  • Matsuzaka Tori as Kurosu Shun, his partner in the “Bekkuhan” unit

New elements this season include an AI character nicknamed “Hayato” and expanded overseas locations spanning Cyprus, Thailand, Israel, and Azerbaijan, among others.

How Japan Is Actually Reacting

Season 1 built a reputation as one of the most acclaimed Japanese dramas in years. The sequel’s reception has been more split — and it’s worth reporting honestly rather than assuming the hype carried over cleanly.

What’s landing well:

  • Real-time “who’s the traitor” speculation is half the fun. After nearly every episode, Japanese viewers are openly guessing which character is secretly working against the team — is Nozaki compromised, is a supposedly-dead character actually alive, is this week’s confession another misdirect. Watching it live, in step with everyone else guessing along, is a genuinely different experience than bingeing it later
  • Sakai Masato’s delivery is the thing people can’t stop mentioning — the rapid-fire dialogue in tense scenes, and the visible switch in his expression when the character’s other personality takes over, come up constantly as the single most-praised element of his performance
  • Abe Hiroshi’s screen presence gets singled out repeatedly — viewers say scenes noticeably pick up whenever he’s in them
  • It’s built to be watched without overthinking it — several viewers describe it as exactly the kind of show where an hour disappears and you don’t want to look away, even when they have other complaints about it
  • Specific characters have real fan followings — the comic-relief hacker character “Drum” and the fan-favorite “Chingis” both get name-checked by viewers actively hoping for more screen time
  • Sunday at 9pm has become a habit, not just an appointment — the anticipation shows up constantly in how people talk about it, less “I’ll catch up eventually” and more “I can’t wait for Sunday”
  • TVer’s own numbers back up the popularity: VIVANT held the #1 spot in TVer’s favorites and playback rankings for weeks after the premiere, and it’s stayed near the top since

The honest downsides:

  • The AI character “Hayato” and a hacker subplot are the most common complaint — several viewers feel the show leans on “AI solves it” as a shortcut that undercuts tension
  • A few viewers find the explanatory narration heavier-handed than Season 1’s
  • The six-month, two-cour format means the story unfolds slower than Season 1’s tighter three-month run

None of that seems to be stopping people from watching — even viewers with those specific complaints are still tuning in every Sunday, still guessing along with everyone else about who’s really on which side. That’s the show’s actual hook: it’s less “is it perfect” and more “I have to know what happens next.”

How to Watch VIVANT From Outside Japan

TVer is Japan-only — it checks your location and blocks access from anywhere else. So if episode 18 airs this Sunday and you want to be guessing along with everyone else instead of finding out spoilers online three days later, you need a VPN that connects you through a Japanese server first — and you need it set up before the episode drops, not after.

For the full setup — which VPN to use, the exact steps, and a device gotcha that trips people up — see our complete guide to watching TVer outside Japan. I’ve used NordVPN for six years specifically for this kind of access, and it’s what that guide walks through. The setup takes a few minutes, and the 30-day refund window means you can test it on this Sunday’s episode before deciding whether to keep it.

Check NordVPN plans (30-day refund) →

FAQ

Do I need to watch Season 1 before the sequel? Yes — the sequel picks up immediately after Season 1’s ending and assumes you remember its plot. TVer carries Season 1 recap content alongside the new episodes if you need a refresher.

How long will VIVANT’s new season run? It’s scheduled across two consecutive cours — roughly six months from its July 26, 2026 premiere, airing weekly on Sunday nights on TBS.

Is VIVANT worth watching if I haven’t seen anything like it before? If you want a big-budget, globe-trotting spy thriller with genuine A-list Japanese cast, yes. Just go in knowing the AI/hacking subplot and the pacing are the most commonly cited weak points, even among people who otherwise like it.

Can I watch VIVANT outside Japan without a VPN? No — TVer geo-blocks all non-Japan IP addresses. A VPN connected to a Japanese server is the only way to access it from abroad.

Written from Chiba, Japan. Broadcast schedule and cast details confirmed directly on TVer and via Japanese entertainment news coverage, September 2026. Viewer reaction summarized from Japanese drama discussion and review platforms — aggregated patterns only, no individual reviews quoted.