Started October 17, 2019 · Ended · Based on 1 season, 8 episodes through December 5, 2019 · TV-MA
Kenzo Mori is a Tokyo police detective who travels to London to find his missing brother, Yuto. Yuto is linked to a murder that could start a war between rival yakuza groups. Kenzo must protect his family while dealing with crime, lies, and pressure from both countries. The show mixes violence, family drama, dark humor, and strange visual choices.
The show gives clear attention to queer characters and relationships. Rodney is a gay, mixed Japanese-British sex worker whose drug use and past relationships receive major screen time. Kenzo’s teenage daughter Taki also develops a romantic relationship with Annie. These stories connect to the show’s wider ideas about love, shame, family duty, and people finding new families outside old rules.
Community feedback
Was our 37% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Giri/Haji.
Woke representation / casting
Rodney is a prominent gay, mixed Japanese-British character in the London cast. Taki also has a visible same-sex relationship with Annie. The Japanese casting fits the Tokyo setting, so the main representation signal comes from the repeated queer roles rather than a broad diversity pattern.
26%
Woke political dialogue
Not present in this title.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Rodney’s sexuality, past relationships, and self-destructive life receive major attention across the season. Taki develops a romantic relationship with Annie while she is still a teenager. The show treats these relationships as part of its ideas about love, shame, family duty, and finding acceptance. Crime and family remain the main story, so the identity themes are important but not the whole show.
48%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present in this title.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not present in this title.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A small number of online viewers complained about “BBC PC” themes and token characters. One viewer objected to Taki’s same-sex relationship and called it a sudden LGBT change. The complaints were isolated and did not become a major public controversy.
12%
Creator track record context
Joe Barton has no documented history of political or identity-focused activism. Julian Farino has directed queer-themed work, including Bob & Rose. Casting director Shaheen Baig has a stronger record of inclusive casting and diversity work. This gives the show mild supporting context because its queer storylines match part of that background.
20%
Production
TV Show · 2016
17-year-old Joshua "J" Cody moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of a heroin overdose.
TV Show · 2019
Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles.
TV Show · 2025
When a prison transport plane crashes in the remote Alaskan wilderness—freeing dozens of violent inmates—the region's lone marshal must protect the town he's vowed to keep safe.
TV Show · 2021
In a small Michigan town where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry, the McClusky family are the power brokers between the police, criminals, inmates…
TV Show · 2018
Ray Shoesmith is a father, ex-husband, boyfriend and best friend: tough roles to juggle in the modern age. Even harder when you’re a criminal for hire.
TV Show · 2022
Bosch is now making a living as a private investigator two years after he quit the LAPD and finds himself working with one time enemy and top-notch attorney Honey “Money”…
TV Show · 2020
Picking up just days after the “Power” finale, this sequel series follows Tariq navigating his new life, in which his desire to shed his father’s legacy comes up against the…
TV Show · 2025
In the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent heads a task force assembled to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man.
