Sins of Kujo

SINS OF KUJO ⚖️ 九条の大罪 (2026)

In SINS OF KUJO, the court of law is on full display: morality begs for mercy, while legality answers with cold precision.

From street thugs to the yakuza, Taiza Kujo wields the law to defend society’s worst. His colleague, Karasuma, questions his ethics but ultimately joins him in staring into the abyss.

Netflix returns to the rich well of Japanese manga, adapting Shohei Manabe seinen series, Kujō’s Deadly Sins into a live-action crime-thriller, courtroom drama. Leading the way is Yuya Yagira (Gannibal, Gintama) and Hokuto Matsumura (Suzume, 5 Centimeters Per Second) who bring Taiza Kujo and Shinji Karasuma from page to screen with a grounded, understated presence.

You expect action when you hear “yakuza.” Instead, you get something colder, sharper. SINS OF KUJO is a slow, surgical look at what it means to defend the guilty, and whether “legal” has anything to do with “just.” Karasuma questions it. Kujo doesn’t. One wrestles with conscience. The other buries it under case law. Kujo isn’t emotional, he’s observational, detached, clinical in his approach.

Like Kujo himself, the series is calm, restrained, almost mellow—despite its heavy subject matter.

There’s no heavy-handed message here. If this were a Western production, it might lean into being preachy about societal reform. Instead, the focus stays tightly on the characters’ journeys: one acting as an uninvited moral compass, the other pushing back against growing resentment with the rigid, black-and-white nature of the law. And the subject matter doesn’t pull punches. It touches on real societal issues while using the underworld as its stage: the exploitation of Japan’s aging population, at-risk youth being pulled into the sex industry, and the inescapable cycle of life within the yakuza.

The only problem? It ends too soon. Feels like we’ve just opened the case file and Netflix already wants to close it.

My verdict for SINS OF KUJO: it’s is a slow burn with plenty left to simmer. In the court of law, morality pleads while legality decides—and the only thing I’m pleading for is that they’ve already decided on a second season. 

Enjoy!

7.4/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 45mins

Episodes: 10

Where: Now Streaming on Netflix

The Richmond Reviewer Sins of Kujo Review - April 2nd, 2026.