because then we're already thinking people are gonna be saying If your game stars Takaya Kuroda as a tatted-up Yakuza member, you're inevitably going to face comparisons to the main character the voice actor's known for - the Like A Dragon/Yakuza series' stalwart protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. Promise Mascot Agency is doing just that but its devs are keen to let you know that their aim was never just to imitate the Dragon of Dojima As part of a recent interview that also touched on how ex-PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida and Deadly Premonition designer Swery came to be in the game, I asked Paradise Killer and now PMA studio Kaizen Game Works what went into casting Kuroda Promise Mascot Agency director Oli Clarke Smith told me casting Kuroda as the game's Yakuza protagonist Michi wasn't something that the Kaizen team pitched or pushed to make happen "Our game has some similarities [with that series] it’s an open world Yakuza crime drama," the dev explained we never asked for him because we didn't want to be the guys that are copying [the] Yakuza games his agent is very good at finding roles that say ‘Yakuza man’ and I just let our localiser handle all of that he has the sexiest voice out of all of them and we don’t want to say no to Kuroda-san’ While they were obviously happy to be working with such an accomplished voice actor how Kuroda's casting would be percieved did play on the team's minds actually," Kaizen's art director Rachel Noy recalled "because then we're already thinking people are gonna be saying is this actually going to be a really bad move?’ we don't have to explain this to a PR team." "Michi does have some similarities to Kiryu," Clarke Smith said "but we wanted to push that a little bit further You always get a sense with Kiryu that he’s not as oblivious as his stony face makes out he just maintains like a complete deadpan expression about it and then he's just devoted himself to that lifestyle so he's become quite insular with his worldview and now that's exploded outwards and he's having to come to terms with all of that So he's a bit more oblivious than kind of the Kiryu stereotype The developer added the genesis of Michi's personality wasn't mainly down to looking at Kiryu - it was creating the ideal surrogate for the player that'd fit within the Japanese Manzai comedy inspired "buddy cop dynamic" the team wanted for the character and the severed mascot named Pinky he runs the agency with If you're keen to read more about Promise Mascot Agency and all of its wonderful weirdness, make sure to check out our fresh preview of it, for which I spent a couple of hours helping Michi and Pinky save costumed folks from normal-sized doors. © 2025 VG247 a brand of IGN Entertainment, Inc. 18 Mansell Street Level 3, London, E1 8AA, United Kingdom.All rights reserved. No part of this website or its content may be reproduced without the copyright owner's permission. VG247 is a registered trademark of Gamer Network Limited, an affiliate of IGN Entertainment, Inc. RGG shared a behind the scenes look at the series, which premieres October 25, 2024, in a YouTube livestream The video showed how Amazon had recreated the mean streets of Kamurochō Tokyo (itself an almost exact recreation of the real Kabukichō Tokyo) in an empty lot and via movie magic but also showed some finished clips of the show This included a brief look at Ryoma Takeuchi as Kiryu and while Amazon has shown him in costume already this is the first look at the grey and crimson suit Kiryu wears throughout the myriad Yakuza/Like a Dragon video games Like a Dragon: Yakuza was announced in June 2024 with a release date just a few months later The first three episodes of the six episode series will premiere on Prime Video on October 25 while the latter three will premiere November 1 It recreates the story of the first Yakuza game, which was remade for modern consoles as Yakuza Kiwami, but the production team at Amazon stopped the stars of the show from playing the games before filming. Kento Kaku, who plays Kiryu's best friend turned rival in the show, Akira Nishikiyama, said he wanted to play but was stopped by the production team who wanted him to approach the script without any prior influence. Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. these people were told 'dont play the games' They will not respect the source material and will ruin any chance of this being a good adaptation Rusty Rabbit's demo barely lets you nibble at the carrot but still seems like a promising game from an unlikely studio Sometimes, magical things happen when games studios go outside of their wheelhouse. Without Creative Assembly getting experimental, we wouldn't have the terrifying Alien Isolation. And with Rusty Rabbit renowned visual novel studio Nitro Plus is branching out in an unusual direction seemingly blending its knack for storytelling with a cute 2D mascot platformer One starring the (Japanese) voice of Yakuza's Kazuma Kiryu as its lackadaisical lagomorph hero What we're looking at here feels a bit like a mash-up of Steamworld Dig and a metroidvania with a heavy narrative focus at least judging by the (tragically short) demo piloting his power suit through the ruins left behind by now-extinct humans He seems a likeable sort—world-weary but friendly and ready to throw down for anyone in trouble Much of the demo's playtime is dedicated to basic tutorial stuff giving players a first look at Rusty's basic movement tech including teases of future abilities like jump-jetting and a handy grappling hook before taking them away to focus on the basics There's some satisfying Mega Man X-like wall grabbing and a major focus on tunnelling through soft blocks of scrap for XP which can be poured into an intimidatingly large grid of perks which can presumably be traded or used in the full game although we don't get the chance to do it here The demo does mention that some items can be shared with other bunnies at the diner or donated to the church; two locations that we don't get to see yet—intriguing hints at what could potentially be quite complex but it's hard to get a sense for the game's true scope right now One thing that is for certain is that Nitro Plus hasn't forgotten its roots as a visual novel studio and the game often segues into full screens of (narrated) prose and illustrations author of genre-subverting anime hit Madoka Magica and deeply transgressive horror classic VN Song of Saya While I doubt there's going to be anything here that would forever traumatize a child (or adult for that matter—Song of Saya goes hard) there's just enough edge to the writing here that I wouldn't completely write off the possibility of tragic character deaths Urobuchi has earned the nickname 'the butcher' in some circles But even if everything remains upbeat and fluffy I'm still very curious to see how the full game pans out given how many brief glimpses at game mechanics the demo gave me Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. The show follows series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu in his misadventures in Japan’s crime underworld set in the fictional Tokyo red light district Kamurocho in both the mid-1990s and 2005 Playing stoic antihero Kiryu is actor Ryoma Takeuchi. Takeuchi played the titular role in Kamen Rider Drive in 2014, quickly reaching a wide audience in Japan, before going on to feature in multiple prestige drama series and films. He voiced Justice Smith’s character Tim Goodman in the Japanese dub of 2019’s Detective Pikachu movie adaptation in which he also had an on-screen cameo as a Pokémon trainer A highly physical actor with a background in soccer who has earned acclaim for his roles in theater Like a Dragon: Yakuza will be the actor’s first starring role in a global drama series “I was surprised to be offered this role,” Takeuchi tells IGN Japan shortly after the announcement of the series at the historic Hotel Gajoen Tokyo in Tokyo’s Meguro neighborhood “I knew about the game series and had played the first game at my uncle’s home It’s a real challenge to play a character from an existing work and I considered very carefully whether I was suited to portray Kiryu I knew I would have to give it everything I have Takeuchi explains that he saw Kiryu as a “strong but he acknowledged that simply copying those qualities alone would not be enough — not least because the story of Like a Dragon: Yakuza is part adaptation and part original story He says his mission was to portray the character with great respect for the original game but essentially to create his own take on Kazuma Kiryu I had to create Kiryu from scratch — that’s when he and I began to link together and become one,” he says Takeuchi saw Kiryu as a man who is “starved for love." Just like in the games Kiryu in the show was raised at the Sunflower Orphanage following the death of his parents “I think we all unconsciously chase after what is missing in our lives and we all want to be loved,” Takeuchi says I thought about what Kiryu might be searching for in Kamurocho as he strives to become the Dragon of Dojima and he doesn’t even realize how much this drives him He is a hero who lives his life with honesty Despite Kiryu’s popularity among Like a Dragon fans the world over Takeuchi says he has avoided the pressure to meet expectations of fans of the games “I have great respect for the feelings of the fans,” he says so I can’t pay attention to the preconceptions of others to identify Kiryu’s qualities and embody them in my own way I hope the fans will be happy with my portrayal — but I can say with confidence that I’ve done my best to play Kiryu There’s no point in trying to surpass the original game; rather I wanted to show respect to the games while making something new as an artist.” which he honed for the role through rigorous training and a carefully controlled diet he devised himself we see Kiryu in 2005 as the Dragon of Dojima a fierce fighter who has sculpted his body through a decade working out in prison while scenes set in the mid-1990s show him in his late teens as he is just starting out Takeuchi was mindful to show the contrast between these two eras partly through wardrobe and makeup (1990s Kiryu has bleached highlights and smoother skin) but also through his physique altering his training accordingly so that the younger version of Kiryu appears less well built “If we’d had more time between filming the 1990s and 2005 periods I would have gone even further to have a different physique in each era but I worked hard in the time that we had,” he says I adjusted my training to suit that scene.” Takeuchi aimed to portray the difference in Kiryu’s demeanor before and after his ascent within the underworld when Kiryu and his friends are young and green Takeuchi ponders that their emotions are more intense “I was conscious of the passion and excitement that only young people have,” he says “It’s the kind of energy you only get on the verge of your twenties I wanted to bring out warmer emotions when Kiryu is young and then subtract them for the 2005 part to give contrast.” As you’d expect from the Like a Dragon game series the Amazon Original series promises plenty of action – and Takeuchi performs fight scenes himself He says that in learning martial arts for the role the Dragon of Dojima who has become a seasoned fighter Kiryu’s fighting style is still rough and not very effective because he has not formally learned martial arts and he is just using his instincts,” says Takeuchi “I wanted to portray him growing as a fighter as he gradually becomes able to beat his opponents So his fighting style in each of the two eras is very different.” Kiryu’s fighting style in 2005 is based partly on the game and partly created from scratch Like a Dragon: Yakuza is actually not Takeuchi’s first time to work with Masaharu Take after appearing as a background extra in the director’s 2014 action-comedy film In the Hero “I was on screen for about two seconds,” he laughs He describes Take as a director who is able to permeate his sets with passion and positivity “Sometimes he gives us intricate direction which made for a fulfilling environment for us actors,” he says “I don’t think anyone else could have made a show like this,” he continues “Take was able to portray the flavor of Kamurocho He was very particular to cast background actors through a ton of auditions as Kamurocho’s denizens so that we could simply enter the world he had brought to life and Takeuchi says great care was taken to recreate it for the screen Kamurocho was originally based on a real-life Tokyo nightlife district; the version we see in the show was shot largely on production sets portraying the area slightly differently in each of the show’s two eras sparkling place filled with energy,” says Takeuchi from each passerby to every corner of its streets that I felt like I had traveled back in time but I think it was the people who really brought it to life after Kiryu leaves prison and returns to Kamurocho in 2005 there have been various changes to the laws and the atmosphere is colder than it was when he left in 1995 While the Kamurocho of 1995 features warm colors like orange feeling out of step with the people around him.” The Like a Dragon game franchise is already highly acclaimed and sells well around the world but the drama series will surely reach an even wider While the production itself involves collaboration from Amazon’s global teams Takeuchi is cautiously curious about the show’s reception overseas “I’m excited to see what will happen,” he says but the show includes elements that may be uniquely Japanese The show also has a specific flavor that may be different from other successful game adaptations so I’m curious to see how it will be received “The show is set in Kamurocho’s underworld and features stories about the yakuza and while it has strong depictions of violence it also asks questions about the meaning of family These are universal themes that anyone can relate to.” While the show’s story will not recreate that of the games exactly Takeuchi says that even when making the show from scratch “I think that’s the appeal of the original game series — it’s impossible to diverge too far from the original story,” he says “The game developers at Sega told me the show is faithful to the games and that my performance was faithful to Kiryu Daniel Robson is Chief Editor of IGN Japan. Find him on Twitter here. A direct portrayal of the video game is not necessary. The games do a good job of that by themselves; anyone who has actually played them should know this. Completely reinventing the wheel just to bring the games to live-action is a fool's errand. This goes for a direct physical match for the character as well. I'll reserve judgement until I've seen it for myself. Because I'm a reasonable human being and don't have a double-digit IQ. If they can just capture the essence of what makes the games so amazing and pull of anything remotely close to what they did with Fallout, I remain extremely excited for this show. As a HUGE fan of the games. Didn't even knew about this, but he doesn't seem to frightening to be a one man army. He doesn't look like Kiryu. Not imposing enough Skinny guy cast to play an icon that is ripped even in his 50s....well at least they didn't make Kiryu a woman They chose too much of a \"pretty boy\" looks like someone you'd cast to appeal to a teen girl audience Of course they make him a little pretty boy... they found the Asian Tom Holland to unchart Kazuma. I dunno does the yakuza series have a massive player base of teenage girls? How is Yasuke \"racist against Asians\" but making Kiryu look like this guy isn't? What this show needs most is a Tiger Drop scene Jesus... They'd have done better casting any random Mexican in LA. the IGN Store just opened preorders on a legitimately good-looking Kazuma Kiryu statue Humble dropped a train simulator bundle for $15 that somehow has $283 worth of content and Lepro’s doing their AI lighting thing again I didn’t expect to be tempted by half this stuff These aren’t third-party resellers or warehouse dumps The Pokémon deals come straight from Amazon and Lepro’s discounts are backed by coupons and Prime shipping so you can simulate locomotives and feel slightly better about your backlog at the same time This is the first time I’ve seen the ETB for a reasonable price without having to buy it from someone’s backseat eBay hustle I’ve seen this box selling for $90+ since launch Lillie’s Clefairy ex is still floating around $180 and N’s Zoroark ex has dropped to $13 which tells me the hype has deflated and we’re in “buy because it’s fun” territory again This is the low-frills version for people who just want to open packs without pretending they’re going to organize their collection Six Journey Together boosters and none of the ETB fluff this is how I like to test a set when prices cool off You still have a shot at cards like Salamence ex SIR at least you didn’t overpay trying to win the cardboard lottery I threw one of these in my cart last week just to hit the free shipping minimum but the price is finally low enough that I don’t feel bad if I just pull a Furret And if you happen to land something like Articuno’s Illustration Rare (now $18.69) or Wailord (around $14.55) I don’t know how many people wake up wanting ten train simulator add-ons you get Train Sim World 5’s Starter Pack plus nine routes and loco add-ons and the value is so off the rails (pun fully intended) that I bought it just to mess around with the Railpool BR193 Vectron This is one of those “tech that doesn’t make sense until you try it” products It’s a smart LED floor lamp with AI-generated lighting modes Say “I want relaxing light” and it’ll give you ten preset scenes I think it’s great if you want one light to do everything without fiddling with settings for half an hour These are the same AI bulbs as the ones in the floor lamp and weirdly helpful if you’re too tired to fine-tune your lighting manually and the voice commands actually feel smart instead of gimmicky I bought a set of these last month and haven’t touched the wall switch since I picked up Surging Sparks because six booster packs under $50 is lower than what Amazon has been charging recently (It's still above MSRP though) Honestly It’s part of the latest Scarlet & Violet expansion so if you’re trying to keep up with current sets or just enjoy the chaos of pulling a good card This one’s for the collectors who care as much about presentation as they do the pulls Iono’s Bellibolt ex Premium Collection comes with six packs and a display sheet that’s more elaborate than it needs to be — in a good way It's also a cool way to snag Journey Together packs with a fantastic promo card I think anyone who's replayed Mass Effect more than once knows exactly why these statues are tempting and they look good enough that I’ve already made space for them on the shelf If you're still quoting Garrus unironically but it's also very hard to come by in 2025 I grabbed it because the baby shiny sub-set is awesome but if you just want to grab the single cards from this set This bundle has some of the better narrative indies from the last few years added the games to my backlog like I always do It’s a strong lineup if you like character-driven games and don’t mind occasionally being emotionally wrecked by minimalist storytelling I think of this one as the all-in-one box for when you want cards and a bunch of gear you probably won’t use but still want around and enough extras to make you feel like you’re doing more than just opening packs It’s a solid option if you like having a little structure with your chaos then immediately remembered it includes 18 booster packs and a playmat but if you’ve been waiting for a premium bundle that actually justifies the price I picked it up more for the experience than the individual cards I grabbed Shining Fates Pikachu V mostly because I never actually opened it when it first dropped and the oversized card that ends up somewhere near your desk — standard stuff but still a nice throwback if you missed it the first time around Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait. For context when i posted the comment the article title was “pokemon tcg prices are crashing”. by Michael McWhertor “I don’t really want to see Kiryu hitting women.” Like A Dragon series producer and writer Masayoshi Yokoyama In an interview with Yokoyama around the upcoming Prime Video series based on the games, Like A Dragon: Yakuza I asked him how he’d feel about characters like Kiryu or Ichiban making the jump over to a fighting game like Tekken 8 “I think it’s better to say that going across mediums like how we did with [the Like A Dragon: Yakuza TV] series is better rather than just going to another game,” Yokoyama said “We receive all kind of invitations to appear in other games but we never actually went over to their doorstep and said ‘let us in.’ I think going cross-medium is the better way to go about it.” That’s certainly a more flexible and more ambitious answer than the one Nagoshi gave Red Bull in 2020. So maybe we’ll see Kiryu battling Kazuya Mishima outside of a Waffle House someday. Like A Dragon’s Kiryu has appeared in games outside of the core franchise, of course. He was a guest golfer in 2011’s Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, and he’s appeared alongside other Sega characters in games like Project X Zone 2, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. I suppose what we really need is for Sega to finally make Fighters Megamix 2, so we can all live out the fantasy of playing as the Dragon of Dojima in fistfights against the car from Daytona USA, Bean the Dynamite from Sonic Fighters, and any other dude that Kiryu feels comfortable punching. The best of Polygon in your inbox, every Friday. A few years back we learned that Yakuza's Creator wasn't really down to let Kazuma Kiryu into fighting games and it looks like the current leader of the Like A Dragon studio has a similar sentiment for different reasons than his predecessor You'd think that with characters like Kiryu Majima Goro and Ichiban Kasuga who pull from / reference things like Virtua Fighter and other ideas from the genre would be a no brainer fit Current Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio producer and writer Masayoshi Yokoyama has loftier goals in mind for Sega's hit franchise Polygon recently had the chance to interview Yokoyama to ask him directly about crossovers for games like Tekken 8 while discussing the upcoming Yakuza show "I think it's better to say that going across mediums like how we did with [the Like A Dragon: Yakuza TV] series is better rather than just going to another game," said Yokoyama via Polygon "We receive all kind of invitations to appear in other games but we never actually went over to their doorstep and said 'let us in.' I think going cross-medium is the better way to go about it." So while he doesn't flat out reject the idea wholly it certainly sounds like fighting game crossovers are far from the top of his priority list for the series' future plans This follows up what Yakuza Creator Toshihiro Nagoshi had to say on the matter a few years ago when he was still with the Sega studio "We do get this request a lot. Of course there are exceptions," said Nagoshi via Red Bull "but fighting games generally have female characters and personally I don’t really want to see Kiryu beating up women." Although fans of both franchises had been asking for a crossover previously, Tekken Director Katsuhiro Harada kicked the interest into overdrive after bringing up the large amount of Kiryu requests he receives as well as directly referencing the Dragon of Dojima a few times more during Tekken 7's lifespan — but he obviously never made it in Tekken 8 currently doesn't have any guest characters in the game or revealed as DLC, and Harada recently spoke about some of the challenges of actually getting crossover characters that fans don't think about Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy 7 has probably eclipsed Kiryu as the most requested guest for the current 3D fighter For the longest time, Capcom had stayed away from smaller crossover appearances in Street Fighter, but that obviously changed with SNK's Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui coming to Street Fighter 6 It certainly sounds like the SF6 development heads are interested to do more if the Fatal Fury duo succeeds though Sega may not be totally down to play ball at the moment — at least with Yakuza Like A Dragon characters did technically appear in Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown as special costumes With rumors swirling of a new Virtua Fighter in development, that may be the most likely place we would see the likes of Kiryu, Majima and Ichiban now since it would all stay in-house at Sega. was originally a concept called Like a Dragon: Tuna where original protagonist Kiryu Kazuma was a fighting fisherman RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed the origins in a PlayStation Blog post discussing Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii ahead of its February 28 release date The game stars the fan favorite Majima Goro as he wakes up on a beach with no memory and in a sea-faring alternative to his yakuza roots It wasn't originally going to star Majima at all I wanted to make a game called Like a Dragon: Tuna sets off to sea to fight against fishing boats," Yokoyama said but keywords like 'ship,' 'sea,' and 'fighting,' which had since then been engraved in my head evolved into the concept of pirates." Kiryu has had plenty of fishy experience over the years through the myriad fishing minigames sprinkled throughout the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series He's also resorted to beating the rowdier ones up with his fists like in the shark boss fight from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth that's practically the end of Jaws Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a spin-off to Infinite Wealth, the eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza series (or ninth including Yakuza 0). The series underwent a name change from Yakuza to Like a Dragon upon its release made more confusing by the seventh game being called Yakuza: Like a Dragon and starring new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii grew into its own thing during the development of the latest game long before the release of Infinite Wealth the dev team was already mulling over the idea of an Infinite Wealth spin-off," Yokoyama said "Even if we were to make Like a Dragon 9 we knew that wouldn’t be enough to capture and tell the story During the end of the Infinite Wealth development we began percolating the idea of a spin-off that stars characters who are not Ichiban Kasuga It was almost as if we were creating a blown-up sub-story for Infinite Wealth." This will be the first time in a while Yakuza fans have had to wait an entire year for a new release with Infinite Wealth having arrived in January and Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii not launching until February While this is fairly normal for most game franchises RGG Studio is known for its rapid release schedule Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name alongside three Super Monkey Ball Games and an enhanced remaster of Virtua Fighter 5 This just sounds like a normal day at RGG Studio Well the fishing rail-shooter-style minigame in Yakuza 6 wasn't that far off No part of this website or its content may be reproduced without the copyright owner's permission VG247 is a registered trademark of Gamer Network Limited The series will be premiere on Prime Video in the fall Prime Video today announced that it will be premiering Like a Dragon: Yakuza Directed by Masaharu Take (The Naked Director) and starring Ryoma Takeuchi (Kamen Rider Drive) as the iconic character Kazuma Kiryu it’s a live-action adaptation that’s loosely based on the Sega game franchise of the same name which will span across two time periods: 1995 and 2005  It follows Kiryu and his three childhood friends before and after his arrest “You can’t play Kazuma Kiryu without getting into shape, so I knew I had to throw myself into it,” said Takeuchi during a press conference at the elegant Hotel Gajoen Tokyo in Meguro I got so close to the part that it was hard to distinguish where he ended and I began That included getting into shape for the part I feel like he became part of the family.” Takeuchi made his silver screen debut in Take’s action-comedy In the Hero in 2014 He was only on the screen for a few seconds A decade on and he is once again working with Take Takeuchi was the name that immediately came to mind when he started thinking about who could play Kiryu He felt the 31-year-old actor and model had the size and presence to take on the role of a character who is loved around the world Like a Dragon: Yakuza will be streamed in more than 240 countries and territories with subtitles and dubbed versions in 30 languages The first three episodes are slated for release on October 25 single-story house of less than 60 sqm situated in a densely built area of wooden houses originally designed as a closed-off and compact residence with aging interiors was converted into a traditional Japanese townhouse-style greengrocer all images by Hayakawa Records – Shinsuke Hayakawa Negishi Kenchiku Studio’s design team opened up the street-facing side of the building to create an accessible entrance and display area for the store’s products enhancing its connection to the surrounding neighborhood The internal layout was reconfigured into a single The design allows visibility into the store from the outside fostering interaction between the shop owner and customers enabling the owner to oversee both the interior and the street further integrating the store into its urban context transforms a vacant house into a functional greengrocer a newly opened street-facing facade creates an accessible entrance and display area for products the renovation fosters interaction between the greengrocer and its surrounding neighborhood the original structure was a single-story house of less than 60 sqm the project redefines the compact residence into a traditional Japanese townhouse-style store the design ensures visibility into the store from the outside inviting customers to engage with the space the store’s interior was reconfigured into a single aging interiors were upgraded to meet modern functional and aesthetic requirements the compact house was transformed into a vibrant commercial space in less than 60 sqm the project integrates traditional Japanese townhouse aesthetics into a modern commercial context the project exemplifies the balance between preserving tradition and embracing contemporary design the design overcomes the closed-off nature of the original structure name: Sakugetsu architects: Negishi Kenchiku Studio | @negishi_kenchiku_studio photographer: Hayakawa Records – Shinsuke Hayakawa designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here. edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom happening now! partnering with antonio citterio, AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function, but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style, context, and personal expression. by Ross Miller Each game featured in this collection can be purchased individually and are also on sale between 45% and 70% off their standard $19.99 price: There is no franchise quite like Yakuza. It’s an epic story about the criminal underworld centered around the stoic and virtuous Kazuma Kiryu, a.k.a. the Dragon of Dojima, that has a strong dash of surreal and comical substories. If you need any more convincing as to why Yakuza is one of the best — and certainly one of the strangest — franchises this side of Kamurocho, check out this great essay from Super Eyepatch Wolf (caution: some series spoilers): … And also this image that I randomly found in the Polygon image database. No, I will not be explaining — you’ll just have to play the games and find out for yourself. Polygon’s handpicked deals on games, movies, books, and more. Give me Like a Dragon: Tuna or give me death which admittedly also sounds absolutely amazing In a new PlayStation Blog interview Yokoyama said he wanted to make a game called Like a Dragon: Tuna (read that again) for "quite some time" That game would've starred longtime Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu "as a tuna fisherman" who "sets off to sea to fight against fishing boats." Why would a fisherman go to sea specifically to fight other fishermen unfortunately Yokoyama said the project "never came to fruition," and ultimately "keywords like 'ship,' 'sea,' and 'fighting,' which had since then been engraved in my head I suppose I can take some solace in the fact that the remains of my dream Yakuza game that never was will be immortalized in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii which stars fan-favorite antihero Goro Majima The game takes place days after the Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and seems to have some thematic parallels at least judging from the trailer which shows Majima waking up on a beach near Hawaii half-dressed and completely stripped of his memories.  His hazardous trek through pirate-infested waters is in pursuit of those memories he'll be joined by a cast of memorable characters including a little boy named Noah who owns a tiger cub I just know it would've been one of the best JRPGs ever I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish but this is far less weird than 90% of the Yakuza sub-stories Takaya Kuroda's lent his voice to What do you do immediately after leaving PlayStation following about 30 years of service you sign up for your first voice acting role as a green duck guy in a game about mascots that's mostly about a not quite Kazuma Kiryu helping "a living finger work through her many anger issues" In case you missed the party - my invite certainly got lost in the post - Yoshida departed the big blue brand earlier this week being given a nice cake with what I assume is his face on it and will be using all of his expertise to play a guy dressed as a green duck Yoshida is voicing one of the many mascots these two meet as they try to put together the "best agency in Japan" in a cursed town - a green duck-looking ex-mascot called MonouGe who's opening up a game center it's not clear whether MonouGe's game center will have blue decor and be called something like 'StationPlayers' but given Kuroda's playing Michi - a name similar to Kiryu's famous Onomichi mascot guise of Ono Michio - there's a non zero chance and Shibuya's dulect tones via the fresh trailer above a bird-priest kinda guy who seems to know stuff about the town's curse Here's hoping Yoshida's long-term future plan is just as interesting Le is now taking on the mantle of Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series which is something the actor wished for over five years ago before Luke was ever revealed Although he's not in the actual games (yet) as the Dragon of Dojima Aleks recently revealed he portrays Kiryu in the Like a Dragon: Yakuza live action series He's part of the pretty high profile English dubbing cast that includes Matthew Mercer as Goro Majima, who you may recognize as Resident Evil's Leon S. Kennedy and Guilty Gear's Zato-1 among many other roles, and Johnny Yong Bosch as Akira Nishiki, who Capcom fans should know as the voice of Nero in Devil May Cry, Zero in Marvel vs. Capcom and now Dante in the upcoming Devil May Cry anime Honored to say I voice KAZUMA KIRYU in the dub of Amazon’s LIKE A DRAGON: YAKUZA 🐉Watch the sub too bc the actors rock, but if ya wanna check out the English dub we also got an INSANE cast 😊 LOTS I wanna talk about with this role- BUT I’ll share clips when I get home! pic.twitter.com/5jMmV0tPiK What's funny about this too is Le apparently posted online all the way back in August 2020 that "I wish I was Kiryu Kazuma." That post has obviously come back up now because of the obvious relevance after fans rediscovered it, but Aleks responded that he apparently "straight up forgot" about the tweet. Le also shared some clips of his work and some of the thoughts put into his portrayal of Kiryu. For the younger version of Kiryu, the actor says he tried to match Ryoma Takeuchi's energy while taking things in a bit of a different direction for the older version of the character. HOLY SHIT HOW DID YOU FIND THIS I STRAIGHT UP FORGOT I TWEETED THIS LMAOOOOOOO There Le says he tried to capture Takaya Kuroda's more laid back attitude mixed with Darryl Kurylo's grit from the original Yakuza game. Aleks is obviously a lot more than just Luke and Kiryu too as one of the seemingly fastest growing talents in voice acting with Demon Slayer's Zenitsu, Dragon Ball Super's Gamma 1, Persona 3 Reload's protagonist, Solo Leveling's Sung Jin-woo, Final Fantasy 7's Sonon and more under his belt. Plus, he already technically got to be in the Yakuza universe as Eiji Mitamura in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. You can check out a couple of Le's scenes as Kiryu below for the new Amazon series to hear for yourself. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. Lucy and Tam sit down with Ryoma Takeuichi (Kiryu) and Kento Kaku (Nishiki) and find out what it takes to fill the shoes of the two legendary Yakuza in the live action show coming out October 24th on Prime. "data-img-src" : imgSrc } = buylink %> />><%= itemTitle %> Exclusive: Ryoma Takeuchi takes us behind Kiryu's reaction during *that* shock finale twist Kiryu actor Ryoma Takeuchi has addressed Like a Dragon: Yakuza's shock finale twist one which flips the script on the Prime Video series and sets up a deeply personal second season for the hard-hitting hero Major spoilers for the Like a Dragon: Yakuza ending follow In the Like a Dragon: Yakuza season 1 ending Kiryu hobbles away from his battle with Nishiki but not before his one-time aniki tells him that the legendary Dragon of Dojima – whom Kiryu grew up idolizing – was the figure responsible for his parent’s death "The Dragon is by our side," Nishiki says before he dies Kiryu doesn't have to wait long to find out what that means as he later discovers the dragon tattoo peeking out of the ripped suit of his mentor Shintaro Kazama The season then ends with a tense staredown between a grimacing Kiryu and a seemingly unawares Kazama "I think he himself wasn't able to sort of try to find for himself what was happening He didn't understand what was happening," Takeuchi tells GamesRadar+ (via translation) he was feeling or he was naturally reacting to it." bodes well for a second season showdown between the pair – something Takeuchi agrees with even if he’s none the wiser on any prospective greenlight from Amazon "If there were to be something that comes afterwards [then] it will be [with] Kazama and Kiryu," Takeuchi says I haven't been told anything about what's coming up next but it all depends on how this one performs." and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii players can dress up fan favorite Goro Majima in the clothes of longtime Yakuza protagonist Kiryu Kazuma, so long as they sign up for email notifications from Sega. The special Dragon of Dojima outfit is available to anyone who signs up on the Sega website by February 25 a few days after Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii arrives on February 21 The small print comes after fans input their email address I am confirming I would like to receive updates by email about products and services and invitations to events from any of the Sega group companies," it states "I may opt-out of receiving these communications by using the unsubscribe link in the emails." There isn't an option to tick or untick this part meaning anyone who signs up for the Dragon of Dojima outfit will also receive these emails from Sega It's also unclear if unsubscribing from the emails will stop users getting the outfit altogether as the actual download code won't be sent until Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii comes out exploring the likes of Hawaii along the way A trailer released at the October Xbox Partner Showcase revealed a proper first look at ship combat akin to Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and the return of the beloved character Taiga Saejima perhaps teasing more ties to the main series than previously thought It will also be a decent bit longer than previous Yakuza spin-off Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, with its story taking around 15 to 18 hours to complete Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter The latest trailer for Yakuza: Like a Dragon teases Kazuma Kiryu's past and future as a member of the yakuza The previous glimpses of Prime Video's Like a Dragon: Yakuza live-action series didn't give viewers much to go on beyond some over-the-top action sequences But now that the premiere of the show is less than a month a way a new trailer for Like a Dragon: Yakuza finally offers fans of the original Sega games a real taste of what's to come the main character in the first Yakuza games and the focal point of the show The series will take place in two different time periods Yumi (Yumi Kawai) and Miho (Hinano Nakayama) are young and reckless enough to target an arcade owned by the Dojima crime family They're also foolish enough to think that they'll get away with stealing more money than they've ever seen in their lives The other side of the story takes place in 2005 with Kazuma newly released from prison and no longer a member of the yakuza he's never going to be entirely free of his former clan and even his old friends aren't that eager to reconnect with him a masked figure has his own agenda for the city's rival yakuza factions Prime Video will release the first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza on October 24, with the remaining three episodes following weekly. The next game in the series, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com ESCLog in to comment Get the latest gaming news, reviews, and deals sent to your inbox Monday to Friday. The concept for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is already pretty buck wild According to Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama the result could have been even stranger: For a while he wanted to make a fishing game called like a Dragon: Tuna In an interview with the PlayStation Blog (via PCGamer) Yokoyama shared details about another potential idea for a spin-off months prior to the release of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth on January 25 Before the team decided to have Goro Majima go on a pirate adventure the plan was to feature Kazuma Kiryu as a tuna fisherman who would set off to sea to fight against fishing boats You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos Sign up or Sign in now but keywords like 'ship,' 'sea,' and 'fighting,' which had since then been engraved in my head evolved into the concept of pirates," Yokoyama said It was always the intention to create a spin-off starring characters who weren't Ichiban Kasuga one of the protagonists of Infinite Wealth Amnesia was a paramount narrative peg for the character to work While that attitude is what sets him apart the team wanted to avoid the emotional discrepancy of the player being frustrated in a scene while Majima is unbothered about the events unfolding we would need a neutral character who could act the way players anticipate from a protagonist," Yokoyama said "But the downside is that we’d end up with a boring protagonist We gave Kiryu and Kasuga additional personalities to build them into protagonists we only had two options: amnesia or travel back in time Majima wouldn’t have worked as a protagonist." Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is releasing on February 28, 2025 on PC and both old- and current-gen consoles. Preorders are now live featuring some discounts as well as a pricier Collector's Edition with a few physical goodies and deals sent to your inbox Monday to Friday Exclusive: Ryoma Takeuchi breaks down why the 1995-set scenes are crucial to the Prime Video series' story There’s already been early talk of fans not gelling with the back-and-forth time jumps of Like a Dragon: Yakuza the skipping back to the wannabe Dragon of Dojima’s early life in Kamurocho is crucial to understanding the growth of the Prime Video series' cast of characters "Depicting these characters in their childhood in 1995 in the drama was a very important element," Takeuchi told GamesRadar+ (via translation) how you spent your childhood and how you grew up and [were] raised and the people around you actually makes who you are as a person when you become an adult," Takeuchi says "And I think depicting those backgrounds was a very important part of this drama." "I feel like they should have shown the past in the first episode and then continue with the story while adding some small flashbacks "We need to set a very clear reasoning behind why they ended up in this kind of life," Takeuchi explains "And also that was the mindset of [director Masaharu Take] He wanted to depict this very much in this drama… We wanted to get the storyline pretty much linked up with the game itself we wanted to sort of depict the humanity or the human drama aspect in this work And this part of focusing on the young people in 1995 was a very important part of [it]." Exclusive: Ryoma Takeuchi is looking forward to trying out the Like a Dragon series in future Despite not playing the game series for his hard-hitting role Like a Dragon: Yakuza’s Kiryu actor Ryoma Takeuchi is "looking forward" to playing them in future actually I do have a strong feeling towards that but if only I could be given a break to do so," Takeuchi said (via translation) when GamesRadar+ asked whether he would now be tempted to play the Like a Dragon series formerly known as Yakuza in the west.  "What I mean is that I really like playing video games but if I start playing it I need to play the whole game I need to stay in front of the television screen for a long don’t expect him to be Tiger Dropping gangsters or getting seriously into Pocket Circuit on the virtual streets of Kamurocho any time soon "I have so many things that are waiting for me to do and accomplish in front of me," Takeuchi said Previously, Takeuchi told us at San Diego Comic-Con that the creative team behind the new Prime Video series suggested he explore the character of Kiryu "from scratch" "I know these games – everybody in the world knows these games," Takeuchi said at the time I'd like to try them but they had to stop me because they wanted to – for the character in the script – explore from scratch even the likes of The Last of Us’ Ellie actor Bella Ramsey and Joel actor Pedro Pascal were told not to pick up a controller and dabble in the source material before filming "I was actually encouraged not to," Ramsey told USA Today The essential Yakuza Complete Series has all seven games in the Kiryu arc and you can get one of the best stories in gaming cheap right now Follow us for daily PC games news, guides and reviews on X, Facebook, Google News, and Steam. Or sign up to our free newsletter “I had to create Kiryu from scratch,” says actor Ryoma Takeuchi to find the love they’ve always longed for I had to create Kiryu from scratch,” Takeuchi told IGN Japan It’s always reassuring to hear an actor not treat previous depictions of a character with so much reverence it becomes stifling even if the interview makes it sound like Takeuchi has clearly spent a lot of time researching the games for his own portrayal “I have great respect for the feelings of the fans,” Takeuchi says so I can’t pay attention to the preconceptions of others." Takeuchi told IGN he sees Kiryu as a man who’s “starved for love," saying ““I think we all unconsciously chase after what is missing in our lives and we all want to be loved.” With this in mind “I thought about what Kiryu might be searching for in Kamurocho and he doesn’t even realise how much this drives him.” And Takeuchi talks about honing Kiryu’s different fighting styles before and after the character’s prison sentence Kiryu’s fighting style is still rough and not very effective because he has not formally learned martial arts and he is just using his instincts,” he says “I wanted to portray him growing as a fighter So his fighting style in each of the two eras is very different.” Takeuchi is obviously a bit more fresh-faced than the Dragon Of Dojima we know. But as long as he can lift a bicycle over his head and belt out Judgement at karaoke, he’s fine by me. I had a chat with the localisers of Yakuza: Like A Dragon a while back about translating the jokes and other fun nuances of the series from Japanese to English in which they detailed the subtleties of Kiryu and Ichiban being great mates who have each other's backs Rock Paper Shotgun is a registered trademark of Gamer Network Limited