If you’re a long-time Yakuza fan like this author, it’s worth remembering just how far the franchise now known as Like a Dragon has come. SEGA had once famously given up on the series outside of Japan, leaving Yakuza 5’s localisation duties to Sony. A little less than a decade later, it finds itself the subject of a high-profile Amazon Prime show, and while there have been movies in the past – like Takashi Miike’s infamous 2007 adaptation – this is clearly aiming for global appeal. It’s just a shame it’s not very good.
While the first three episodes are available now, we were given advance access to all six episodes, and we don’t really feel like it does the franchise justice. Walking the tightrope between the brand’s melodrama and sheer silliness was never going to be easy, of course, and this show starring Ryōma Takeuchi as stoic protagonist Kazuma Kiryu doesn’t even try – it’s a po-faced, generic Japanese crime drama that largely plays things safe from start to finish. It also gets bogged down in its own story, teasing plot threads and then leaving them dangling as it briskly moves on to the next topic or theme.
Takeuchi fails to capture the nuance of SEGA’s Kiryu, lacking the charisma of the video game character and his broad shoulders. The story touches upon events from prequel Yakuza 0 and the PS2 original – or Yakuza Kiwami, for those who played the remake – but it deviates a lot and thus will be mostly unrecognisable to fans of the games. This didn’t need to be a beat-for-beat retelling, of course, but we don’t think it captures the je ne sais quois of the source material, and that’s a shame.
This is perhaps best reflected by the under-utilisation of Goro Majima, played by Munetaka Aoki. His performance is fine as the notoriously zany individual, but it feels like the writers didn’t really know what to do with him; like he’s there just to tick a box. To be fair, Kento Kaku does show tremendous range as Akira Nishikiyama, as the story flip-flops between two time periods, showing his progression from mild-mannered youngster to dead-eyed gangster crime lord.
We will also note, the attention to detail in some of the sets is astounding, down to period appropriate movie posters in 1995 – and even the odd Easter eggs, like the inclusion of some Virtua Fighter 2.1 banners outside an arcade. You see very little of Kamurocho itself, and it looks like some of the shots of real-life Kabukicho have been recreated using CGI, but it does at least capture the time period quite nicely, and it all feels sordid and seedy in the way you’d expect it to.
But the story drags, and even averaging at under 50 minutes, episodes always feel like they’re a little on the long side. There’s a lot to get through here, with the abundance of subplots leading to a lack of overall cohesion, and we suspect casual viewers may quickly tune out. In fact, franchise fans will probably also struggle, as the series lacks the levity and goofiness of the games to counteract the violence and misery. It all becomes a bit of a dreary watch at times, with very little respite.
But perhaps the biggest crime of all here is that we can’t imagine anyone would be paying it much attention without the video game connection. We like the additional exploration of Yumi, an underdeveloped character in the source material – but this isn’t enough of a reason to tune in. You’re left with a generic, middle-of-the-road Japanese drama that neither stands out from its peers – nor captures any semblance of spirit from the franchise it’s inspired by. And after a string of video game TV and movie wins, that makes this series’ failings stand out even stronger.
Have you been watching Like a Dragon: Yakuza? What do you think of the first three episodes, and will you be showing up for the second half of the series? Get inked in the comments section below.
Comments 52
Thankfully a second season of Fallout will be upon soon enough.
Dammit. I was hoping this would be good.
Amazon has been really scattershot in its adaptations, and I was hoping this would go for the “good” side. Sigh.
I didn't wanna hear it's bad, I've not seen it yet. Starting it right now, I'm hoping I enjoy it, still.
"You see very little of Kamurocho itself"
I'm not yet watch it but Kiryu exploring Kamurocho and interact with the residents is one of Yakuza series trademark. Not showing a lot of Kamurocho is just wrong.
And underutilised Majima + no goofy side story? WTF.
Yeah i guess i'm gonna skip this show. I already got the feeling it will be meh from the trailers
Mad how they took a game with a clear, easily transferable story and set up, and seemingly messed it up. But then that’s Amazon all over, all money, no soul.
I will of course still probably binge this in one sitting as I’m a sucker for anything crime related and Japanese
Sorry but that’s a mid Kiryu who’s not believable
@Major_Player lol!
I'm still going to give it a shot tonight but my expectations have been set accordingly. My best friend and I are huge fans of the series so hopefully we can at least get something out of it!
I just watched the first episode. It's not even the same story as the game.
This will be on while I play through Yakuza 5 on my Portal. I was so excited for this show because I recently got into Yakuza this year and have already played through Yakuza Zero all the up to Yakuza 5 which I’m working on. Also played Judgement this year. I had a bad feeling about this show after hearing the actor playing Kiryu never played the game. Whoever was involved with this should be replaced imo and RGG should be involved throughout the entire process. We need redemption. Think of Haruka.
Never played the games but interested in Yakuza movies so was planning on watching it eventually. Can anyone elaborate on this -
"and will you be showing up for the second half of the series"
Google said 6 episodes, 3 now then 1 a week it looks like. Is the "second half' those other 3 eps or is there another 6 episodes later in the year or next year like they did w/ season 2 of Invincible? I really hate these short "seasons" which are arguably just half of a season setup for the 2nd half. Every once in awhile a show like "Shogun" or Reacher comes along where a season is a season but I find more often than not a season is just a few episodes in 1 long story arc. 😝
Kiryu looks seriously miscast. He just looks like the guys Kiryu would be throwing bikes at. Needed to be alot more built
I'll admit, in episode 2 hearing "Mr Blue Sky" from ELO while a montage of people trying on different outfits wasn't on my Yakuza bingo card.
I still stand by the idea that replacing iconic video game characters with voice actors behind that game with different actors just doesn't really work. Kiryu isn't kiryu without Kuroda. He's a huge part of the characters feel. Even in the games the English va breaks the character because the characters development evolves around the actors emotional range and manner.
It feels like someone tried to explain the premise of Yakuza to some suits and said suits said "ew no that's much too whimsical. We need a gritty violent crime show, totally original idea."
@ATaco Tbf Yakuza is a gritty violent crime series outside of side content. Nothing in the main story is whimsical apart from the new Yakuza games which leaned too much into that stuff for the main story. Unless you want to count the five seconds of seeing a castle come out of the ground in 2 and the tiger fight but even then, that stuff is presented seriously same with 4's ridiculous rubber bullets plot piece.
I already called it that the show wouldn't feature all the side content and I don't know why anyone expected that it would.
Either way the show doesn't sound good... another thing I called.
@TruestoryYep
But how many people play through the games without delving into the side content? Without exploring Kamurocho? At certain points the game even forces you to at least play through the tutorials of the side missions, so you are introduced to them. They seem purpose placed to take some of that edge off. A good formula for the Yakuza show would be a few episodes of gritty serious story...and then an episode where Majima tries to help a hostess club reach #1 or something. Then again I guess it would be kind of weird to translate to tv...I dunno, I think I'll just play a Yakuza game instead.
I’ve heard BAD things. A shame.
It's probably my #1 IP. I hated the show when I started the first episode. By the time I finished the third episode I did like it but I had to detach myself from the franchise to enjoy it which is a problem.
Oh boy, I'm totally in minority on this, but I really hate that since Yakuza 0 found success in the west, everyone associats the franchise with goofy sh*t (and retconed Majima). I always loved that humor stayed in the side quest and the main plot was epic serious crime drama. But now everyone expects clownage everywhere and creators know that. Once LaD was one of my favourite series and I prayed for the translation of the new games. Now monkey paw granted my wish and I'll be skipping that pirate embarrassment. Peace, enjoy the games.
I do understand that adapting a game to a show 1:1 isnt possible
But so many changes baffle me
Shintaro Kazama being hated by his kids & the Yakuza is such a big difference, that it has (or will if they do get a season 2) enormous consequences for the entire plot & character relationships
a certain character existing who shouldnt exist is also a big deviation that affects the entire structure
Seemingly killing of a character who to this days appears in the games is also shocking & dare I say, plain stupid
I'm trying to figure out what the plan was, because without the names it would be a story completly unrelated to LaD
Haruka gets 10 min screentime & she barely interacts with Kiryu
we got 3 eps left but I doubt she will return so what is the point of removing Kiryu's "daughter"?
The changes arent interesting, nothing warrants them
And the new plot is paced badly, with the constant timejumps not helping
It's honestly a fascinating watch, with how different yet boring it is
So many side plots, Kiryu becomes a cameo in his own show
Character motivations are unclear
It doesnt even work for people who dont know LaD, because the plot doesnt explain enough for newcomers
So they expect you to already know LaD & its cast, yet twist it to something completly different
I mean the writing was on the wall when the cast members said they were told NOT to play the games
The biggest issue with adapting Yakuza is that the main story is always exactly as serious and melodramatic as the show is being. The silly, goofy side almost exclusively comes from side content that's almost impossible to adapt as it is completely off tone from the rest. In game form it works, but I don't think it ever will for TV the same way
I switched off 5min in when I realised it was a stupid heist plot with Kindergarten-cutouts of the characters. I mean wtf is Nishiki even supposed to be??!!
@CutchuSlow Same, unbearable characters who aren't even the ones from the game
@nessisonett (comment #18)
don't even try, mate. Only disappointment to be found
Shame.
For a much better series dealing with Yakuza, can I suggest Tokyo Vice.
Great cast, well written, just a very good series. They cancelled it after 18 episodes, so it's all tied up neatly.
To disrespect such an amazing games series with a poor show is so frustrating.
Unfortunate to hear, but I guess you can't win them all. While replicating the setting for this series is relatively easy, replicating its soul is a different matter entirely.
I might still tune in to watch (some of) it just to form my own opinion, since I've got access to the show anyway.
My main issue with it was how it jumped between time periods. I just found it quite jarring.
I didn't think it was awful or anything but just kind of lacked the punch of the games. I think the cast for the most part was fine but the pacing is all out of whack. The time jumps between 3 (or was it 4? I couldn't keep up😅) different time frames made it very hard to follow along.
I was certainly hoping for something better but oh well. I'll probably still finish it since there's only 3 episodes left anyway.
@rjejr Yeah, so you can watch three episodes now. The other three episodes will be available next Thursday. That's what I mean by "second half".
Ah *****, I was really looking forward to this. I knew something was wrong when Kiryu said he wanted to be "the dragon" in the last trailer, when the actual Kiryu felt suffocated by that title and it was mentioned several times throughout the series.
This is what happened when your let your hubris ruin another great franchise.
@TheOldHunter4K Unfortunately stars a nonce. Would watch otherwise.
Shocker! Another adaptation where the creators went out of their way to not look at the original games for reference isn't doing well? Did Halo not teach us anything?
@TheOldHunter4K I'll have to give that a look. 👍
I was reading on a rival website that the actor playing Kiryu has actually never played any of the Yakuza games.
It was doomed from the start!
I'm very disappointed by this show ugh
@Futureshark As I said in my above comment not only had he not played them the show runners specifically TOLD HIM NOT TO!!! I'm so over talentless morons using beloved IPs to leverage existing fanbases for their crappy shows or movies that have no love or respect for what they're meant to be based on. (sigh) At least we have the Sonic movies
@get2sammyb Thanks. That is technically half. 😁 Weird way of releasing a show but everything is weird these days so I guess it kind of makes sense.
So since you're here, did it feel like a full season of a TV show or did it just feel like it ended? If it feels like 1 long movie cut up into pieces at random intervals that it could feel complete, but if it feels like this is just the first 6 of 12 or 18 episodes than I'd rather not bother to watch it right now.
Games and anime turned into movies are hardly any good
Not surprising, but still a disappointment.
I like it. It's a bit like a remix version of Yakuza pulling bits and pieces from different games, adding new twists to it. But it's also one of those where I'm like, for all the changes, the story would be better if they'd just told the story of either 0 or Yakuza 1, and just fleshed it out. It's both simplified and needlessly convoluted at the same time. Bizarre, but an interesting watch.
Also, shoutout to my boy Saejima who in the show is played by a dude who is about 5 foot 2 wearing a comical wig. Questionable.
@Lyedecker please tell me that’s not real and you’re kidding
I haven't enjoyed any of the Live action TV-shows based on videogames. Most tv-shows are ***** these days. So I had no hopes about this one either.
Take out the fact that it’s supposed to be based on a video game series and I bet it’s a great show. I’m going to watch it that way.
@Logonogo I wish I was joking but that scene really happens.
Thanks for the review Sammy. I watched the first episode this weekend and it's okay. TBH I didn't have high hopes for this but this is not the Kiryu I knew over the years. Nishki and Yomei were carrying the first episode heavily. Also, I was shocked when I saw Date San xD .
I'll continue watching it anyway but overall it's skippable I guess.
Actively disliked Kiryu in the first episode. Figured it wasn't for me. Won't be spending time on the rest.
@XiaomuArisu
You just convinced me not to watch. Bad acting I can take, bastardisation of the actual story and charcterisations? Hell no.
Even as an outsider & just bought 3 on PS3 for cheap. I question tv/movie adaptations. The games have their own touches, own fun/serious moments balanced I've heard/seen. Inspirations from other media but still their own unique details? Why is that so hard to capture with tv/movies staff involved beside Sega/others input hmm? Why?
Assuming tv/movie staff are just too much going off what they want for these types of projects. Game side staff can only do so much, they don't always end up as, movie/tv staff from those backgrounds helping work on games or people that know details close enough but aren't from tv/movie industry that do cutscenes or other things for the games but even still. What staff don't convey well what the adaptations SHOULD include.
Movie/tv staff need to build up to that & are impatient or not good enough to adapt these. IF they want their original works wait till budgets/name is out there, or make Indie films/web series instead. Not make bad adaptations.
Some passable though or better. To me Sonic movie 'works' but is still just a generic Santa Claus type move eh other things and boring family drama, while Mario movie was more on point.
Acting direction is one thing but the rest seem to just not do execution well they want what they want, it's not always their skills applied well but what they want then the gaming side being harsher on what the IP is to be presented as that I find is the problem with these adaptations not always the inspiration the games were based on of books/shows/movies as the problem, it can but I don't think is always the case they spin off enough as their own as games then a rip off/clone anymore. The characters/events/gameplay aspects define enough per an IP.
So why is it even if not people familiar with some games is it the 'I want my creative twist' type people that ones too into making these projects so bad. Make the licensed IP then make your own one. Sit tight then they get their chance. But they can't wait and mess these IPs up in adaptations it's pathetic.
So their skills are one thing but their execution, interest in the projects is another and it sometimes shows.
Is it the reviewer/us as an audeince? Is it the tv show/movie staff and the references aren't enough or it's too generic? Is it Sega/other staff just don't communicate enough to let the tv/movie staff put enough into it to BE like the IP as well as a good take.
Like having new characters, old characters or whatever the case events is one thing but what made it great as a video game? Was it the characters, the themes, the setting, the side activities, the flexibility of the games then a linear experience in a tv show/movie unless interactive? Is it the pacing? It is the details aren't there and it's too much like other shows or too much the tv/movie staff trying to make it too much THEIR's then actually trying.
I just find it also so weird.
The inspirations games have from tv/movies/books is one thing so translating it back can be tricky but at the same time even besides oh this has been done but now in a game. Well the games still have their own unique aspects too them.
So why is it so hard for these adaptations to work they aren't all ripping off the tv/movie/book inspirations after all they still have their own details about them besides the inspirations right? Right?
Very reminiscent of the Witcher Netflix adaption.
I feel like they never ask the question that really needs to be posed (assuming we are trying to keep the actual fan base):
Why would I watch this instead of just playing one of the games?
And don´t give me that "I´m too tired to play a game so I want to watch something instead"
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