A man in a gray suit stands under the bright red arch of a bustling street lined with shops, clubs and places to visit. The man is Kiryu Kazuma, the stoic yakuza of the people, and the street is Kamurochō, the red-light district modeled on the real-life Kabukichō in Tokyo.

A combo-heavy fighting game with extensive cutscenes designed for an adult, domestic audience. SEGAThe 2005 PlayStation 2 video game Yakuza was a risky gamble that paid off. Kiryu’s adventures in clan peacekeeping and city vigilance became a flagship first in Japan and then internationally with Yakuza 0, which became an unexpected sensation when it was released in Western markets in 2017.

Each episode further adds to the cast portrayed by game and movie veterans, unique mini-game fun, and detailed pockets of real Japanese cities for the player to explore, each rendered with intricate accuracy.

Like a Dragon has enjoyed 10 main productions, 10 spin-offs and three films so far. TV adaptations. The last of these adaptations is SEGA‘s broader foray into transmedia expansion is a Japan-produced series new to Amazon Video. A logical move for one person ROPE This has always been a nod to the domestic silver screen. Here we examine the six films that turned Like a Dragon into a crime saga powerhouse.

Like a Dragon series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi cites Takashi Miike’s films as a major influence in the series’ creation, with yakuza-eiga Dead or Alive’s campy kitchen sink approach to city-based violence being perhaps the clearest example. Likewise, the trilogy’s bleaker moments – explorations of brotherhood and regret crystallized in Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000) – echo the emotional interpersonal narratives for which the game series is known.

V-cinema superstars Sho Aikawa and star Riki Takeuchi, who would later appear in Yakuza 5 (2012) and Yakuza 0 (2015), respectively.

Director: Takeshi Kitano

In the underrated Yakuza 3 (2009), Kiryu retreats to the quiet coast of Okinawa to escape his past. Its pedigree can be traced back to Takeshi Kitano’s arthouse yakuza-eiga; in particular, it describes his early work Sonatine, with which he shares the foundations of its installation.

Kiryu’s ending is happier than that of Murakawa, Sonatine’s tragic gangster, but just as Kitano’s suicide motif carries the yakuza figure through a cycle of life and death into his filmography, SEGA‘s suit-wearing hero has been sent off in four matches so far.

Kitano criticized video game violence while promoting his film Outrage (2010), but later appeared in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016) as Onomichi’s yakuza patriarch Toru Hirose.

The Takashi Miike connection came full circle in 2007, when the director himself adapted the original play. Miike’s interpretation is a retelling, but adds an original subplot of a young couple caught in a robbery.

Miike and screenwriter Masashi Sogo understand the essence of this series very well in this regard. Kiryu may ostensibly be the hero of the series, but the real main character is the Kamurochō region he serves. Combine this with the attention to location-based detail, with Kiryu fighting in Poppo Marts and Don Quixote stores, and Miike’s is the most faithful adaptation of the spirit of the series.

Toshihiro Nagoshi expanded Kamurochō’s world beyond yakuza groups and shifted his gaze to the smaller screen in 2018 when he created Judgment, a lawyer-turned-detective procedural that added crime scene investigations and suspect interrogations to the gameplay loop. SMAP idol and actor Takuya Kimura stepped into the leather jacket of protagonist Takayuki Yagami. For Japanese audiences, the casting made perfect sense. Hero, the criminal prosecutor-turned-show, was a star vehicle for Kimura, achieving the highest ratings for a domestic television series in 25 years.

The genre of the video game series has been changed to: RPG In 2020, the tone shifts towards playful and gonzo as new hero Ichiban Kasuga takes to the streets with his team of middle-aged heroes to take on the yakuza.

Like a Dragon 7 borrows the weak template of Sion Sono’s mid-career films. Why Don’t You Play in Hell? Fantasy illusions as violence are the clearest parallels, with a hero with pipe dreams and warring clans.

Many Sono actors are appearing in the 7th movie. Why Don’t You Play in Hell?’s antagonist portrays yakuza leader Shinichi Tsutsumi, the opponent’s right-hand man; Ken Yasuda (The Virgin Psychics) plays homeless party member Namba; and guest stars Eri Kamataki (Forest of Love) as a romantic interest.

Sono appeared on the Like a Dragon livestream in 2017 to promote his own blockbuster crime film, Shinjuku Swan. II.

Masaharu Take, who directed the Amazon adaptation, started as an assistant director on Takashi Ishii’s Gonin. The film opens with a checklist of Like a Dragon’s basic motifs: a dynamic montage of a disco floor, a batting cage, a formidable yakuza in a suit. Take has come full circle, just like Miike did.

There’s a visceral physicality to the thrilling fight sequence of Take’s breakthrough, punches connecting in sweat-dripping close-up. But 100 Yen Love begins with a video game; Ichiko’s dirty hands full of snacks mash buttons to hit her boxer avatar; This digital dream will soon become a reality. Take’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza opens with Kiryu punching the air in a sealed prison cell; It reminds me of repetitive movements, key presses and combinations in games. The synergy of the action digitally and physically makes it clear why Take is the director of this work.