Summary
The most endearing aspect of theYakuza/Like a Dragonseries is its ability to tell a deeply gripping, serious story about Japanese crime syndicates while interspersing it with nonsensical substories.
WithAmazon recently confirmingthat a Like a Dragon TV series will be coming on October 25, we decided to ask lead actor Ryoma Takeuchi (Kazuma Kiryu) and executive producer Erik Barmack the burning question that has been on the minds of all fans: “Will Kiryu get up to his usual shenanigans?”
“We’re Digging Into The Human Elements Of The Characters”
During a recent interview with the cast and producer of Like a Dragon: Yakuza, we asked whether we’d see Kiryu partake in any of the wild activities we see him get up to in the games, specifically citing theMiracle JohnsonandDiaper Mensubstories. Responding first, Ryoma Takeuchi told us, “We don’t have that much in this iteration.”
“I think we’re digging into the human emotions and the emotional elements of the characters of this iteration,” he continued. But while some fans might see that as a negative thing, Takeuchi certainly doesn’t: “In a positive way, we’re departing from the game at the end of the day; it all comes together.”
“I think we’re digging into the human emotions and the emotional elements of the characters of this iteration,”
Executive producer Erik Barmack echoed Takeuchi’s sentiment, saying, “As this series is an origin story, we wanted to make sure fans were emotionally connected to these characters,” something he said was a challenge. “It’s a balance that has to be found between the world that is so quirky and these characters, which need to feel real to everybody who is watching the series.”
While substories aren’t going to feature heavily in Like a Dragon: Yakuza, at least in the first series, Barmack is fully aware of their importance, telling us, “That scene from Kiwami 2 is one of the reasons we thought this would be an interesting series, because it’s so quirky in all of these things.”
So, while fans are keen to see Kiryu get up to his usual proclivities, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be happening, at least not straight away.
