It was already late when I watched the first episode on amazon Prime Video. Like a dragon: Yakuza. I negotiated with myself to watch an episode before bed; Three episodes later, I finally went to bed. Let's get this out of the way: if you're looking for like a dragon be a faithful representation of the yakuza video game series, you will be disappointed. But that's what makes it worth watching. like a dragonThe unique storytelling approach combines two different timelines, making it a show that works on its own merit, without needing all the trappings of a yakuza video game.
like a dragon It is amazon's second bite at the video game adaptation apple after the surprising success of its radioactive dust show. It stars Ryoma Takeuchi as Kazuma Kiryu, a young orphan who joins the Tojo yakuza clan with the dream of earning the title of Dragon of Dojima.
like a dragonThe story is loosely based on the events of the first two. yakuza games and is told in two timelines running simultaneously in 1995 and 2005. Each of the series' six episodes jumps between the two time periods, chronicling Kiryu's rise and fall as a member of the yakuza, the destruction of his chosen family and how those pieces are violently torn apart 10 years later.
What surprised me most at first like a dragon and what separates it most clearly from its source material is all the violence. I'm aware of the irony: this is a mafia show; people tend to get hurt in them. But he yakuza The series has always been deliberate in the way it depicts violence. Guns are rare and murder is even rarer, but like a dragon It has both in abundance. The games also involve a fair amount of blood, but they tend to be street fights fought with fists and the occasional traffic cone. There was a murder on the show, of a civilian no less, so shocking in its casual execution that it actually made me feel queasy.
As a Dragon probably won't do for Yakuza what Fallout did for… well, Fallout
Skipping all the time is the most interesting element of the show and the reason I don't mind it is because it bears little resemblance to the games. In 1995, Kiryu was surrounded by the love of his chosen family and the respect of his yakuza brothers. By 2005, all of that had rotted into distant animosity, and it was fun to watch the show reconcile it all. Instead of simply telling the story chronologically, like a dragon I intentionally created gaps in understanding with one timeline and then filled them with the other. In 1995, Kiryu has two father figures: the ex-yakuza who raised him in an orphanage and the leader of his clan. By 2005, both men are absent and Kiryu has since been branded an oyagoroshi, or “father killer.” The back and forth created exciting tension, forcing me to work alongside the show to reconstruct the plot as if it were a mystery in addition to its basic gangster plot of revenge and betrayal. And I was pleasantly surprised by the resolution.
From like a dragonThe violence feels antithetical to the spirit of the source material, I'm glad the show didn't try to incorporate the more outlandish elements of the series. yakuza It is a video game and therefore is not subject to the mundanities of realism. Kiryu fighting grown men in diapers, a regular occurrence in games, works because you, the player, are in on the joke and participating in its telling.
but while yakuzaThe heartfelt redemption story and its aesthetic as a Japanese gangster thriller translated well to television, its over-the-top silliness did not. The story can't handle that level of irreverence because there is no player driving the action. Going from a moment of extreme violence to Kiryu in the batting cages of Kamurocho, while a completely authentic representation of the games, would have created a tonal whiplash that would have captivated even the most diehards. yakuza fan of the show.
But forgoing comedy in favor of drama means the show gets a little tedious in its final episodes. paramount Halo The series is also nothing like its source material, but it was wildly interesting (and canceled too soon) because it was willing to use familiar characters in entirely new narratives. like a dragon It adds some new characters and remixes familiar story elements, but it's basically the same story I've experienced in games before.
Kiryu fighting grown men in diapers, a regular occurrence in the games, works because you, the player, are in on the joke.
Many video game adaptations fail because they seem to operate from the premise that being exactly like the game is entertainment enough. The story is twisted to fit all the little details that will make a fan sit up and say, “I get that reference,” leading to a boring and annoying mess, like when Condemn shoehorned into that nausea-inducing first-person sequence. But like a dragon It works precisely because it wasn't intended to be a direct recreation of the games. It probably won't work for yakuza that radioactive dust He did it for… well, radioactive dust. But like a dragon It is improved because it puts being good television before being a faithful adaptation.
