SEGA’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon video game franchise is one of the biggest in the world, with more than 20 million copies sold since its launch in 2007. The open world action games are based on classic Japanese yakuza movies and crime dramas, with a lot of combat, comedy, and role playing. They’re pretty fun, and have been adapted into movies and television many times in Japan, including a live-action movie from Takashi Miike. We’ve had to wait a bit longer for our adaptation here in the U.S., but it’s coming this month with Prime Video’s Like A Dragon: Yakuza series.
As seen in the new trailer, Like A Dragon: Yakuza stars Ryoma Takeuchi (of the Kamen Rider films) as Kazuma Kiryu, who we see as a young dreamer who gets mixed up with the criminal underworld, and later as a newly-released convict who returns home to protect his friends. From the looks of it, the show will match the game’s slick style and violence, but doesn’t seem to have the same tongue-in-cheeky attitude about the Yakuza.
Here’s the synopsis: This Japanese action drama plunges into the dark underworld of the yakuza, exploring the universal theme of family not only through bloodline but also through ties between yakuza bosses and their underlings, orphans and their caretakers, as well as mentors and students. These relationships are marked by deep affection at times, and by intense conflict at others, all intricately intertwined. Set in the fictional town of Kamurocho, the story unfolds across two intersecting timelines—1995 and 2005. In 1995, eager to escape their restrictive lives, Kiryu and his friends, Nishiki, Yumi, and Miho plan a heist at a local arcade. However, the arcade is under the control of the Dojima Family, a powerful yakuza organization that rules Kamurocho. They dive into the yakuza-controlled underworld of 1995 Kamurocho. Meanwhile, in 2005, Kiryu is set to be released from prison. He learns from Detective Date that his friends are in danger and decides to return to Kamurocho to protect them. However, their friendship has deteriorated, as tensions between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance are at a boiling point.
Like A Dragon: Yakuza hits Prime Video on October 24th.