Amazon just announced that it is making a live-action series based on Like a Dragon: Yakuza, following the massive success of its Fallout TV show.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza tells an original story that is based on the game series and will be directed by Masaharu Take and will star Ryoma Takeuchi as lead character Kazuma Kiryu. The show will reportedly showcase "modern Japan and the dramatic stories of these intense characters."
Amazon's Like a Dragon: Yakuza Series
(Photo : Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / Screenshot taken from Steam)
Despite the series trying to take an all-new path, it will apparently be based on the events seen in the first game in the franchise. Amazon said that Like a Dragon: Yakuza spans two time periods, 1995 and 2005. It added that the upcoming show is an original crime-suspense-action series.
It will follow the life, childhood friends, and repercussions of the decisions that the protagonist makes. The main character is a fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior who has a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity, according to PCGamer.
The head of Like a Dragon: Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Masayoshi Kikuchi, is a long-time producer of the series.
He said that he has never considered remaking his older work because of the "challenges and hardships'' that it entailed. However, he seems to be glad that someone else is taking a shot at it.
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Kikuchi said, "If I were ever sent to the past through some kind of cosmic joke, this is the experience I'd want to create." He added that he would have wanted to make the most engaging versions of Kamurocho and Kazuma Kiryu that he could.
He also said that while video games let players experience their world through a subjective lens, the live-action adaptation could be the ultimate objective way to enjoy the series. Kikuchi then encouraged fans of the franchise to invest in the upcoming show.
A Beloved Video Game Franchise
Amazon's latest video game adaptation will have six episodes and will air in more than 240 countries and territories across the world. The entire series will be released in two batches, with the first coming on Oct. 25, 2024, and the second on Nov. 1, 2024, said IGN.
The latest show was announced at a press conference held at the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo where Takeuchi and Take talked about the process of adapting the video game franchise. The actor playing the role of the main character is seen with a tattoo on his back.
Takeuchi also said that he was able to mix himself with Kiryu and he was able to get so close to the part that it became difficult to distinguish where one ended and the other began. The actor said that on top of getting into shape and putting on the costume, he later became like he became part of the family.
The Like a Dragon video game series has always been popular for its comedic and over-the-top tone that brought much laughter and good vibes to the community. It featured housemaids and pyrodancers serving as combatants and gardeners using lawnmowers as weapons, according to Spin.
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