#kazuto arase

[astralangxl]

i love it when rgg gives me lil grown men in their silly sunglasses so i can fixate on them for multiple months on end :)

[danielladigitalbunny]

Yakuza Kiwami / Ryu Ga Gotoku Kiwami

Introduction flashes!

[danthepest]

I made a thing

[cowboymantis]

My Arase collection

SOO I made this like 2 years ago but thought why not make it on a Google Drive and share it bc you never know if you're gonna lose something or if there is another single person that would like it,,

It's basically a collection of screenshots/clips I did while replaying Arase fights in Kiwami, Y1 and Y3... Sometimes there is some funny stuff I guess , I made a bunch of emotes from a lot in there on one of my emote Discords kfhgjhdg

Tbf, I just love making organized lists and archives of the things I love so there's not really a deeper justification of why I'm wasting my time on those things :'D BUT ALSO, TIME SPENT HAVING FUN IS NEVER A WASTED TIME SO!!

Anyway I put it in here and also a ZIP file with all of the content at once :3

[timethehobo]

The way other folks from Y3 came back but not him. He’s gonna miss that rematch now.

[smol-tired-binch-blog]

Ask game. Well you didn't specify which characters so: Kuze Awano Shibusawa Dojima Shimano Matsushige Jingu Arase Shindo Kanda sorry <3 have fun <3

Ooh you absolute bastard (affectionate) Just the absloute Worse of the Worse. Hmm.

Marry - Daisaku Kuze. He's the least objectionable tbh (he actually is in the running for my 'top 10 most attractive RGG' men list that I really should get back to at some point), and worse comes to worse I can kill for his money.

Drink tea with - Futoshi Shimano. Idfk man he likes tea, don't he? Let him try and pull some mind game manipulations on me, nod my head like "sure man" and just not take any of it onboard.

Party with - Hiroki Awano. The man clearly knows how to party! Y'know, assuming he doesn't shoot me to make a point to Kiryu, but I actually quite like my chances. The moment I see the dragon coming I'll make a run for it.

Kiss - Koji Shindo. Like he's fine looking. I'm not actively repulsed by him or anything, he's basically the least objectionable.

Go out on a date with - Keiji Shibusawa. Not because I think it'd be good nor have any type of chemistry or enjoyment, but because I think he would just allow me to sit in unimpressed silence and not try to big himself up by boasting about his cool yakuza life, pay for my food, and then we simply never contact each other again.

Push down the stairs - Kyohei Jingu. And then I push him again. And kick him. And punch him. Take his kneecaps. Y'know, classic stuff <3

Slap - Sohei Dojima. I'd like to do worse but Nishiki's got me covered on that front <3

Invade the dreams of - Matsushige. Before Nishiki gets his hands on him I'd like to carry out some fun torment on him myself first <3 that's what happens to disrespectful yakuza who don't remember their place <3

Take a nap with - . . . Tsuyoshi Kanda. I'm HONESTLY surprised myself. Idk man like, he's weird and kinda gross but I think I could deal with him.

Rob - Kazuto Arase. This man is so unimpressive I forgot about him and his bitchy little boss fight AND that Virtical Point is his theme??? For some reason??? But he's yakuza, he's gotta have money, and I can nick his guns first.

[madsscreenshots]

yakuza kiwami (2016)

[charactersbetterthanyumi]

Characters more interesting than Yumi Sawamura: Arase Kazuto

[majimemegoro]

First off, thank you! Secondly, I love the tags you left on my Arase doodle dump. Thirdly and sincerely, I’m very sorry to have catfished you. 😂🙈 Hope you have a lovely day because your tags made mine.

imma be real with you chief ive watched or played all of y1 y3 and dead souls and i still had no idea who Arase was. even after being reminded i still got no idea what he did in those games. but you best believe ill have my eyes peeled in the future because your art made me see the light.

for anyone wondering heres the art in question, go give a reblog and spread the word about my new blorbo in law arase kazuto.

[majjiktricks]

cant get over the way arase sits

[oursidae]

kiwami is i think one of those games where I hate every moment playing it then i finish it and im like "omg i loved that so much 💗🥺🥺🥺"

[picmurasaki]

Shinji didnt want to play along, so he's the one taking the pic. And yes, I know Mine is not supposed to be there yet, but humour me here...

Here's Nishiki and his bitches!😊💜

[cowboymantis]

Let's talk about Kazuto Arase

Yakuza / Yakuza Kiwami , Yakuza 3 side content spoilers. Later on Yakuza LaD too, but I'll give a warning before that especially since a lot of people haven't played that yet.

So I have a lot of thoughts about Yakuza on my mind and just want to scream into the void about it somewhere to write 'em all down somewhere! I'm starting with... Arase.

Yeah, I know, a mostly very hated character (personality and battle-wise) that has so little screen time on top of it all too, is the first thing I'll be talking about.

Hear me out, I actually really love this character and only really started to appreciate him after I went for the Yakuza 3 platinum trophy... I've replayed this game so many times, I didn't mind it when I played through it first but seeing all the hate it has gotten, I went to replay it just in case and with that replayed it again and again because I just somehow loved it so much-

And you know, one part of Yakuza 3, also completion related so there was no way I could've missed it, were the Hitman missions. In general, after playing through all the main games I started to come back to a lot of characters I didn't like or minded the first time playing that are now some of my favourites (other examples are Tamashiro or Lau Ka Long, hell even Katsuragi)!

To come back to Arase, let's start with, well, the start: Yakuza / Yakuza Kiwami.

Introduced already in the very first Yakuza game, Arase is just there for a brief moment in the game, yet has a heavy impact on the game's story and Kiryu. It starts with Arase's oath brother Shinji being shot by Arases subordinate, Mochizuki, at least it looks like it. Shinji came here to rescue Reina, whose corpse then gets dragged on the roof of the Dragon Palace by Arase, Sergeant of the Nishikiyama Family. Now that's a pretty... heavy and sadistic first image for a character introduction, and honestly, his strong personality like that seemed also to be the reason he wasn't exactly loved by other members of the Family.

His battle theme in the first Yakuza game is called "Turning Point" which also puts more emphasis on how important this scene is, Kiryu breaking down, his scream when he sees Reina's body... It's really a turning point in the story.

In Kiwami, his new theme "Virtical Point" is also used as the intro song (or at least, the intro song "Vertical Point" is similar and shortened). Which also once again shows the importance of this piece.

Of course, he's not the most important character in the story, but it's still interesting to see how much there is around him other than his rather short appearance.

Then, his fighting style. Yeah, most hate this too and also the fact that starting from there, other bosses also sometimes use his moveset or a similar one. Like, take Jiro or Jo Amon or Andre Richardson... Basically just the usual dual wielding guns while being an athlete on crack - layout. It is actually not that bad, it's even less bad when you've got the right equipment but I have to admit I didn't really have that much good equipment when I first played all the games and basically just rushed through them because I just couldn't stop!

Arase's goal here of course was also to beat Kiryu but well, just like every other character ever, he couldn't do it and got beat instead.

And that's the end of that... The end of his part in the story and also the end of his part in the Nishikiyama Family, because he got disowned right after his failure.

Which is so... hmm... It makes me think. Many others have tried to take Kiryu down, too. And I mean, Arase was normally a very successful assassin, right? Yet this one failed attempt, at which everyone else too failed, got him disowned? Seems to me like they didn't like him and gave him an impossible task to have a reason to throw him out, huh?

And with that wonderful transition, let's get into his appearance in Yakuza 3.

You get introduced to the concept of the Honest Living Association, in short the HLA pretty much after Kashiwagis death. An association, founded by Kashiwagi to help Yakuza / former Yakuza who weren't meant for this life or just wanted out but just couldn't do in it on their own. For some, all they knew was the criminal life, so having a thing like this is especially helpful. Although, I'm kinda sad this was never a thing anymore after Yakuza 3. The whole concept of it was very cool.

Kiryu gets asked by Ibuki to help the HLA because there is an organisation of hitmen, also known as The Reapers (or The Avengers on PS3) whose goal was a different one than the HLA's, it was to kill Yakuza. The Reapers consisted of former criminals, mainly Yakuza, who were wronged by their superiours and expelled, disowned, you name it. Basically what happened to Arase.

Apprehending those hitmen is a totally optional part of the game and I have to admit, I didn't finish it my first time playing. Which is such a shame because it goes by so fast too when you play it after finishing the game! And the individual stories are all so interesting too, I've really enjoyed this side content and also replayed those missions already. You don't really expect someone like Arase to be behind all of it when it turns out to be him who is the founder and the leader of it all. I was already taken aback by Shinzaki being the lieutenant, or part of it at all. I often stopped by to listen to his guitar playing and talked to him, often asking myself is there's anything else up with him.

And once this one hitman contract came in and guitar playing was mentioned, I was just thinking "It can't be him...?", god, this whole side storyline just was so good. And here people come and say Yakuza 3 was a bad game.

The whole build-up to then reveal Arase was just so cool, honestly. It made me start to look more into his character after this confrontation. The fight was really cool too, just having to fight Shinzaki so many times wasn't really necessary, but Arase seems to like to fight alongside others, so fair enough.

And his theme "End Point" is also just so good. It's more similar to Turning Point than Virtical Point was. The name is also again fitting, since this is the end for The Reapers and Arases power.

It is made clear here that Arase has a strong hatred against the Yakuza and especially holds a strong grudge against Kiryu. He sees Kiryu as the reason he got wronged and had to leave the Yakuza behind, while also seeming to be very aware of the fact that the others there probably didn't like him at all.

He's so angry at him, he holds this whole speech and talks about revenge while Kiryu tries to talk some sense into him, eventually Ibuki also joins and tries to reason with Arase too. Telling him how that's what Kashiwagi wanted, even for Arase to find a new, honest life.

Arase is too strongly lead on by his grudges, so even though it seems like he might be thinking about turning his life around, he decided to not let them help him. Then he goes on about how he will definetly return to take revenge on Kiryu... Well. That's the end of that.

It becomes clear that Arases stubborn way of thinking is kind of childish. Not taking responsibility for any of his actions, thinking that his vile personality and actions are in fact the reason he got disowned. Failing to beat Kiryu was just the final puzzle piece to have a solid reason to throw him out. He's clearly unstable, doesn't think twice before shooting someone, he could turn on anyone and wouldn't be sorry for it. Just, he doesn't seem to really think about what he does.

I guess he probably thinks he's strong enough, he doesn't need to be careful. Also fitting for that is his fighting style in Dead Souls, how when he gets low on HP, he pretty much fends for himself, disregarding orders and just charging head first with full strength.

His Dead Souls appearance is also interesting. Okay, we all know, this game isn't canon, it's a spin-off and just doesn't fit in to the story. But it is interesting how he teams up with Kiryu for a bit and then leaves again. The game itself takes place after the events of Yakuza 4, meaning at this point RGG did remember that hey, they have a rival that swore to beat Kiryu one day. But after that... radio silence.

Really, this is such a shame. Just alone from his short appearances I can talk so much about Arase because he really is an interesting character with so much more potential! The only thing that's good about it is that he didn't die, making him technically one of the longest surviving characters in Yakuza which really is a great achievement.

Okay, we don't exactly know that he's still alive, but assuming due to there not being a mention of him being dead, he's probably alive. He might be, might not. Schrödinger's Arase.

One other thing I thought about is Jo Amon. I mean, his outfit and fight style is also similar to Arase, but that's not what I'm mainly thinking about. So the name Amon is for the greatest assassins, right? And they have a strong hatred against Kiryu at the beginning too.

So, putting those things together, Arase being a former assassin in the Nishikiyama Family, then the leader of a dangerous hitman organisation... Then, to fight Jo Amon in Yakuza 3 you also need to do all the hitman missions other than the substories and the IF7 fights. And to start the search for Amon, you also need to go to Ibuki again, where you got all the other hitman missions.

Yeah, it's a bit far fetched, but ... not too far fetched to think that maybe Arase and at least Jo Amon could know each other. I'd say, they could team up in a future game but. Well... Yeah.

Now some more things I thought about, I'll put a warning here though.

Yakuza LaD spoilers ahead!

Soooo, in this game we've gotten a couple of characters "back" ... Some more real than others... Thinking about Joon Gi's body double.

But one character that survived is Kashiwagi! Now the bartender of a bar named Survive. What a fitting name. After surviving such a heavy attack and believed dead by, well, everyone, it was the best approach to keep a low profile, start a new life. Also, he doesn't seem to be fit for any fighting after the incident.

So Kashiwagi is still there. And, now I just thought about, what if there was a possible redemption arc for Arase? Kiryu is believed dead now too, alone the fact that it seems that Kiryu never met Kashiwagi while being in the same area is kinda sad. I like to imagine they met each other...

I think it could go either way, Arase somehow got information on Kiryu being in Ijincho. He is a professional after all. Plus, by now Kiryu is also, well, not really working with... but. You know, not fighting with the Amon Clan anymore, even having Shin Amon to help determine Ichibans strength with the (True) Final Millennium Tower.

And, now, maybe there can be some other comnecting inside the Amon Clan and some info got out to Arase, ah, hell, I don't know, it's all so far fetched but I just like to have those possible headcanons of Arase somehow coming back!

Another possibility could also be Arase thinking Kiryu has died, just per chance being in the area and just going to the Survive bar? He'd probably be way more open about the thought of redemption and with Kashiwagi probably being pretty good at talking former Yakuza into that, given how the whole HLA was his doing.

Just... Thinking about possible things.

Yakuza LaD spoilers end here!

Well. That's that.

At the end of the day, the chances of Arase returning are pretty much 0, other characters you never thought of reappearing sometimes appear in one way or another, so it can be possible, but probably won't.

But one thing is clear, looking more into this character made me really appreciate him more. I guess that's the fact with a lot of characters, not just in Yakuza, but in general.

The characters in Yakuza are just so well written and even though it has some very weird and silly plot points and plot twists, I just love this game so much and looking more into it and replaying it is just so much fun.

I even started to like the minigames in Yakuza 3, even though I got very hopeless at the last pool opponent and the goddamn Mahjong completion, ugh. But at the end of the day it's all just really fun once you get the hang of it. It hasn't aged too well when you play it after the other Yakuza games, but replaying it on all the difficulties and then casually, then trying to beat it as fast as I can just made me love the game more and more every time.

So, uh... I don't know if it's a blessing or curse for me to often really like the characters that either everyone hates or have almost to screen time. Because well... there's such a lack of content and appreciation but hey that's what I'm writing this for!

I hope maybe someone starts to appreciate Arase more after this - if anyone even reads further after learning that I love this character. :D' I swear I tried to write it with as little bias as possible. I do know he's a morally very very grey character but after all, it's a video game character. (...There's no way I'll ever like characters like Yoneda...Ogita...Or Kume though... ugh)

Well anyway, with that, I go!

[timethehobo]

On a whim, I decided to check the Kazuto Arase tag here expecting very little due to how not popular the character is, but was BLESSED to find so much good stuff from you! I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart for the delicious food.

Someone else loves my problematic kinda tsun blorbo!! Please bring him and the HLA back RGG!

Omg another Arase fan? Hello! Thank you for enjoying him too ahah, I love his problematic asshole self immensely. I was so sad RGG didn’t bring him or the HLA back in LAD8, what a crime.

Here’s to hoping a Kiwami 3 comes up and we get to see him in all his tsun glory again. (Also I hope you saw him in RGGO because ahhhhh the character development.)

[dorkydragon]

Yakuza games kanji info 17

Masumi Arakawa (荒川 真澄, Arakawa Masumi)

An unreadable man with strong paternal instincts.

荒 ara = laid waste, rough, rude, wild

川 kawa = stream, river

真 ma = true, reality

澄 sumi = lucidity, be clear, clear, clarify, settle, strain, look grave

- About his family name: This is quite the name for the man who would eventually become the first patriarch of a family of ‘assassins.‘ He is shown to go from calm to wild quite quickly without losing his composure (unless his family is involved). Like I mentioned in the post about Saejima’s name, rivers can be nurturing or destructive. In the case of Arakawa, we can see both aspects as the story develops: the caring father and the coldhearted traitor.

- About his given name: Arakawa both displays and subverts the meanings of the kanji in his name. His background as an actor allows him to play the traitor quite convincingly and confuse even Ichiban. We don’t find out he is, and had always been, a Tojo loyalist until we hear it from his own mouth later in the game. He shows his honest, actual feelings and thoughts when talking alone with Ichiban.    

Extra - He has the same family name as his parents and his son. Masato’s name is a combination of the 真 (masa) in Masumi and the 斗 (to) in Toshio, his grandfather’s name.

荒川 斗司雄, Arakawa Toshio

荒川 よう子, Arakawa Yōko

荒川 真斗, Arakawa Masato

Extra 2 - Other characters with the same kanji in their names, with the same or different pronunciations, are:

(荒 ara) 荒瀬 和人, Arase Kazuto

(川 kawa) 達川 修, Tatsukawa Shū

(川 gawa) 佐川 司, Sagawa Tsukasa

(真 ma) 真島 吾朗, Majima Gorō

(真 makoto) 伊達 真, Date Makoto