#one of my favourite bits of yakuza 4

[everygame]

Yakuza 4 

Developed/Published by: Sega CS1 R&D / Sega Released: 15/03/2011 Completed: 18/12/2024 Completion: Finished the story and all substories (other than the hostess club ones.)

Well, it’s taken me five years to play another game in this series, thanks to a global pandemic meaning my PS3 was in storage miles and miles away from me, and because one of the main roles, Masayoshi Tanimura, was recast for the remastered version, I absolutely refused to play it first (it’s like wanting to play a Lucasarts adventure in EGA. You want to see the original author's intent!)

Anyway, it’s a good thing too, because–as I mentioned the last time I was on the Insert Credit podcast–Yakuza 4 takes ages to install and while it’s installing it’s the only place you hear the vocal version of the main theme, “For Faith” and it absolutely slaps. They literally just play it about ten times in a row, setting a precedent where I play it ten times in a row. I find it hard to believe there will be a better track across the entire series (though I’m excited to find out if there is) because I have to be honest that nothing from 1, 2, or 3 stuck with me.

You should listen to this while reading the rest of the article, right?

Unfortunately, outside of one of the most hype tracks ever, Yakuza 4 is… kind of a mess? It’s not actively the fault of the Yakuza core, which is all there and accounted for, but simply that the game feels like it’s a billion hours long and the narrative is… genuinely nonsensical.

Taking place a year after Yakuza 3, with Kiryu still running an orphanage in Okinawa, the plot hinges on a massacre of 18 yakuza in 1985 in a botched hit on a clan chairman. We play and follow the stories of Shun Akiyama, a loan shark(!), Masayoshi Tanimura, a corrupt cop(!!) and Taiga Saejima, the guy who did the massacre(!!!) gradually unravelling the mystery of what happened and why it connects their lives, before Kiryu has to show up and (ostensibly) pull all the threads together in a humdinger of a climax.

This does not, exactly, go as you might hope. First let me say that one of my absolute favourite thing about the Yakuza games is that it is a rule that you are playing the kindest, nicest person who ever lived, but who will also, at a drop of a hat, beat you within an inch of your life with the nearest piece of roadworks. It reaches absolutely absurd levels here as our loan shark turns out to be giving his money away without even charging interest [“come on man, at least charge inflation”--Investment Ed.] our corrupt cop turns out to be shaking people down to support and protect immigrants who otherwise have no legal recourse, and our mass murderer turns out to (spoilers!) have never killed anyone at all!!!

This “our heroes are the most honorable men to have ever lived” gimmick is especially funny here because if you look a bit deeper it gets a bit confusing. Our loan shark does a surprising amount of funnelling desperate people into sex work as a condition of a loan (sex work is work, but it definitely feels like coercion) our corrupt cop turns a blind eye to some seriously fucked up stuff to get kickbacks, and Saejima… definitely intended to kill those dudes!

The problem ultimately is that compared to the (relatively) straightforward stories of 2 and 3, 4 gets lost in a web of increasingly unbelievable twists even as it should be following a fairly straightforward episodic form. You have never seen any piece of media where this many characters get shot to death and then turn out to never have been shot at all. Indeed my favourite bit in the game might be when a character says “ok I’m going to kill these two people now” before a cliffhanger, only for one of the characters you just thought were shot to show up in basically the next scene and for another character to attempt to explain away why he said that. It doesn’t work.

The game was written by Masayoshi Yokoyama as the other games have been, but I have to wonder if the script was in flux for a long time, or if there was meddling from the top down. Notably, Kiryu feels absolutely inessential to the plot here. His chapter front loads about an hour of cutscenes and he doesn’t really do anything except any substories you choose to do. It’s possible he wasn’t originally planned to be included, but maybe they just liked the idea of the fourth game having four protagonists.

The game generally feels unbalanced–the first character you play, Akiyama, does seem to have the most interesting stuff to do, and he’s the most charming, interesting non-Kiryu protagonist–and I was disappointed in the substories this time around. Maybe it’s just that I’m four games in, but “go to place, beat up guys, go to other place, beat up guys” isn’t that interesting the hundredth time you do it, and the stories generally aren’t interesting enough to make up for it. 

As usual, there are a zillion mini games, but this time round managing hostesses is made as tedious as possible (you have to walk around the club listening to people and constantly dressing your hostesses differently???) and the only other in-depth mode is a martial artist manager that I wasn’t too excited for either.

This is still a Yakuza game, though, and it’s still entertaining! I love strolling Kamurocho and I still enjoyed the fighting even if I didn’t love having four different fighting styles to remember in the climax. The issues really do relate to the story, which constantly undercuts any opportunity to be moving by constantly being confusing or ridiculous. The game actually ends with an intense one-on-one battle for each of the protagonists to a different arrangement of For Faith and it should have made me so hype but for at least three out of four battles I was confused as to why they were happening.

Unfortunately, I’ve heard that Yakuza 5 doesn’t make massively more sense, but hopefully it won’t take another five years to get to it.

Will I ever play it again? Of the Yakuzas I’ve played, this definitely feels like the most inessential to play. 1 and 2 have Kiwami versions (although I believe that 2 has some cuts and visual downgrading in its remaster) and 3 was chopped to ribbons in localisation, whereas this one has everything in the remastered version. So probably not!

Final Thought: Actually, it might take five years to get there, considering I’ve got two PSP exclusive Yakuzas and Yakuza Dead Souls to get through first. There are so many of these!!!

Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 is OUT NOW! You can pick it up in paperback, kindle, or epub/pdf. You can also support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi! You can pick up digital copies of exp., a zine featuring all-exclusive writing at my shop, or join as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[zaddyazula]

gimme yakuza propaganda so i can see if i wanna peep it

🫡🫡🫡

well there are currently 9/11 main line games (i shall explain) and all of them are available on modern consoles (a lot of them came out on ps3 or ps4 originally).

there are two remakes, one for yakuza 1 (a ps2 game) and one for yakuza 2 (another ps2 game), called yakuza kiwami and yakuza kiwami 2. they are actually pretty good remakes from what i’ve seen, but i haven’t played the original two. this is why i said 9/11 main line games.

the total order goes (chronologically):

yakuza 0

yakuza (kiwami) 1

yakuza (kiwami) 2

yakuza 3

yakuza 4

yakuza 5

yakuza 6

yakuza 7/like a dragon

yakuza lad gaiden (the one that just came out)

they are all classic fighting games until 7, which is turn-based, i am still raging about that. gaiden isn’t though. also as you asked me about a while ago now, the guy with the spiky hair is the protagonist of 7 and he will be for 8, which is coming out january next year.

the main protagonist (table slam guy) is the or one of the protagonists in every other game (0 has two, 4 has 4, and 5 has 5).

women are written decently well, a lot, lot better than mgs, though there is about two main characters who are women per game 😭😭😭😭😭😭 not one of its strongest points but they all have clothes on!! the bare minimum we love to see it. (i will just say there is actually a fat woman who is a main-ish side character in 4, who is done pretty well!!! so hurrah!!!!)

characters are extremely well written and the writing is good for the most part, there are a couple of moments in earlier games (more 3,4 and 5) where you’re sort of shocked by how ridiculous it is, but it works decently well. i prefer the first couple of games, and then the 6+. there are a few spin-offs available in the west, being dead souls (zombie game), which is ps3 only, and lad:ishin, which is set in the 1860s (and a couple more others but i can’t think). the table slam man (kiryu) has actually started to remind me a lot of snake, and the series’ stories are actually quite similar.

talking about kiryu, he respects women!!! to the point where he refuses to ever hurt a woman, and has on many occasions beat someone up for hurting a woman. not to say he doesn’t have weird-ish female relationships, but they’re overall quite sweet and last for the game, and are then never touched upon again. they’re nowhere near a meryl-snake level catastrophe.

the games themselves aren’t too long for the most part, the longest i found being 5 (30 hours) and 7 (39 hours), but that’s including all the time fucking around doing karaoke or other things. 0 took me about 28 hours; kiwami 1 took about 22 hours (i think); kiwami 2 took me about 26 hours; 3 took 16 hours; 4 took 23 hours; 6 took 21 hours, and gaiden took 11 (it’s a lot shorter).

going back to karaoke - the amount of optional shit you can do is crazy. substories are probably the biggest thing with this, some of them being decently long and others being pretty short. they are usually quite fun and can give you a break from the story (which can at times be miserable). karaoke is probably my favourite mini-game in the series. you basically just press buttons with the right timing and it is ridiculously fun and silly. other mini-games are available, such as pool, bowling (in the earlier games), fishing, claw-machines, arcade games, DISCO (in 0 but it’s class), darts and probably some others but i can’t remember. the story can get a bit depressing, but it’s balanced out by the silliness the games also have, and surprisingly it works? in mgs, it sort of half works, you’ve got a monkey who smokes cigarettes and drinks coke and then the world is falling apart. war had changed. snake is old and dying and he cannot escape the world yet. and then johnny shits himself. comedy 👍 but with yakuza, the two different sides work together really well, especially in 0, and it ends up making sense eventually.

i think that’s it you have been yakuzer-propagandad!!!!

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

OKAYYY Yakuza 5 early-game part 2 time! General thoughts on gameplay and random bits 🙌🏻

Immediately I'm just gonna say: the game is GORGEOUS. Maybe a hot take, but this game might be my favourite of the bunch, graphics-wise. The engine seems to be the same one as Y0 and Kiwami and I love the look of them too. I don't know what it is, it's just so good.

General sillies and tidbits at the top, gameplay (pretty much just combat stuff) more towards the bottom.

20 minutes into this journey and I TEARED UP ALREADY😭 Game really stabbed me in the heart twice before I'm even an hour into it. That's RGG studio for ya.

There were no plushies in the U.F.O catchers so Kiryu's just gonna have to run around with his newly acquired Miku figurine in his pocket🫶🏻 also FUCK THAT NEW UFO CATCHER SYSTEM!!!

The drumming minigame in the arcade was actually very fun! Might be my new favourite in there, since the U.F.O catcher seems to be in her flop era right now ^_^

Live me reaction: YAYYYY BAKA MITAI IS BACK!! What else..... *sees Machine Gun Kiss*

HERE WE GO AGAIN. Baka Mitai and Machine Gun Kiss are songs I have sworn to myself to get a perfect score at in every game they're in. I had a feeling Machine Gun Kiss would be back but😭 the nightmare continues 💅🏻

Let me tell you straight away, I was almost PISSING MYSELF when these controls popped up. I DON'T HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE, I suck at any minigame that has driving. During the real estate quest in Y0, Kiryu suffered a humiliating loss to the electronics king (??) with the stupid racing game in the arcade. I had NO clue what I was going and I had TRIED to get the hang of it plenty of times.

I just started panicking when we had to use blinkers and there was answering small talk and OHHH watch out for red lights and stop signs while avoiding other cars and obstacles and staying in the correct lane and and.... I felt like that one meme about playing Five Nights at Freddy's in 4/20 mode. You know, this one:

This might sound silly and dramatic, but I genuinely get overwhelmed with stuff like this😭

Hiiii Komaki Firearm Flip 👋😏 Glad to have you back, bestie 🫶🏻😩 it's just us against the world now...

NOW. The combat.

This has honestly been the most fun I've had in any early game section of these games. The sheer amount of techiques at your disposal and the stuff you can unlock early on is insane! There's so many heat actions just... already in your repertoire. There's new fun and brutal heat actions and old ones sometimes have new things added to them! I love how when Kiryu crushes a dude with a bike, for example, he then also grinds the opponent into the ground a bit more with his leg afterwards. That hip twist makes me go 😳💕

I also love the encouragement of active weapon usage.

I tend to severely neglect weapons myself and rarely use them. I only ever used them more actively in Kiwami 2, and 90% of the time it was just me rushing to the nearest bicycle when I was being chased and then using it to do crowd control on enemy hordes. Might actually use weapons more with this system in place!

Enemies calling for help can get annoying. I start with a manageable and respectable group of 3 or 4 enemies, until suddenly there's like 9 people jumping me. In the early game!! Thankfully escaping from battles is a thing.

Enemies in general feel more... active. They can flee, they call for help and I feel like they're just more aggressive. I'm dodging and guarding against common thugs and other small fry enemies a lot more than before. They don't stand around as much. It's an adjustment, but I like it. It's showing me just how much I need to work on that part of the combat.

There's still a lot of blocking and grabbing by the enemies. I really don't see why Yakuza 3 is singled out as the game where enemies block a lot; I feel like 4 and 5 (this far) are pretty much equal on that front? I don't mind it too much, it adds a little challenge. I refuse to play on Hard difficulty purely because there WILL probably be a vehicle chase scene and... well, you saw my rant on the taxi minigame above. I always have to switch to easy for those. So I have to play on normal, even if the combat doesn't feel challenging most of the time.

(yes, Legend is off the table for me forever. purely because of the vehicle chase sequences. Yes, I'm sad.)

The rewards from battles fluctuate a lot; sometimes I beat 5 or more people and get an iron plate worth 100¥ and sometimes I fight 3 people and get like 10 000¥. Thankfully I enjoy fights in this game a lot, so I don't mind that.

One small quality-of-life thing I appreciate is being able to see stats of weapons and armour when buying them. I think weapons might have had the "attack" stat visible before, but I don't recall seeing the stat distributions for the armour, at least not in 3 and 4. Absolutely no recollection of how this stuff worked in Y0-K2 era.

Now, the new town!

It feels... small. Not in a bad way! It' cozy, the atmosphere is very tranquil, the people are (mostly) nice and it just feels homey all around, even with the vibe of melancholy surrounding Kiryu. I like how there's WAY fewer enemy encounters because this place isn't the wild west that is Kamurocho or Sotenbori. Happy to have the Nishikigoi and Yellow Dragon binding to increase enemy encounters, though - I do wanna do efficient grinding at times.

The map layout is cool, feels very different from all the previous towns we've explored. I really, really like this setting.

[infyimmm]

Here’s my favourite drawings from the again and again Haruka thing I made

I wanted to put an explanation for each of these drawings

The first three are Haruka in Yakuza 1 3 and 6 as I feel these are the games where we see her growth, the most I decided to leave out Yakuza 5 Haruka but still work some scenes of her from that game into the video.

The next drawing is her with with Kiryu I can’t remember if it was Yakuza 3 or 4, but the two have a talk with Haruka saying something along the lines of “I’m worried you won’t come back”

The next one is when Haruka is listening to Park and Kiryus conversation in Yakuza 5. I believe that as much as she wanted to do the idol stuff she never wanted it to end with her or Kiryu leaving morning glory after all who was even watching the kids when they were gone, I don’t think Ayako who I’m sure is second oldest was even 16 in that game. Harukas unsure expression gives me the feeling that she never was fully connected to wanted to presume the idol career.

The next one was when she quit the idol career in Yakuza 5, I will never under any circumstances understand why people were mad at her for that Park was gone and her newer manger barely even had the qualifications to be one, I always felt that Haruka succeeded because of Park and the dance instructor (not Ogita) and I said it before but I never felt that she was committed to the bit, but I also wonder if she had that feeling that something might have been wrong cause of what was going on with Kiryu at the same time.

Which then leads to the scene with Haruka finding Kiryu and him holding her hand not much to say about that one

Then there’s Yakuza 6 I believe that Ayako is absolutely instrumental to Harukas character. My reason being she’s really the only other morning glory kid mentioned in Harukas bit in Yakuza 5, Haruka and Ayako are quite different Haruka can say no to the other morning glory kids when it comes to certain things but Ayako can’t she can’t find it in her to. Which is also why she couldn’t stop Haruka from leaving she couldn’t find it in her to, Haruka told Ayako she’d be back and Ayako believed her only for the panic to set in when Kiryu came back alone, Ayako experiences the panic of being lied to by Haruka (I actually understand that experience ) but I don’t blame Haruka for leaving either.

Then there’s Haruka with the whole Iwami thing not much to talk about there other then the call back to Yakzuza 1 when Kiryu puts him self infront of Yuta who had put him self infront of Haruka in 6 and Yumi puts herself infront of Haruka who put herself infront of Kiryu in 1.

Then the ending part of having Yumis ring and Parks broach(?) two pieces of jewellery that belonged to two mother figures of Haruka.

[bluegekk0]

Ok do you have any favourite games, that are not ran world or hollow knight?

I myself like slavic game series stalker :]

oooh there are so many games from my childhood (and more recent ones) that i'd love to mention

the first one i can remember is rayman. i love the first three games, especially 2 and 3. i have so many great memories connected to these games, and i wish 3d rayman made a comeback. after the mario and rabbids dlc, and the recent netflix show, i'm a little more hopeful about that

zoo tycoon 2 is also one of my favorite childhood games, alongside two other, far more obscure zoo games: marine park empire and wildlife park 2. i've always loved zoo games, i think it started with wlp2, it was sold as a part of a collection of animal related games. a similar one was jurassic park operation genesis - similar premise, except it's based around creating a jurassic park. the newest game in this genre is planet zoo, and i like it, but it can get very overwhelming with all of the modular building. it's time consuming and requires a lot of creativity, which isn't something i usually look for when i want to wind down and play something

another childhood series is the sims. the sims 2 specifically, though i also have many fond memories of the sims 3 (though i remember it more for the absurd loading times hahaha). while i like the sims 4, i find myself returning more to the sims 2 these days. it's very dated in some areas, but it offers a much deeper experience which i appreciate. and the lore can get batshit crazy sometimes which is great in on itself

i remember playing a lot of spore, especially the creature stage since i didn't understand the civilization and space stages at that point. i do enjoy them now, especially the latter, though i've never reached the ending of that one. i guess i just like exploring and trading with different planets too much

from some more modern games, i suppose, minecraft is one i like a lot. i started playing a few years after it's official release, and i remember starting with a pirated copy from a likely very sussy launcher. these days i usually just play it with friends from time to time

another series i'm a big fan of is the horizon series. horizon zero dawn and forbidden west. i know many people consider their gameplay nothing spectacular, but it's a big comfort game for me, especially the sequel. and the music, god the music in the second game is incredible

i mentioned assassin's creed, so i guess i'll talk about the series a bit. my favorite game is probably unity, i even named one of my cats after the protagonist. but i also love assassin's creed 2 and origins, both are great games. not too happy with the direction the series took, though, they feel too bloated and unfocused

i don't play that many multiplayer games these days, but team fortress 2 and (unfortunately) overwatch are my favorites. i like team games, even if they're often very frustrating. but the cooperation aspect generally really appeals to me

other games i can think of are patapon, subnautica, the yakuza series, both ori games, bugsnax and stardew valley

dang this is far longer than i thought it would be, but it's too difficult for me to pick one or two favorites hahah

also, i've heard about the stalker games before, though i've never played them myself. not too big on horror games haha

[bizarreshiz]

Thank you @sunlightfeeling for tagging meee☆!

Name: Vincent (or Vin as everyone calls me)

Pronouns: He/they

Star sign: Pisces 😈🐟

# of siblings/Fun facts about them: I have one older sister, and we have a 10 year age gap

# of pets & their names: I have one cat and she is called Sapphire >:3

I used to have another cat before my present one that was there before I was even born

Fandoms: God, this could be a longgggg list but I will only do MAIN main ones!

I'm mainly into Yakuza/Judgement right now as I'm replaying the judgement games, and my friend is currently playing through the yakuza series

I'm also heavily into One piece (fave character is Crocodile 🥰), but at the moment I have to wait to continue watching as I have no money for crunchyroll 😔 (just had Franky join the crew)

The Persona series has also been a fandom I've been in since about 12 years old (yes, all the games including 1 and 2), but Persona 4 is my favourite of all time

Ig you count Vocaloid as a fandom. I first listening to Rolling girl, by Wowaka when I was 10, due to all the animations people did on youtube with it, and then I kinda left after a bit because I was too young and didn't know anything about Miku or Vocaloid in general, but then (happily) found it again around 13/14, and have been in love ever since! I have m a n y Miku merch (and some Luka merch)

Fave colour: Red :3

Fave song: I've never been able to choose one song specifically, so when I say my fave song, it's usually what I'm listening to the most recently-

So mainly I'm listening to "Gommene, Gommene" (Im sorry, Im sorry) by Kikuo at the moment!

Kikuo is one of my fave artists/producers and a lot of his songs are ones I'm able to relate to which makes the listening experience greater soooo-

(Not a fave song, but goddamn this has been in my head ever since it came out 😭😭😭)

Fave author (including books, fanfics, webtoons etc.): I don't have a fave author TwT"

But I've always had a massive fixation on Russian history (specifically USSR Russia) since I was very young, and I've finally been able to buy a crap ton of books on people like Stalin, Lenin and Trotsky 🙏

Fave fic type: Who doesn't love enemies to lovers? I do, but it c a n get annoying in some, and I l o v e hurt with comfort. If a fic has no comfort with its angst, I'm crying rivers

Fave holiday: Halloween 😈

Do you have a partner: Yes! I have a gf of 3 years♡

Hobbies: Drawing and videogames ig 😭

Tagging (you don't have to, I just pick my mutuals) : @c-cw-f-saeko @theycouldbehere @sunlightfeeling (ik you tagged me, but u a r e a mutual) @spicyliumang

[formulaorange]

What I'm Watching - Summer 2022

This season is definitely a mixed bag of highly anticipated sequels as well as hyped new series. I have high hopes for the season so let’s jump right into it.

Made in Abyss - Season 2 It's been 5 years since the initial release of Season 1 and man am I pumped to get more content out of this series. I know lots of other series airing this season look good but this one is definitely stealing the show before the season even airs. I'm really hoping this doesn't flop as a sequel and lives up to the first season.

Call of the Night This is a new series that has been pretty popular among the manga readers. The animations are unique and use a lot of fun colors. The first episode was great, I actually like that the conversations between the characters feel like natural Japanese and not Anime Japanese, if that makes sense. I think this could be a really neat series that I'm excited to keep up with.

Shadows House - Season 2 One of my favourite horror series I've seen, the concept and characters are unique and the story gets more and more interesting the further in you get. I'm really excited to see the continuation of this series.

Additional Big Name Sequels: Overlord season 4 Classroom of the Elite S2 Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon S4 Devil is a Part-Timer S2 Rent-a-Girlfriend S2 Orient Cour 2

New Series:

Lycoris Recoil I think this'll be the underdog of the season, lot of the art and the name is quite deceiving and this was lower down the list for releases. This is a sci-fi action series where "Lycoris" are high school girls who are law enforcers that are allowed to kill. The loud and quiet energy duo is one of my favourite personality combos and the overall feel of the show is off to a really great start.

The Girl From the Otherside - ONA This show looks absolutely stunning. I know the manga is super popular and with Studio WIT in charge of the animations I couldn't be more stoked to see the artwork. There's a lot to cover this season so the rest is below:

Uncle from Another World This series was pretty hyped up, I didn't really get it until I watched the first episode. It's been a lot of fun watching the uncle use his isekai powers for mundane things. I think it'll be interesting to see where it goes.

The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting I didn't recognize the name at first until I decided to check it out. I've heard lots of great things about this series and I'm stoked they're making an anime for it. Will definitely be watching this. My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex A romcom series where the title pretty much says it all. Should be interesting, I don't think it's for everyone. I gave the first episode a go and just couldn't get behind it. Won't be watching this one.

When Will Ayumu Make his Move? The same creator as Teasing Master Takagi-San. This looks like a lot of fun and I really like the look of the characters for this series. Should be a solid romance/slice of life though the first episode didn't impress me, hoping it gets better. The Maid I Hired Recently is Mysterious This looks like an interesting slice of life. I'm a fan of the animation and the style. Will likely watch it through. Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer - Hoshi no Samidare This seems like it's all over the place and I have no idea what to expect. There's also one character that's literally just Frankenstein from Soul Eater. So I'll watch it and likely do a follow-up post I'll link to at this season's half-way point to recap a bit more what it's about. Vermeil in Gold This is an ecchi fantasy where the mc accidentally summons a high class succubus who accompanies him throughout his magical school life. Lowkey it's been a while since I've seen a fantasy ecchi series so I'll likely watch the whole show, the first episode was a lot of fun. Isekais: My Isekai Life Looks like a basic isekai. Struggled through episode 1. Won't be watching this one. Black Summoner Another basic one.. but this seems to focus on the team as well, not just the mc. I'll give it 3 episodes but I don't have high hopes. Parallel World Pharmacy Looks like a slightly more developed Isekai Pharmacist. I like the animation style and the concept looks more fleshed out. I'll also aim to complete this series but don't have high expectations. Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World There isn't a whole lot of info on this series as of right now, though should be pretty self-explanatory. I'll give it 6 episodes. OVA's: I'm Quitting Heroing - 2 Episode bonus content Kakegurui Twin - Looks to be a prequel to the series. Obey Me! - Season 2 Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy - 24 Episode series, a reboot of a series that initially aired in 1988. The style looks intense and definitely different from other series this season. My Hero Academia Season 5 OVA - 2 Episodes of a Baseball special Sasaki and Miyano OVA - A drafted story that was in a special edition of Vol 9 of the manga.

Continuing to Air from the Spring season:

Summer Time Render An insane supernatural mystery series that getsj more and more crazy each episodes. This series is currently a 9.5/10 for me and I'm stoked to continue it into the summer. Aoashi An A+ soccer anime that's amazingly realistic and focuses on the main characters hard work to catch up to others in a professional league. Easily one of my top sports anime I've seen and I always look forward to the new episode each week. A Couple of Cuckoos A parent trap type comedy romance. I really liked the concept at first but I'm not a huge fan of the hints that they could potentially add incest to the harem... cute so far but really hoping it doesn't go that direction.

[wickermayne]

Alrighty, rolling up to the ask box drive-thru: can I get a number 2, 9, and a number 13 please and thanks.

Here's the post so you don't have to go hunting for it XD: https://www.tumblr.com/wickermayne/705360299468963840/get-to-know-my-shipping-preferences-ships?source=share

Fyi, I was hungry af when I wrote this, lol, wonder if you can tell. Might've sipped too much on the screwdriver but hey 😂gotta live a little right?

I'll hush now 😂

Thanks for the ask Sessakag 🥰

2. List 3 shipping tropes you don’t love

Unrequited Love/Unhappy ending. I can't stand unhappy endings 😭 I'm not shipping to have my feelings hurt!

Body Swap: I just find this one a bit icky (although I love Your Name...😅) but normally I'm not into using body swap as a shipping trope.

Love Triangles: I don't even like triads much, but that's much more preferable to love triangle for me. I like drama in a relationship, but only when it's between the two main characters. The third wheeler can piss off 😂.

9. Do you always have romantic ships for fandoms?

I would say more often than not, yes I do, but it really depends on the fandom and how involved I'm in it. Also, I might have an inkling of a feeling like "Oh, they would be good together" but not really care if there is romance in the source material at all. Naruto and Harry Potter (and a little bit of Bleach) are the only fandoms I searched fanfics and fanart of ships for, as an example. But, yeah, I'd say it's pretty natural for me to form some sort of ship when I get into a fandom.

13. List 5 OTPs from past fandoms

Other than Naruto and HP it's a bit hard, but here's what I can think of! Not listed in any order, and I tried to use one ship from a franchise.

Alphonse Elric/Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Alphonse was always my favourite character from the series, and even though the Ed/Win ship was so obvious from the beginning, I liked this one better, probably because I always loved Alphonse and liked Winry more than Mei. Also in the non-canon movie Emperor of Shambala, they have a good about of interactions without Ed around so that always reinforced the ship for me.

2. Kumiko Yamaguchi/Shin Sawada (Gokusen)

Gokusen is my all time favourite manga and this is the canon ship in it (although it's not a romance fic and it all happens near the end/in the epilogue/special chapters). Kumiko is the grand daughter of a Yakuza boss and decides to become a high school teacher, and Shin is her surly student. Shin is always supporting her when she needs help the most and even though the romance isn't really a focus of the manga, what's there is great.

3. Byakuya Kuchiki/Yoruichi Shihouin (Bleach)

I never thought about this pairing until Turn Back the Pendulum, but seeing such a petulant version of Byakuya and how Yoruichi knows just how to rile him up made me instantly like the idea of this.

4. Zuko/Katara (Avatar the Last Air Bender)

Zuko is my favourite character from the series, loved his growth, and I also liked how bull-headed and stubborn Katara could be at times. Just thought they fit well together.

5. Yusuke Urameshi/Keiko Yukimura (Yu Yu Hakusho)

I can't think of anything to say, it's been a long time since I've seen the series, but I love them all them same!

Thanks again for the ask Sessakag!

[kakairu-rocks]

We are excited to introduce our next shining star for the Creator Spotlight... @beesbeanie​​!

This is a member’s only activity where we reach out to one of the talented people in our community each month to find out all about them and their kakairu creations, and then show them off to the world!

We hope you enjoy learning about Beanie & their creations as much as we did. Please give them some love ❤️  

Pronouns: They/Them

Type of Creator: Writer

Where to find them:

Twitter

Tumblr

Read the exciting interview below the cut, or on the forum!

If you would like a chance to be in the spotlight too, the only thing you have to do is be a member of the kakairu rocks forum, and be a creator; and we will contact you, ourselves!

1. How long have you been creating KakaIru fanworks?

Oh boy, I wrote my first KakaIru fic back in 2011 on LiveJournal! That makes… 11 years? I definitely read more than I wrote over the years, usually only participating in small events or exchanges rather than building fics from the ground up. Though, lately I’ve been inspired to write longer works, which is quite thrilling.

2. What are you working on right now?

I’m pausing lightly on my KKIR fics to dive into Hannibal (a fandom I have yet to tap into writing for!) But I have a really fun yakuza!Kakashi fic I’ve been working on, I’m excited to share it!

3. What is your favourite trope to create for?

Meet-cutes are some of my absolute favorite things to write, but I also really enjoy writing power plays, especially with these two. They’re both so passionate and goofy there’s a lot of room to play.

4. Which of your creations is your favourite, and why?

Oooh, right now it’s probably The Home of Hatake, my most recent fic. I had so much fun writing it and bringing Sakumo back. It really dove deep into the found family trope, which is another favorite of mine. It’s also my longest fic to date which I’m very proud of!

5. Do you have any WIPs you’re excited about?

Oh yeah, I have three right now; the yakuza!kakashi fic, a college AU, and a spooky horror creature fic. All of them are vastly different flavors.

6. Do you have any original characters? If so, tell us about them!

I actually don’t have any OCs!

7. What was your hardest piece to create, and why?

I think that would have to be A Thousand Stars, which was a gift fic for an event. I had an idea, a scene, that I wanted to encapsulate but the surrounding fic gave me a bit of a run for my money! I’m certainly happy with the end result, though.

8. Do you have any favourite scenes from something you’ve created?

In Howling for You, (spoilers lol) when Iruka is reunited with Naruto and Kakashi watches on, dumbstruck, as they cry and cling to each other, Iruka turns and says “thank you”. That was the scene in my head that propelled the whole fic!

9. Where does your inspiration come from?

I get a lot of inspiration from movies, shows, and even little spots in my own life. Most of the time my fics are born from the thought: “what if Kakashi and Iruka were in this scenario?” Though I also get a lot of inspiration from trying to find a specific type of fic to read and not being able to find it. Create what you want to see!

10. Which of your creations is the most meaningful to you, and why?

Chrysanthemum for sure. It’s one of my older works but I used it as a way to really explore Kakashi and Iruka as characters. I still go back and read it every now and again!

[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!

[1358456]

there are so many what I can only assume are boss battle songs. they're all the ones without any lyrics, right? which ones are your favourite?

Hmm... not all of them are boss fights. The songs without lyrics are either boss fights, fighting style themes, or long-battle themes.

My favorite? Like... my favorite theme or boss fight? I guess the theme goes with the boss fight, so... my top 10 favorite boss fights in the whole series!

#10: Kiryu Kazuma vs. Iwami Tsuneo. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Theme: The Way of Life.

The only boss that Kiryu doesn't show a shred of respect towards. And for good reason. F*ck this guy. I like this fight because it feels good just beating the sh*t out of him. Kiryu: "You're about to find out just who you picked a fight with."

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#9: Kiryu Kazuma vs. Mine Yoshitaka. Yakuza 3. Theme: Fly.

Ah, the foil to Kiryu. Mine could've become a really good friend and ally, had things turned out a little bit better for him. And this is the fight that keeps on giving... because Mine's fighting style is really hard, and it shows up repeatedly in Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 in the battle coliseum from particularly hard opponents.

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#8: Yagami Takayuki vs. Soma Kazuki. Lost Judgment. Theme: Viper.

You fight him twice (technically three times, but that one hardly counts), and the theme is the same both times. And you really get the vibes that you're facing a serial killer. And you are, hence it fits very well.

And he fights like a freak. I don't know how else to describe it.

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#7: Kasuga Ichiban vs. Majima Goro (and Saejima Taiga). Yakuza 7: The Path of Light and Darkness. Theme: Receive and Turn You (aka Receive You the Hyperactive).

An entire game with a completely different cast with only passing mentions of characters from Yakuza 0 ~ 6. And then suddenly, two legends from the past games emerge as the plot really unfolds. And the difficulty suddenly spikes up. Yakuza 7 is so far the only game that's a turn based RPG. Until this fight, you don't need to do any level grinding. And then this fight happens. And the shock of seeing the familiar legends turns into the feeling you get when they're beating the sh*t out of you. Hahaha. ... Majima is 55 years old in this fight. Wow.

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#6: Kiryu Kazuma vs. Kuze Daisaku. Yakuza 0: The Place of Oath. Theme: Pledge of the Demon.

You fight this man 5 freaking times in Yakuza 0's story. The first four fights have this theme, while the fifth changes to Oath of the Demon. What's notable about this series of fights is that Kuze's view of Kiryu changes drastically as time passes. The first four fights, Kuze views Kiryu as just some punk who joined the yakuza on a whim, and upon first hardship, decided to quit. And Kuze is all about resilience. Kuze: "In the world of the yakuza, there are no KOs. The guy who's beaten in a fight isn't the loser. The guy who can't tough it out until the end, he's the one who loses."

And after the fourth fight, Kuze realizes that Kiryu is not fighting for himself, but for others. And that's when Kuze acknowledges him. Kuze: "Well I'll be. The punk's finally turned. Turned into a real yakuza." And in the fifth and final fight, he only fights you because his pride demands that he fights you again, one on one, man to man. The respect you gain for this guy is as high as the respect he gains for you.

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#5: Kiryu Kazuma vs. Shibusawa Keiji. Yakuza 0: The Place of Oath. Theme: Two Dragons.

Calculating and ruthless. Shibusawa is quite the villain.

Shibusawa: "We write our names in other people's blood. It's the yakuza way. And I aim to pen my legacy in yours. I'll kill you, surpass Kazama, and become the Dragon of Dojima." Kiryu: "I don't care about the nickname. But there can only be one dragon."

Since Yakuza 0 is a prequel, I know that line is deliberate because of...

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#4: Kiryu Kazuma vs. Goda Ryuji. Yakuza (Kiwami) 2. Theme: A Scattered, Eternal Moment.

Ryuji: "There can only be one true dragon."

The Dragon of Kansai, Goda Ryuji. Man, is he big. But despite his appearance and objective, he's an honorable sort, who wants a fair one on one fight with the Dragon of Dojima to see who is superior, and won't resort to stuff like bomb threats or kidnapping. He's the one who kills the guy who kidnapped Haruka, thus adding another one to the number of people that the poor 10 year old girl had seen get killed right in front of her.

The theme is really perfect for the situation, as the two dragons clash to be the last one left standing... as a bomb is ticking down next to them. They've both been shot twice in mirroring places, so they know they're not going to escape before the bomb goes off. So this fight is a matter of pride. ... Of course, the bomb didn't have an arming trigger, as the guy who planted it didn't want it going off, but hey.

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#3: Kasuga Ichiban vs. Kiryu Kazuma. Yakuza 7: The Path of Light and Darkness. Theme: Receive You Version 7 (aka Rolling Eyes Fall Down the Dragon Wall).

... Fighting the guy that you've been playing as in Yakuza 0 through 6. Oh my. The fight intro starts with Ichiban realizing that he's kind of screwed, and ends with Kiryu knocking him out cold. ... Kiryu is 51 years old in the time of Yakuza 7 (2019), so in Yakuza 8 (2024)... oh my. The legendary dragon is now 56 years old. He was 20 in Yakuza 0. ... So Majima is going to be 60 years old?

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#2: Yagami Takayuki vs. Kuwana Jin (aka Kitakata Yu). Lost Judgment. Theme: Unwavering Belief.

... This game is so good.

Kuwana: "You know that if she turns herself in, she'll never see Mitsuru again. She'll be torn away from her son who finally awoke after 13 long years. Is that the justice you want?"

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Honorable Mention: Kaito Masaharu vs. Shirakaba Yasutaka. Lost Judgment - The Kaito Files DLC. Theme: The Duel.

This fight doesn't even have a dynamic intro. And yet, it gets a spot in the honorable mention, because this fight is truly the ONLY fight in the entire series that's genuinely heartwarming.

This dude is a doctor. He found a woman unconscious one day and started taking care of her, steadily falling in love with her as well. And as he finds out that a certain gang is after her, he goes through rigorous training for two years so that he may protect her. But unfortunately, she's already in love with the player character (Kaito), and has been for a long time since their shared past. And so in the end, Shirakaba challenges you to a duel so that you can prove to him and to everyone that you can protect her better, and so that he can admit defeat and walk away afterwards with his head held high. Aww.

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#1: Kiryu Kazuma vs. Nishikiyama Akira. Yakuza (Kiwami). Theme: For Whose Sake.

Ow, my heart.

So, Kiryu, Nishikiyama, and Sawamura Yumi (Haruka's mother) are all from the same orphanage. Kiryu and Nishiki are best friends since those days, and join the yakuza at the same time for the same reason. So in the events of Yakuza 0, Nishiki is with Kiryu the entire time, fighting uphill battles for the sake of his sworn brother and best friend.

When Majima fights Nishiki in Yakuza 0 for information about Kiryu, Nishiki says that he'll never sell out his sworn brother. And the fight theme is titled "For Buddy". Contrast to the fight theme when Kiryu fights Nishiki in Yakuza 1/Kiwami, titled "For Whose Sake" because Nishiki has lost sight of everything in the 10 years of hardship since Kiryu's arrest... and Kiryu was arrested because he took the fall for Nishiki.

And then the game starts throwing in flashbacks... in the middle of a fight. Tidbits of Nishiki's downfall, to flashbacks of happier times.

And the lines he says in Yakuza 0 are deliberately set to contrast what happens in the first game. So... ow, my heart.

"Climbing the ranks of the Tojo Clan without you is meaningless!" -> "... I'll get to the top, no matter what it takes..."

"You can't do it! Kiryu! You can't cross that line yet. Once you do, you can never go back. What does killing this guy even get you? Fight it! If one day, you need to cross that line, I'll go and cross that line along with you. Don't go ahead of me, brother!" -> "... What's the difference between killing one person and killing two? ... Yes... my path was set in stone from the day I killed Dojima and abandoned Kiryu. ... I'll show everyone. I'll definitely make it to the top... and to do that, I'll kill as many people as it takes!"

"I have a sister Yuko. And as her older brother, I don't know what I'll do if anything happened to her. So I understand how Tachibana feels." ... Nishiki hangs on to his self until the day Yuko dies, at which point he snaps. ... Ohh...

... And then as an added bonus, the karaoke song Tonight got added in Yakuza Kiwami! Its scenes are nothing but flashbacks of Nishiki from Yakuza 0! And the lyrics too. Ahhh...

Hehe. So in Yakuza Gaiden, and even in 8, I'm guessing Kiryu will have 3 karaoke songs to sing. One is going to be Tonight, where he sings about his dead brother who he can never see again. One is going to be Hands, where he sings about his "grandson" who he took care of during the entirety of Yakuza 6, who he can never see again. And the last one is going to be a new song about Haruka, the adopted daughter that he loves so much who he can never see again. ... I can't wait. ... I'm already crying.

[zaddyazula]

yakuza final review?

fhsiaosjhde i love this question!!!!! (spoiler bit is under the cut)

i really do not like the fighting in 4. i will not lie. it’s really fun in the other games (even 3 which is known as blockuza 😭😭😭) and i only enjoyed one fight. in the entire game. in 22 hours of my playing i enjoyed a singular fight, mainly because of how annoying the other ones were. they weren’t necessarily hard, but just very, very tedious and mini-bosses who made me want to kill myself.

the story on the other hand is one of my favourites in the series. 4 protagonists!!!! 4 main characters!!!!! they all had 4 parts each with 4 chapters each and it actually got going pretty quickly. it didn’t drag out at the start like in 3 where for 5 FUCKING CHAPTERS (probably about 6 hours of playing) was housewife simulator and i was debating quitting the game. i will admit i wasn’t 100% at first, but as the story moved on i started to like it even more. the story isn’t as good as 0’s or 2’s (in my opinion) but it’s still a really enjoyable story which has the same amount of silliness as the others. four main characters also meant four final bosses though, though the first three were fine. it’s the just the last one which is really my fault for being annoying. i didn’t have enough money to get recovery items before the point of no return so i crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. managed to get to it by 12am and got steamrolled even after changing to easy. ended up reloading the save and doing the other three fights again, before managing to the the last one first try on normal after all of that. the one fight that i enjoyed was the third boss fight which i actually played properly for once. because i was impatient i did the first two on easy to save time (i did them on normal the first time anyways) but the third one i just played on normal because i enjoy it so much.

all of the big bads weren’t even really big bads, apart from one dickhead who just annoyed me greatly (the last boss). one guy was a police officer pretending to be a yakuza, one was some washed up ass yakuza and the other was the guy who the main main character (of all the other games) made head of their yakuza clan (tojo clan) at the end of 2. he was in a coma for all of 3 and i was screaming at the tv for the whole fight taking the piss out of him. what a clown. he had it coming. he put my favourite character (majima) in jail.

the game took a bit of patience at times, but i would play it again if someone held a gun to my head. i really hate the combat.

i really wish i was able to record my voice along while playing so you could hear the ramblings i go on with. maybe next time.

i think that’s all of my thoughts (spoiler free). now. spoiler time 💥💥💥

THIS BITCH ON THE LEFT. THIS FUCKING CUNT. he’s the boss fight i actually enjoyed. guy on the right is my favourite character. who daigo put in jail.

I ACTUALLY LIKED HIM AND THEN THIS GAME THE MAN WENT OFF HIS TITS. I MADE HIM SIXTH FUCKING CHAIRMAN OF THE TOJO CLAN AND HE HAS THE FUCKING NERVE TO TRY AND MOLLYWOPP ME. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I WAS (whisper) SCREAMING “STOMP THIS BITCH OUT” AT THE TV. I WAS INSULTING THIS FUCKING WASHED OUT FUCK LIKE IT WAS A SPORT. FUCKER WAS TRYING TO BE RYUJI (antagonist from 2 who wasn’t even that evil). WAS REALLY TRYING TO ACT LIKE HE WASN’T GONNA GET WASHED. BY THE DRAGON OF FUCKING DOJIMA. REALLY TRYING TO ACT LIKE HE WASN’T GONNA GET HIS ASS TIGER DROPPED.

moving on.

these are the main guys. like damn i love it when we get a lined up shot like this. left to right is: akiyama, saejima, kiryu (main man) and tanimura. that’s also the order of the boss fights. i really like talking to fake chat as well, and i swear i wish i was able to record me fucking ranting on at these bitches. all it takes is one boss fight and it’s me ranting about some random nonsense.

at lot of this game was running back and forth between places which got very boring VERY quickly. unlike in 0, 1 and 2, i did not have a blast all the time playing this. as getting stopped five million times trying to move across the map is actually rage inducing. some of the “boss” fights were just me getting grabbed by their support demons over and over again. i was losing my shit by the end of it. had to go for karaoke a couple of times.

i honestly think that’s all i can say.

[kyotakumrau]

2020.12.19 SENDAI GIGS 2nd slot report

...it was cold. I thought I was prepared but waiting for my turn to enter was brutal. But the venue was quite well organized with letting fans in. And they had the cutest hand sanitizer stands I've seen!!

Then, when preparing for the talk event venue staff brought 4 small high tables with chairs and placed them in a good distance from each other.

Takabayashi and Fujieda entered the stage (both wearing winter jackets xp) and the latter greeted us and asked for the applause for the band members.

Then Shinya, and after a brief moment, Toshiya entered the stage.

They sat from the right to left: Takabayashi, Shinya, Toshiya and Fujieda (MC).

Toshiya wore a beret, sunglasses, a jacket over the brown Dirt shirt. Shinya had the t-shirt for the event and black clothes otherwise. He also wore sunglasses.

They started with simple greetings and next F skipped straight to the merch items talk. He handed band members their items and asked about the particular thing about the design. Toshiya explained that back has the names of the companies they are working with/are indebted to.

F: S, what's the selling point of your minimini bottle?

S: it's really tiny and you can easily put it in your bag. It's very light so very convenient when you go out.

F brought and passed the items of other members. T got the choker.

T: oh, this is nice! Shinya, I think it'll really suit you!

S: well, I might wear it next time

T: try it on!

S: some other time. (meaning 'no, thanks' 😂)

F: what do you think about Kaoru's pouch, S?

S: it's really tiny and very convenient when you go out.

F: wait, I've heard this before.

S: and the inside is gold. I really love gold.

T (teasing): can all merch items fit inside?😆

S: picks won't fit, right?

T: they do!

S passed the pouch back to F with a serious face, he had to confirm with his own eyes.

S: oh, it's just right, even the bottle fits in.

F (put all items in): all items fit in.

S: then fans should buy all items and put them in. Ah, is the t-shirt still available?

F: actually t-shirt is included in the ticket.

S: does the t-shirt fit in?

F: that might be a bit hard.

T: take it off and try.

Ok😂

F announced they will start reading questions from fans.

T: do you have any no-no topics?

S: everything is fine.

(just what happened in the 1st slot??😂)

F: I'll continue the topic from the previous slot. Is there anything you failed at? Any mistakes?

T said S sometimes messes a song during the concert, teasing him a lot and S was trying to protest saying everyone does that sometimes, but T was having too much fun😂. But then S brought up a festival abroad where he mixed up the order of songs and it was one big mess.

S: as I made mistakes they made me drink after that

T: what am I, sake-yakuza?

😂

T: F, in Nagoya you told us about imitating S on the drums.

F told us again the story about waiting for the car in Kagawa, so he played around imitating S.

S: so which song exactly where you pretending to play?

F: the last part of Ranunculus.

And then he showed us!!! Just drumming few last notes to just finish dramatically with raising hands and leaning his head back.

Shinya was so not impressed🤣🤣🤣

F: wait, didn't you upload it on your channel?

S: I can't remember.

F: 'do you have a favourite youtuber? Or what kind of yt videos do you watch?' Do you watch youtube?

S: I do usually.

F: what channels?

S: channels about games and riddles. But also Taipi Nikki (たいぴー日記), it's a channel about cats and dogs, they upload new videos everyday.

T: I don't really watch yt. But sometimes, Ojisan no nichijo (Tamotsu Takashima おじさんの日常). very casually, like watching TV while eating etc.

Ta: 'what would you like to change in the other member?'

S: I want T to stop scaring me.

T lols so hard😆

S: for example, yesterday was snowing too, I was walking very carefully not to slip but then suddenly a push came from behind🤨

T: 🤣

F: how about you, T?

T: I want him to open his heart to the band members.

F: so you're not talking together?

T: no, he talks with us. But... he's there with us, but the atmosphere is a bit...

S: but I'm open.

F: when I was still a roadie and in a car with S we were talking quite a lot.

Ta: we don't.

S: Ta doesn't talk much.

Ta: since the YT in May we haven't spoke.

F: but when I was a roadie we did usual normal chatting and so on.

T: S, you should join in.

S: はい・I see.

...

😂

F: 'are there any songs you put a lot of confidence in when writing but now you'd prefer not to play them as they are way too difficult, have difficult parts?'

S: 90% of our songs. ...and all of Ningen wo Kaburu. How about you, F?

(oh, a come back for the imitation thing!!😆)

F: the first bit, intro in Hageshisa (he actually 'sang' the bit😆)

S: Yeah, that one is tough.

F: as a roadie I asked you once to show me how to play it. I hoped you will play it slowly so I can learn, but you just went so fast it was over in second, and just said 'that's it'.

F: saku is also hard.

T said he can just follow the music during the show so no problems (?)

T: 'tomorrow is Die's birthday, how will you celebrate? The rumor is, only Shinya sent him birthday wishes'.

T: I usually do something every year, like skype with him. ...should we do something tomorrow?

F: there are no work plans to meet.

T: ok, then I guess we will skype.

S: I always send him a message on LINE.

Ta (or T?): 'it's so cold now! Are you ok with cold? Do you prefer cold or hot weather?'

S: I can't stand cold.

T: I prefer cold. When it's hot even as you take some clothes off, it's still hot. But when it's cold you can add more layers and be okay.

can you get out of bed easily?

S: it's very hard. I can live from inside my bed, even eat there.

T: that's something.

Next they talked about some food from Nagano both T and Ta like, Kanten Papa.

T: 'if you were to change into each other, like wake up as the other one, what would you do?'

T: ...

F: imagine it's only for one day.

T: ...I thought about something baaad, lol. (then he thinks for a while) then, I would work on damaging his reputation.

🤣🤣🤣

S: would I wake up in my house? In his house?

F: let's do your house.

S: then I'd do some muscle training to see what he can actually do.

F: 'we have the rhythm section today, how much do you usually rehearse?'

T said two days (before the tour ???)

F: usually you do a proper full rehearsal with bass amd drums, while checking the score.

T: recently I do it more seriously, I didn't in the past😆

S said before Wither he remembers the songs. Marrow, UROBOROS and Unraveling he can't remember, but he remembers the rest perfectly, he could play Gauze or Macabre songs anytime.

T: do it then!

S: there's no drums.

T: play air drums!

Ta: 'what's the song you want to play the most right now?'

S: and Zero.

Ta: why?

S: it was played somewhere recently, ah on the youtube audiostream, thanks to it I remembered 'oh we have a song like that'.

T: the song(s) we're working on now. I want you all to be able to listen to it/them soon. We will be recording soon.

S: oh.

T: are you practicing them properly?

S: not yet.

😂

T: 'what would you do if you won the lottery (the special new year lottery)?'

S: how much money are we talking?

F: 1bln yen.

S: ...

F: you have nothing you want?

S: not really.

F: what about PS5? Do you have it?

S: I don't have it.

F: did you apply for it?

S: I applied in one place, but didn't win.

F: nothing, really? How about you, T?

T: if I won a lottery I'd use the money to fund COVID vaccination. Well, probably it wouldn't be enough... but with vaccination we could get back to playing concerts sooner.

F: they're working on the vaccine now, right.

T: I hope it will be done soon!

F: do you buy lottery tickets?

T: I never do.

S: same.

Ta: maybe you should try it for Shinya Channel?

(didn't catch the next bit, it was about using money, then gambling?)

F: 'to T, what sauna or onsen would you like to go to next?'

T: to sauna in Finland, like the type in a small log house in the mountains where you get to swim in the lake. I'd love to try that.

F: 'what's the idea behind your outfit, S?'

S: this event t-shirt. I wanted to encourage fans to buy it, but I learned it's part of the ticket... So the rest is just black clothes. style like going to a hair salon (or coming back from there?)

F: 'is there something you'd like to fix this year?'

T: domestic concerts.

S: nothing besides the shows.

T: 'is there anything you want to try in 2021?'

S: nothing especially for 2021.

T: nothing you thought you want to try recently?

S: how about you?

T: I'd like to become able to eat spicy food. Now, I really can't handle any level of spicy.

F told him spicy food is really amazing, especially ramen, T replied he has a place he wants to take F to.

Then F talked about the additional The World You Live In stream and invited everyone to join. And after that was time for the last comments from the band members.

Shinya: Thank you for coming in today. It is snowing right now so please be careful not to slip on your way home. Let's meet again next year.

Toshiya: It's snowing so please be careful. I'd really love to stand in front of you again, so please please wait for us. That's all I can say in this situation.

They stood up, waved and were about to leave. But then Toshiya picked up the choker and gave it to Shinya🤣🤣🤣

[ngscoffeecupcommentary]

The Way of The Househusband vol. 1 by Kousuke Oono

This manga is hilarious - also gorgeously drawn.

The panelling, the art, the sense of drama before the punchline...this manga has it all.

Is it funny that my first thoughts are 'of course he's married' and 'I can see why she married him' ? Is it only me? He's definitely house-husband material. Getting stopped for speeding on a bike is just cherry on top.

I love that he tried to get out of his own backstory exposition by giving them a coupon. I love Tatsu, he's very determined to be a good househusband even when it's way out of his comfort zone - like being charming.

He works had, he studies hard, he put in 1000% effort and doesn't let anyone deter him - be it old subordinates or old enemies, he just draws them into his own pace. Until they can't keep up.

In a way I feel like he's more intimidating now, as a househusband, than he was as a Yakuza. He can't help his resting-bit*h face and intimidation factor, but he still does his best. He throws everyone except his beloved wife off kilter - in some cases she's just as amazing for being able to keep up.

The punchlines got me, most of the time I had to go do something else and breathe through it - whatever it was, laughter or second-hand embarrassment. It was hilarious.

I do love that Tatsu just takes Masa with him and includes him in the cooking class. He did that with the knife seller too and later with the rival gang leader - he just drew them into his pace and included them like it was no problem.

One of my favourites is Tatsu in a bargain-sale battle co-opting his pursuers then berating them for failure. Honestly I feel like he crushes people's spirits now instead of their bodies. He K.O.ed the enemy boss with a gift of gloves. Amazing.

I also love how even Miku is like 'Tatsu...what are we doing?', but she goes along - she also has the muscle to stop him for overreacting for his gift mess-up. Miku does attempt and fail to mitigate Tatsu's intimidation factor (I am surprised that he didn't realize people were scared of him…though apparently he did improve).

Tasu has hilarious ideas on how to improve his charm factor and I love how cute the two of them are. A delight - even if other people are weirded out.

Omg, cat bonus and Masa bonus (Masa is so relatable here ;o;...)

Absolute favourite quote out of context is:

"Boss...I messed up." (pg. 88)

.

Rating: 4

[whyralltheusernamestaken]

A simple greeting

Where you find yourself trapped inside the world of what you thought was a fictional book and the only way you can leave is to say hi to your favourite character… Overhaul.

Overhaul x reader

Warnings : swearing

Words : 895

Masterlist

Series masterlist 

A/N : hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter 4 

Hi Chi Overhaul

He frowned at how you had obviously known his name, the seed of suspicion beginning to sprout as he continued to read. 

Jesus this is really weird okay so um hi. My name is Y/N L/N and to tell the truth I'm fucking terrified to speak to you. Like, pissing my pants, gonna lose all of my friends type shit. Why am I even writing this you're literally never going to read this.

He scoffed at the irony, flipping through the notebook to realise this damn thing nearly filled up the entire book. Was simple boredom really the cause of your insanity?

I decided to just write stuff down since it'll be weird to leave and not have anything proving it wasn't just a fever dream.

Since I've already started I might as well write down everything? Well I think it'd make sense to roughly explain why I like you? I mean you aren't my favourite for no reason.

Favourite? Was there some popularity test between him and his men that he was not aware of?

Ahhh, so like I'm an orphan. My parents died ages ago and my foster family's kicked me out a year or two ago and the only family I have is an older brother who I'm not really close with. So I do the usual grind, eat sleep work read, and then I saw you. Like genuinely the hottest man ever. I am your biggest simp and although I don't condone your actions with Eri-

He drew in a breath, rubbing his eyes before he rested his chin on the back of his interlocked hands. You knew about Eri. You knew everything about him and truth to be told, he was slightly scared, concerned, and even a bit angry at himself. Who on earth were you and how did you get so close to him without him ever realising. Why were you watching him and what was your next move going to be? How foolish had he been to allow you into his home. Was that why you were trying to get close to his men, to somehow find a weakness?

The next words were heavily crossed out, unable to be read. He took off one of his gloves, willing to only destroy the top layer of ink, wondering if you had possibly leaked your secret here. 

-but you're a comfort character to me and it's nice being able to read about your thoughts and stuff, even though your idealogy is a little,,, off. Honestly, I think I cried when you Actually I think I’ll cross all of this out ahah

His confusion only increased tenfold. Character? Was this just a book to you? That would certainly explain why you could read him so well. Or were you just messing with him? Were you hiding a quirk and toying with him until the league decided to act?

That had to be it. You were a thorn in his side and he needed to get rid of the problem fast.

With a sigh he set the notebook aside, putting his mask and glove back on before leaving his seat.

He needed to clear his mind.

~~~

"Y/N you got some fan mail!" Dabi shouted, picking up an envelope and waving it in the air. "Hurry up before I burn it."

“Ooh, hold on!” you shouted, darting down the stairs and nearly tripping, Dabi holding out his other hand before you could come in contant with the floor. 

“Looking for another bloody nose so soon sweatheart?”

“Wonder who gave me the first one.” you retorted, snatching the letter from him and taking out the many pieces of paper. 

“To miss Y/N. Hello, this is-” you cut yourself off, squealing and holding it close to your chest. 

Dabi scoffed, turning on his heels. “Don’t tell me it’s from that bird freak.”

“Oh no no it’s most certainly from said bird freak.” you beamed, jumping up the stairs and nearly bumping into Toga as you ran into your room. 

“Okay okay calm down Y/N, calm the fuck down.” you said, squeezing your cheeks between you hands before picking up the letter again. 

To miss Y/N

Hello, this is Overhaul. I am aware it is impolite to recieve a letter, or letters in this case, and not respond. I have many questions of which I am sure you have the answers to. 

Firstly, who are you?

~~~

“Isn’t this your third letter of the week?” Kurogiri asked, watching as you hopped back down the stairs from placing the two envelopes on your bedside table, towel in hand ready to clean the bar counter.

“Yeah, well one of them is from Rappa.” you responded, spraying the table top down. 

“You’re pen pals with the yakuza now?” someone piped up.

“Haru!” you jumped, turning and holding the spray in his direction. He gave you a lopsided grin. 

“What are you going to attack me with some soapy water?”

You rolled your eyes and stuck out your tongue in a gagging motion before continuing your work. 

“Someone looks happy to see me.”

“Probably cue to get your eyes checked.” you remarked.

“It is nice to see you again Haru.”

“Hi Kurogiri my man.” he smiled, reaching over the counter for a hug and pat on the back to which he returned. 

He snickered at you before resting his arms up. “So why are you still here?” he asked as Kurogiri’s figure retreated into the back room. 

You hopped onto a stool, stretching your arms out before placing your elbows in the same fashion as he did, mirroring him with a small sigh.

“I guess I just don’t want to leave.” you whispered, a small frown forming on your face.

“You’re going to have to soon Y/N. I can’t keep correcting this world to hold your exsistance.”

You rubbed your forehead, eyes dropping to the wooden counter. “I know, I just...”

Looking up, you watched as Kurogiri stepped out and started talking to Shigaraki, Toga running down the stairs and joining them, shouting excitedly as she waved her phone in the air, followed by more shouting from Dabi.

“They look happy.” Haru commented, also fixing his gaze in the direction you were looking at. 

“They’ll be happy whether I’m here or not.” you mused.

“Yeah, it’s about time your left.” Haru said softly. “Not to say we don’t like you but...”

“I don’t belong here.” you finished his sentence off. “I know.”

He hummed in response, the conversation slowly coming to a stop. He knew he couldn’t comfort you. You were a glitch in this world and you needed to leave before the dimensions rejected you. He needed to be firm, for your own safety.

The time, although little, he had gotten to spend with you had created a small space in his heart, and yet it also cemented his mind. You needed to leave before the barriers overpowered him. 

Before they cut your soul in half.

He opened his mouth to speak again when you cut him off with the squeak of your stool. 

Turning to him you sucked in a deep breathe before smiling at him, albeit forced. 

“You’re right, I think it’s time I said goodbye.”

[sp00kworm]

April Rain (Chapter 7 [Final])

Pairing: All Might x Female Reader, Yagi Toshinori x Female Reader, Toshinori Yagi x Female Reader

Warnings: None

Ch 1   Ch 2   Ch 3   Ch 4   Ch 5   Ch 6   

---

“There’s a uh…” The man you were working on the chapel’s angel figure with fumbled over his feet as he headed back towards where you were continuing your work, “There’s a giant hooded man outside asking for you? He said to bring you out, but I think you should stay here…just in case? He did this giant laugh when I asked who he was and rushed into an alleyway.”

Your brush clattered to the floor before you shook your head and internally screamed. All Might had really showed up here, of all places, at your place of work, where everyone could see him.

“Don’t worry Hide. I know who it is. He’s an idiot, but he means no harm.” You offered as you climbed down your ladder and placed your tools away in your small work bag. As you zipped the bag, Hide walked over, giving you a look of panic and worry.

“Are you in trouble with the Yakuza?” He whispered, terror clinging to his words.

“What?” You choked out, “No I’m not! You’re running away with your own thoughts!” The very idea was ridiculous. The Yakuza was underground, barely an organisation now thanks to the emergence of the number one hero. All Might had dropped crime rates to a never seen low and the very idea that anyone went to the Yakuza anymore was shocking.

“Well, you be careful, yeah?” Hide took his tools up again and smiled awkwardly, “You can take your lunch break too if you want? I’ll cover you for now.” He shooed you away as he turned back to matching colours for the inscription at the base of the figure.

With a nod and a smile, you left Hide with the angel statue and walked towards the front of the church. You found your wrapped lunch in your bag and pulled free your drink before walking out the front door of the church and peering around at the pavement. There wasn’t a soul underneath all the scaffolding and sheets. A loud hissing noise caught your attention. You peered to the left and frowned before you caught sight of a familiar pair of flying blond bangs.

“Psst!” Toshinori hissed from around the corner, a dark pair of ray-ban sunglasses over his eyes and a gaudy red hoodie on.

“Toshi!” You grinned as you rushed over to the alley. You peered around the corner at the giant hero who was hunched over and peering around, looking worriedly at the mouth of the alleyway, “What are you doing here? I told you not to show up. You’ll end up getting mobbed or something!” You joked as you walked over to Toshinori, looking up at his hunched figure. Worry settled in your tummy as you looked up at the hero, “Are you okay?” You asked softly, clutching your lunch to yourself.

All Might gave a giant sigh before he smiled, softly, a warm smile that made your heart soar, “Nothing is wrong. I..uh…” He coughed into his fist, “I few of my more, adoring fans, found out who I was. I was worried they had followed me, but I believe I lost them.” He laughed, loud and fake, before covering his own mouth and looking around once more and sighing, “It pains me to not sign so many autographs, but they were ravenous!” He gestured to his chest, “They wanted me to sign their…yes you know what I mean.”

You looked at his face and smiled before leaning up to kiss at his cheek, “I’m sorry about them. Come on.” You took his hand from his pocket before laughing at his hoodie, “Are you sure its not because of your top?” You pointed at the lettering and watched Toshinori look down. He looked down at the pink love heart and white lettering which read ‘Kiss the Hero’ in wonder before laughing.

 The genuine, deep chuckling made you smile wider as Toshinori tugged at his top.

“That would explain a lot.” He rumbled before he pointed at your lunch box, “Did I interrupt you?” He stood up, peering around once more before he lowered the sunglasses on his nose and tilted his head, “I…” Toshinori reached to take your hand, his cheeks going red, “I just wanted to see you. A week feels like an eternity.” He confessed in a whisper.

You held his hand tight and tucked yourself closer, daring to take down his hood in order to kiss him, gently. You pulled away, “You could ring you know, instead of making magical appearances. Hide thinks I owe the Yakuza money because you looked all shady!”

“I will tell him not to think such things.” Toshinori turned to walk past you.

“Nope. The last thing I need is swarming fans while I’m trying to eat my lunch. Come on.” You tugged the hero’s hand, “Lets go and find a bench and a take-out truck. You need to eat as well after having to do fan service.”

Toshinori let you drag him by the hand for a moment before he remembered to walk. He smiled as he held your hand a little tighter, “Soba sounds good.” He smiled at you as he pushed his sunglasses back over his eyes, “My treat.”

“For once, let me buy your favourite foods okay?” You scolded as you both headed away from the church and towards the park area.

All Might only laughed at you, “Fine, fine. You can get it this time.” He held up one large hand in surrender as you rounded the corner.

 The hotel you were all staying at was nice. After eating dinner with your co-workers, you stood up to head back to your room.

Hide grabbed your hand as you turned to leave, “Hey we’re going to have drinks. Do you want to stay for a couple?” His let go of you awkwardly and smiled, his face red from the few beers he had already had.

“Ah, no. Sorry, but I promised my… I have a call to take.” You offered as Hide looked at you with wide eyes.

“Sorry. I didn’t know you were in a relationship.” Hide frowned at the revelation, “Wait. Was that your boyfriend earlier?” He hiccupped after another mouthful of beer, “Why was he stood all shady in alleyway with you? Is he a criminal? Oh my god you’re dating a criminal aren’t you.” His eyes filled with tears as he babbled incessantly.

“No, Hide, shh. Listen to me.” You rested a hand on his shoulder as you sat back down, keeping your voice low, “He’s an important person. We’re not public with it and he doesn’t want to be harassed while we’re out and about just trying to do normal things.”

Hide looked at you with wide eyes before frowning, “Are you sure he’s not married and cheating?” He asked, whispering it into your ear before he ordered himself another beer, “It…” He burped quietly behind his hand, dark hair flopping into his eyes, “It seems like he’s a bit of a coward, if he’s not willing to tell everyone he’s with you, and damn the consequences.” Hide paid for his beer as it was placed in front of him.

 Your stomach churned as a weight settled in your abdomen. The idea made you frown, “What to you mean, a coward? You think he’s scared to be with me.” You blushed at the ridiculousness before Hide snorted.

“He seems like a bit of a piece of work.” Hide grumbled from beside you, “Why wouldn’t you want to tell the world you loved someone?”

You opened your mouth but nodded, “Yeah…Why wouldn’t you.” The words weighed heavily on your shoulders.

Hide’s dark eyes widened as he looked at the upset expression on your face, “I’m sure he’s just taking his time!” He backtracked, stumbling over his words.

“No. I think you have a point but…” You stood up and smiled, “I know him better and I think you’re wrong. We have our reasons for keeping this a secret.”

“Is…Is he a hero?” Hide asked, “That would explain everything.”

You smiled secretively, “You could say that. Good night, Hide. Make sure not to get too drunk. We still have to paint the base of the angel tomorrow and I need your steady hand to help.”

Hide blushed at your praise but waved you away as he looked back at his beer. You laughed and left your co-worker to his drinks.

 The door shut with a resolute click. With a great sigh, you sat on your bed and kicked off your shoes before flopping backwards against the sheets. The hotel bed bounced underneath your weight, and you sighed contently as you stretched out along the bed. You closed your eyes for a moment and relaxed in the silence. Suddenly, the sound of your phone ringing made you open your eyes. You rolled over and pulled the phone from your pocket, eyeing the name on the screen. A sunflower emoji. You grinned as you answered the call.

“Toshi?” You asked gently, “I only saw you at lunch!” You scolded as you sat up on the bed.

His phone rustled for a moment as the wind slapped against him, “Sorry. I’m on the move. An emergency, but I need to tell you something.” The wind crackled in the phone again before you heard the man thump, landing on a roof top with a deep breath before he continued, “I didn’t get to tell you…while we were out at lunch.”

“What is it?” You asked softly as All Might let out a shaking sigh.

 Toshinori tapped the phone before you heard him continue quietly, “I want to take things further, peach. I… I feel strongly for you, and I want to…I wish for you to be my…lover.” The hero’s voice trembled over the phone, “Not my lover but…I think I love you.” He whispered your name as you went silent. Your mouth felt like it was full of cotton as you opened it to speak.

“What do you mean?” You asked gently, clutching the phone close.

“I meant what I said, peach.” He uttered, “I know that…That the publicity and…I know I cannot give you a life full of my love and attention. I want to be at the top for as long as I can. Saving people and protecting people has been my life goal since I was a boy.” Toshinori’s voice got stronger as he jumped again, the air whipping at the microphone, “I love you. I want to be with you for as long as you can put up with me.”

You sat on the bed, looking at the dark floor underneath your feet for a moment as the heavy words processed, “I…” You swallowed your nerves, “I love you too. I just don’t want you to forget who you are or to think that…I want to be there for you. I don’t care about the media.” You smiled against the phone.

“You mean it?” He asked in his low baritone. Toshinori’s voice broke, “This is, amazing! Beyond my greatest dreams!” He landed with a slam and a cheer before pausing, “I’ll visit you, again, but I have to deal with this my…my darling.” The hero’s voice was watery.

“Go and kick some villain ass, All Might.” You laughed down the phone.

“That’s Toshi to you, peach. I love you. Stay safe.” Toshinori hung up quickly after that and you rushed to turn on the television, flicking to the news to watch the coverage with a lovestruck smile.

 The job wasn’t very long, but it was made longer and more torturous by the daily calls from All Might. He didn’t have time to show up in person for the second week of your restoration project, but the hero called in the evening, usually after you finished your dinner with the rest of the group. Hide stopped asking about your mysterious boyfriend eventually, but not after grinding some details out of you. He was shocked by the man’s height, but nothing was unreasonable with quirks. You pulled your case behind you as you exited the hotel. The trip home was a very long one. You were quite a few hours away from Tokyo, and even more because of the long train journeys between the cities. You sighed at the morning sky before a beep caught your attention. A normal car with tinted windows rolled up to the curb alongside you. The window rolled down with an electric buzz and you caught sight of Yagi inside, his sunglasses perched on the end of his nose as he gave you a white smile. He waved his hand, gesturing for you to get in the car.

“Quick. Before anyone sees. Put your luggage in the back.” He gave you a salute and rolled the window back up. You shook your head before you opened the back-seat door and pushed your case inside, turning back around to open the front door as quick as possible.

 A familiar male called your name as you opened the door. You watched Toshinori’s face grow worried but didn’t see the hurt on his face as you slammed the door closed on him and turned to face whoever it was.

“Hide?” You asked as your co-worker rushed after you into the street, “I have to get going. This is my ride. But it was great working with you.” You smiled at the dark-haired man as he huffed, catching his breath.

“I just wanted to say that I think you should talk to your boyfriend about being public with your relationship.” He said quickly, “Wait…” Hide panicked, his eyes going wide, “That’s him in there isn’t it? Oh god I am so sorry!” He rushed out as you smiled awkwardly.

The window behind you lowered. In a panic you scooted your backside further back to block Toshinori from both being seen and looking at what you were doing.

“Is everything alright, peach?” He asked through the window as it finally hit the bottom of the runner.

 Hide’s eyes widened at the voice behind you and you grimaced as Toshinori poked you in the buttock, “I can’t see.” He joked, poking you until you moved to the side enough for the blond to see who you were talking to, “Is this one of your colleagues?” Toshinori asked gently as he smiled at Hide.

“You’re…Oh my god…” Hide went white as a sheet as he caught sight of the hero in the car, “All…” You rushed to catch him as he took a step backwards, still staring at the man in the car, awestruck.

“Shh.” Toshinori leaned closer over the gearstick, “I’d appreciate if you could keep a secret, young man.” He smiled, “We’re not public yet, no, but, I intend to make it so.” He gestured to you, “If you so wish. I’d rather you keep this quiet. Just between us.” He reached into the back of his car and passed you a new, signed exclusive of the hero monthly. It was his issue this month.

“Take this. A sign of my thanks.” The hero gave him a white smile and a salute, “Now, we have somewhere to be. Remember, stay…” He flexed his arms in the car, “Plus Ultra!” You scrambled to push the magazine into Hide’s hands as heads turned towards the car.

“Here. Thank you, Hide. I’ll see you again soon.” You promised in a rush before you opened the passenger door and climbed inside. You stuck your head out of the window, “Thank you, for everything.” You waved and pushed the button up for the window to roll upwards before Toshinori pulled away from the pavement and into the traffic before anyone could get suspicious and look in the car.

 The trip back home was a long one, and Yagi spent most of it grinning and asking you to put different songs on the speaker system. He even had some old collections of CDs to play. That in itself made you laugh. It was much easier to store all music on devices with infinitely huge amounts of storage. You opened your apartment with a sigh and looked around at the dust. You’d cleaned before you left for the small job, but the apartment was in desperate need of a good dusting from two weeks in silence. At least your plants were alive. You’d have to ask your neighbour for the key back. All Might ducked inside the door with a look around before he smiled and stretched out his back, the door locked behind him.

“Home sweet home, finally.” You sighed as you flopped back onto the sofa, looking at the ceiling until the sofa groaned underneath the immense weight of the hero. Toshinori sat next to you and smiled awkwardly until he was sure it would hold his weight. Your thoughts churned as you leaned in to snuggle against his side, tucked under his arm. The hero’s heart beat strongly in his chest, thumping against the ear you pressed to his pectorals. Hide’s harsh words haunted you a little bit as Toshinori kissed at the top of your head.

 It was tense. Both of you dared not to question the other about what had happened. That was, until Toshinori pressed another soft kiss to your head and pulled away. The huge man clasped your face in his palms, looking you dead in the eyes. His electric blue eyes burned with determination as he held you gently.

“I meant what I said, peach.” He confirmed, “I will declare my love to the world if that is what you want of me.” Toshinori leaned in to give you a firm his, his fingers trailed over your cheeks gently before he drew away with a soft gasp.

You looked him in the eyes and smiled, “I don’t want that. I just want you to love me, like I love you, Toshi.” You gave him another soft kiss before placing a kiss on his nose, drawing him down to your own height, “I don’t care what people think, so long as you have time for me, and love me.”

The hero’s blue eyes watered as he pulled you close, his arms engulfing you as wet tears dripped over the back of your neck. You hushed him quietly as he sobbed. A hero in love. A hero finally over his fear.