#saejima runs at you and you die thats that on that

[dirt-str1der]

Saejima has to wear that big coat because i guarantee if he squats or bends over his pants will start sliding down and reveal his asscrack and he knows this thats why he doesnt let it happen

[theropoda]

thinking abt kiryu and about how being a dad means being a SAD!!!!!!! spoilers for yakuza 3 and 5

now, i haven't seen a playthrough of yakuza 6, but as far as i know, as i've watched playthroughs of yakuza 0 to yakuza 5, i have never seen kiryu react to someone's death as painfully as he had in 3 when rikiya dies. like some deaths are definitely up there, but not as close. i think about it a LOT. here are those thinks:

i remember watching an interview with the directors of yakuza 3, 4 and 5 and i recall the director of yakuza 3 talking about how the game was a lot about kiryu dealing with....everyday problems. family life. cheering up his kid who's sick, intervening when his kid's being bullied, feeling protective when he thinks his kid is dating someone, etc etc. and i think in this game he definitely experiences what it's like to lose a family member. rikiya, i mean

now, i don't mean to be one of those weirdos who will see a grown ass man who is part of a crime syndicate and baby and infantilize him (im looking at you, majority of nishiki stans), rikiya is a member of the yakuza and he has been for god knows how long. he knows how to fight and defend himself.

but this guy, a guy from a rather small yakuza family, compared to like. Big City yakuza like the tojo clan--he has no chance. he is not really an equal with kiryu in terms of strength and defense, he's in danger when he meddles with the tojo (and the snake triad, and the CIA, and black monday and so on and so forth) kiryu himself knows this and leaves to kamurocho without rikiya:

and after the snake flower triad shit, tells him to go back to okinawa:

to kiryu he's still a kid. he's still only 25, he's young, he's inexperienced with all the horrible shit the tojo can get themselves into, he's vulnerable. and i definitely think the two of them develop a sibling dynamic (honestly i would like to go as far as to say a father-son relationship but thats my personal interpretation).

kiryu definitely cares about him. perhaps not to the extent he does with his kids because cmon he's still a whole adult man he doesn't have to be babied for everything-- but kiryu definitely wants to keep him safe and see him grow as a yakuza. i definitely think kiryu feels like he's responsible for rikiya's safety because not only is he inexperienced with yakuza organizations like the tojo clan, he's also just. kind of stubborn in how he wants to get involved with kiryu and help him out. twice he has tried to help kiryu when he told him to NOT do so, the second time getting him killed.

and oh god this is getting a little long so i better wrap it up but my point is!!!!! to kiryu, rikiya's death was like the death of his own family! his little brother, or a child! cause rikiya was inexperienced, he was not an equal in terms of strength, he was not fit to help kiryu. kiryu feels so fucking devastated because not only did someone he love die, but since he took it upon himself to keep rikiya safe, it feels like it's his fault that he's dead. cause he feels he's responsible for rikiya's safety. he's crying and shouting and choking back sobs because, this is him experiencing what it's like to lose someone he was supposed to look after. a child.

y5 spoilers now, if you havent finished it no looky

the ONLY time i see kiryu react this way ever again is in yakuza 5, when daigo gets shot by kanai. the moment daigo collapses, kiryu IMMEDIATELY runs to the border of the helicopter-rooftop platform he's on and tries to JUMP ACROSS THIS FUCKING LENGTH TO GET TO DAIGO. now i honestly don't know my metric units well but this MUST be like 20 fucking feet, right??? or MORE.

(kiryu and saejima on the left, incapacitated daigo on the right)

the camera does this shot from underneath to show exactly HOW far that is. it makes a point to show you yeah this is HOW FAR he's willing to fucking go to see to daigo. thankfully, saejima holds him back from doing so but all the while, kiryu is wriggling from his grasp and saying this:

this is such a fucking feat (and, FEET, get it?? because the metric unit. get it haha) he's willing to do from a SKYSCRAPER to get to daigo and i think it's no coincidence this is for daigo because i definitely think there's a sibling dynamic (or, imo, a father-son dynamic) that makes him very protective of daigo. the father/older brother instinct is just ACTIVATED. again, i can only imagine that to kiryu this is to him, a family member of his getting shot fatally.

and he goes even MORE berserk when kurosawa threatens haruka, saying that she's in danger too. and to this, kiryu struggles just as hard to break from saejima's grip to jump 25+ fucking feet and beat his ass to a pulp, shouting, demanding that kurosawa tell him what he's going to do, until he gets so tired that all he can do is whimper "why does everyone else have to pay the price?"

anyways. someone get this man a therapist