#yakuza 0 majima was just too good he got me

[majimassqueaktoy]

I always thought your Yakuza crush would be Ichiban because he’s the most your DB crush Yamcha.

You're right, those two should be besties 🥰 but also. I don't have a type when it comes to fave characters I realized, I'm very erratic 😂

[buggiesnax]

I beat Yakuza 0 and it made me really really Normal about Majima

[majimemegoro]

Kamurocho dashboard simulator

🏵 tojoc0re Follow

nishiki was 27 years old???

🏵 tojoc0re Follow

he shouldnt have been made a patriarch the dragon of dojima would of been better at it :/

( 420 notes )

📸 daily-mac-photos Follow

#kamurocho #tokyo #tenkaichi street #japan landscapes #photographers of japan #travel #cyberpunk #not as zesty as my usual subject matter but #lmao pls reblog this i almost got beat up by color gang members taking this photo

( 79 notes )

🦢 chinpiraposting Follow

my hungry ass can't be left alone with staminam x i suck those bad boys down like juice

( 9,839 notes )

🚲 wackycyclist Follow

.

#the entitlement i see on this site sometimes is disgusting #y'all will just post about having easy access to bicycles??? #some of us had our bicycles wrecked in fights??? #vent #do not rb

( 3 notes )

🗡 koinodiscoqueen Follow

CALLOUT FOR SHIMANO FUTOSHI

I've talked a lot about this already on this blog, but I want to have everything collected in one post so next time some dipshit with a hannya hand icon slides into my inbox to call me a liar I can just link to this post. tl;dr shimano futoshi made my cousin feel realy unsafe while she was shaving his head, and here are the receipts:

Keep reading

( 38 notes )

🚡 matsushigeboss-deactivated30190547

fr we need to stop letting twunks be in charge of anything

( 3 notes )

🍜 i<3kazama Follow

i stg if one more of you tells me the old yakuza way is dying I KNOW ALREADY shut UP

#feel like pure shit just want cold noodles

( 1,930 notes )

📖 kamuroscamwatch Follow

today's scam: Aha water (again)

Was walking down pink street when I got stopped by a barker who promised that all my problems could be solved..., long story short, anyone remember Aha water from the 80s? Well, they rebranded as AHA water (subtle, I know) and they''re back at it. I stalked the people who make it and they literally collected puddle water from the champion district to put in the concoction. I didn't really feel well after drinking it, but the overall experience was good because they totally tapped into that nostalgia. Overall a really solid scam. Stay safe out there kamurocho.

4/5 stars

#scamblr #aha water #1980s #scams #scam rating #safety #scam review

( 12 notes )

👺 hannya69 Follow

batting center is a normal place to get nastay in reblog if u agree

( 58,274 notes )

🚗 thepocketcricuitfighter Follow

Does anyone here still play pocket circuit? :)

( 0 notes )

📈 reglarsalaryman Follow

wtf this guy just ripped off his shirt in the street and started whaling on some guys?? everyone else started clapping and cheering and I just went along with it lmao 😅 am I missing something????

#this is right after he sang a song and saved a couple from jumping off a building #he was glowing too.... #average night in kamurocho

( 85 notes )

🐛 majimaunderlingbaddiebracket Follow

ULTIMATE HOTTEST MAJIMA UNDERLING BADDIE TOURNAMENT FINALS!!!!

🔘 shinji-deactivated30190303

here y'all go again pitting two bad bitches against each other

🌀 jingusforehead Follow

🌊 thugbaby Follow

everyone who voted minami is an arson apologist #nishidasweep

( 4,271 notes )

🔥 businessboi Follow

fuck my job so much. everyone manifest an attack on millennium tower so I can go home.

🔥 businessboi Follow

by talos this can't be happening

( 38,386 notes )

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

IT'S OVER! Jeez, that was a long game compared to K1-Y4.

"Mom, can we have the Yakuza 4? "

"We have the Yakuza 4 at home"

The Yakuza 4 at home:

Returning to the past a little.... why did they leave passed-out Kiryu like this?? Have y'all checked for a pulse?? 😭 at least put him on the sofa, dear lord💀

I LOOOOOVE how you could choose your character for these group fights!! Such a fun idea. I kinda trained Kiryu up for nothing since I used Akiyama any time I could >.<

Majima being willing to die to save Haruka makes me so... KEJSKEIDOLW. I'm chewing my bathroom tiles. I knew he's a good person, but I was still touched. Also his line "That girl means more to Kiryu-chan than life itself"

I am SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS SCENE.

......

NAHH I AM NOT. DAMN.

Nothing to say about this besides:

Watase is a top 5 character for me. What a legend.

Shinada's introspection was so well written and I feel like his character arc was finished very neatly here. I do hope we see him in Y6, but I feel like he's gonna go in the Characters We No Longer Need Void™. I'm surprisingly okay with that, even though I'll miss him.

Aizawa, huh. I mean..... okay? Sure? NOT the final boss I expected, but I do like that we get like... a random man trying to climb to the top thing. I'm neutral on this. Still, him saying he wants a "fair fight" as he sees that Kiryu is actively bleeding quite heavily was kind of a "????" thing for me. Ryuji or Watase would never😤

His fight, though. I was going "HOW MANY DAMN HEALTH BARS DOES THIS FUCKER HAVE" out loud in my apartment every time I saw a color of health bar I hadn't seen before. I'll admit; I got frustrated and my thumb hurt, so I did use like.... 2 or 3 tiger drops on him. Oopsies.

I really liked the fight moving along the entire headquarters and ending outside, it was neat.

WHEN I TELL YOU I WEPT, I mean it. Hooooo boy. Haven't cried that hard since Yakuza 0. It was.... AAAAAA. GRRRRRR. PUNCHING MY WALLS AND SCREAMING😭 I love them so, so much and the reunion was everything I ever wanted and then some.

......and then I cried some more in Premium adventure mode when I saw that they hold hands when they walked together. I kinda thought Haruka or Kiryu would feel like she's too "old" for handholding with her dad, but no. And I'm so happy about that. I immediately went to karaoke with her and just. Walked around the city with her.

I'm NOT EXAGGERATING. THIS IS THE LITERAL TRUTH; I have 54 screenshots of them just holding hands in different parts of Sotenbori 🥺💕

Kiryu's content little smile and nods when Haruka says she likes the food during her requests gave me incredible amounts of serotonin and will to live.

All in all, incredible finale part.

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

Sometimes I wonder how intentional the neurodivergent coding of certain Yakuza characters is.

With Kiryu I don't think it was intentional at first. I think he started as a stone-faced guy who was also just a little clueless (Because that's a pretty silly juxtaposition, writing-wise), but I've noticed as the series progresses there's little quirks or jokes that seem to intentionally code him as autistic-- and not in a mean way (which I love).

Like. When you're talking to one of the hostesses in the cabaret minigame in K2, she mentions wanting to be a mangaka, and Kiryu offers to help.

If you select the 'be an expression model' option Kiryu 'auditions' by making little noises for the different emotions he's trying to do and it's really obvious that he's not really changing his face much. Because he's just not an expressive guy. Because he's autistic!!!

There's the pizza substory from 0 which if you know, you know (and if you don't know, here you go).

If you select all the wrong answers in the producer substory (also in 0), the entire scene feels like an autistic person trying to understand obtuse industry lingo and everyone else getting angry at him for not speaking this hidden language (a reality for many autistic people).

And there's countless other examples that I can't name off the top of my head, but trust me, they're there.

And then there's Ichiban who is so ADHD it brings me joy. And I would just chalk his behaviors to just being a juxtaposition to Kiryu (Ichi's big, loud, and intense while Kiryu's quiet, reserved, and keeps to himself), but there are so many little things that are way too specific for me to ignore.

Firstly, when Ichi wants something he wants it NOW. The Peking Duck scene with Arakawa comes to mind, but also, when he's trying to get Masato’s 'girlfriend' to come to their table, and he resorts to like. Shouting at the guy after her client's like. "Nah. I'm talking to her for a bit." He's feelin' his feelings and good god are those feelings intense.

He seems to struggle with working memory issues such as the scene where he's talking about being Masato's caretaker and then Jo calls him like, immediately after, goes 'hey, you were supposed to take the young master out tonight' and Ichi's like 'oh my god? It completely slipped my mind!'

Ichiban's super creative and clever, but that out-of-the-box thinking is occasionally hampered by him missing little details. Like when he just takes a civilian's wallet, instead of the money they owed because 'Jo only said to bring back the wallet'. But then when he tries to use the money Masato gave him, it doesn't occur to him to take off the band indicating that the money came from Masato’s bank.

He's also pretty impulsive!! The scene where he jumps right into the Korean Mafia's line of fire is a big standout. He literally thought of the first thing that came to mind and did it.

There's also him gameifying his entire life. This example could be argued to be more of an autistic trait (especially the turn-based combat aspect), but ADHDers can also have those super intense interests that you never quite let go of. And gamification of certain tasks is often recommended for ADHDers.

and then there's so many small things that I can't quite explain that just stand out as ADHD behavior.

I honestly don't think Ichiban was ever written to be neurotypical. His character just feels so, authentically ADHD in such a kind way that just can't be accidental.

Although there could've been a writer who was just 'basing Ichiban off their own experiences' and 'their own experiences' just happened to be ADHD. I wouldn't know anything about that.

One more character before I go: Majima's actions in 0 (specifically throwing away the bag of murder goodies Lee gave him) makes way more sense if he has ADHD. He's got this bag of shit he does not want and he needs to get rid of it now. He was feelin' his feelings, okay?!

[majimasleftasscheek]

Hey Brahkest-san! I recently got into the Yakuza series and fell in love with the one-eyed crazy man and, subsequently, dived deep into Kazumaji hell lol 

I just wanted to say that I love everything you create about those two dorks and everytime you post is the brightest part of my day ;u;❤

Your art has inspired me to start drawing some Yakuza fanart too, here's one of my first Majima attempts lol

I wanna draw more of him and Kiryu-chan when I got some free time!

Keep being awesome! ❤

hueueeeeeohhhHHHHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH

ALSO MAJIMA RRRRRRRRRR RHRHRAHHRHRHRRR BARK RRR

rrrrr

rrrRRRRRR look at that profile he's so goOD ACK

I'm so honored my silly scringly boinglies have inspired you ;0; ohhhhHHHHH now this is the motherfucking dream <3

[koorinokujira]

Yakuza Kiwami is an AMAZING game and I'll shove my love for it in everyone's faces now

So, I kinda realized I didn't make this post yet, and I literally finished Kiwami 2 yesterday, so... whoops? But no matter, better late than never, as they say! Spoilers below, like always, so keep reading at your own risk!

So, Yakuza Kiwami. I've actually seen a full playthrough of it a few years back, so I roughly knew what was waiting for me, but my memory is not my greatest strength, so I luckily forgot most of it. And honestly, even knowing some stuff didn't take away my enjoyment at all!

Now, I gotta say, playing this right after 0 was insane. It made my immersion so much better, and really made me feel things more strongly. I was violently dragged out of the relative peace I got after the whole fiasco with the Empty Lot, the familiar streets with shops and minigames I knew and loved into a new, unfamiliar version of Kamurocho along with Kiryu. It was rough- a lot of things stayed the same or at least similar, but there were enough differences for it to feel like a mockery of all the things Kiryu held dear. He was lost in a place he used to know intimately, and that really got to me, because I had just finished the previous journey with him and Majima.

And slowly unraveling what happened to Nishiki and seeing him fall so far from the bro we used to know genuinely hurt. Especially knowing that he wasn't a bad person before and that he was a sensitive soul that got completely crushed by the circumstances in his life.

As for the story and characters in general, I loved it, it got me in the feels and I was hooked the whole time! While I still think 0 is the best from what I played so far, this story was also amazing. Majima going all out in all the fights and with costumes and disguises, Date-san being an incredibly pathetic man and father who pulled through in the end and sorta sharing that with the Florist, Haruka being a little badass, Reina's tragic, misguided love... there was so much that I adored about this game, and the characters in the main story never really fell flat for me. It also made me love Kashiwagi even more, I just love it when he's there. And the ending was pretty heartwrenching too, though I wish it focused more on Nishiki's death than Yumi's, as I felt their brotherly bond ran way deeper than Kiryu's relationship with Yumi. But that's just my opinion, I still cried and thought it was pretty solid!

Then there are the sidequests. Hoo boy. I have to admit, I didn't really like those that much. They just lacked the spark that the ones from 0 had, and seemed somewhat repetitive in their themes. And there was of course also those very questionable ones. Of course, there were some pretty good ones too! And I had a blast in the whole Pocket Circuit saga, I love Fighter with all my heart.

Speaking of Pocket Circuit, the minigames were still really enjoyable, but I really missed Disco, to be honest. I wish you could groove in a club somewhere at least. The Karaoke gave me whiplash because it was so different (post Yakuza 0 immersion strikes again), and I hated the new version of Heartbreak Mermaid. But I have to admit, I absolutely loved Iji Sakura 2000 and definitely sang it way too many times.

Gameplay was pretty good too! I didn't really like some changes to the fighting system, but overall, it was still really enjoyable to punch everyone in close vicinity. I learned to use Dragon Style a lot more, in 0 I barely used it even though I had it. Tiger drop is spectacular, I will never sugarcoat anything ever again. The upgrade system took some getting used to, but it ended up being my favorite as it was more clear-cut and it was mostly stuff I'd actually use. The Majima Everywhere thingy was pretty fun most of the time! It could get a bit tedious to find specific Majimas, but I got through it like a champ.

So overall, amazing game as the title says, and I will also make another post with some funny screenshots for this game soon! Thank you for reading, and like always...

Have a great day!

[lorillee]

ok well while im waiting for this wretched bus i think its a suitable time to share my y3 thoughts. as always not in any sort of real or coherent organization im not writing an essay so idgaf

overall: better than kiwami 2 ‘s main plot but again 65% of my beef with that game was kiryu/sayama. Which we have talked and complained about extensively

we’re just gonna talk as i remember so lets actually start with a complaint: Real question what on planet stupid earth whats the point of kazama’s brother

likw the yakuza series is frankly no stranger to cheap twists regarding their villains for no reason other than shock value but usually im able to forgive because its like not that important or alternatively really funny and not that important

but kazama having a younger brother is an INSANE thing to bring it and not elaborate on basically at all and do LITERALLY NOTHING WITH?!?!?!??!!??????!??? like THEY DIDNT EVEN USE IT AS A LENSE THROUGH WHICH TO EXPLORE EITHER KIRYU OR KAZAMA OR THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER!?!?!!!!!!????!?! WHAT !!!!!!!!!

like no words. WHAT?

kind of pisses me off they killed off kashiwagi for like no reason at all also. Like his death did not affect the plot in legitimately any way and to be honest genuinely i did forget he died

^speaking more on this it also pisses me off they like did not explore or elaborate on kiryu’s feelings on this despite the fact that kashiwagi was the one person he had left from the pre kiwami 1 era And like. well we did nothing with this. makes me mad

lets also take a minute to discuss mine

like i think hes an interesting character and a fun antagonist for this game but my issue is i feel like they could have spent more time fleshing out his issues and his relationship with daigo and just a bit his beef with kiryu

like i think the setup for his obsession with daigo is there and you could do something reaaallly interesting with it like i said in that one post to mine it would seem that daigo was born with everything mine had ever wanted and i reaaallllyyy really so bad wish they had DONE something with that.

additionally while i like the interpretation of a one sided obsession in mine’s part it frustrates me that we got absolutely like nothing from daigo on his relationship with mine because i think even just a flashback scene or two wouldve gone a really long way in making this relationship something the audience gets invested in

like i think yakuza 0 did a much better job of tackling this issue and to be fair its not a 1:1 equivalent becasue its not like mine was not hanging out with kiryu but even though we dont see a ton of oda and tachibanas relationship on screen wrt them interacting with each other, the background we’re given on their story and odas devotion to tachibana does a lotttt of legwork in making it believable and interesting. whereas i feel like with mine. I dont even know but we got basically nothing on his relationship with daigo other than like 3 or 4 lines of dialogue and general insanity. and it frustrates me because we had something really good here but whatever

ok lets talk about something marginally more positive. personally really love kiryu starting up an orphanage really special to me watching him run around like a crazy person trying to manage being a single mother of 8

also absolutely adore the oldest daughter role haruka has taken on in this environment and the shape her dynamic with kiryu takes on as a result. its actually so special and so important. TO MEEEEE

lowkey(highkey) wish they had done more in terms of majima actively looking like the most dead inside person on planet earth but its whatever (kicks rocks

like consistently my issue with these games is that i feel like they have too much on their plate and theres about a thousand ideas and nobody wants to let go or streamline, so we kind of get a bunch of things that are relatively unremarkable and some things that are really interesting and have a lot of ground to build on but the problem is that because theres so much bloat everything gets the same amount of exploration. Which is like well ok thats fine when its not that important but i think we should go back. and elaborate on some of these more major points or just cut them out if you’re NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT?!!!!!??!? but whatever

like to be clear im happy they introduced these concepts because now i can play around in this sandbox to make something interesting and compelling to me. but as a storytelling enthusiast it frustrates me

daigo waking up from a coma and immediately pulling out a gun to start shooting may seriously be one of the funniest moments in this entire series to date. Where was he hiding that thing. honestly entire game worth it just for this moment Who pitched it and how can i thank them

anyways so overall: had good concepts, some of them fumbled and others executed well, definitely enjoyed. We couldve had more majima though

[bamber344]

watched the first 3 eps of the yakuza prime series last night with my sibling who has no knowledge of the series, my opinion so far is pleasantly surprised. The first 1995 section of the first ep had me a bit worried for the acting and directing, but it got better pretty much immediately after that bit (aside from one or two tiny things). I like the sort of dual-narrative, non-linear storytelling thing they're doing, where it will introduce plotlines and characters in 1995 only to have them pay off in 2005, it's interesting and so far has kept my attention pretty good. Also, despite what many people feared, Haruka is indeed in the show! They dropped her name lowkey like a marvel stinger but hey it got me so what can i even say?

in terms of how they treated the existing characters, there are definitely some changes, and I can't say i love all of them, but I am keeping an open mind. (spoiler territory here)

probably the biggest change is that they made Yumi and Aiko actually be sisters, instead of Aiko being Yumi's cover identity. Yumi never went missing or had Haruka, she's Aiko's child instead. I'm overall fine with this, i think both characters are interesting so far and I'm keen to see where they take it

Nishiki's sister Miho actually gets a pretty big role in the 1995 sections, which I'm fine with, though she tends to feel more like Yumi's sister with the way the characters spend their time. We've only seen her once in 2005 for a very short scene so far so the way her story unfolds is still a mystery. I am curious.

(also this is a random nitpick but i find it odd that they call Kiryu by his first name but not Nishiki? I get that Nishiki is already a nickname but the other characters in the quad are all called by their first names aside from him. there's probably a cultural reason for this I'm too white to get tbh)

Majima!!!!! Yeah he's still clearly a goofy guy, but his violent streak has definitely been accentuated a bit (or maybe not, considering his first canonical appearance in the games was almost beating his guy to death with an umbrella). We've only seen him in 1995 so far, before he loses his eye in this canon (though that happens at the end of episode three). He shoots at a lot of people but noticeably doesn't actually hit any of them, they're just warning shots. interested to see how his story unfolds. Saejima also shows up for a little bit, says nothing, does nothing, and then gets shot. I haven't really gotten to any of the games that explore him yet so i don't have much to say on that.

I don't think Date has changed that much other than lowkey becoming a bit of a middle-aged twink, but he also hasn't had much time to shine other than pulling Kiryu into the 2005 plot after he got out of prison

There is a noticeable lack of my Stardust boys so far which is very sad but also yeah I get it.

Oh yeah and they brought in Shibusawa from yakuza 0 and made him lowkey a bit of a bum lmao.

I can't say much about the overall plot tbh as I was lowkey a little bit high when i was watching it but what i can say is that overall i enjoyed the first three episodes. so far I think i would recommend to anyone, fan or not, though if you're one of those fans who can't handle stuff being changed i would stay far away.

[datorchoe]

Well so I finished all the Yakuza games just recently, and I wanted to share my thoughts on them individually and rank them if someone wanted a good reason to start the game series. Side note, I played LAD: Ishin a long time ago so it’s not included, but I did enjoy it a lot.

Warning for minor spoilers for all the Yakuza games!!

1: Yakuza 0

0 had one of the most tragic stories imo, with Majima and Makoto. All the side characters were amazing, and the way that the stories all ran together were truly masterful. Love this game.

2: Man Who Erased His Name

If the story was longer, it would probably be #1 on my list. I absolutely loved this game mainly for the fact that Kiryu is finally being deconstructed and becoming “human” instead of the legend.

3: Yakuza 6

I’ve heard some conflicting opinions on this game, but I think it’s a great game. I love this story and I think everything with Haruka in this game did Kiryu’s character justice (The scene where he finds out Yuta got Haruka pregnant and punches the absolute shit out of him was literally priceless and probably my favorite scene in the whole game)

4: Infinite Wealth

God. This game should have been called Infinite Agony. I cried so much during this game. But I think it was a really good send off to Kiryu’s character. And the story was really, really good.

5: Like a Dragon

Ichiban is one of the greatest fictional characters ever made. He is so well written and you can genuinely feel his emotions when playing. The story was so good, and it really did a good job with the forgiveness agenda. (Yet another of Ichi’s amazing character traits)

6: Yakuza 4

Ok, I loved this game a lot. It really did a good job with all the separate characters storylines and connecting them back together. (Akiyama is one of the best characters in the whole series you cannot change my mind)

7: Yakuza 3

OK, I know SOMEONE is gonna dislike this one being higher than one and two. Both great games, but Kiryu was just so good in this game. It was just refreshing to see him be so genuinely happy for a while. I love the introduction to the orphanage in this game too.

8: Yakuza Kiwami

C'mon man. Majima? Fantastic. Haruka? Fantastic. The Florist? Fantastic. Date? Fantastic. I loved all the characters in this game so much. Such a tragic story as well.

9: Yakuza Kiwami 2

Ok, this is where I start to be a hater lol. I really liked this game, but the story just seemed very all over the place in my opinion. And I genuinely HATED Sayama’s character. I was glad they put a female protagonist into the game, but they did such a like, mediocre job of writing her character that it just made me mad. But Ryuji was one of the coolest villains in the series so he gets a pass lol. (Also Daigo? Love him so much. Him and Kiryu’s father son relationship is so tragic and I will never get over it for as long as I live)

10: Yakuza 5

Ok, mega hater time. I literally remember like next to nothing about this game cause I hated playing it so much. I remember Kiryu soloing 100 dudes who had rocket launchers, I remember Saejima fighting the bear, I remember wanting to die for the entire Haruka part, and I remember Shinada being a really good character. That’s it. Half of the game was alright, and the other half was just genuinely boring and weird. The addition of Haruka as a playable character was definitely interesting, and I was excited for it but I think the story with her was just boring. I think my favorite part was the end where she gave her big speech about how much she loved Kiryu, which was amazing but GOD this game was slow to start.

[atwooozi]

gojo x original character

Chapter 3: Cheers

summary: Ai, Geto, and Junpei meet up for dinner at a soba noodle shop. Geto teases Ai about being tired from working with Gojo, which prompts her to reflect on her preparation for the project. Later, Ai meets Gojo for the interview, where she learns about his light-sensitive eyes and his casual attitude. The meeting ends abruptly when Gojo is called to set, but Ai feels more at ease afterward.

genre: modern AU, slice of life, comedy, eventual romance, eventual smut, some angst

A/N: Not to be that person but I think I'm kinda funny. I like how I write Geto and Gojo because they remind me of how I interact with my best friend during undergrad. I think every person should experience the sun and moon dynamic type of relationship at some point in their life. They're one of the best.

Also, I don't know which day of the week it would be in the timeline for this story but Friday Night from the Yakuza 0 OST fits the bill. I can vividly imagine Gojo and Geto dancing to this song at a club together in the 80s in the same way that Kiryu and Majima do. For the later scene, I think SuperStar by Lucky Kilimanjaro is a good fit.

READ ON AO3

Geto had taken them to a decently sized soba noodle shop that he insisted was the best. Ai was a bit apprehensive at first given its weathered exterior, but the inside was a rather cozy place that fit maybe fifteen people at a time, behind the counter was an elderly couple working quietly. 

Ai groaned as she sat down at a table, Geto and Junpei seated on either side of her.

“You seem tired, Amada-san,” Geto said, doing his best to hide a chuckle. “Is Satoru already too much for you?”

Ai pouted and sent a glare the photographer's way. Even if she did already feel overwhelmed by Gojo she wasn't ready to just admit that. Especially not to Geto or in front of her kouhai. 

“No…” Ai said as she sat up, holding her head high. “I just didn't rest much before getting here.” 

Junpei nodded. “Senpai is really hard working. She was still researching even on the train here.” 

Ai couldn't help but smile a bit. While she didn't need Junpei to come to her defense it did feel nice to have him to at least back her up. She wouldn't necessarily admit that though. She at least wanted to pretend even for a little while that she was cool and collected

Geto hummed in response as he looked over the menu. “I see…” He said softly, in his gentle voice. “Isn't there such a thing as being over-prepared?” 

Ai faltered a bit at Geto's question. Maybe he was right that all this prep for Gojo was clouding her thoughts. It would be better if she allowed herself to meet the man as he was and not with all the copious amounts of information that she collected on him. 

Geto shrugged and played a bit with his bangs. “It's just a thought.” 

Ai frowned and looked over the menu. She hoped that maybe getting some food would make her feel better. She had hardly eaten before she got her. Her nerves always kept her from that. 

“What made you come in today, Geto-san?” Ai asked as she tried to decide between getting cold or hot soba. 

“I was hoping to see Satoru.” He explained. “It's been some time since we last saw each other.” 

“When was that?” Ai asked curiously.

“December 24th, I think.” 

Geto's answer caused Junpei to snicker, which turned Geto and Ai's attention to him. “O-oh um…” Junpei couldn't help but laugh a bit more from the awkwardness, much to Geto's unamusement. “That's a bit romantic, isn't it?” 

Junpei…

Ai couldn't help but laugh at Junpei's comment. While there was nothing wrong with two grown men seeing each other on Christmas Eve it did seem a little funny to think about Geto and Gojo meeting then. It being their last meeting in a long time just made it a tad bit funnier.

Geto's easy-going smile fell. It was replaced with what Ai imagined her face had looked like for the past few weeks, annoyed. 

“Is there a problem with seeing a friend on Christmas Eve?” Geto asked indignantly. 

Ai had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting out in laughter. When she initially met Geto she couldn't understand how he and Gojo could be friends. However, seeing Geto a bit annoyed made it all make sense. He seemed to put on this lax facade, but underneath it all, he was just as childish as Gojo was. 

“N-nothing!” Junpei held his hands up in defense and gave a strained smile. “It's just that day is usually for couples so…” 

Ai couldn't hold it in any longer. She practically busted out laughing at Geto and Junpei's exchange, causing other customers to look over to their table in confusion. 

“What's so funny, Amada-san?” Geto asked, his gentle voice now seemed a bit more tense, tinged with irritation. Which Ai supposed Geto meant to seem threatening but only made her laugh more. 

Geto sighed and looked away from the two, pouting to himself. “You two are bullies.” 

Ai wiped a stray tear from her eye and smiled, finally able to calm down. “I think you can handle it, Geto-san.” 

Geto glanced over in Ai's direction before turning his head away again. He seemed to be putting on a show to illustrate how upset he was. How truly upset he was wasn’t clear, but Ai wasn't too concerned. What was obvious though was that Geto and Gojo were going to be a handful. 

The three placed their orders and a regular flow of conversation seemed to resume. 

Technically they were off the clock, but it was hard to just turn that off right now. They would be working together on this project for weeks, so it only made sense for them to talk a bit of shop before they all officially started putting together this story. After all, this would not only be Geto's first time doing something more editorial, it would also be Ai’s and Junpei's first time working together. 

Typically, photos were taken before or sometime later after the article was complete. This was a less-than-typical case given that they only got this project partially because of the Gojo team's insistence that the photographer had to be Geto. He would be with them every step of the way. Although each person had their role in making this work a lot was riding on whether or not Geto could help capture that. 

“You went to school with Gojo-san?” Junpei asked.

 Although he wasn't a boy, Junpei always came across as boyish to her. Especially now when he was practically beaming when hearing about Gojo. 

Geto nodded proudly in response. “We did, we're actually best friends.” 

“The Christmas thing makes sense now…” Junpei said thoughtfully. 

Geto's expression changed instantly from calm and happy to unamused. His noodles slid off his chopsticks as he directed his ire at Junpei. “Will you drop that?” 

Ai giggled. “I think it's sweet.” 

Geto smiled once more. This time it was more fox-like not only in looks but in feel. “Well, who did you spend Christmas with, Junpei-kun?” 

“My girlfriend.” 

Geto's smug expression fell, annoyance taking over his features yet again. His eyes glanced over to Ai as if to ask for confirmation that Junpei was telling the truth. She could only shrug in response. Ai didn't know too much about Junpei outside of their work together. While it wasn't surprising that Junpei had a girlfriend, it was news to her too. 

“What about you, Amada-san?” 

Ai debated what she should say. She could lie to make herself look better, but she didn't really see the point right now. Clearly, both she and Geto were in a similar boat. He had no space to look down on her. 

“Alone,” Ai said matter-of-factly, before slurping up some noodles to avoid having to speak more. 

Ai hadn’t been in a relationship since she was twenty-one. It wasn’t like she had sworn off love or anything like that. The girl was just busy trying to get somewhere in her career. In her defense, it was hard to find your place in the world as a writer, so that’s where her focus was. She had reasoned with herself that she could think about a relationship once she felt established as a writer. She couldn’t tell when someone felt like they made it as a writer, but she was sure that she wasn’t there yet. 

“I can't decide if that's more or less depressing.” Geto sighed as he rested his palm against his cheek. 

Junpei wore a thoughtful expression. “...I think you and Gojo-san seem more depressing.” 

“Junpei!” Ai gasped at her coworker's frankness. However, there was a small part of her that was relieved that he didn't pick her as the more pathetic of the two even if he was just lying. 

Geto's expression didn’t waver at Junpei's words. “...No, I think he's right.”

Ai shook her head in response to Geto. At least he had someone to spend Christmas with. Who did she have? 

“No…if anything we're equally depressing.”

Geto nodded and waved his hand at Junpei. “Turn away from me. The fact that you have a girlfriend makes me want to cry.”

Junpei gaped at Geto and looked at Ai unsure if she should actually listen or not. 

Ai giggled and laid a comforting hand on Junpei's shoulder. “Relax, Junpei-kun.” 

In all honesty, though she didn't want to look at Junpei either. She was happy for him that he had someone, but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous. 

Geto let out a sigh and raised his glass to Ai. “I hate the youth.” 

Ai clinked her glass with Geto's. “Cheers.” 

After getting dinner with Geto and Junpei, Geto drunkenly texted Gojo asking if he could squeeze in a sit-down in between scenes with Ai given how tight the man’s schedule was. When Geto told her that she wanted to murder him. That last thing she wanted to do was come off as pushy, but much to her surprise Gojo agreed without much fuss. She supposed it was a perk of working with the actor’s best friend.

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺

Ai felt a bit out of her element if she was being honest with herself. She had written profiles on plenty of actors before, but none of them were of the same magnitude that Gojo was, and she had never been on this long of an assignment either. But for whatever reason his team wanted her for the piece. They trusted her to deliver so she was going to do her best to write the best article she could given the circumstances. 

What Ai lacked in experience she’d make up for in being overprepared with copious amounts of research with the help of Junpei and background interviews with whoever she could get to sit down with her for more than five minutes. 

Ai made her way to Mappa studio offices separate from Geto and Junpei who went straight to the set. She was grateful for this opportunity, but she had hoped that Geto and Junpei would join her, at least to calm her nerves. 

As she entered the conference room Gojo was already there, sitting with someone she hadn’t met at the intro meeting. The man was young-looking probably around the same age as Junpei, but with blonde straight hair. 

“Hello?” Ai said as she peeked her head into the room. 

Both men looked her way. “Oh hello.” The young man said as he stood up to face Ai. “I’m Nitta, I’m sorry I missed you at the introduction meeting, I help with PR.” 

Ai bowed her head to him and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you Nitta-san.”     

“I’ll be just out the door then,” Nitta said as he excused himself, shutting the door behind him. And just like he said, Nitta stood right outside the door of the conference room. 

Ai sat herself across from Gojo and gave a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks for making time to sit with me, Gojo-san.” 

“It’s no problem. You can call me Satoru by the way.” Gojo said as he crossed his long legs. He let his sunglasses slip down his nose as he looked at Ai with a grin. 

“I think I’ll stick with Gojo,” Ai said as she pulled out her notebook and pen from her bag. “Do you typically wear those? I thought that was just your character's thing.” 

“What these?” Gojo asked as he took off his sunglasses to look at them before putting them back on again. “I hardly leave the house without them. They’re nice, right?” 

“So you wear them all the time?”

Gojo shrugged as he rested his cheek against his palm, a lazy smile taking over his features. “My eyes are pretty light-sensitive, actually. I didn’t start wearing sunglasses ‘til high school, though,” he explained. “I used to get really bad headaches from the light.” 

Ai nodded and she quickly jotted down some things in her notebook. As she did this Gojo leaned forward, trying his best to read her shorthand. “...I take them off sometimes.” He said with a pout as Ai pulled her notebook closer to her. 

“I suppose that can be cumbersome,” Ai said as she raised an eyebrow at Gojo. Why was he so insistent on looking at her notes? Was he that skeptical of her? 

“Nah, that’s the blindfold or the bandages that they make me wear,” Gojo said as he ran a hand through his silky hair. 

“Do you wear those casually too?” Ai asked as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Although Ai didn’t know Gojo well it wasn’t hard to picture him walking around with a blindfold off set just because he could. 

A smirk replaced Gojo’s easy smile and he looked at her with a playful glint in his eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He teased. 

Ai felt slightly taken aback by Gojo’s attitude shift. She did her best to cover for her shyness with a chuckle. “Well, um, I have to admit, I’m a bit curious now.” 

Before Gojo could respond, Nitta opened the door after a quick knock. “Sorry Gojo-san, but you’re needed on set.” 

Gojo shrugged and stood up, flashing a smile Ai’s way. “Well, I guess we’ll have to end it here for now. You coming with?” 

Ai nodded still at a bit of a loss from how quickly the interview ended. She felt like she just sat down with him. She supposed that she couldn’t complain though since this was a last-minute thing anyway. 

“Yeah, give me a minute…” She said as she tucked her notebook into her bag before getting up.

As Ai gathered her belongings to head to the set with Gojo, she couldn’t help but feel a bit more at ease than where she initially started. Being around someone of Gojo’s stature within the industry felt intimidating, but she was determined to make the most of this opportunity.  

As they walked out of the conference room, Nitta fell into step beside them, guiding them through the Mappa offices with ease. Ai stole a few glances at Gojo, observing the way he effortlessly interacted with everyone they passed with ease. She supposed that was just the natural charisma that came with being an actor. 

Upon reaching the lot, Ai found herself in awe of the elaborate production unfolding before her eyes. She had visited briefly when working with Nobara, but you could easily see how much larger the budget had become since the first season of the show given the elaborate set pieces.

As they approached Gojo’s dressing room, he turned to Ai with a dazzling smile. “Here we are!” He said as he opened the door. “Make yourself comfortable, we’re gonna be here a while.” 

Ai nodded and stepped into the dressing room after Gojo, only to find Geto and Junpei waiting there with some of the hair and makeup team. 

“How’d it go?” Geto asked as he pointed his camera at Gojo as he sat for hair and makeup. 

Gojo smiled as he looked Geto’s way with a cheesy grin. “Good!”

[gokusleftchancla]

Only Friday

Words: 6,212

Relationships: Kiryu Kazuma/Majima Goro, Kiryu Kazuma & Sawamura Haruka, Kiryu Kazuma & Nishikiyama Akira, Majima Goro & Saejima Taiga

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of violence, No archive warnings apply

Tags: Kiryu being a good father, Oc's used as plot device, ocs that have same last names, Dead Characters Are Still Dead, no beta we die like almost everyone kiryu has ever loved, inspired by crappy dating sims, not Canon Compliant, Haruka has friends, first fic since 2020 bear with me, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, but not that slow, People Being Bad with Feelings, Kiss Kiss Fall in Love, Alternate Universe - High School, Gang Violence, Jealousy, Someone save nishida please, Cant even get a break in a different universe smh, Mentioned yakuza 0 characters, Half-baked cannon compliant, Praying this doesnt seem too OOC, Alternate Universe- Gender Changes, Post YK2, Pre Y3, Miscommunication

Summary: Kiryu took a box cutter from the kitchen counter and slid the blade into the tape. He opens the flaps and pulled out a CD labeled "7 days". Majima got up and inspected the object in kiryus hand, tilting his head when looking at the title. "7 days? Fuck is that?" "It's a dating simulator. Haruka told me that her friends have been obsessing over this game." "A dating Sim? If they wanted experience, why don't they just go outside?" "I don't know... it's odd why it would just come here though." "You wanna play it?" Kiryu looked at Majima with a look of shock. "You want to play a dating sim?" "Fuck it, I ain't got nothing to do right now. Besides, what's the harm in looking at it? Plus if you get it for Haruka you can see if there's any weird shit in there."

A goofy fanfic idea I got at 12 AM put into fruition. A thank you to the amazing people in Yakuza Fandom for getting me into this series and ship!

[jigensass]

So I have done nothing but play Like a Dragon Gaiden for the last…16 hours.

And here are my thoughts so far.

SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD. I’m currently somewhere in chapter 2 out of I do not know how many and I do not know how RGG managed to crank this out in six months.

I just got to point of unlocking sub-stories for a frame of reference of how far I am in.

Yes, I heard this was supposed to be DLC (for what I assume was Yakuza 7 seeing as the story starts in Yokohama and the story crosses over with it for a mere moment), but eventually turned it into an entire two-part game.

I personally have nothing to be impressed about it. This is a standard game in the Yakuza/LAD series. You do not have to impress or disappoint me. Yakuza 6 already was the worst disappointment to the series alongside Kiwami 2, so the bar was low for this.

Okay, the graphics have impressed me a bit.

The fucking car graphics went so hard in that opening scene.

I will say the fighting mechanics have improved and it seems that either this DLC was supposed to be the groundwork for Lost Judgement’s combat or the other way around, the main mechanic of switching between two different fighting style where one is quick and used to get rid of a lot of enemies and the other is used to take on single enemies is nothing new.

The spy mechanics are a bit clunky to pull off because I always have difficulty doing so in the way I want to use them because another new thing I noticed is that the AI for the fighting is somewhat more competent (I’m playing on normal) and will dogpile you given the opportunity. They also like to spam the block button thank god they gave Joryu a block breaker early on. (This is my first major nitpick)

I have ran into a few bugs, just some small clips and weird physics, but nothing like 6 or Kiwami 2 had where dead men jettisoned into space which is good.

And then I got to this part and I felt unsettled.

Like…why? For reasons of game mechanics just why. I’m 100% certain they managed to sneak a porn star into one of these scenarios. Just like how they used porn stars as VAs for the cabaret girls in Yakuza 0.

But then Kiryu says this

Personally I think Joryu is pulling a reverse 4th wall break and trying to get with real life waifus instead of those fake ones. This means Joryu is fully sentient of the world he is in is not real.

I do want to gloat right now I am currently in the 0.4% of the game’s population who has both cabaret achievements.

Also HOW CAN RYUJI AND MINE DIE ON SCREEN BUT IT HAS BEEN THIRTY ONE YEARS SINCE MAJIMA ENCOUNTERED THIS OLD WOMAN AND SHE HAD YET TO KICK THE BUCKET

I swear she is immortal.

The biggest major complaint I have right know is why do power ups have to be spent using both money AND the special points from the Akame missions? Why not just ONE?!

I know for some reason Joryu literally punches dudes for money in this game but tacking the Akame points on as a necessity to do side content is…unlike RGG. Side content is side content for a reason. The completion list was not a shock or a groan for me, the groan came when if I wanted to grind, then I actively had to interact with that list, which because of this some of the feats on the list are manageable and easy to obtain, or the objective is easy to manage.

I understand if you just casually do it, but so far I feel the Akame stuff should have been saved for a later chapter (you know, like how Yakuza 0 did it?) so the real story could settle in and get players invested?

Spoilers Ryuji is not alive he is very dead the Ryuji in the ring is a fake he had me fooled too for a hot second.

[kenzan-kiwami]

NO i love it too!! livejournal itself was a bit before my time but i've done wordpress comment sections before lol

always made me so sad that kiryu doesn't find out about the HLA until after kashiwagi dies, and also that i never finished that part of the game when i played 3 because i had INTENSE gun boss memories from kiwami and i was convinced it would be the same in 3 for some reason??

full disclosure, i never played y4, but that's really interesting to know about. also really funny to me because i swear half of the things we know about kashiwagi come from things other people say about him (bad back anyone)

thinking about it now though i imagine kazama and dojima's families merging in the 90s and then eventually taking over the family himself would have brought a lot of capital into kashiwagi's hands that he could have put towards starting the HLA up - i seem to remember them saying kamuro castle was like a theme bar at some point before they repurposed it, which was why it was outfitted like a dungeon? but yakuza 3 is on my replay list for good reason lol

0 too, for kazama reasons... it would make sense he's not as popular as kashiwagi for those reasons especially, and in general i think the games seem to present him as kind of an asshole despite kiryu as the main protagonist being informed by things kazama said or did through every step of his life. i know a lot of people in this fandom love to meme on him being a shit dad, and i do find it really funny too until it starts to broach "i hate kazama unironically and i think he's completely terrible and irredeemable" fanonisation territory cause it's so disingenuous to his character. but i do think that mentality and the lack of in-depth kazama analysis propagate each other in a sort of feedback loop

hah, might have to open up my docs while it's quiet at work next week... he deserves a treat. and nishiki deserves to have a moment of being portrayed as competent for once by organising informal dinner for his bros. :) but i think i would need to go back and play some pokecir and real estate minigame before i feel comfy writing about it hehe

I HAVE thought about the pre-fight ficlet though. i'm not super confident in my ideas, but i love the thought of them coming out of an alley next to cafe alps and kashiwagi offering to buy majima a coffee before they beat the shit out of each other, cause he walks into the office looking like he got dragged backwards through a bush and i think (especially by that point in the game) kashiwagi can absolutely relate and sympathise. i think for me at the moment my biggest singular issue is stringing things together in a way that flows well & generally what i've written since i was a preteen has been very short scenes or moments that don't require a lot of thought towards pacing or intensive dialogue lol

but yeah, reuse ga gotoku is real lol. i dug up kashiwagi AND that giant-ass dragon from 7 in gaiden's files when i was looking for shishido, and idk maybe they use the dragon somewhere but DEFINITELY NOT WAGI <\3 them not re-rendering the orphanage pic is why i'm so crazy about what's going down with haruka in 8 because they redid her princess league scene in dragon engine and i'mmmmm very interested in what this might entail

the cap's actually from nanba's drink link! i think that scene from 7 is the only one i haven't managed to dig up yet in those big cutscene videos (because that's basically my only option if i want to watch 7 with jpn audio) but mobile makes it so hard to navigate sixteen hour uploads : ( Some Day when i'm at my own PC

i still just can't believe everyone who finished the game saw that scene and then only like three or four people started writing about them together LOL

(screenshotting the replies and posting because i feel weird replying from my main <\3 hope you don't mind the ping @startledpixel )

i never even thought about it happening that way... haha... excuse me while i go scream in a corner for a couple of minutes

it ties in really well to the sort of recurring motif i see through his life that the only time he's allowed to be truly happy with himself and his place in the world is after his "death" and recovery. kazama is a very complicated character to think about when it comes to his motivations and his relationships with the people he's close with - i don't think he's very good at prioritising his emotional investments (nishiki being the obvious example, but also the way he doesn't send any letters to kiryu in jail until the last day before his parole), so to add an extra layer of tragedy to the whole thing i like to think that he hadn't been making as much time for kashiwagi towards the end than he maybe could have been. not in a premeditated disloyalty sense, of course, but he's got his hands more than full with the whole embezzling 10 billion yen from the tojo coffers gambit... kashiwagi being the way he is though would be all the more desperate for reconciliation, and to then not get it before kazama kicks it would be the icing on the shit cake

but yeah KNOWING adachi was in the building with everyone else must have been like reliving his second-worst nightmare... meeting this man he thought he'd be able to settle down with for the first time in sixty odd years but still constantly having to worry after him. i still adore no idling as an exploration of those feelings after the fact & i find myself coming back to it an awful lot as someone who doesn't generally read fiction more than once or twice unless i'm trying to find something specific (if you may allow me my nerd moment)

it's something i would love to explore more myself, but i don't really feel i have the means to do it in a way in which i'd enjoy the end product... but i suppose that's what commissions are for!

ANYWAY, apparently, everyone kiryu meets in his side story gives him some kind of reward, and i'm having A Time thinking about what he might get from kashiwagi. i'm trying not to set myself up to be disappointed by what happens, but there's a big part of me that hopes kashiwagi pulls "suzuki" to the side and leaves whoever else on the bar for a while so they get a chance to actually catch up. i think at this point both of them really need something like that, because i doubt there's any way kashiwagi didn't get the news that kiryu "died" in 2016

the other big thing that's got me physically shaking is the idea they might finally namedrop him. and uuhhh if they still let us karaoke at survive then i hope judgement gets its own cinematic. : )

[nagarashi]

Majima Goro's storyline in Yakuza 0 is probably the biggest emotional shock for me in... well in a pretty long time. I'm not a very emotional person, but the Japanese developers clearly know more about the world than we do, so one of the few things that can really trigger a lively reaction in me is their games, and that for me was Yakuza, a series I just now finally got familiar with.

I first went through part seven of Like a Dragon. Seeing Majima there for the first time, I liked him immediately, and when I saw him in Zero, I was... to say the least, I was surprised how much he didn't look like that chaotic guy from part 7, what could have changed him so dramatically? It's weird, I've often heard that there's not that recurring moment when Majima Goro becomes the Mad Dog, or that he's not revealed at all, even though his whole arc is one big twist on the Mad Dog image.

So... I noticed one ironic, sad thing about Yakuza 0 that strangely stabs me in the heart... me, anyway.

In playing as Majima, there's a certain kind of... mood when you get distracted from the main story and start engaging in side stories. Maybe I'm just imagining it, but... There are quite a few stories in the game for Goro that have to do with love and family in one way or another, and the game also focuses on the essence of the protector in Majima. Take for example the whole cabaret-club plot, where he takes on the role of protector as something as natural as breathing. All of this leads to the cabaret girls wanting to be with him, but Majima responds with jokes and refers to his work, while in other quests he makes it clear that he has no relationship or that he can't imagine himself as a father. However, in the same side stories, he manages to show that he does have a predisposition to be a good father, for example the story with the girl and the toys.

All of this in some ghostly way, when you keep it all in your mind as you go through the story, affects the perception of this story and Majima Goro's character ... and then he meets Makoto.

Admittedly, I'm fascinated by the way the developers showed the feelings between Majima and Makota, without throwing out the phrase "I love you", just watching them... and it's amusing to watch Majima's response to Sera's phrase "You don't look like someone who's in love" suddenly responding "You don't know anything about me to reason with" Majima... argues? That's very funny to hear, considering that before this, he tried his best to make it clear that he doesn't want a serious relationship. It's not very direct, but Goro actually admits that he has feelings for Makoto, maybe unconsciously.

But the strongest blow for me was the final scene, it's been a long time since I felt so... I haven't felt so devastated in a long time.

That moment when he faces Makoto, this there's something unspeakably painful in heart... and in his eye. That look with which he looks at her... dare I say that there was a spark of hope in them, that she would recognize him after all, patiently waiting for the agonizing moment of:

"Please recognize me, I so do not want to do what I must..."

And then she looks away in confused consternation, not understanding who is in front of her and why he is staring so intently. So sad...

The spark in his gaze fades, covered by a shadow of unspeakable sadness, of doom... His facial features become softer, the look of farewell must be the gentlest in the world...

The ending becomes even more heartbreaking when you remember this the mood I was talking about above....

Majima, a man who helped a lot of people and watched someone love someone, even managed to help the kids, like a daddy... Doomed to have neither...

It's too cruel. It's the kind of thing I didn't expect when I first saw the famous Mad Dog Shimano...

This may sound too... romantic, but when we got through the game, my friend said that Majima buried his heart with that watch, too.

[tarokro]

Yakuza 6, the game of all time

when I finished Yakuza 6 I wrote a good bit about it that I didn’t end up finishing. it’s a huge ramble with no conclusion, just a lot of thoughts. spoilers below.

A friend of mine ( @amalgamidol​ ) told me that I’m the perfect person to play a Yakuza game. I don’t think about things too much. I take things as they’re given to me and run with them. Yakuza is a series fraught with complicated, stupid plots and dumb twists, and I sit through all of them with rapt attention because I’m being entertained. That’s not to say that I don’t have gripes with the games - they’re all flawed in their own ways - but I still come out of them knowing that I had a great time.

It took me four months to beat Yakuza 6. For reference, I played every other mainline game, from 0 to 5, between January and July. Yakuza 6 is one of the shortest games (if not the shortest, I haven’t checked howlongtobeat), but it took me the longest to play - and not for a lack of interest, but because everything prior to the last four chapters of the game feels like a slog.

What little we know about the development of Yakuza 6 points to a complete story rehaul at some point within the game’s dev cycle. Given that RGG Studio tries to put out a game a year, that can’t have been a decision that was easily made, and the fallout of this still feels very present in the game that we play. The story we explore is meant to be a conclusion to Kiryu’s saga that ends up feeling anything but, building up a Kiryu that both exemplifies the worst parts of his character and contradicts his fundamentals at every turn. All of this builds up to an ending that feels like an ultimate act of cowardice from both the writers and Kiryu himself, and I’m left thinking more about the rewrite and the what-ifs than the story we were ultimately given.

Yakuza 6 did not break my cycle. I sat down, I played the game, I took everything as it was given and didn’t question it. I loved the new characters. I got invested. I had a lot of fun. But a Yakuza game’s ending has never left me feeling so conflicted, and I can’t help but feel that by trying to pander to everyone, RGG Studio satisfied no-one.

Right at the beginning of the game, our most relevant big players are jailed. Majima, Saejima, Daigo - gone. For a game that’s meant to conclude Kiryu’s saga, chucking three of his most important allies into jail is baffling at best and infuriating at worst. Nothing about this game could be a wholly satisfying end without his recurring allies at the forefront, and it hurts.

- there could have been no satisfying conclusion to Kiryu’s saga with the omission of everyone that has supported him along the way, and Majima, Saejima and Daigo being jailed at the start immediately tells you this won’t be a fitting end. what we know of remaining files in the game and the completely different story presented in the demo tells us that this wasn’t the original end to his saga, and the more you look at it, the more it stings

- the plot feels like a sum of coincidences too powerful to ignore. and that’s a lot in a yakuza game, where I suspend my disbelief to the highest degrees because I am the series’ perfect consumer

- the incomplete map of Kamurocho in the end of his saga again feels like spitting in people’s faces

- a portrayal of the different types of fatherhood without Kiryu himself ever admitting to his own daughter that he is her father fucking sucks

- daigo fatherhood feels really shoved in to accommodate the theme vs his previous status as a guardian - it feels like they ran with the thread established in Y0, the game before, and ran away with it. prior to the release of Y0, we had no idea of any details of the link between Kiryu and Daigo beyond Daigo seeing Kiryu as an idol and Kiryu putting himself in a mentorlike position so it just made me hate it more. there was no hint to Kiryu even being significantly in this relationship prior to that stupid twist at the end with the letter and I hate it. I would not have hated it if kiryu’s relationship to daigo was brought up anywhere else in the plot instead of the general theme of fatherhood. it wasn’t

- on that note, while I was watching that letter cutscene, a friend accidentally went “lol daigo” because he forgot I’d never played the game. I laughed and went “lol wouldn’t it be fucked up if he wrote this for daigo and not his own daughter.” call me booboo the fool.

- a step back for women, somehow

- Kiyomi and misogyny. I think her performance sucked but having a woman exist for nothingburger male competition felt like a perfect culmination of Kiryu’s saga in how much it treated women like dirt

- Haruka and misogyny. she’s been through too much and having her in a coma throughout again the final chapter of her father’s story

- Kiryu admitting that he sees himself as Daigo’s father before Haruka’s I hate this

- Kiryu both not dying and thus erasing any & all purpose of his previous sacrifice, but then proceeding to inexplicably run away as though his connection to his family can ever be severed in spite of what he has been through & seen for 12 chapters again feels like the ultimate ending to his saga because it’s a cop-out. it’s a lack of responsibility. it’s him running away.

- his last words to Haruka fuck me up. telling her to live for other people and make them happy and continue on his lifelong habit of self-sacrificing subservience. boo you whore

- It should have been a movie