Why the makers of Like A Dragon: Yakuza believe in their video game TV adaptation
After a string of refreshingly good video game-to-TV adaptations – most notably HBO’s The last of us and Prime Videos Fallout — The bar has been set high for Sega and Amazon’s upcoming series based on the Like A Dragon (née Yakuza) games. The producers and stars of this October Like a Dragon: Yakuza believe their show will meet that high standard, partly because it is a local story and has global appeal as a family story.
The video game producer is also on board. Like A Dragon game series producer and Ryu Ga Gotoku studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama gave his blessing to the TV show script and is executive producing Like a Dragon: YakuzaHe told Polygon in an interview over Zoom that he had “in-depth conversations with the director and the cast” to discuss the series’ mythology and “the rules they had to follow.”
“I was prepared to reject the script or really tear it apart,” Yokoyama said through a translator, “but what I read turned out to be really impressive. So from that point on I was very light-hearted and let the film crew take complete control of the production.”
Like a Dragon: Yakuzaa six-episode live-action crime drama series, is based on the events of the first game in the franchise – and not the game of the same name Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Yokoyama said that the linear narrative format of Like a Dragon: Yakuza gives viewers a perspective on the story that the games can’t offer, because they don’t see the story from Kiryu’s perspective.
“When you adapt it into a (TV) story, you can stay with Kiryu and then (Akira) Nishikiyama and then Yumi (Sawamura). You can jump through POVs and tell things from a more rounded, bird’s-eye view, which was quite liberating. I think that’s one of the strengths of the adaptation that’s different from the game,” he said.
One area where the Prime Video series could surpass the games, Yokoyama said, is in its depiction of the fictional Tokyo nightlife district of Kamurocho. “In all the iterations (of Kamurocho), we put so much effort into realizing this fictional city, (the adaptation) almost surpasses us in that, making it feel really alive. So we’re a little jealous of that and feel like we should do better in the games.”
Erik Barmack, Executive Producer of Like a Dragon: Yakuzaalways felt it was important that the series not only be set in Japan, but also be made in Japan.
“You’ve seen Hollywood take Japanese IP and bring it to the U.S., and not always do it successfully or authentically,” Barmack said. “You’ve seen great video game adaptations in the U.S. for the world, but there aren’t many examples of a great Japanese video game that’s been made locally and authentically to the material, that really pays homage to the games. You could really only do it authentically in Japan, and the fact that Amazon has taken the opportunity to do something that’s a pretty big show in Japan, for a global audience, is really interesting and unique.”
The man who should play the lead role in Like a Dragon: YakuzaRyoma Takeuchi believes that the series’ potential international appeal lies largely in the human relationships and the colorful family that surrounds Kiryu.
“What drew me to the story, which I think has a global sensibility, is the orphans who have no family, yearning and desperate to form a human relationship,” Takeuchi said through a translator. “That’s the core of it all and the element that makes it most relatable.”
Takeuchi’s co-star Kento Kaku, who plays Kiryu’s friend and rival Akira Nishikiyama, said he appreciates the responsibility and expectations of portraying these characters in a live-action film.
“I have a lot of experience doing famous manga adaptations in Japan, and I know from experience how difficult it is to successfully adapt them into live action,” Kaku said. “So I was actually going to turn down (the role), but when I read the script, it was the first time I could really see the depths of the characters and (their) backgrounds, and understand the relationship between Kazuma and Nishiki.”
Takeuchi reiterated that statement, but indicated that he doesn’t just want to appeal to fans of the original Yakuza game. He wants his Kiryu to embody male toughness And the vulnerable vulnerability of Sega’s beloved protagonist, he said, and to portray him in a way that is characteristic of live-action.
“I don’t think this is the right approach to just now try to please the fans,” Takeuchi said. “It’s more about coming from within and being authentic. So it’s a big challenge and it’s busy, but I think that’s where we all have to come from.
“It’s scary,” he said, laughing.
Takeuchi at least has Yokoyama’s approval for the way he portrays Kiryu on screen.
“It’s very liberating to have the opportunity to work with a very talented cast and have (Takeuchi) embody the character in his own way, it’s just so refreshing,” Yokoyama said. “It’s not imitating or mimicking the game character. It’s more embodying his spirit and having him come back to life as a new character. So there’s no comparison. It’s just something completely different — and that’s cool.”
And while Like a Dragon: Yakuzais a crime drama set over a ten-year period and tells the beginning of an extensive story, but it can also be intimate and emotional, Barmack said.
“This is not a show that needs to blow up $20 million spaceships to make it work,” he said. “You have to believe that these three characters (Kiryu, Akira and Yumi) care about each other and are in conflict with each other. If you went back 15 years, you would say there was no way you could take a Japanese-language show and put it in front of a global audience with the reach of this show that matches the millions of people who played the games. So you needed a platform like Amazon and and and the game to travel the world the way it did. It’s scary, but it’s also amazing that a show like this could happen.”
Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premiere worldwide on Prime Video on October 24.