Tag: SEGA

An Ode to Sega’s Yakuza and its Fictionalised Kabukicho

On By KorlisIn Articles, External ArticlesLeave a comment
Tenkaichi Street, as depicted in Yakuza Kiwami 2 (SEGA)

Over on Overlode, you can read my piece exploring the fictional district of Kamurocho – the setting for most of Sega’s long-running Yakuza / Like a Dragon series, based on real-life Tokyo’s Kabukicho district.

Back in 2005, it was an area packed full of bars, short-stay hotels and adult entertainment venues, and was often called a red light district. The Yakuza series features the same attractions as the real Kabukicho, and several such establishments were either nods to or actual branded versions of real locations, from Sega’s own arcades, to the landmark Don Quijote store, and the baseball batting cage beloved by fan-favourite Goro Majima. In many cases, the games act like time capsules from when they were released, capturing snapshots of a Tokyo that has changed considerably over the last two decades. Sega may have closed its arcade business, but the arcades live on in Yakuza.

Read the full piece, “The (almost) unbroken history of Yakuza’s Kamurocho”, on Overlode now

Yakuza Zero (A Kino 893 x TGLG Review)

On By KorlisIn ReviewsLeave a comment

It is not my intention, still early in the run of this blog on Japanese cinema, to branch too yakuzazero-coverwildly into other areas. That said, I do think there are other, relevant things that could be discussed: American re-edits or remakes of Japanese productions, books on the subject, and videogames that draw from the history of film. There’s one series that’s particularly dear to me: SEGA’s Yakuza (龍が如く/ Ryū ga Gotoku). First launching in Japan in 2005 and 2006 in the West, the series transplants recognisable yakuza movie tropes onto a long-running videogame franchise. It’s easy to see the influence Japanese cinema of the ‘60s and ‘70s has had on it, from casting Tetsuya Watari (star of the Outlaw VIP series) as the protagonist’s yakuza mentor Shintaro Kazama, to the dramatic, freeze-frame splash screens that list the various characters’ names, ranks, and affiliations – a stylish technique ripped straight from Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honor and Humanity.

2017 has seen the belated, but extremely welcome, Western release of Yakuza Zero (originally launching in Japan in March 2015). Set in 1988 at the height of the Japanese Bubble Economy, the game is both a prequel to the series and the first non-spin off released on the PlayStation 4, making it an excellent jumping on point for newcomers.

Continue reading “Yakuza Zero (A Kino 893 x TGLG Review)” →