Key Takeaways
- Amazon is adapting Yakuza into Like a Dragon, a crime-suspense-action series starting on Oct. 25.
- Show will honor the original game with protagonist Kazuma’s story set in 1995 and 2005.
- Adaptation of the games aims to properly explore the crime drama and intrigue of Yakuza.
A live-action adaptation of Yakuza titled Like a Dragon: Yakuza will air on Amazon starting October 25, 2024. The series will be six episodes long, with the first half dropping in October and the second on November 1.
Amazon struck gold with its Fallout adaptation, and is already invested in a God of War show as well, so it comes as no surprise it is seeking out more adaptations for its platform. The Yakuza franchise, which now goes by its original title of Like a Dragon, has already been adapted as a film once before, but feels far more at home in a series format.
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Amazon’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza
Honoring the original game
Amazon Video
According to Amazon, the show will be “an original crime-suspense-action series that follows the life, childhood friends, and repercussions of the decisions of Kazuma Kiryu, a fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity.” It will follow protagonist Kazumua in two time periods: 1995 and 2005. This implies a retelling of the first title which picks up in 2005 after Kazuma is released from a 10-year prison sentence.
The series is being directed by Masaharu Take, written by Seaon Crouch and Nakamura Yuho, and will star Ryoma Takeuchi as Kazuma. Similar to how Todd Howard was an executive producer for Fallout, Studio Head from Ryu Ga Gotoku Masayoshi Yokoyama will produce the series.
No trailer or footage of the series has been released so far, with only a single image of Kazuma showing off his iconic back tattoo and title revealed.
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What is Like a Dragon: Yakuza?
Should audiences be excited?
The Like a Dragon franchise only hit mainstream popularity in the West in the past five years or so. The games are all crime dramas with deep, twisting plots, betrayals, shocking reveals, and over-the-top action. It centers around the Yakuza, the organized crime groups that operate in Japan, and various conspiracies related to their operations. Kazuma Kiryu was the protagonist of the first six mainline titles (not counting a handful of spinoffs) before a new character Ichiban took up the mantle when the series rebranded to the Like a Dragon name.
Considering the massive popularity of the games, as well as other shows delving into the Japanese criminal underworld like Tokyo Vice, I believe Like a Dragon: Yakuza could be another example of a game adaptation done right. We will have to see if it can match the high marks of shows like Fallout and The Last of Us, but the potential for a new saga set in this universe is very high.
The first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza will air on October 25, with the final three on November 1, so we don’t have to wait long to see the results.
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