Under the roiling cauldron of the pacific churns a ecliptic ziggurat. A ancient temple of prehistoric build buried beneath the destructive power of earth's primordial waves. That black temple stone sleeps, untouched by erosion, unbowed by Mother Nature's fury, impossible and non-Euclidian- it houses the unspeakable. The unwoken, the ever dreaming, the tyrant, the priest, the mountain, the fish man, the dawn and the twilight. His dreams are our nightmares, and his wake will be our sleep. Cosmic and alien, the God of Dreams waits, harrowing against the thin veil, clawing at the membrane of our psyche, leaking through the cracks, manifesting in our mania. And it is to him, Great Cthulhu, that I credit the recent announcement that Yakuza is getting a life action adaptation.
Because come on- what else am I supposed to believe? I've been bringing up how good of an idea this would be in blog after blog for years now, knowing well just how much brilliant stories and characters the world was missing out on thanks to the barrier to entry of the gaming world. This dreams, this longing, existed solely in my warped and peeling mind- until it didn't anymore! What am I supposed to believe, that Amazon reads this blog? Don't be foolish- 'twas the god king, obviously! In his neverending war to break beyond the waves and reclaim his foot on the head of all mankind, Cthulhu plucked that little gem from my mindscape and went "Oh, that's actually a pretty good idea! I'm going to just insert that in an Amazon exec's noggin' so when I rise there'll be a couple of seasons of the show to binge on!" He's a savvy one, that Cthulhu! Always planning ahead!
With this conflux of realities breaking down comes the apparent rapidly approaching adaptation of Yakuza 1's entire story within later this very year, under Amazon studios! Which would, of course, make this the second attempt to retell the beginning of Kazuma Kiryu's story- the first being a hilariously bizarre movie in which Majima walks around with a shotgun he uses to gun people down- (I suppose that was made back when Majima still flittered between being a good or bad guy) and wore an eyepatch on the wrong eye. But it did spawn that unforgettable image of Majima slyly peaking around the corner of a hallway using his blinded eye to spy on Kiryu and Haruka. (Classic.) Although I have to be honest, I'm not sure if this was the best start for a Yakuza series.
Back when Yakuza 0 was developed it did rest on the back of five Yakuza games before it in order to inform characters and direction, making it a prequel in the truest since balancing the weight of all that came after. But it was also a hail mary to try and score a western audience- which succeeded with gusto. Many people, including myself, were introduced to Yakuza through 0 and thus closely relate the majesty of that franchise with the quality of that original power house of a game and let me be clear- that is because 0 is an incredible introduction. None of that game is dependent on knowing who these characters are or what they will become. Foreshadowing is subtle character work delicately laying out the complexities of the iconic personalities these to-be heroes would adopt, and the overall narrative itself tells the origin of the series' most iconic landmark it returns to so often it even starred in the finale of Infinite Wealth earlier this year- Millennium Tower.
And that isn't even to mention the fact that Yakuza 0's story is, to be honest, actually a lot better than Yakuza 1's. That original was created back in a time when Yakuza was still finding it's identity and thus basing itself around the various rigors of romantic crime drama- in an almost cliché sense. You have the virtuous sacrifice, the 'protect the small girl' subplot, the betrayal, the surprise romance so cold I'll bet people were literally flashbanged by "I love you" in the final moments of the game. Yakuza 1 is a classic, no doubt- but 0 was a legend. Yakuza 0 broke all these characters down to their base most form and dragged them across a complex conspiracy that spanned across Asia and across generations, peppered with genuine slow burn romance, one emotionally shattering confrontation and enough cliffhanger plot-twists to break a gordian knot and worlds collided in a scrabble to seize what would eventually become the most important piece of real-estate in this entire franchise. That would be the way to start this new media journey, if Amazon were taking this serious.
We've already got ourselves a glimpse of our Kiryu's back, bearing a tattoo reminiscent of the classic dragon though slightly different, bringing to mind the most pressing question we should be asking about this adaptation- are we still going to do the one arm strip move? Afterall, how else are we going to demonstrate that tattoo? We can't have Kiryu rip his precious outfit, he needs to take that off in important and impactful moments- and will he perform the physics defining hand rip to pull it off? For that matter- what exact tone are the team looking to strike with this adaptation? Are we going to get ourselves a fun and light-hearted farce, or a serious and intense drama? Or will the showrunners be clever enough to know that in order to match the game franchise, they need to actually strike a balance of both?
An important point of note is the stipulation that 'Like a Dragon: Yakuza' is said to follow a 'loose' adaptation of the events of the first game, which may be their licence to trim the fat in a few areas- or to use the Yakuza franchise as a flesh-suit for the showrunners own failed storytelling ambitions as we've seen happen to 'The Rings of Power', 'The Witcher' and, regrettably, 'Avatar'. Ryoma Takeuchi is playing Kiryu, which means we'll have an actor of the right height at least, and he bares the name 'Ryoma'- so I guess they have to do an Ishin series if this thing makes it off the ground- I just can't shake the feeling he looks a little young for the role. (Which would have made him perfect to play 'Yakuza 0' Kiryu! Ah, I'm never going to shake this, am I?)
But enough misgivings. This is what I want. It's what I've always wanted. For Kiryu to finally shine on the screen in a medium he can genuinely be added to. None of these nowhere adaptations that have no possible ability to improve, or even match, the original- such as with cartoons like Avatar to live action versions of the same scenes, only slower and clunkier. Like a Dragon bases itself over an exaggerated reality which, if given a totally straight face, could elevate the source material in those special moments. Does that mean I want to see blue glowing auras and videogame stuff like that represented? I honestly don't know yet- and the fact that this series could literally go one of a hundred directions and still potentially prove faithful, as proven by the murder happy farce-fest of the movie- is just proof why this is the one video game adaptation that was meant to be.
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