“The whole key to this iteration is the early days in 1995,” Takeuchi explains, hinting at the found family and brotherhood between Kiryu and Nishiki that serves as the emotional core of the TV series. “That starting point gave a great story arc for the characters, especially for Kazuma, who is in jail for 10 years. There is a big change to the outside world while he’s in there, especially for life in Kamurocho.”
Though the cast was careful not to allow themselves to be completely defined by the video game depictions of their characters, they wanted to strike a balance between the source material and their own performances. This is especially clear in Like a Dragon’s many action sequences, particularly the brutal fights that Kiryu constantly finds himself in, whether he’s participating in underground fight clubs or facing off against rival mobsters around Kamurocho. Takeuchi and the crew planned and choreographed Kiryu’s fighting styles meticulously in the show to demonstrate how the no-nonsense figure evolves over the course of the series.
“Living the character is more important than mimicking it, not copying, but making sure you have the character within is the most important thing about the performance,” Takeuchi says. “At the same time, in terms of the physical movements of the character, we did make an intricate plan in terms of fighting styles for Kiryu. We have one fighting style in 1995, but we made a total shift in how Kiryu moves and fights in 2005.”
With all the hard work put into bringing Like a Dragon to life, the cast and crew found the experience a challenging, but rewarding one that they feel honors the Sega video game series while forging a creative path not completely beholden to it. And in addition to playing these characters, the cast enjoyed the opportunity to get to live and breathe in the world of the games themselves.
“We had a hell of a time living and performing in the world of Like a Dragon,” Takeuchi says. “It was very rigid and hard in terms of the schedule and everything, but it was just so fun to be living in that world. I think that’s one of the testaments of how great the franchise is.”
Like a Dragon: Yakuza premieres October 25 on Prime Video.
