Like a Dragon is going global.
However, Like a Dragon: Yakuza never stretches to the incredulous heights of its gaming cousin.
In 1995, four teenagers from the Sunflower Orphanage steal money from a yakuza in a heist gone wrong.
Suddenly, Kiryu is the only thing standing in the way of an all-out yakuza war.
If that sounds like a lot to cram into six episodes, that’s because it is.
That approach also benefits Takeuchi’s strong take on Kiryu.
All told, I appreciated that this was an original interpretation of the character and not simply a copy.
It’s not the game Kiryu and why should it be?
Yakuza: Like a Dragon, if nothing else, is always confident in being its own thing.
Lost in translation
But not every reworking of its source material pays off.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza wasn’t at all what I was expecting and that’s no bad thing.
Despite infrequent miscues, itjustabout works.
As Kiryu might say that’s rad.
The first three episodes of Like A Dragon: Yakuza are available on Prime Video from October 24.
For more, check out theLike a Dragon: Yakuza release scheduleand our ranking of thebest Yakuza games.
