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Amazon's Like a Dragon: Yakuza TV show cast reveal that they have never played the games: "we wanted to do our own version"

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Excitement is building for the upcoming release of TV show Like a Dragon: Yakuza, Amazon's latest video game adaptation which hopes to follow in the footsteps of their hit series from earlier this year Fallout.

Based on the crime video game series of the same name, the Prime Video show will see actor Ryoma Takeuchi take on the lead role of Kiryu, a fearless Yakuza warrior. Spanning two timelines, we will see how his actions affect not only the criminal underworld but his relationship with childhood friend Akira Nishikiyama, who here is portrayed by Kento Kaku.
Speaking to GamesRadar+ at SDCC (via translators) following the reveal of the show's first teaser trailer, the actor duo spoke passionately about the series but had arguably a surprising answer when we asked them whether they played the games ahead of shooting - either for research or just for fun.

Not only has both of them never played the Yakuza games, but as Takeuchi revealed the team behind the new Amazon show actually asked them to avoid doing so. As he explained though, they had their reasons: "I know these games - everybody in the world knows these games. But I haven't played them. I'd like to try them but they had to stop me because they wanted to - for the character in the script - explore from scratch. That's why I decided not to play."

Adding onto that, Kaku emphasized that whilst their show does continue the legacy of the games, they also wanted to put their own stamp on it. He concludes: "I definitely knew the property very well but I didn't realize the franchise was this globally big. We decided we would make sure we would do our own version, relive the characters, take their spiritual elements, and embody them on our own. There was a clear line we wanted to draw but everything on the bottom was respect."
The first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premiere on Prime Video on October 24, with new episodes following weekly.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
No wonder they said stuff like no side content comedy stuff or even the popular karaoke.

The brief moments outside of the main quests gives some brevity and let the pace breathe. I acknowledge doing less of them but completely ignoring them? Now it’s not even gonna be related to the actual game and just another typical live action writer/director bullshit stroking their own ego?

Fuck this shit man. What’s the fucking purpose of this then.

I WANT MY FUCKING GROWN ASS MEN SUCKING A MILK PACIFIERS IN DIAPERS WHILE I DESTROY KIDS AT A LOCAL POCKET CIRCUIT JOINT
 
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El Muerto

Member
Hopefully the writers for the show played the games or will listen to RGG for advice. Being on Prime i'll bet this will be successful like how Fallout was. The Witcher went to shit because the writers ignored the author and source material as they wanted to do their own thing.
 

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
"I know these games - everybody in the world knows these games. But I haven't played them. I'd like to try them but they had to stop me because they wanted to - for the character in the script - explore from scratch. That's why I decided not to play."
"I definitely knew the property very well but I didn't realize the franchise was this globally big. We decided we would make sure we would do our own version, relive the characters, take their spiritual elements, and embody them on our own. There was a clear line we wanted to draw but everything on the bottom was respect."
What in the fuck

Frustrated Jason Segel GIF by NETFLIX
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
I can't think of an adaptation that has found success with this method, but that might be because my memory is full of all the most recent and most prolific examples of fails. If anyone has any counter examples, please provide them.

Bold Strategy Cotton GIF by MOODMAN
 
I still don't get the point of this existing.

The cutscenes of the Yakuza games are directed exactly like movies, the characters are photo-realistic to the point that is straight up just the actors there, and are pretty dialogue heavy to begin with.

Just... play the games. Why make a TV Show? The games are basically TV Shows, bundled with some arcadey gameplay.
 

Plague Doctor

Gold Member
I am going to say it again

There is absolutely no benefit when making an adaptation not doing the basic research of the source material. None. Zero. Zilch,

Even if your goal is to do your own thing or completely subvert the source, you need to see what has been done before.

Uwe fucking Boll engages with the source material before making his abomination of cinema. If you can't pass the Uwe Boll level of basic research, you are fucked.
 

night13x

Member
Sounds like a case of the studio wanting to avoid a Henry Cavill situation of hiring an actor who actually is passionate and gives a fuck. Instead the show will probably be pushing some weird political or social agenda, it will suck, writers will blame the audience, amazon will cancel due to low numbers, then everyone goes "why did this happen" in confusion. lol. Oh boy.
 

March Climber

Gold Member
What in the fuck
The reason some actors do this is because they will try too hard to emulate the character's mannerisms and their performances will end up suffering by feeling too 'forced'. Sometimes for directors and writers it's better when they can guide the actor to become that character through good acting (which can produce better results and sometimes good adlibs and more), rather than acting as stifled as possible to emulate that character.

I hope that makes sense.
 

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
I am going to say it again

There is absolutely no benefit when making an adaptation not doing the basic research of the source material. None. Zero. Zilch,

Even if your goal is to do your own thing or completely subvert the source, you need to see what has been done before.

Uwe fucking Boll engages with the source material before making his abomination of cinema. If you can't pass the Uwe Boll level of basic research, you are fucked.
At least play one. On easy. How hard can that be? Get some idea of the thing you’re making. If not then why bother with the IP at all. Do your own thing. Why would you get an IP just that you do your own thing. How does that make any sense?
 

March Climber

Gold Member
You should team up with manabyte in defending corporate slogs. Actors knowing the source material is extremely important.
Most actors prepare for a role by finding out who their character was in the original media it's being adapted from. So while I hope it's not the writers and directors saying this as well, the actors saying it can also be a bad indication.
This is a bit more difficult of a conversation point, but The Cockatrice The Cockatrice if you want to use the lazy rebuttal of me defending corporations than we can simply end discussion.

tkscz tkscz , there have been plenty of examples in the past of actors not studying source material and doing a phenomenal job of portraying a character in a pop culture/fictional works, from LoTR, to Xmen, to MCU, to DC, to Harry Potter. There is a mass amount of interviews as evidence on youtube to support this. It is not as black and white as many here would like it to be. When these occurrences happen it lies much more heavily on the director to make it work to a specific vision of what they are wanting while giving the actor enough breathing room to add their own creativity to the role.
 

Comandr

Member
Well, what the f is the point of licensing the material? They could have just done a normal yakuza crime series.
Right, this. Like... Why bother doing an adaptation of an extremely well established story if you're going to "pursue your own vision?" Just... Don't bother sullying the Yakuza series name and do your own thing.

Kiryu is Kiryu. He is Kiryu because of his behavior, experiences, reactions, thoughts, expression, interests, goals, beliefs. If you just... Make up your own character and call him Kiryu.. That's not an adaptation.


yakuza.gif
 

N30RYU

Member
Why will someone be so dumb to answer that... and why would you cast for a show do you not shit about? Money... ffs just youtube and get some interest on the original art you fuckers.
 

Braag

Member
A quick guide on how to be 100% sure your show/movie will be hated by everyone and have barely anyone interested in watching it.

1. Tell everyone how you're planning to create a show or a movie based on a popular IP.
2. Refuse to be faithful to the source material and keep saying how "you want to do your own thing and add your own flair to it".
3. Watch as the whole thing crashes and burns as everyone hates it.
 

Esca

Member
Sigh. I'll never understand Hollywood. They license an IP and then ignore the source material and do their own thing. It's like you know the ip was already popular enough and had a large fan base and was why you wanted to license it and paid good money to do so as well. Then you ignore it all and fuck it up. Piss off the built in fan base that would watch it and go for totally new audience instead.

I get having to make changes sometimes and that's ok as long as you are following the blue print of the ip. But instead you don't and wonder how it failed. Fucking clowns
 

SJRB

Gold Member
How this should've went down:

"Hey man we're gonna make a tv show based on a critically acclaimed videogame series that has been around for decades and has a huge and loyal fanbase and we want you to play a character from this series"
"Okay cool man, but I'm not gonna play any of these games because I want to do my own thing"
"....get the fuck out of my office right now, you dumb fuck"
 
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Plague Doctor

Gold Member
Sigh. I'll never understand Hollywood. They license an IP and then ignore the source material and do their own thing. It's like you know the ip was already popular enough and had a large fan base and was why you wanted to license it and paid good money to do so as well. Then you ignore it all and fuck it up. Piss off the built in fan base that would watch it and go for totally new audience instead.

I get having to make changes sometimes and that's ok as long as you are following the blue print of the ip. But instead you don't and wonder how it failed. Fucking clowns

This shit should be a lay up. Take a property that has potential to be well received by the masses. Just adapt it as faithful as you can. The existing fanbase acts as free loud and organic marketing if you turn it into a love letter to them. Hell, the story is already there... you are basically transposing it to a theatrical screenplay. That's it. It's kind of genius in a cynical way. Win/win, right?

This is just fucking hubris by the showrunner/executive creative to go out of their way to fuck things up. And I don't get it. It's self destructive as fuck. And they do it all of the time in almost an insane compulsory trance.

Edit: I am not so much talking about this specific project. Who knows, the director and writer could be giant fans. I am talking about the trend and then the boasting about not doing basic research. For this instance, the producers should be scrambling to shut these fuckers up. The fact this is part of the news cycle shows you how sick the entertainment industry is.
 
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ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Because it worked so well with Tolkien, lol. Amazon never learns. What a bunch of morons.

Like a Dragon always was charming and unique because of crazy tonal shifts. the series though is shaping up to be another predictable Yakuza exploration drama.
 
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