• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Sad Kazuma Kiryu GIF by Xbox
 

Reaseru

Member
Imagine someone making a game about Star Trek and saying that they don't care about the source material or not even watched a single minute of it. It's so fucking weird.

Then why did they even bought the rights of something you don't understand or watched?

Do something original of your own then you bunch of creativity parasites. Stop leeching on the works of others to make you rich and famous.
 
Last edited:

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Why would the cast have to have played it, lol. How they're supposed to portray their characters isn't up to the actors, they're just actors.
 
Last edited:

Edmund

Member
I do film acting and there's a reason why the actors have not played the game, even for research purposes. They do not want to be influenced too much by what they see/experience in the Yakuza games. They want their own fresh take and the directors might even ask the actors to not research/play the game because they don't want the actors to mimic the game characters or be influenced by what they see.


I understand the outrage but I'm speaking from someone who works as a film actor (and musical theatre actor and piano teacher) so I do know where they are coming from.
 
Last edited:

Astray

Member
If you want an exact retread of the games then just play them again. The entire point of an adaptation is to make things streamlined, fit for a different audience's tastes (TV people have different expectations than hardcore fans who log in +100 hours per game), and fit into predetermined chunks of time.

Things you like WILL get cut and changed around even if the actors and writers watched the series and micro-analyzed it. It's just part of making things work in a TV or film context.
 

StereoVsn

Member
I do film acting and there's a reason why the actors have not played the game, even for research purposes. They do not want to be influenced too much by what they see/experience in the Yakuza games. They want their own fresh take and the directors might even ask the actors to not research/play the game because they don't want the actors to mimic the game characters or be influenced by what they see.


I understand the outrage but I'm speaking from someone who works as a film actor (and musical theatre actor and piano teacher) so I do know where they are coming from.
Thing is the potential fans of this upcoming shit show don’t want a “fresh take”. We don’t need a “fresh take”.

What we would have loved to see is a faithful adaptation of the material so we all can see the characters we have played for almost the last two decades.

“Fresh Take” results in drivel such as Rings of Power, Cowboy Bebop or Witcher series.
 

AmuroChan

Member
I do film acting and there's a reason why the actors have not played the game, even for research purposes. They do not want to be influenced too much by what they see/experience in the Yakuza games. They want their own fresh take and the directors might even ask the actors to not research/play the game because they don't want the actors to mimic the game characters or be influenced by what they see.


I understand the outrage but I'm speaking from someone who works as a film actor (and musical theatre actor and piano teacher) so I do know where they are coming from.

For some shows maybe that makes sense. I don't see how that works here when Yakuza is so much about the over the top personalities of the characters. Imagine the actor playing Majima decides to do a fresh take on the character where instead of the crazy mofo that Majima is in the game, he plays him as a quiet, intellectual bookworm on the show. Do you think fans actually want that?
 

Mr.Phoenix

Member
Why is it that with live adaptations of games... or even comics... there are those that always seem to want to change it or "make it better".

Is it so hard to stick to the source material?
 

AmuroChan

Member
Thing is the potential fans of this upcoming shit show don’t want a “fresh take”. We don’t need a “fresh take”.

What we would have loved to see is a faithful adaptation of the material so we all can see the characters we have played for almost the last two decades.

“Fresh Take” results in drivel such as Rings of Power, Cowboy Bebop or Witcher series.

Let's not forget this gem of a "fresh take".

j2Egivm.jpeg
 

StereoVsn

Member
Let's not forget this gem of a "fresh take".

j2Egivm.jpeg
I think I prefer to forget it. As a matter effect I am pretty sure you used AI to generate this image. It’s my story and I am sticking to it. 😉

Edit: I also agree with the comments above about Uwe Boll. If fucking Uwe Ball does more research for his terrible trash movies than you, might as well hang your hat and change profession.
 
Last edited:

AmuroChan

Member
I think I prefer to forget it. As a matter effect I am pretty sure you used AI to generate this image. It’s my story and I am sticking to it. 😉

Edit: I also agree with the comments above about Uwe Boll. If fucking Uwe Ball does more research for his terrible trash movies than you, might as well hang your hat and change profession.

What about this "fresh take"?

1Ru7eDS.jpeg
 

Metnut

Member
Most of the actors from Game of Thrones were specifically told not to read the books and the show was a mega smash hit. Sounds like the show’s creators/writers understand and know the source material but they don’t want the actors to try and copy the game performance.

Seems completely reasonable to me. I doubt Walton Goggins played Fallout 4 either.
 

Comandr

Member
What about this "fresh take"?

1Ru7eDS.jpeg
medium-cover.jpg


This is the actual real genuine best Street Fighter movie adaptation. I own this movie. Y'all got no idea.


On topic: I'm still so genuinely upset that anyone in the production chain would consider it a good idea to disregard this characterization.



Edit for moar because I'm still lit up:

This story - the story Amazon is adapting, seems to be Yakuza 0. Or at least, evidently, based on to some degree. Kiryu's reoccurring karaoke song, Tonight, linked above, appears in a number of the Yakuza games, but most frequently in the newer ones, namely 6, 7.5 (Gaiden) and 8. The song is a deeply emotional one expressing Kiryu's missing of his brother and the times they shared. This increased frequency when Kiryu is older tells us that it weighs heavily on him and deeply regrets the situation. You could tinfoil hat it a step further with the increased fidelity of the newer renditions of Tonight (animated vs still images), you could take that as Kiryu reaching deeper to try to remember those moments in every detail he can, and that becoming more important to him as he aged.

Don't pursue your own vision!!!
Angry The Lord Of The Rings GIF
 
Last edited:

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Worked for hbo tlou
In TLoU the original game director was a showrunner and even a proper TV director of an entire episode. Along with some of the cast that was directly lifted from the game. You can argue about some choices in TLoU, but it transitioned to a hit show so well because Druckmann was there to highlight what is truly important for TLoUs identity and Mazin navigated the process of adapting and translating all this to the language of serialized cinematic medium.

LaD adaptation is whole another story. Cast doesn’t have an idea about their characters, there is confirmed serious tone without Kamurochos crazy side stories, plus Amazon has a very stained track record with adaptations in general. Is Nagoshi involved, is there at least some vanilla VAs mentioned at least in cameos? Of course not, so far it feels just like it sounds. Amazon’s Yakuza Show with a familiar name slapped on it, because it was cheap and Sega couldn’t care less.

I would be happy to be proven wrong on release of course.
 
Last edited:

nikolino840

Member
In TLoU the original game director was a showrunner and even a proper TV director of an entire episode. Along with some of the cast that was directly lifted from the game. You can argue about some choices in TLoU, but it transitioned to a hir show so well because Druckmann was there to highlight what is truly important for TLoUs identity and Mazin navigated the process of adapting and translating all this to the language of serialized cinematic medium.

LaD adaptation is whole another story. Cast doesn’t have an idea about their characters, there is confirmed serious tone without Kamurochos crazy side stories, plus Amazon has a very stained track record with adaptations in general. Is Nagoshi involved, is there at least some vanilla VAs mentioned at least in cameos? Of course not, so far it feels just like it sounds. Amazon’s Yakuza Show with a familiar name slapped on it, because it was cheap and Sega couldn’t care less.

I would be happy to be proven wrong on release of course.
The topic is about actors not directors...this is quote that I found

“[Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann] asked me, ‘Have you played the game?'” says Ramsey in a recent interview with the BBC. “I said, ‘No, I haven’t.’ They said, “Keep it that way…don’t play it.’ They didn’t want me to copy Ashley Johnson’s iconic version of Ellie, but bring a fresh perspective, I suppose.”

Do you agree with druckam about the actors that have to play a character or not?
 

nikolino840

Member
For some shows maybe that makes sense. I don't see how that works here when Yakuza is so much about the over the top personalities of the characters. Imagine the actor playing Majima decides to do a fresh take on the character where instead of the crazy mofo that Majima is in the game, he plays him as a quiet, intellectual bookworm on the show. Do you think fans actually want that?
It is not the actors who make these decisions 😅, if majima is like this, it is for the writers and the director
 

AmuroChan

Member
It is not the actors who make these decisions 😅, if majima is like this, it is for the writers and the director

I agree, typically those decisions should fall on the writers and the director, but that's not what the actors have been quoted to saying here. They're literally saying they (the actors) are exploring the characters from scratch. So either it's a mistranslation of what they actually mean, or they've been given the green light from the director to come up with their own mannerisms and personalities for the characters and the writers are just in charge of the dialogue in the script.
 

nikolino840

Member
I agree, typically those decisions should fall on the writers and the director, but that's not what the actors have been quoted to saying here. They're literally saying they (the actors) are exploring the characters from scratch. So either it's a mistranslation of what they actually mean, or they've been given the green light from the director to come up with their own mannerisms and personalities for the characters and the writers are just in charge of the dialogue in the script.
Yeah but is hard to find a director that give this kind of choices to the actors and not by him ... It's a chain of slavery 😂: the producer commands the director and the director commands the actors... in fact if you read it says that it was the team who advised not to see the games ... And I doubt it's because "so you can invent the characters" ... actors are the last wheel of the cart
In fact, I remember news of actors who leave TV series or who do not accept engagements if something does not suit them ... If they were in charge there would not be this kind of news i think
 

FeralEcho

Member
Why would the cast have to have played it, lol. How they're supposed to portray their characters isn't up to the actors, they're just actors.
I don't know man...If I'm an actor and I'm playing Wolverine for example I'd like to first do some research to know his abilities aren't flying and shooting webs up his crackhole...One to not make a fool of myself on set and more importantly...because as an actor I'm supposed to be a damn professional which clearly this crew is not.
 
Last edited:

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
It's not really important if the cast has or hasn't played the games.

What matters are the writers, producers and directors. What about those?
 

Ozzie666

Member
This why I appreciate someone like Henry Cavil, nerd, superhero fan, witcher, fantasy fan. He knows what he is playing and understands the universes.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I don't know man...If I'm an actor and I'm playing Wolverine for example I'd like to first do some research to know his abilities aren't flying and shooting webs up his crackhole...One to not make a fool of myself on set and more importantly...because as an actor I'm supposed to be a damn professional which clearly this crew is not.
I think any actor would get most of that from the movie script and discussions with the director, trainers, fight choreographers and others even if he'd never seen a comic book before. Kind of how there are movies/shows with original scripts not based on any comic books and actors still manage...
 
Last edited:

Gojiira

Member
Not quite. Unlike Fallout or TLOU where Druckmann and Todd Howard were producers on those shows, Nagoshi is not involved in this series as far as we know.
I meant as in ‘doing their own thing’ since Fallout was a retcon filled dumpster fire that people have convinced themselves was good, this on the other hand is so far removed from the games its dead on arrival because of it.
 

AmuroChan

Member
In fact, I remember news of actors who leave TV series or who do not accept engagements if something does not suit them ... If they were in charge there would not be this kind of news i think

That's why a lot of prominent actors are also producers on their shows or movies. So they're fully involved in the creative process.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I dont have Prime. I got a streaming box but dont watch any Amazon shows anyway.

Are they basically like Netflix shows? Great trailers, but B and C-tier quality?

Only big pay channel that seems to churn out consistently good shows is HBO.
 
In TLoU the original game director was a showrunner and even a proper TV director of an entire episode. Along with some of the cast that was directly lifted from the game. You can argue about some choices in TLoU, but it transitioned to a hit show so well because Druckmann was there to highlight what is truly important for TLoUs identity and Mazin navigated the process of adapting and translating all this to the language of serialized cinematic medium.

LaD adaptation is whole another story. Cast doesn’t have an idea about their characters, there is confirmed serious tone without Kamurochos crazy side stories, plus Amazon has a very stained track record with adaptations in general. Is Nagoshi involved, is there at least some vanilla VAs mentioned at least in cameos? Of course not, so far it feels just like it sounds. Amazon’s Yakuza Show with a familiar name slapped on it, because it was cheap and Sega couldn’t care less.

I would be happy to be proven wrong on release of course.
Why on earth would Nagoshi be involved when he left Sega years ago?

The current series producer, Yokoyama is involved.
 
Top Bottom