Like a Dragon: Yakuza

 

Growing up in an orphanage under the protection of ex-yakuza Shintaro Kazama (Toshiaki Karasawa), Kazuma Kiryu, siblings Akira “Nishiki” and Miho Nishikiyama, and sisters Yumi and Aiko Sawamura form close bonds. When Kiryu decides to make a name for himself by joining the Yakuza, he drags his adoptive family into the criminal underworld with him. Years later, Kiryu (Ryoma Takeuchi) has been excommunicated for killing his boss. He is released from prison to find Nishiki (Kento Kaku) occupying that boss’s position, a masked assailant picking off yakuza left and right, Aiko (Misato Morita) missing along with a large amount of illicit money, Yumi (Yuumi Kawai) desperately searching for her, and the Tokyo-based Tojo Clan on the brink of war with the Omi Alliance of Kansai over the missing money. As Kiryu, the clan’s former enforcer turned persona non grata, reluctantly reenters his old life, everything threatens to fall apart around him.

 

SEGA’s long-running Yakuza/Like a Dragon video game franchise spans more than a half-dozen games released over nearly two decades that encompass everything from political scandals to intense family drama to too-wacky-to-describe slapstick, all of which renders a faithful television adaptation an impossibility. Amazon Studios took a broad strokes approach to adapting the first game’s plot, covering many of the key events albeit with significant alterations, some for the better, and several for the worse. While fidelity is not and should not be a byword for quality, one couldn’t help but wonder if hewing closer to the source material in this case would have yielded a better result.

 

Positives first: Kaku does an excellent job as Nishiki, embodying his desperation to keep the terminally ill Miho alive, his regard for and later resentment toward Kiryu, and his iciness as his ambition grows. While Kiryu is a challenging character to play – he can come across as a flat “stoic warrior” stereotype in clumsy hands – Takeuchi acquits himself reasonably well. That he isn’t the sole protagonist here reduces the amount of heavy lifting required.

 

The series’ production values are solid if unspectacular: the Tokyo nightlife isn’t as impressively rendered as it is in Tokyo Vice, and the fight scenes don’t match the adrenaline or emotion of the games. That said, while it may not pop, it doesn't feel cheap or languid, either.

 

Among the changes made from the source material, not all are negative. Yumi, for all the personal significance she holds for Kiryu, was a fairly flat character in the first Yakuza game. Here, with her game actions split between Yumi and Aiko (an original character – Yumi invented a sister as a cover identity in the game), she’s given more room to grow and comes across as more competent and more tortured. However, this arguably comes at the expense of developing Haruka (her daughter in the game and Aiko’s in the series) and Kiryu’s protectiveness of her.

 

In other cases, the departures range from defensible to baffling. Series favorite Goro “Mad Dog” Majima (Munetaka Aoki) isn’t given much screen time, but then again, he wasn’t a major character in the first game, either. Masaya Kato looks nothing like the short, lecherous, toadlike Dojima (the murdered boss), but he retains the character’s greed and manipulativeness, and his added height actually makes him more imposing. However, other characters are practically unrecognizable in appearance, personality, or both. Tojo Clan chairman Masaru Sera, an unflappable dead ringer for Ken Watanabe in the games, is as played by Koichi Sato, a good deal older-looking and a good deal less composed when faced with danger.

 

Beyond that, Like a Dragon’s pacing is decidedly uneven. The series often seems to buckle under the weight of its multiple narrative threads. Rather than past and present or Kiryu’s, Nishiki’s, and Yumi/Aiko’s stories playing effectively off of one another to create tension, they sometimes feel as if they are competing for screen time.

 

All told, Like a Dragon is not a terrible show, just a disappointing one. The acting offers enough bright spots to suggest what might have been if the creators had a better feel for the source material and its audience.

Kalm Bistro

 

Located at 3557 S. Church Street in the Westbrook Shopping Center in Burlington, Kalm Bistro offers Vietnamese cuisine. It is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Online ordering is available.

I was on the way home from the Triangle, in need of lunch, and in possession of a banh mi craving, so geographic convenience more than anything led me to Kalm’s door. Tucked inside a plaza shared with a Food Lion, it isn’t much to look at inside or out. However, some of the best Vietnamese and Thai places are these too-easily ignored hole-in-the-wall joints, and Kalm proved to be no exception.

In addition to a few banh mi options, Kalm’s menu includes rice and noodle dishes, apps, boba tea, poke, and pho. There are several vegetarian selections as well as a kid’s menu. If I didn’t have a specific craving, I might have had a hard time choosing as several other dishes looked good.

I went with a classic Banh Mi Dac Biet (roast pork, sausage, and veggies on a baguette). Kalm’s preparation was different than I’ve had elsewhere: they serve the sandwich deconstructed with cilantro, cucumbers, carrot, daikon, and jalapeños on the side. This preempts patrons from picking out any toppings they don’t like. At any rate, the banh mi definitely hit the spot. The bread was very warm and flaky, and the meats were flavorful. The cucumbers, daikon, and carrots offered a refreshing balance to their saltiness.

Service here is also great. I got a greeting when I walked in, my order was taken and prepared quickly, and everyone was pleasant and polite throughout the meal.

For those despairing about Burlington’s food options, you needn’t have to drive far to find some welcome variety. Support local, keep Kalm, and carry on.

The Root Cellar Cafe & Catering

 

Located at 750 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the Midtown Market plaza in Chapel Hill (with a second location in Pittsboro), The Root Cellar offers coffee, baked goods, breakfast and lunch. It is open from 8-3 daily. Catering, prepared meals, and online ordering are available.

 

The Root Cellar is one of those places that I wanted to like more than I actually did. On paper, it has a lot to offer, but it also leaves room for improvement in a few areas.

 

Though the name may suggest a cozy café, The Root Cellar is decidedly not that. This place is huge with plenty of seating and space. The restaurant/bakery occupies the front half while wine, beer, and a few grocery items for sale can be found toward the back. While you’re unlikely to be left waiting to find a table, it can get a bit loud in here.

 

For a breakfast/lunch place, The Root Cellar’s menu offers a good amount of variety. Go for a pastry, egg plate, or smoothie in the morning or a salad, sandwich, or wrap later in the day. The sandwiches show a variety of global influences, the pastries are made in-house, and the coffee uses Joe Van Gogh beans.

 

Ordering is a bit chaotic as lines approached the register from two different sides with no indication of which was the correct queue. The cashier, while not rude, very much seemed like she would rather be anywhere else.

 

Wanting something light to tide me over until lunch, I opted for a green smoothie and an herb cheddar biscuit. I didn’t have long to wait for either. The smoothie was a bit sweet, and, at $8.50, no bargain. On the other and, the biscuit – warm and savory – was delicious and a much more reasonable $3.

 

I wouldn’t rule out returning to The Root Cellar, but it’s not a place I would go out of my way to visit during future Chapel Hill trips, either.

Homicide: Life on the Street

In Baltimore, a homicide unit under the command of Al “Gee” Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) works to close cases and get justice for victims while fending off political pressure from police brass. The detectives include the mercurial Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher), idealistic newcomer Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor), wisecracking Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson), former student radical turned cynic John Munch (Richard Belzer), and others.

 

Given that I hold The Wire in such high regard, it may seem puzzling that I took so long to watch the show that was in many ways its forebearer. After all, Wire co-creator David Simon supplied the source material (a nonfiction book of the same name), and several future Wire cast members did Homicide first (plus, showrunner Tom Fontana of later Oz fame is no slouch in the creative department himself). So why the wait? Part of this was stubbornness: Homicide was not available to stream, and I kept waiting for that to change (Ironically, within a month of me caving and buying the DVD set, it finally did stream albeit on a service I don’t subscribe to without the original music intact). A bigger part, however, was fear of disappointment. For all the strength of its pedigree, Homicide was still 90s network television. Would I be able to appreciate it for what it was even if what it was pales in comparison to the prestige TV that followed?

 

The short answer is yes. The writing (courtesy of Simon, Fontana, Paul Attanasio, and James Yoshimura) is often very strong. Whereas its contemporary Law & Order (which shared a few crossover episodes with Homicide) gave its characters a few quirks, it was in many ways a textbook police procedural. Homicide, on the other hand, used that genre to tackle everything from racial politics to crises of faith and more. Its characters are fully formed, subject to bad decisions, and deeply affected by what they do. Rather than treating continuity as an afterthought, Bayliss, for instance, is still haunted by his first case at the series’ end. This isn’t to say that there aren’t missteps, however. Established characters are sometimes diminished to make room for new ones, and one modeled on Simon himself (videographer J.H. Brodie, played by Max Perlich) is unnecessary comic relief. NBC’s lack of confidence in the show early on also led to the first two seasons being short and made wonky pacing all but inevitable.

 

While their talents weren’t always utilized to the fullest extent, Homicide also boasted a hell of a cast. It was Braugher’s breakout series, and its easy to see why. Pembleton is a master interrogator and a dedicated detective, but he’s also contemptuous of just about everyone. Braugher can go from bored and indifferent to scarily intense in the blink of an eye. As his most frequent partner, Secor’s Bayliss doesn’t impress early on – he seemed like he was overacting – but that’s more a reflection of the character’s eager new guy status. He does a commendable job of adapting as Bayliss takes on more layers in later seasons. While they aren’t given nearly enough to do at times, Kotto and future Oscar winner Melissa Leo (as unflappable Sgt. Kay Howard) definitely have their moments as do less-loved latter season additions John Seda (Paul Falzone) and Giancarlo Esposito (FBI agent Mike Giardello, Gee’s son).

 

If nothing else, Homicide made excellent use of its guest stars. It boasted a poignant dramatic turn from Robin Williams (before he was known for such things) as a grieving widower and a tense father-son showdown between James Earl Jones and Jeffrey Wright. Some parts – such as Vincent D’Onofrio as an abrasive dying man and Moses Gunn (in his last role) as an accused child murderer – dared you to love and hate the characters all at once. On a more amusing note, Homicide also (SPOILER ALERT) had a penchant for former casting actors like Elijah Wood, Neal Patrick Harris, Jena Malone, and Steve from Blues Clues as manipulators and murderers.

 

Last but not least, the production values were, for network television, surprisingly good. The show made use of an eclectic assortment of 90s music to set the mood. The cinematography often favored documentary-like realism with occasional departures for better (the claustrophobic, stage play presentation inside the interrogation room during Gunn’s episode) or worse (the “stutter effect” repetition of the same shot in quick succession).

 

All told, Homicide is a victim of time and circumstance. When it aired in the 1990s, the very things that made it unique (racially diverse cast, character-driven approach, idiosyncratic choices, etc.) made it hard-pressed to get ratings. Were it to start anew today at an HBO or a Hulu, it would likely be better understood by the viewers it was trying to reach, but it would be far less revolutionary. 

Iso Iso Ramen & Boba

Located at 5835 Samet Drive at the Palladium Shopping Center in High Point, Iso Iso Ramen & Boba offers Japanese cuisine for lunch and dinner. It is open from 11-9 Sunday-Thursday and 11-10 Friday and Saturday. Online ordering is available.

 

High Point’s newest ramen spot is potentially also its best. At the very least, Iso Iso is the best equipped for dine-in. Décor is more than just functional here: the dark brick and woodwork is sleek and modern. Moreover, Iso Iso seemed to be well-staffed with folks who seemed to enjoy working there. A restaurant’s opening weeks can be stressful, and the absence of hangdog expressions or abject panic bodes well.

 

Iso Iso’s menu features Japanese apps, rice bowls, ramen, and boba teas. The latter two can be customized with add-ons and toppings. Whether you are a vegetarian or craving salty meat, like spicy or prefer mild, you should be able to find something here.

 

For our first visit, my wife and I split an order of Chashu Buns and a Tonkatsu Ramen (to which we added black garlic oil). Our food came out quickly, and the ramen was a plentiful portion. At $17, it was not the cheapest in town, but the execution made it worthwhile. The broth was rich, and flavorful, and the black garlic oil added another dimension that we didn’t realize we were missing. Toppings included pork belly, a marinated egg, mushrooms, bamboo, corn, and scallion, and they didn’t skimp on any of them. The Chashu Buns – good balance of refreshing and salty, excellent sauce – were a winning choice as well.

 

Boba/ramen/poke shops are no longer the novelty that they once were, but even in an increasingly competitive market, Iso Iso has the combination of fast and friendly service and well-executed food needed to make a name for itself. Here’s hoping it doesn’t tail off.