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.