TV series based on 'Yakuza' video game keeps Japanese culture at center
15/08/2024 11:00
By Danielle Broadway and Rollo Ross
SAN DIEGO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Japanese actor Ryoma
Takeuchi believes that video game fans will find a special
connection to the new television series “Like a Dragon: Yakuza.”
The series, based on the popular video game “Yakuza: Like a
Dragon,” begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 24. It
was unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con last month.
The Sega video game and the show immerse people in a crime
drama inspired by the Yakuza genre in Japanese film, which
follows the Japanese mafia.
"I think deep down what matters is the emotional core of the
drama and that's something that can definitely be related to and
resonate with the core fans of the game,” said Takeuchi, who
plays main character Kazuma Kiryu, part of a secretive political
organization.
“There's going to be a connection with the original source
material as well so that's something you can expect as a
surprise,” he added.
The series begins with a group of children in an orphanage
who conspire to steal money from the local mob. When they are
caught, the mob finds different roles for them as retribution
for their crimes.
There is a decades-long time jump that picks up with the
orphans grown up, now former friends, and living deep within the
world of crime.
The series, like the globally popular video game, is steeped
in Japanese culture and the dialogue is all in Japanese.
"The global audience loves the game because it is distinctly
Japanese and it takes place in a very specific location and the
characters and the way that business transactions happen,”
executive producer Erik Barmack told Reuters.
“The way the mob runs within the game is specific to a
particular place, and so, to do this show well, you want to be
authentic to the culture of the game and what that game
represents,” he added.
For James Farrell, head of international programming at
Amazon Studios, it is important to note that audiences are now
tuned in to foreign-language shows, unlike years ago when people
had less interest in reading subtitles.
"The pie keeps expanding," he said.
"Our biggest show ever from outside the U.S. was ‘Maxton
Hall’ from Germany. If you had said a German drama would be the
No. 1 show, you'd be like, 'No way, it's going to be a Spanish
one, it's going to be one of the other ones we listed,'" he
added.
The goal, said Farrell, is to strike the perfect balance
between what is “grounded and local” but also “accessible and
familiar.”
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway in San Diego;
Editing by Mary Milliken and Matthew Lewis)
((Danielle.Broadway@thomsonreuters.com;))