Like a Dragon: Yakuza Live-action Series Announced for Amazon Prime Video This Fall
ign.comAmazon has announced an original live-action series for Prime Video based on Sega’s successful Like a Dragon game series, previously known as Yakuza.
Simply titled Like a Dragon: Yakuza and including six episodes, this original series is directed by Masaharu Take, best known for the drama series The Naked Director. Made in Japan, the series stars the hugely popular Japanese drama and stage actor Ryoma Takeuchi in the role of Kazuma Kiryu.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza will be available on Amazon Prime in over 240 countries and territories worldwide, released in two batches on October 25 and November 1, 2024.
The live-action crime-suspense series is based on an original screenplay loosely inspired by the first game in the series, 2005’s Yakuza. It will be set mainly in the Kamurocho entertainment district, straight from the games, and follows Kiryu and three of his childhood friends in two time periods, 1995 and 2005.
Similar to the games, protagonist Kiryu is described in the show’s press release as a “fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity”, and the story will deal with the repercussions of his actions in the two time periods. Takeuchi commented that the show will include “intense fighting scenes”, alluding to the wild action the series is famed for.
The series was announced today at a press conference at the picturesque Hotel Gajoen Tokyo. At the event, Takeuchi and Take discussed the process of adapting the acclaimed game series for a live-action drama.
Speaking of the tattoo on his back and sculpting his body for the role, as seen in the key visual image released today, Takeuchi said, “You can’t play Kiryu Kazuma without getting into shape, so I knew I had to throw myself into it. This was a job not only for me but also for the costume and makeup teams. It took two and a half hours just to prepare for this shot.”
He added, “It’s partly Kiryu Kazuma and it’s partly me. I got so close to the part that it was hard to
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