Yakuza series
Yakuza | Yakuza 2 | Yakuza 3 | Yakuza 4 | Yakuza 5 | Yakuza 0 | Yakuza 6
Like a Dragon series
Yakuza: Like a Dragon | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Judgment series
Judgment | Lost Judgment
Other Spin-Offs
Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! | Yakuza: Dead Souls | Like a Dragon: Ishin! | Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
The Original Game
- Acting for Two: In an interview with
Darryl Kurylo, Kiryu's English VA in the first game, he states that he also voiced some of the mooks that get beaten up regularly. - All-Star Cast: The English dub for the first game is comprised of many popular Hollywood actors before it became more common in triple-A games, including the talents of Mark Hamill (Majima), Michael Rosenbaum (Nishiki), Michael Madsen (Shimano), Eliza Dushku (Yumi) and Rachael Leigh Cook (Reina), and you can certainly bet Sega marketed their appearance when it was released state-side. Due to budgetary concerns following poor sales, however, the sequels were not dubbed in English, though two spinoff titles, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, and Judgment, would feature English dubs alongside the original Japanese audio, and Like A Dragon featured the return of English voice acting in the mainline series.
- The Danza: English dub actor Gary Anthony Williams shares the same first name as Gary Buster Holmes.
- Keep Circulating the Tapes: The original PS2 release is out of print with no plans for a re-release on the PlayStation Network.
- Troubled Production: Nagoshi had to overcome countless hurdles to get the first game made and fought hard to make it happen, and despite having games like Daytona USA and Super Monkey Ball under his belt, he was so determined in his vision that he promised Sega that he would quit from the industry forever if he didn't deliver the hit they needed. The concept of making a game geared towards an adult demographic didn't sit well with the higher-ups at Sega, who didn't want to alienate their younger audience and feared it wouldn't appeal to those overseas. When reaching out to companies for Product Placement and actors to play a part in it, many feared their involvement in a game about organized crime would hurt their image and declined. Crime novelist Hase Seishū was hired as a consultant for the script, who rejected it as too inaccurate. Fortunately, Sony was very supportive of Nagoshi's concept and it all paid off. It was a success in Japan and was the hit Sega needed, and has since become one of their flagship series.
- What Could Have Been: An early Kiryu model◊ featured him with Spiky Hair, a notable departure from his far more subdued hairstyle in the final game.
Yakuza Kiwami
- Dummied Out: A quick look at the loose files for the gameplay character models will reveal the existence of a finished model for chronological future character Yoshitaka Mine despite not appearing anywhere in the game itself. What role he would have played had the model been actually utilized is currently unknown.
- The Original Darrin: Yukio Terada got darrin'd back to his original actor Kenji Nomura, who was originally darrin'd to Go Shinomiya in Yakuza 2. Nomura retains the role for Kiwami 2.
- The Other Darrin: Although many of the series' main characters remain the same, many others have been replaced.
- Yumi is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto, replacing Miyako Uesaka.
- Reina is voiced by Atsuko Tanaka, who replaces Junko Mihara and the late Hiromi Tsuru, who voiced her in Yakuza 0.
- Shinji Tanaka is now voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, replacing Takafumi Yamaguchi.
- Koji Shindo is now voiced by Taichi Setogawa, replacing the late Tomoyuki Dan. The character would get darrin'd again to Takahiro Kageyama in Kiwami 2.
- Junichi Sudo is now voiced by Masato Obara, replacing Mitsutake Tanaka.
- Takashi is voiced by Satoshi Hino, who takes over from Kazuma Kudo.
- Saya Date is voiced by Ryōko Shiraishi, replacing Akina Okada.
- Lau Ka Long is voiced by Ryuta Morikawa, taking over from Shinichi Takizawa.
- Yayoi Dojima is now voiced by Mio Koichi, who replaces Orine Fukushima.
- Posthumous Credit: Hirotaka Suzuoki, the voice of Prisoner No. 1356, died of lung cancer in 2006. His voice work was kept intact for Kiwami, which was released in Japan over nine years after his death.
- Prop Recycling: Probably some of the most egregious in the entire series. Practically all of the movesets of bosses and generic enemies in Kiwami are lifted from a different game in the series.
- Role Reprise: Many of the original cast members from the first game reprised their roles for Kiwami, including Takaya Kuroda as Kazuma Kiryu, Kazuhiro Yamaji as Makoto Date, Hidenari Ugaki as Goro Majima, Naomi Kusumi as Futoshi Shimano, Hiroaki Yoshida as Kyohei Jingu, Hirotaka Suzuoki as Prisoner No. 1356 (via archive audio), Tetsuya Watari as Shintaro Kazama, and Kazuhiro Nakaya as Akira Nishikiyama.
- You Sound Familiar:
- Ryōko Shiraishi (Saya Date) previously voiced Mai Sanada in Yakuza 5.
- Masato Obara (Junichi Sudo) previously played Christina in Yakuza 5.
