#majima character analysis

[moophinz]

I’ve made a post on this already, but after acquiring heaps and reams of knowledge, I’ve decided to go at it again.

(From Mine’s TV Tropes page.)

I cannot stop anyone from wanting to view Mine as bi, and my intentions don’t lie there. But instead, I wanted to bring up that it hardly seems like the intentions of the devs and especially Yokoyama. Mine is a pretty big deal in being a heavily implied gay character regardless of having been a villain, partly due to how he’s just as masculine as his peers and his love for another man is a core part of his characterization where sympathy comes into play. On top of that, they do not shy away from heavy handed hints in his total lack of interest in women romantically and sexually.

Yokoyama is not only a non stranger to commentary on how much he loves Mine, but he’s also made remarks that imply he finds it funny that women are attracted to him though they can’t have him.

RGGO is particularly revealing about this thanks to how much room it gives to focus on character elements they couldn’t do in the actual games.

—A beach event in Okinawa has Kanda wanting to throw a party and see who between them can invite the most women. Mine is less than uninterested, but still winds up getting a few women interested in him. He can’t seem to outright reject them, but gives them very bland answers.

—This is a big trend in other Mine centric stories. Upon being asked by a woman if he’s by himself, he gives a slightly roundabout answer instead of outright saying anything more direct. He agrees to do something with her despite his ongoing lack of enthusiasm.

—As told, he’s gone on dates with women thanks to being unable to turn them down (he’s interestingly kind enough to women even though there’s some popular jokes about him being a misogynistic gay man). But if he sees a woman once, doesn’t really see them again. All in all, this is incredibly different from many other yakuza men who adore women as they slot into the three important status symbols: power, money, and women. All things that Mine brings up at the end of 3 as stuff that wasn’t really giving him any meaning or purpose in life. His line about having any woman he could want goes largely misunderstood. Especially after he ends that line with saying living life that way was a lie.

Comparing an outright love confession to Mine being thankful to have had Katase around feels almost laughable. On one hand, I’m at least glad the person who wrote this acknowledges the romantic feelings with Daigo, but on the other hand… “heavily implied?” With Katase? No… Not every meaningful statement or even so much as breathing the same air as one another between a man and woman is grounds for love.

Genuinely, it feels like they’ve done nearly everything but outright use any direct wording for his sexuality. He’s the only character they’ve gone this far with. Others get more vagueness or subtlety.

(From Majima’s)

(From Zhao’s)

I’ve talked to @04tenno quite a bit about this. And as usual, they’re the reason I know quite a bit, too.

Majima’s section is bizarre to me for immediately throwing out there that he’s a huge ladies’ man. (This was listed elsewhere in his section). Which is just… hilarious. Sure, plenty of irl female fans adore him, but in universe, he’s nothing of the sort and often interacts with women by using a more friendly tone of voice (probably to seem less intimidating) along with other behavioral changes. I also take up issue regarding the way the person who wrote this seems to completely downplay Majima and Kiryu’s relationship to the first game. But that’s a whole other conversation…

Zhao’s section feels incredibly different compared to the other two due to how the person writing it seems to completely lean into the potential signifiers and stereotypes surrounding him and includes other instances beyond that. There’s nothing about him being in a hostess club automatically meaning he’s attracted to women. As such, even a lot of dudebros seem to openly view Zhao as not being bisexual, but instead, straight up gay. This seems to be due to the fact that Zhao is never shown playing into the typical mainstream macho type stuff as opposed to Mine.

I didn’t take a screenshot, but Daigo even gets the assumed-to-be-into-women-because-he-was-next-to-one-treatment. While he went to hostess clubs, he looks so extremely despondent and out of the moment when we see him there. I can’t find it in me to assume he’s attracted to women just because he went to those types of clubs. His sexuality is totally up for debate as several others are as well. And we can all see him however we want. But, overall, immediately assuming things for such and such reasons starts to feel a little off to me. All in all, Mine gets this treatment the worse thanks to his sexuality actually being a big factor in his character.

#yakuza #ryu ga gotoku #like a dragon #yoshitaka mine #queer characters #gay character #queer analysis #sort of in a way maybe possibly #Mine Yoshitaka my favorite Daigo kisser #majima goro #zhao tianyou #I sure hope this makes sense and reads well because I always get uncertain of myself with these things but anyway #who’s going to take it upon themselves to add an entire Ho yay section #anybody? …anybody? no…? #but like I said you can see things how you want of course #it’s just kind of funny to me that some have picked up on Zhao not being excited to be in a hostess club but some others #immediately assume Daigo was overjoyed to be at them himself…apparently #maybe he’d be happy in some other instance but from what we were shown buddy boy is dead inside #also Project X that crossover game was crazy for having Majima talk to women the way that it did like bro that’s how he talks to men #women get the nice customer service voice with a side of playfulness

[lethesomething]

Yakuza and coping mechanisms

Yakuza has been my on and off hyperfocus for years now but also in particular the past month, so let's talk about it. And particularly, how many friggin coping mechanisms are in this game.

Disclaimer: I do literary analysis, not psycho analysis, don't come for me.

For all its silliness about fighting roomba's and disco minigames, the world that the Yakuza games is set in, is fucking brutal. They are, at their very core, crime drama's. People get murdered a lot, lives are ruined in various ways, a good third of protags spend large amounts of time in jail, usually for a crime they didn't commit. Most politicians and police are corrupt, racism is blatant and if you don't have a place in the very strict hierarchy of society, it's hard to get back on your feet (hence all the crime). I tend to read a lot of indictments of Japanese society in these games, partly because they are so clearly based on old school yakuza crime drama's.

This means that the characters go through some shit. And what's fascinating, is how they deal with this.

Spoiler warning for, uhh, almost all yakuza games except Song Of Life (since i never played that)

Pretending it's not real

Kasuga Ichiban

The direct reason I'm even making this blog post because he's the most blatant about it. Kasuga is Peak Himbo in that he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he manages to take being beaten down Repeatedly and overcomes that with a sense of genuine good nature and optimism that is… honestly kind of hard to believe. The way he deals with any of this, is that he's a nerd who pretends to be in a video game. It's the whole premise of Yakuza Like a Dragon.

And to be fair, Kasuga suffers from an amount of mistreatment that makes me Very Angry in his stead. He has every right to be upset! He is literally homeless in the beginning of the game. If he requires the escapism of going around pretending to be in a jrpg to survive, more power to him. Especially since it works. Dude goes around helping people and making friends. Which is a good thing, because there's no way he'd make it out of Yokohama alive if he didn't have some back-up.

Side note: something similar happens to at the very least Majima, i think, in the admittedly non-canonical events of Yakuza Dead Souls. (yes i played it solely for Majima, no i do not recommend it, the game is garbage and you get more Majima in Zero anyway). In Dead Souls, Kamurocho is overrun by zombies. As a lover of all things Horror, Majima decides he may as well have a good time mowing them down like he's in an FPS while he trudges through the wreckage of society.

Self sacrifice

Mostly Kazuma Kiryu and  Saejima Taiga

If you hate yourself, at least try to be of use to someone. Let's be honest, a lot of the plot of Yakuza games is driven by self sacrifice or at least following some code of honor to its ludicrous ends.

Kiryu is the main example here. The game kinda glosses over this a lot, but he is, at least in Zero, a criminal. He goes around extorting money from businesses. He consistently solves problems through violence. It's kinda the point of the games. But he's also borderline a saint and 80% of the shit he gets into is because of his need to throw himself to the wolves for any person he cares about. He voluntarily does hard time for Nishikiyama, for one. He picks up a stray kid that he will now protect with his life. And it just goes on from there. See, Kiryu may be the famous Dragon of Dojima and the Fifth Chairman of the Tojo Clan and all that, but he would very much prefer not to be? Dude wants to live a quiet life and raise some kids, it's just that he's the protag of a game series about how hard it is to say goodbye to the yakuza life. So the plot keeps finding ways to bring him back, usually as a reluctant warrior to save the Tojo clan or Haruka  or whatever. If he was a little less honorable, he could still be chilling as a taxi driver with an unreasonably hot girlfriend, I'm just saying.

Saejima is very similar, but somehow even worse? Much as I love the guy, he's an idiot. He suffers from the same loyalty and selflessness as Kiryu, but he doesn't even get a cute daughter out of it. He spends Twenty Five years in prison for a crime he (we later find out) didn't commit. He escapes months before his parole to solve the convoluted plot of Y4. Then Goes Back to Jail to atone for (again) a crime he only thought he'd committed, only to escape (again) when he thinks Majima, his sworn brother, got murdered in Y5. As far as i can tell he goes back to jail one last time to finish his actual sentence, and to like, protect the name of the Tojo clan or some shit. My dude. My friend. Come on.

As a side note, acts of selflessness are kind of a big deal in the Yakuza games and one of the main ways to tell if someone is a good criminal or a villain. Kasuga and his crew are pretty big on the whole 'acts of selfless kindness' thing. It also seems to be one of the traits of Daigo Dojima, whose whole being screams 'I don't want to be here but who else is gonna fucking do it'. But in the case of Kiryu and Saejima it's very much verging on reckless self-endangerment.

Fabricated identities

Majima Goro, baby!

The Yakuza games really love this one, but I'll start with the big guy, everyone's favourite character: Majima. This dude has seen some shit. We see him throughout several flashbacks and the span of the games, but most tellingly we see him in Zero, at his rock bottom hero stage. And he's intriguingly unlike the other times he shows up. This is a Majima that's recovering from torture and backstabbing, and forced to do some dude's bidding for scraps. He's a chained dog (pun very much intended) and he's about to lose it.

What's fun about Majima is that he has So Many of the traits in this list. He has a lot of the reckless endangerment and self sacrifice that his buddies Kiryu and Saejima have. He gave himself up a few times for Haruka, he keeps trundling back to save Tojo and Dojima, but there's also a whole other layer of … Flamboyance to him.

And while Majima probably started out as comic relief, the games make clear that it's not all he is, and we get several glimpses of 'old Majima' throughout the series. He'll be in the middle of a self inflicted fight and drop some wisdom, for instance. He acts erratically, he is blunt, violent, exuberant in his dressing up. When given a task his first thought seems to be 'how can i make this Extra', but that doesn't mean the guy is unstable. You don't become a successful businessman with a building company, or a patriarch of your own family, without being smart and strategic. A lot of classic Majima behaviour, i feel, is a case of a mask he constructed to hide the severe depression, that became more of a second nature to him. Majima is one of the clearest examples of 'do what you need to do'. He's a survivor, through and through. Somewhere in there is a decent human being, but Majima will kill people to survive in a harsh world. It just seems like he constructed an extra layer to shield himself from all that.

Joon-gi Han (Like a Dragon): This is more a case of stolen (inherited??) identity, but again, if you don't want to be you, just be someone else. In this case someone he admires. Again: super tragic backstory, questionable life choices. As an aside, Joon-gi is fun because he is both a deadly assassin with someone else's name and face, but also  a Knight stereotype who would do everything for his queen and I think that's neat.

Zhao Tianyou (Like a Dragon): Somewhat more subtle, but Zhao is also a dude that was at one point confronted with a Situation, namely 'oh shit my dad died and now I'm in charge of a violent gang'. And to deal with that he decided to construct a persona that gives exactly zero fucks. He is very joking and very avoidant but we do learn that a fair amount of his laid back attitude is just veneer. Dude in fact gives several fucks. You don't decide to give up the throne and become a homeless sidekick to Himbo Supreme because you don't care. You do it to stop him from getting ultra-murdered by the parade of heavily armored gangsters he keeps storming into.

Akiyama Shun (Yakuza 4-5): I debated putting him here, because part of me believes Akiyama is just kind of a dick. A dick I love as a character, but still, ya know. At least some of the dickish persona is a front, though. Akiyama is another one that just saw his life's work destroyed at some point, and decided that emotional detachment was the way to go. Akiyama is different because he was never actually a proper criminal. He was homeless for a bit, and then came into some money (through Extremely Convoluted Plot Means) and now he's a moneylender. And like Zhao, he mostly pretends to be completely devoid of feelings, while having a fair amount of feelings. Enough to get into like… fist fights. With actual gangsters. Who have guns.

Vice

Sex, drugs and everything in between

The preferred way for noir drama's to show someone is Going Through It, is by giving them a classic addiction and Yakuza isn't any different. It's why several characters are shown mournfully smoking, in particular Kiryu and Majima. Yes I know it's because it looks cool and harks back to old crime movie atmosphere. That doesn't make it a healthy coping mechanism.

Another obvious one, considering the setting of the games in several red lights districts, is erotica. Both Adachi, the ex-cop from Like a Dragon and Shinada, the ex-baseball player from Y5 and also my least fave protag ever, are both in various stages of obsession about porn, sex work and the likes.

Tanimura, the cop from Y4 has a pretty severe gambling problem in the actual canon, though gambling games and casino's are a general mainstay of the Yakuza series. It's just that when Kiryu interrupts his busy day of solving the convoluted intrigue du jour to gamble in an illegal underground casino, it's not a character flaw.

Also: almost everyone drinks ludicrous amounts of heavy alcohol in these games. Both in canon and as part of the gameplay. 100% ing the games usually involves drinking tons of whiskey, but the whole Ichiban crew, sans I think Eri, is shown drowning their troubles at various times.

Violence: I mean, that's kind of the game, but an unhealthy amount of characters consider fist fights to be a good way to resolve conflict, bond with people and generally reinvigorate themselves. Particularly Majima is shown to get a real kick out of doing damage and being beaten up. There's just a lot of reckless behaviour, which is what makes the games good.

Karaoke: fake it till you make it, man.

Extra note:

You'll notice there's no women on this list, and that's because honestly the game is kinda sexist. So while there's already Very Few women in the game, the ones that are present don't exactly have super complex characters.

Mukoda Saeko, the hostess from Like a Dragon, drinks like a fish but that's about her main flaw.

Other notable female characters are Kiryu's kid Haruka, Kiryu's love interest Sawamura Yumi (Kiwami) and Kamataki Eri, the business lady from Like a Dragon. They're all stereotypical Good Girls who have no flaws apart from indecisiveness and an unhealthy tendency for selflessness.

Saejima Yasuko is ever so slightly more complex: her main trait is self sacrifice. The story promptly fridges her for it.

#yakuza #yakuza like a dragon #yakuza spoilers #kiryu kazuma #majima goro #every other main character #literary analysis #game analysis #omg lethey does a write

[kicksgoeson]

On Nishitani's character

I get that Nishitani wasn't as explored as other characters were in Yakuza 0, but it does make me a bit sad that a lot of people overlook the glimpses of a deeper character beyond ''guy who likes to fight a lot and will foreshadow some of the traits majima will embody in his mad dog persona'' - because there is a ton that goes implied, just not outright said.

Hidden for spoilers, in case you haven't finished playing Yakuza 0:

A lot of it has to do with his backstory - Nishitani was a teenager, likely around 16 or 17 when he killed the murderer of his cousin. He was already considered a young delinquent beforehand, but pickpocketing, shoplifting, etc, are MILES away from killing a person. Why is this important to the depth of his character? Well, the Yakuza franchise is one that time and time again, often stresses that the taking of someone's life is nothing to sneeze at, and that it will change you as a person.

With that said... you have Nishitani, who is a character that is introduced as being very much at ease with killing people, giving what he did to Makoto's body double. But, very rarely does anyone in this franchise, cross that line easily - unless they're straight up villains and shown to be unsympathetic and cruel.

And while Nishitani is not a beacon of virtue at all, and a minor antagonist if you will, he is also an ally in Majima's story in Yakuza 0 for all intents and purposes and his death scene makes that even more so abundantly clear - even people who don't care much for his character find his death scene impactful. It definitely impacted Majima, for certain.

But besides that, again, there is something more than meets the eye with Nishitani. On a surface level, he's a hedonist: he lives for the moment, he chases any pleasure (or pain) he can find, and finds it all thrilling. He's materialistic, has no care for social etiquette, basically, he goes all out. However, he's also quite perceptive and implied to be cunning and knowledgeable enough to get where he's at in terms of the yakuza hierarchy - I noticed this the most during the prison conversation with Majima.

I think what is most indicative of something beyond this loose cannon persona of Nishitani's, was how he reacted to Majima saying he wanted to give Makoto a proper life, and how that ended up convincing him to help Majima to get her back. How he said ''he was mad he was only meeting a guy like Majima now'' and then sighed about not ''getting sentimental''.

I think Nishitani could relate to Majima beyond just seeing Majima's desire to be free of his leash - specially at that moment, he could relate to doing whatever he could to keep somebody he cared for safe, sound and most of all, happy. The sad thing is, in my eyes... I think Nishitani feels he couldn't do that for his cousin. He could only avenge her, and bring justice in the eyes of his uncle.

But I'm sorry, doing so at 16 or 17, I can't see how that wouldn't mess you up beyond repair. The loss of his cousin, taking her killer's life with his own hands... it fundamentally changed Nishitani.

I think the reason Nishitani is this hedonist loose cannon in the first place is because it was easier for him to focus solely on his base desires. To fight, to flirt, to spend and gain money, to have his fun and fill while he can - because the moment he goes deeper, the majority of what he feels, emotionally, is this sense of numbness.

Like, he was an orphan, driven to crime at an early age and no doubt had trouble connecting and adapting to school and society - yet I'm sure his cousin was one of the few people he was closest to while growing up (and his uncle of course), but with her death and with the killing... I think his tether to stability was broken indefinitely.

Whether or not he's truly conscious of said numbness is up to what you personally think, but I think Nishitani is self-aware. And he realized as an adult one thing about himself: his life changed the moment he killed someone, and with that, he knew he didn't have much choice on what to be in the eyes of society... except be seen as a criminal.

So that's what he did, and while he did so, he went all out, because why shouldn't he, at that point? All the pomp and circumstance inherent in the hierarchy of the yakuza was meaningless to him, as social norms were likely already a bore to him as a teen. And, while in the yakuza, he found he could get where he got because his set of skills (violence and intimidation) were seen as valuable - all for the money and power, that's what his peers likely flaunted while he climbed the ranks. If it's fun and feels good, why not chase it? And while he's at it, why not go all out, if he can?

And that's what he leaves Majima with too, in his dying words. To blaze his own path, just like he did. It's bittersweet to me, because in truth, Nishitani did do that - but he was still numb for the longest time. At least, he died protecting Majima, knowing it would help him escape and do what he felt responsible to do: giving Makoto a proper life.

So while Majima's persona was inspired and influenced by more people besides Nishitani, hopefully you can see why I really do get tired of people seeing Nishitani in such a surface level way, because as his own character, there's so much there to dig deep and theorize about.

Feel free to tell me your thoughts!

#yakuza #nishitani homare #yakuza 0 #y0 #rgg #ryu ga gotoku #rgg0 #majima goro #makimura makoto #homare nishitani #goro majima #makoto makimura #character analysis #my thoughts #yakuza 0 spoilers

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

Recently been thinking about Sagawa calling Majima ‘Majima-chan’ in 0 and how this implies an origin to calling Kiryu ‘Kiryu-chan’.

Thinking about how Majima was called ‘Majima-chan’ by someone who just. Didn’t respect or value him as a person. That using ‘-chan (derogatory)’ was a learned behavior through active abuse rather than something Majima came up with 100% on his own.

Also thinking about how even 20 years after he died, Sagawa is STILL influencing who Majima is as a person. How we, the players, can still see how this abuse still impacts the way Majima interacts with the world.

Also, also thinking about how someone playing the Yakuza series in order of release would see the use of ‘Kiryu-chan’ go from overt insult to a term of endearment. And THEN they’d play 0 and see the weaponization of this little show of intimacy.

Which, in a way, indirectly mirrors the way Majima’s kindness in 0 is both punished AND used against him.

It’s just.

UGHHHHH

#yakuza #yakuza 0 spoilers #ryu ga gotoku #majima goro #yakuza analysis #sagawa tsukasa #I might be reaching a bit with this but as a ~writer~ I love thinking up little details that add depth to a character’s actions #especially if you don’t really pick up on them until a second or third read. #plus. I think a part of media analysis is looking at how an author’s decisions affect the overall work #even if those effects weren’t intentional #cause like. where’s the fun in only considering intent?

[todayisafridaynight]

Majima already moping around the top of the Millennium Tower, and Nishida saying he's been "catty" since learning Kiryu is leaving make it seem like he'd be extra miserable if Kiryu hadn't swung by to see him. I could go off on a massive tangent about everything with their little private goodbye scene. Nishida even later tells Kiryu that fighting him in the coliseum is the happiest he's ever seen his boss (since the time he gave him acupuncture. RGG what is their relationship). Honestly, Nishida constantly telling Kiryu things that would Majima irate was one of my many beloved parts of the game.

But if Kiryu were to be in something like that instead? I don't know what Majima would do. He's so high strung when it comes to keeping promises that he almost got himself killed even in 2, and was willing to die in 5 if it meant Kiryu could be happy with Haruka safe. As soon as this man cares deeply for someone, all bets are off. I can just see the stone cold look on his face combined with the deep voice drop. He already threatened to ruin anyone that tries anything. Possibly, he could feel lost as all hell but immediately want the head of those responsible. There's so many things to think about here...

I noticed Mine seemed to be trying to keep it together and kept his Kiryu disdain from surfacing to the front. There's a lot of little body language and vocal bits I caught on to with him- especially in the meeting scene- that I could dissect for an hour. It would make sense that he just kind of crumbles around the moment you said. He almost goes full force on things it seemed he previously wouldn't have done if still in a stable mindset. If any of that makes sense.

Also I have a terrible Hamazaki gaydar image if it's cool to share

absolutely on majima wanting to find out who's responsible should a case come about where kiryu's even hurt, let alone hes kicked the bucket; although majima likes to present himself as aloof and marching to the beat of his own drum, he's undeniably shackled to people he truly cares about when push comes to shove. it's additionally undeniable and plain as day kiryu is a major highlight of majima's life for one reason or another. it is like i said last post: there's a lot of possibilities in a scenario like that and how he could react depending on a fair amount of things.

on to mine though, that's one of my absolute favorite things about him: while mine keeps conversations brief and professional, his facial expressions and body language are more than enough to translate what he's actually feeling. it makes it an absolute joy to go back and rewatch his cutscenes to pick out little things like his eyebrows furrowing a bit/relaxing or his hands tightening around each other while he says little to nothing out of the ordinary. and the note about mine crumbling DOES make sense and it's something i think of a lot.

again, for brevity's sake i won't dive too deep, but once you understand how mine works and thinks, his degradation starts to become painfully obvious.

#long post #snap chats #a couple asks back i did an 'arcana' analysis of majima and i feel like that ask says a lot of what i want to say about him #like he is very much about living the way he wants but he can be serious when he needs to be #im gonna make a joke post in a hot second that explains a thought i have LMAO but its a cool thing about his character #aaand ive made more than enough posts about mine and his body language and how much i love it #i can and will go on and on about it whenever but i dont want to sound like too much of a broken record #tl;dr i love the subtle things about him

[imustbenuts]

sits down and thinks

Infinite wealth spoilers and half baked analysis and thoughts

Infinite wealth

Ig this comes across easier in Asian culture context but the wealth in infinite wealth doesn't mean money. It means bonds. (EDIT: by which i mean JP and Chinese.)

The short of it, the words used to describe relationships, karma, luck and fate all are rooted in the idea of threads. These words when written in kanji all have the thread 糸 radical in it. 縁 en is the common kanji word here.

And since luck is deeply tied to money, the idea of Infinite Wealth here is absolutely not (strictly) money. Given how the rgg series and their writers or even Japan has been disillusioned with the bubble boom, and ichiban will turn his back on money over bonds, this tracks for me.

And this is constantly reflected in the stories and substories. The "wealth" of a person is reflected in the bonds between people. It's not a coincidence the game throws old characters from previous games and substories along Kiryu's way. That's the wealth he's accumulated, the wealth that actually matters once he's at the end of his life where money can't save him from what sounds like terminal cancer. It's Haruka and Haruto and the orphanage and Four Shine and all the people he's helped who's more than happy to carry him if he asks.

The "payoff" is constantly in the reciprocating of a person's virtues in terms of kindness, compassion and patience.

Fuck it's getting to me again fuckfuckfuck--

Ending scene

Ebina and ichiban not meeting but being set up to mirror Nishiki and Kiryu's brother relationship...

And kiryu going from recognizing the pattern to outright understanding a repeat of something similar and just shutting it down, chefs kiss.

Plus plus the entire ending scene is dripping with symbolism. I'm about to fucking vomit

So, sosososo-

I noticed by late game before the monologue, Ebina is being a hell warden karmic entity by essentially setting up an underground pain prison for a whole group of people deemed trash by society. And then he reveals his irezumi and oooh

I see I see. That's an oni and a pissed off snake. Nele island, the paradise/heaven of the palekanas getting turned into the karmic hell/jigoku is. Holy shit. Who wrote this?? I will kiss them??!

Someone on Reddit also did a more in depth write up on this and wow delicious . check out the top comment which is even more spot on

I also dk if this made it past the tonal barrier but jp kiryu literally begging ebina to let the yakuzas have a second chance is... Ough. as goofy as that scene was with kiryu planking on top of ebina, he was effectively on his hands and knees begging and I'm. Ow. Owowowowowow wow. OW.

Kiryu in that scene seems to be embodying a dragon. Whimsical, powerful fucks who appear whenever they feel like and according to myths are benevolent too. So when kiryu planks above it's signifying a dragon pleading with the hell warden to let a bunch of people go, almost with its last breath... Crying even that his tears falls on ebina's face, and ebina having this look realizing that the dragon is human. It got me. I finished rgg8 days ago and it's still getting me

WAUGH. IT GOT ME GOOD

Then kiryu collapses on top of ebina, almost as if all the weight and regret he's been carrying on his back comes literally crashing into ebina's reality, and ebina is probably so shocked he doesn't do anything for the rest of the ending.

WAUGH!! x2

GOOFY SCENE BUT I UNDERSTOOD THAT, AAAAA

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

Shout-out to Daigo for being the one with the most 'oh shit' expression and legging it to kiryu first. And Majima for legging it 2nd in the background. Man.

In spite of what kiryu says and believes I don't think he could have changed the Yakuza world that much though. One way or another there's just too many factors at play. Hes absolutely right in his speech about walking the grayest road there is.

Ough.

Ichigang

Love them.

Yu Nanba takes the cake for me here for being the most respectful and compassionate about knowing how to handle kiryu as a person with terminal cancer/disability. Ichiban echoes this too, but the way they are all playing support rather than forcing kiryu to do things makes it 11/10 for me

Older folks who lead rough lives and are fiercely independent like kiryu can be ANNOYING reconciling with their health. Bc of a mix of pride and their own lived era/environment, being seen as weak and disabled is deeply shameful psychologically (idk if this is the same in US/UK but I'm speaking from an Asia specific mentality here). In essence many resign themself to death and refuse treatment, medication, or even walking canes. Like they'd rather die than be burdens.

And kiryu def has echoes of this. I wanted to slap him so many times in his bucket list substory. Lmao

Chitose Fujinomiya

Interesting character. She seems to have gone through a "setting-up" arc in this game for future writing if it makes sense.

Her Fujinomiya name sounds like a shout-out to the Fujiwaras, a clan who had total political control of Japan all the way until 1868. These days their descendants have taken on different family names, branched off, and now control some zaibatsu in some of them.

And her family does indeed sound like a zaibatsu. More than likely with what I know above, she will have some political weight as the chairwoman now.

Chitose will be an incredibly valuable key character for future installments of RGG, especially with the political Daidoji faction running about. I'm stoked. The future installments can def go international if they want to. Current geopolitics in Asia has potential as a rgg backdrop especially when it comes to money and gangs.

We have Thailand with localized gangs calling the shots controlling the tourism there. Ie Thailand Tourist Mafias (Also human trafficking and sex tourism. Siam dius/Thai discos are very similar to cabaret clubs too.)

There's also background money laundering going on, where countries and their bank happily take less than clean money for their economy under tax haven schemes. (COUGH SINGAPORE COUGH). There are also lots of trafficking of people looking for jobs into other asian countries and forcing them to work in scam centers...

Basically lots of potential avenues if they wanted to write about these things. So. LETS GO. LETS GO CHITOSE WOOO

ICHIBAN

So much more to say but I'll end with this one. ICHIBAN.

Ichiban has made more progress in terms of emotional and social development, and turning that into proper positive actions, than kiryu has done at that age.

I don't mean this as a diss either but where kiryu was incredibly flawed in his lone wolf ways and unable to leverage his connections with his circumstances, Ichiban keeps pulling through with it. And kiryu to be fair could not have been able to do the same where the Yakuza environment and politics were as fucked as it is in his time.

Both approaches have their pros and cons though, bc Ichigang is now in a position to get sniped if the environment around them turns for the worse.

Idk if it's going there but. Huhu! :3c

I want more but I'm happy and satisfied for now but also if anyone touches me I fear I'm gonna to explode. Waughghhhhhhggr.

Screams

#yakuza infinite wealth #rgg 8 #ryu ga gotoku #like a dragon infinite wealth #like a dragon #infinite wealth #like a dragon 8

[helioshellion]

You can feel free to ignore this if you don't want to answer, but I'm kind of curious about your distaste for the people creating sagawa/majima content. I totally understand not enjoying the concept, but the impression I got reading your fics is that finding light in some of the grittier, bloodier, messier things about rgg are what draws you to the series, and it seems to me like sagawa/majima week is reveling in a similar greyness but for different people and from different angles. Maybe I'm missing something from your perspective or I've misread your intentions?

I’d like to live in a world where most people ship things for their interesting dynamics but that’s not really the case for ships like this one. Not going to generalize since the ship is extremely small compared to something like Borderlands, but a lot of content for this ship is inherently linked to most people using Majima as a self-insert vector because they think Sagawa is hot, forgoing Majima’s character. The other side is a large majority of trauma porn for the sake of trauma porn. I must ask the intentions of most of the fics of this nature, how can we be sure they’re meant to be true and honest explorations of trauma when they’re so baked into exploitation? I’m not getting into a dead dove argument or whatever because to each their own and I’m trying to grow out of fandom fights, but the ship from my point of view is built out of an inherent necessity for the Fifty Shades Of Grey Ship, the one for angst and trauma and hot sexy gay sex or whatever. If I go into a ship tag and such a Large proportion is baked into absolutely reveling in majima’s suffering— besides I view their dynamic as a parallel to that of an abusive parental figure and not of that of a relationship. The language Sagawa uses falls in line with that analysis. You mentioned my work, and you’re right that I care a lot about finding the grey areas of yakuza’s handling of themes and relationships— however I find that in other places. I do not feel comfortable in Majima’s suffering, which is why growth is also a major theme of my work. The ship is antithetical to that, if that makes sense. At least, that’s from what I’ve eyeballed. Either way, the ship is honestly a small ship, it’s not that big of a concern of mine outside of taking the piss out of it for a quick laugh. Sometimes you see a really funny yaoi-died image that makes you raise an eyebrow. Hope this answers the question

[baixueagain]

Hiiii do you have personal opinions on why goro would have a hannya tattoo? I find this to be a super interesting choice of his since a hannya is a demon but its like, a jealous woman, so not really what a macho guy would pick imo even tho it is scary looking. most analysis of his tattoo kinda glosses over what a hannya is and just describes it as a gender non specific tormented demon but its undeniably a jealousy demon and supposed to be a woman

Okay I'm going to try (TRY) to keep this from getting overly long or anything. I'd also like to give a disclaimer that while I've read a good amount of material on Japanese culture, mythology, and history in my life, I'm far from an expert on it, so I may get a few things wrong here, especially since I'm not familiar with Noh, which is where the Hannya mask/archetype really took shape.

So the Hannya is most prominently known in Noh plays as the malevolent ghost/demon of a jealous woman. However, the important thing to remember about symbolism here is that symbols are rarely in a 1:1 correlation with their bearer; rather, symbols evoke clusters of meanings that tie into what we know about the context of where it's being used and what we associate with the symbol itself. In this case, the Hannya's symbolic context is Majima: his life, his past, and his personality.

Meanwhile, the emotions associated with the Hannya include jealousy, but also rage, sorrow, pain, and frenzy. It's a very passionate and vengeful figure as well. All these things are certainly present in Majima, but they are also things he also inflicts on others (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not). One of the more important tricks to a Hannya mask is that when it is facing you straight on, it's snarling, but when downturned it appears to be sobbing. This, too, can be seen in Majima's Mad Dog persona that he's carefully built to conceal a great deal of inner suffering. It is, much like Majima himself, a dualistic figure that is both threatening and tragic: we empathise with her pain even as we fear what she is capable of doing to others in her destructive passions.

Personally I think it's fitting that Majima is associated with a highly feminine oni, because I would argue that he's not actually a very macho character at all. He's highly dangerous, yes, and in his Mad Dog persona he's full of braggadocio, but again, he's an incredibly dualistic figure compared to more "traditional" masculinity of other Yakuza characters like Kiryu, Saejima, Ryuji, and so on.

Majima is consistently associated with femininity throughout the series, with his arcs in many of the games being closely tied to female characters as well as his background of being intimately involved with traditionally feminine occupations (ones that are, for that matter, highly sexually charged). He also openly plays with gender himself on multiple occasions, dressing in full drag as Goromi and doing a pole dance for Kiryu. Hell, I'd even argue that his final boss fight in Kiwami even reflects his ties to women's sex work, as it takes place in quite literally the biggest, fanciest brothel in town. And yet (outside perhaps of one occasion) there's no sense that he's a man exploiting these women from the outside: rather, his involvement in women's sex work only seems to have given him a sense of commonality with them and a deep, extremely personal understanding of the intricacies and complications of being a sex worker.

I'm not saying Majima is meant to be read as trans or non-binary (though if that's your headcanon, go for it!), but he is most definitely gender non-conforming in a lot of ways (especially for a yakuza!) and that changeability in his nature ties pretty well into the Hannya and its changeable, dualistic nature.

Anyway this isn't as thorough as I'd like as I'm pretty tired today, but I hope this was a satisfactory answer!

#goro majima #yakuza #ryu ga gotoku #like a dragon #hannya

[warsofasoiaf]

It's been a minute since you've done a character analysis. Any chance you've played the Yakuza series? Care to analyze the Mad Dog of Shimano, Majima Goro?--<3

Sorry, never played that series.

-SLAL

[shyuch]

So I went to Swampcon...

^This is not my picture, I stole it so I would have a good photo to use as my banner.

What can I say? My first convention; I'd say I'm a pretty closeted anime fan, so this is something definitely new for me. I definitely enjoyed it though.

I went to Idolfest (my favorite of all):

I must say, the last girl really knew how to dance. Plus, it was Eurobeat, so I couldn't stop myself from getting so hype. The rest of the performances were fire as well, it's just the last one blew me out of the water. It's one of those things where you just want to absolutely head-bang to it.

I didn't get it on video, but she did a NASTYYYYYY body roll that had everyone screaming near the end.

I also went to Artist Alley:

Got some prints of the best video game series ever: Yakuza. On the left is Kiryu and on the right is Majima. They are both legendary in their own ways, and I guess you will have to find out why by playing the actual game. The art style was really cool also, placing them alongside their respective symbols.

(My profile picture is also from this series, Akira Nishikiyama)

I would've gotten bigger prints, but I was already extremely broke from spring break, so I had to settle for less. Although, I did get a pair of horns from a shop.

I saw Vincent:

Also, there's the horns I was talking about earlier. But it's just a great picture isn't it, two dudes having fun at an anime convention hosted by their university.

I saw the best/worst Vocaloid concert ever:

Don't get me wrong, it's cool. It's cool to see a bunch of other vocaloid fans packed in the same room, listening to the same niche genre of music. However, it was just a 2D projection of a video (I kinda managed to turn down the exposure and make it look cool?). It's no different than me just linking a video of:

or

I know I shouldn't expect too much, but somewhere in my heart I really wanted there to be some crazy 3D projection that they set up in the grand ball room to absolutely blow us away.

(Fun fact, I think Senbonzakura is about the Meiji Restoration)

Bonus R2D2:

That's it. It's just R2D2 with me repeatedly saying "o." I was cool to see something more on the Geek side than the Otaku side.

Some Analysis:

While there wasn't millions of Doujinshi stalls scattered everyone along the Reitz, we can still see the Otaku traits in action. For example, the cosplays. I bet there were more cosplayers than actual non-cosplayers there. Each of them did it on their favorite characters in a different way, and we can really see how they managed to refictionalize a fictional character.

Additionally, the Moe elements. Remember when I was fangirling over that eurobeat dance? The way that woman was dressed up, it was definitely to appeal ot the Moe elements. The knee high wide socks, the short plaid skirt, headband... They combined a bunch of elements that people like into an outfit for the otakus to enjoy.

Not to mention, my prints. The Moe elements in this case were the symbols and the character's physiques. Their respective symbols is a big part of what makes the whole franchise "cool." Also, their muscular physiques also attract a lot of other men who maybe want to participate in the guise of a hegemonic masculinity, not to mention that their clothes are also what makes them appealing. Not give the wrong idea though, the majority of the game does not depict the characters as this "super macho" hegemonic masculinity, it only does that through the main story. The rest of the game show them as being tender and kind.

Also, the acceptance of queerness was clear throughout the whole convention. Nobody batted an eye. It was cool to see something in theory, that Otakus can distinguish from fiction and reality, hobby and self, play out in a setting like this.

Overall, I'm definitely doing this again.

10/10

#Youtube

[moophinz]

Doing an analysis on whatever the hell was going on with Majima and Mine in 3, but I decided to just post this part of it where I draw some wild similarities.

In the meeting, Hamazaki has a somewhat ominous and, at first, questionable line directed at Mine about the potential of losing Daigo to Kiryu reclaiming his spot as chairman. Finding out later that Mine was in love with him and gradually coming to detest Kiryu until he exploded really makes this kind of stuff intriguing to say the least. He’s pretty terrible about those who threaten and talk badly of Daigo. Butter knife stabbing, anyone?

Hamazaki coming after Majima too just raises more questions. It’s incredibly clear he knew how much Kiryu meant to him like he knew the same about Mine and Daigo. Pulling a silent Majima into the conversation like he knew talking about killing Kiryu would hurt him. And the grinning after Majima threatens them if they go after his “terf”. What did he really mean by that. “You have the most to lose” is such a brutal and damaging statement. Jesus f u c k. What did he mean—

I don’t know how Hamazaki read these two to death but god. (Honestly it seems in the games and even in RGGO, villains are too good at noticing when character A feels things for character B. No one knows you’re gay like a Yakuza villain).

And what are these subtitles my dudes 💀

#ryu ga gotoku #yakuza #like a dragon #kazumaji #minedai #majima goro #mine yoshitaka #yakuza 3 #I’m going to eat this game and chew on it forever tbh #feel free to let me talk forever about it #*puts a bumper sticker on my blog that says ask me about Y3*

[mejomonster]

With the level of character analysis I'm doing I would not be surprised if I eventually write yakuza fic

I think the only things holding me back rn are like. I Get kiryu but idk how I'd write his pov, and I GET majima but specifically his dialogue is like people either nail it or don't and idk if I'm there yet. He seems as hard to nail down as a character as zhang qiling. But zhang qiling rarely talks so his dialogue is easier to figure out.

Then like I'd love to write ryuji but he also talks with very specific goals in mind and idk if I could nail that yet

#rant #yakuza #lb #didjdj

[missfingers]

if i was a smarter person i would make some analysis post on rggs need to cure literally every disabled character (aside from majima but his disability is never treated as a disability aside from that one joke he makes to saejima in y4) but i am Not smart i am just disabled and angry . so.

#if i ever talk about makoto or majimako assume makoto is still blind. because i refuse to acknowledge that weird ass curing shit #makoto masato uhhh... the ryudo boss' mute daughter who randomly speaks because its plot relevant #i hate yakuza #rgg #lucy.txt

[nntheblog]

Lycoris Recoil Season 2 release Date Predictions

Aniplex is a member of the anime production committee. Will they renew Lycoris Recoil for a second season. Photo credit: Spider Lily The Lycoris Recoil Season 2 anime TV series will continue the story of LycoReco girls Chisato and Takina Inoue, who are part of the Lycoris program of DA (Direct Attack). Lycoris Recoil 2 will be featuring the Lily Bells, male counterparts to Lycoris. The main problem with the anime TV series is its original story. Yes, there's a Lycoris Recoil manga. Gaiden/side story light novels called Lycoris Recoil Ordinary Days are also available. However, they're adapting the anime. (See below for details.) A Lycoris Recoil 2 is possible only if story writers leave a possibility for a continuation. Presumably, super-terrorist Majima won’t have completely destroyed the DA organization by the end of Lycoris Recoil Episode 13. Even if one of its leaders is killed, the Alan Institute can still be maintained. Chisato can't die before the credits roll. However, other character deaths are possible. The story of the first season was primarily about Chisato’s back story, her conflict with Majima, and how the Alan Institute’s vision for talents was influencing the world. With that backdrop settled, it’s possible that Lycoris Recoil Season 2 could develop the concept in a new direction similar to how the Psycho-Pass anime continues to branch out after 10 years (see our article on the Psycho-Pass: Providence movie). Studio A-1 Pictures, Aniplex of America producer, and any other company involved in the production of the anime have not confirmed the Lycoris recoil Season 2 release date as of the last update. The production of a sequel to Lycoris Recoil is not yet confirmed. Once the news is confirmed, the article will be updated with all pertinent information. In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Lycoris Recoil 2 release date will occur in the future. The first season will have to be financially strong enough to continue on its own. Lycoris recoil reviews have been excellent in this regard. The characters were full of personality and had great chemistry. Also, the plot combination of slice-of life elements and action-based plot was well executed. Some episodes were voted the top anime episodes in Summer 2022 by fans. On the negative side, the anime was rarely featured in the Top 20 of Crunchyroll’s most popular anime list. It was sometimes necessary to manually search Crunchyroll for the TV show in order to find it. As such it’s difficult to say whether the anime production committee (Aniplex, BS11, and ABC Animation) will have Lycoris Recoil renewed for a second season since international streaming revenue is the biggest factor influencing financial success nowadays. Presumably, the producers haven’t pre-planned the Lycoris Recoil Season 2 production out in advance since they would first want to see whether the financial numbers from the first season justify a Lycoris Recoil sequel. Contract workers are the ones who work in anime studios, such as A-1 Pictures. They are booked many years ahead for anime projects. Lycoris Recoil Season 2 will not be released until several years after the first season has been greenlit for production. This article contains all the information you need about Lycoris Recoil Season 2 as well as any related news. This article will be continually updated with new information, rumors, analysis, and other news. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain. Anzai, Wakayama and Voice actresses Anzai at the early screening of Lycoris Recoil anime. Pic credit: @lycoris_recoil/Twitter Crunchyroll’s Lycoris Recoil English dub release date is confirmed for August 2022 Crunchyroll's first streaming of Lycoris recoil episodes was in Summer 2022. There were no English subtitles. It’s been confirmed by Aniplex of America that a Lycoris Recoil dub is planned. Here is the Lycoris Recoil English dubcast. - Lizzie Freeman (Hotaru Hiraiwa in Akebi’s Sailor Uniform) as Chisato Nishikigi - Xanthe Huynh (Haru Okayumura in PERSONA5 The Animation) as Takina Inoue - Jennifer Losi (Naomi Randall from Scarlet Nexus) plays Mizuki Nagahara - Lisa Reimold (Kinako in Tokyo 24th Ward) as Kurumi - Bob Carter (Bojack In Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound), as Mika - Kayleigh McKee (Bat, The Detective is Already Dead), as Kusunoki Crunchyroll’s Lycoris Recoil English dub release date is scheduled for late August 2022. (The exact date will be added once it’s announced.) Fun fact: Sword Art Online girls made an appearance in the anime! Lycoris Recoil Episode 4 features background characters that heavily resemble Sword Art Online girls Asuna Suguha Lisbeth and Rika. This cameo isn’t surprising since the SAO anime was produced by Studio A-1 Pictures, the director was the SAO character designer and chief animation director, and the Japanese voice actor for villain Majima, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, also plays Kirito. Photo credit: Studio A-1Pictures Lycoris Recoil BluRay/DVD release confirmed Lycoris Recoil Season 1 streaming on Crunchyroll, VRV and Netflix Japan during Summer 2022 (not Netflix USA or Hulu, Disney+. HIDIVE or Amazon Prime Video). The 13 episodes were distributed in six Lycoris Recoil Blu Ray/DVD volumes. Here is the BD release calendar: - Lycoris Reoil Blu-Ray Volume 1, September 21, 2022 - Lycoris Reoil Blu-Ray Volume 2, October 26, 2022 - Lycoris Recoil Blu Ray Volume 3: November 23, 20,22 - Lycoris Reoil Blu-Ray Volume 4, December 21, 2022 - Lycoris Recoil Blu Ray Volume 5: January 25, 20,23 - Lycoris Recoil Blu Ray Volume 6: February 22, 2023 The first season’s finale, Lycoris Recoil Episode 13, was released on September 24, 2022. Lycoris Recoil manga adapts main story The Lycoris Recoil manga began serializing in Media Factory’s Monthly Comic Flapper magazine on September 5, 2022. Yasunori Biza is drawing the Lycoris Recoil manga. This adaptation will be the main storyline of the anime TV program. An English translation of the Lycoris Recoil manga hasn’t been announced yet. Lycoris Recoil - Ordinary Days Volume 1. Photo credit: Spider Lily Lycoris Recoil - Ordinary Days light novel will offer more slice-of life side stories ASCI Media Works’ Dengeki Bunko will publish the Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days book on September 9, 2022. Asaura, Ben-To author and creator of the Lycoris recoil story concept, is writing the light novel. Lycoris Recoil - Ordinary Days, as the title implies, will be a collection of side stories that complement the main plot. It probably won’t be a sequel since there are many time gaps in the main anime timeline. It’s possible that some of these stories were unused storyboards that were cut from the main anime. An English translation of the Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days book hasn’t been announced yet. Lycoris Recoil director explains the creation of the anime and Chisato’s bullet vision The Lycoris Recoil anime was an original story created by Studio A-1 Pictures, which has produced great anime TV shows and movies like Fairy Tail, Sword Art Online, The Seven Deadly Sins, Your Lie in April, and the 86 anime. A-1 Pictures has many goals for the future. Solo Leveling's anime release date will be in 2023. They also announced a Kaguya-sama movie that is titled Kaguya-sama: Love is War -The First Kiss Never Ends- (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: First Kiss wa Owaranai). It’s also expected that Kaguya-sama Season 4 will continue the story after the movie adapts the next story arc. Shingo Adachi directed the anime Lycoris Recoil. He is a former character designer and chief animator director for Sword Art Online. (Working!!). Asaura, a Ben To light novelist, created the original story that was used in the anime series. Imigimuru ("This Art Club Has A Problem! is in charge of character designs with Kimika Onai designing the character’s uniforms. The music was composed by Shuhei Mutsuki, SPY x FAMILY. Mutsuki's work in anime series Fairy Gone, Three Leaves, Three Colors, and Three Leaves, Three Colors is also notable. The Lycoris Recoil Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet. For the first season, the Lycoris Recoil OP “ALIVE” was performed by ClariS. Japanese singer, musician, and songwriter Sayuri perform the Lycoris Recoil ED theme song “Hana no To (Flower Tower)”. Aniplex’s Lycoris Recoil OP trailer PV. Director Adachi stated that he was not only an episode director, but also involved in the writing of scripts, series composition and storyboards in an interview in August 2022. He was responsible for the main plot development and dialogue. The project itself was led by Aniplex and before Adachi became involved Mr. Asaura already had a basic plot in mind involving the main five characters at Lyco-Reco Café (their names never changed). The first Lycoris Recoil trailer video PV videos focused on the slice of life elements at the cafe. It was therefore a pleasant surprise that Lycoris Recoil Episode 1, Part 1 began with a scene explaining why Lycoris girls were essentially orphans and are raised secretly to eliminate any threats to Japanese society. Adachi stated that the original concept has changed over time. This concept did not include the use of female child assassins by the government to covertly enforce public order. “At first, there was nothing concrete about the world setting and the basic concept was pretty much “a girl and City Hunter”. However, City Hunter’s Ryo Saeba character was an adult who could choose his own jobs freely, whereas underage girls couldn’t do that,” Adachi explained. “So the DA organization and its agents the Lycoris were invented as a reason why Chisato and Takina didn’t need to go to school and why they were being given dangerous assignments.” Despite how the introduction of the Under the Dog and Gunslinger Girl-eque organization changed the tone of the story, the director didn’t want the concept to become as dark as the aforementioned series. “I didn’t want to make it as dark as possible since I wanted to make it an easy-to-watch work that would make you laugh once every five minutes,” the director explained. “It’s important to draw action and gun movements correctly, but I’m aiming for a work that can be accepted by people other than gun maniacs.” He also tried to explain Chisato’s god-like bullet time vision: “It’s not about dynamic vision, it’s about observation. Chisato is able to detect subtle movements in the eyes, muscles and mouth, so she can determine whether the other person wants to pull the trigger. It takes some time for the brain's command to the fingertips to move and for the trigger to be pulled. If you can instantly understand what a person is going to do next, you won’t get hit by a bullet. If you think of a bullet as a ‘small dot’ that appears instantaneously and has lethal power it won’t hit unless the body is there when that dot appears… (laughs) The main character would need some kind of special talent, so at the planning stage, it was simply ‘good at handling guns. … I thought about what I could do to more clearly convey to the audience that ‘special talent’, but it was difficult… After thinking about various things, I can up with Chisato’s ability mentioned above.” – Lycoris Recoil director Shingo Adachi One of the major themes in the first season is Talents. The Alan Institute claims, “This is your talent, and this way of life is the best for you and the world!” The director points out that this ideal “helps some people, but you probably know that it’s not everything, right?” So Chisato’s talent has her pondering how that will affect her life and what answer she will give to Alan Institute leader Shinji Yoshimatsu. We’ll just have to wait and see if the talented director creates a new main theme for Lycoris Recoil Season 2. Keep checking! Read the full article

[maaji-maji-majima]

some kissing hcs for Majima?(if u can make it nsfw)

So I'm in a weird place with this. I don't want to leave you unanswered but I know you won't like the answer that I give. It has been a long time since I was active on tumblr and I'm not sure when along the timeline headcanon became synonymous with fanfiction. I appreciate fanfiction authors for their creativity, but I am not one myself. I use headcanon in the older definition of "this isn't in the source material, but it is true in my brain". They are either random things my half asleep mind thought of while walking home from work or a character analysis. At the same token your ask had crawled into my brainmeats and won't leave. So again, I apologize that this most definitely is not what you're looking for, but I hope someone out there finds this to be an interesting read.

Without further introduction, here is a character analysis of our favorite pansexual, gender fluid, emotionally stunted goblin in regards to relationships and why the he desperately needs therapy as brought to you by a different pansexual, gender fluid, emotionally stunted goblin who got therapy but probably needs more.

Trigger warnings: Abuse, self harm, mental disorders, poor coping strategies, unhealthy relationships, random tense changes, not fanfiction

Spoilers for the whole franchise, but very specifically for 0, K1, and 5.

Abuse does weird things to people's brains. In Yakuza 0 Majima has barely been out of the hole for a year. He might no longer be suffering the actual physical torture he had been subjected to the year prior, but he is still directly in the hands of his abusers and being watched every moment. He is still in a cage even if it doesn't look like one. He is depressed and likely suicidal, but doesn't follow through with those thoughts because he is determined to make sure Saejima has a home to come back to. He is willing to endure just about anything to allow Saejima a chance to exact that final moment of retribution because Saejima is the one who deserves it and Majima doesn't feel that there is any possibility for forgiveness. In all likelihood he hasn't sought out anyone for a hookup or paid company for an evening due to a combination of not feeling like he deserves anything that feels good and the fact that he's constantly being watched. The year in hole means he no longer really has a concept of privacy, but he's worried that getting close to someone, even for a few moments, could put them in danger if Sagawa or Shimano feels like holding something else over his head. It isn't worth accidentally dragging someone into his own personal hell. He no longer lives for the present, he is only living for that far-off future that he hopes isn't just a pipe dream.

Enter Makoto. At first she is a stand-in for Saejima's sister Yasuko, but it morphs rapidly from there. She is the light and kindness and hope that he hasn't seen in years and she's being dragged into his bullshit. He knows in his heart of hearts that she doesn't deserve what she is being forced into, so his mind snaps into the immediate and does everything he possibly can to save her. This is is the hill he wants to die on. Maybe, just maybe, he can end his miserable existence with a final act of good and he feels that Saejima might just be able to understand. But because he no longer has any relationships in his life that are not strictly professional or the abusers he cannot escape, he has little recollection of what a nuanced relationship or even friendship is any longer. Due to circumstance she is also the only person that he cannot keep at arm's length, no matter how desperately he tries. So he falls for her and falls hard. But in the end, after everything they go through he does the impossible. He lets her go. She has a life and a future, whereas he has neither of those. What would she do? Become his ane-san? Have some temporary happiness before she realizes she has a target on her back for the rest of her life? No. Majima believes she deserves so much more than that even though it hurts him deeply. What is one more hurt on top of everything else? He's gotten extremely good at burying his pain.

Getting to Tokyo flips a switch in Majima's brain. Like many people with mental trauma who don't have access to therapy he falls into excess as a way of self medicating. He fits virtually everything on the hedonism checklist. Drinking? Yeah. Violence? Hell yeah! Promiscuity? Yeah, but I ain't judging. Drugs? Probably, even though it isn't explicitly stated in game. Everything from his shift in personality to his wardrobe has become, intentionally or not, a defense mechanism. He has escaped from all of his abusers except for Shimano and he refuses to allow anyone to gain that kind of power over him again.

It is a double edged sword, however. His depression and PTSD are running unchecked. In all likelihood he hasn't fallen hard on vices as a way to reclaim ownership off his own body. Instead it seems more probable that he is dissociating. After everything he has been through he doesn't care what happens to his body in the long run because it isn't actually his anymore. Risky behavior, which is practically Majima's middle name, is also frequently used as a passive form of self harm because the end result is either temporarily feeling better thanks to endorphins and adrenaline or permanently feeling better after embracing death. He could achieve a similar feeling by taking up jogging and chasing a runners high, but that takes more time and energy than chugging a handle of whiskey or goading some chump into throwing hands. Sadly even now admitting to mental problems by seeking help is fairly stigmatized in Japan and it was only worse in the early 90s. Can't have a problem if no one tells you it's there, right?

Then he meets Mirei. She's intense but not wild like Majima. At that moment in time she is everything he needs. Head strong, domineering, and very, very determined. She knows exactly what buttons to press to wrap him right around her finger. And he lets her take the reigns, lets her run his life because he realizes he was doing a terrible job on his own. Better her than Shimano, right? Doing something wrong results in the cold shoulder instead of a vicious beating, and doing something right leads to more than simply the relief of avoiding a beating. He decides that making her happy is enough to make him happy. Until suddenly it isn't. He never wanted to be a father, but even the idea that he could have been was enough to cause a fundamental shift in his entire outlook on life. He could have had someone to live for, instead of just survive for. But he had no say in the matter and didn't know until the decision had been made for him. When Mirei told him she had an abortion he snapped. He hit her. The one and only time he raised his hands against her. Disgusted with himself, and wounded by her decision, he left. If he was capable of that, he knew couldn't be the person she had been trying to mold him into. He realized he was nothing but a weight around her neck dragging her down. And so that day signals the end of their short marriage. He spends the next several decades drowning in guilt for his actions while still resenting her for her choice.

That leaves us with Kiryu. Poor, oblivious Kiryu. Majima's fixation is multifaceted but in no small part due to the fact that Kiryu is one of the few people strong enough to hurt him, but is the only one that doesn't want to. And Majima just doesn't understand. After everything, he only deserves to hurt, right? Saejima, Yasuko, Makoto, Mirei. Everyone who gets too close to him ends up worse for it, so why won't Kiryu and his sense of honor seek justice on their behalf? So he does everything he possibly can to wind up Kiryu enough to Pay Attention Damnit, Fight Me. But Kiryu's response is always just flustered awkwardness because he doesn't want like fighting, it's just a part of his job, like wearing a suit or answering a phone. To Kiryu fighting isn't a thing done because it's enjoyable, it's done because it has to be. But he's still the only one who doesn't flinch when Majima brandishes a knife inches from his face.

And then Kiryu is arrested and in jail for ten years. And ten years is a long time to build someone up onto a pedestal. Like only wanting to talk about the best of a person after they've died. The same thing happened with Saejima. Build them in his mind to what he wants or needs them to be since they are not there to actively correct it. The decade is pretty miserable, going through the motions and trying to not make waves with the bigwigs while terrifying the minions into obedience. When he hears Kiryu is being released it is like waking up again. He all but waits at the taxi stand at the entrance of Kamurocho on the day of Kiryu's release, all but vibrating with excitement. It's a fight he has been waiting on for a decade, too bad it was little more than a disappointment.

So Majima decides to bring him back up to spec in that very Majima flavored way. Small fights, big fights, surprise fights. Kiryu is still reluctant because he doesn't have a reason beyond Majima's dreamed up training program he doesn't actually want to be a part of. Of course this only leads Majima to do everything possible to get under Kiryu's skin, including sharing his personal vulnerabilities while disguising them as jokes just to cause fights, but Kiryu just kind of rolls with it which leads to confusion and frustration on both sides. After a while Majima starts to get into Kiryu's hobbies, like pocket circuit, ostensibly as another form of picking a fight. And he discovers he actually enjoys a lot of it. And they are both too dense and emotionally stunted to realize they're basically dating at this point. At multiple points Majima takes potentially lethal blows meant for Kiryu and the excuse that he is the only one allowed to kill Kiryu is very, very thin. He just can't quite admit out loud that he doesn't want to see Kiryu truly hurt because that's weakness and he is Not Weak (tm).

Shimano's death and Kiryu's departure from the clan come as a whirlwind that destroys him all over again. He's left directionless. So he leaves the Tojo in an attempt to find his own way in the world, for the first time in over twenty years.

I think I need to call it here for now. I know I've left out Saejima and Daigo, among others, but I've been working on this for days and my progress has been eaten twice and I just don't have the energy to keep going right at this time. Maybe some day in the future I'll find the time and energy to write out the rest for all the other games.

tl;dr What Majima wants and what he needs are two different things. He wants to fightfuck, but he needs to be bear hugged into submission so that he can have that mental breakdown he's been carefully bottling up for over thirty years. He needs a good, ugly cry. And therapy. Lots and lots of therapy.

#ask #character analysis #not fanfiction #yakuza games #yakuza headcanons #majima character analysis #rgg #rgg games #majima #majima goro #broken people doing broken things

[kulemii]

"don't fuck this up"

Reina- ever so graceful and cautious; there's no way she could mess up

Yuya- soft boi just wants to make his senpai proud and that's motivation enough to not fuck up

Sayama- a perfectionist that knows her flaws; its possible she could fuck up but she won't allow herself to.

Saejima- it's probably be more of a hassle if he does make a mistake, might as well go all out and make sure that doesn't happen

Aizawa- if he doesn't take his time, he will fuck up. so long as he isn't rushed, he'll do what he can to get it right the first time

Date- an old man set in his ways but open to trying to see other perspectives. he might have fucked up immediately before but now he's a tad more cautious

Haruka- tries to do what's best for everyone but the pressure gets to her after a while and she will unfortunately crumble beneath it

Nishiki- pretends to have more confidence than he actually does and when things starts to collapse, the façade melts and reveals a scared little boy just trying his best

Kiryu- genuinely thinks that he's making the right decision at the time but doesn't have the hindsight to realize just how bullish he's being at the moment

Kido- thinks he's slick and sly but doesn't have the life experience to consider every angle before he makes his decisions

Nishikiyama- is over trying to do things the right way and doesn't care about the impression he leaves behind anymore. he's going to do things his way and he doesn't care about the debris left behind

Majima- absolutely has the capacity to not fuck up, totally knows the right steps to take to not fuck up but there's no fun in that

Akiyama- likely didn't even pay attention to what was happening until it was too late, now has to learn the hard way.

Shinada- definitely tries as earnestly as he can to do it right but has the worst luck imaginable, the odds are against him; always

#i could've just made this about making something but for some characters i couldn't help but make it a two sentence analysis #kiryu kazuma #majima goro #aizawa masato #nishikiyama akira #saejima taiga #akiyama shun #shinada tatsuo #sawamura haruka #date makoto #sayama kaoru #kido takeshi #reina yakuza #yuya yakuza #ryu ga gotoku #feel free to disagree #sorry lol