Tumgik
#they just show majima daigo and saejima like they know whats good
skrunksthatwunk · 6 months
Text
UGH daigo who pretends to wanna see strip shows and go drinking as a 12 year old because he knows everyone around him isn't cool with him being a kid, so he tries to be less lame, to be more convenient. yeah, you can take me anywhere. in fact, you have to. i'll show you just how grown i am.
daigo who sheaths himself in black clothes, all bark and some bite, all dark and mysterious. all touch me and you'll get burned. playing hard to get. not that he doesn't want to be alone, but he sure as hell doesn't want to be lonely. and for that people have to like him. want to follow him. he's got to be a magnet. leave me alone, i'm not worth your time. so whoever picked him up from the gutter would really have to want him.
daigo who struggles to get his men in line as sixth chairman. daigo who only took the job because kiryu finally needed him. daigo who's never as good as the fourth chairman (who retired after a day, who never had to be chairman). daigo who never holds that against kiryu.
daigo who does what needs to be done, daigo who makes impossible decisions. daigo who rises to the occasion and swears in, daigo determined to be a better man than sohei ever was. daigo who sees the clan as his family, and tries to protect everyone in it. daigo who refuses to screw over kiryu's new family, and daigo who is shot for it. daigo who keeps the clan from tearing each other apart, whose absence brings out the worst in them. daigo who wakes up from a coma and saves kiryu and mine, daigo who comforts mine after, unable to even sit up properly. daigo who takes on a whole baseball team to protect his high school baseball team, daigo who's expelled and thrown in juvie for it. daigo who takes the hit because he knows he'll be yakuza someday anyway. daigo who protects his city. daigo who protects his men. daigo who works a way to offer his broke high school buddy millions of yen and another chance at his dream into his plans. daigo who shows his enemies mercy, daigo who rushes out injured to save the people who've helped him. daigo who tries to get kiryu off charges, who tries to push him to stay with his new family. daigo who loves his father fiercely, daigo who can be relied on. daigo who takes care of people.
daigo who kiryu gives the guidance he needs. daigo who kiryu pulls from depression, daigo who kiryu comes to rescue. majima comes back to the yakuza for, and kiryu who makes him, so he's not alone. daigo who shows mine what it means to care for others, why that's a trait worth dying for. daigo who mine feels he is not worthy of, daigo for whom mine sacrifices himself. daigo whom kiryu covers up mine's betrayal for because he didn't want to hurt him, and because mine was better than that. daigo who's forgiven for selling out majima, for getting caught in something stupid. daigo the "little chef". daigo who kiryu nearly jumps off a building to reach when he's shot, and saejima who holds him back. kiryu who leaves a letter for him, and not haruka, the always-chosen. daigo who's joined by saejima and majima when the tojo crumbles and they have to hide. daigo whose men follow him in the security company afterwards.
daigo who needed to be loved. daigo who loved anyway. daigo who was loved.
215 notes · View notes
canonsinthehead · 11 months
Text
What car would RGG/Yakuza/Judgement characters drive?
Kiryu (Your Grandfather’s Minivan):
Tumblr media
pic: 1999 Dodge Caravan/ other ex: 1992 Toyota Previa, 1st generation Mazda MPV Even haruka is pleading with him to get rid of it since it almost exploded on the last orphanage trip. Regardless of what anyone says, Kiryu doesn’t want to get rid since he keep saying it’s a good format for the orphans (when they were younger maybe but not anymore) and how this dinosaur was the property of Kazama-San and we’re of good use when kashiwagi and him were watching over younger Kiryu and Nishiki. As always, another thing Kiryu remains hard headed on which doesn’t surprised his sworn brother since he see it as an extension of his lack of fashion sense. Majima keeps clowning him since seeing Kiryu walking out of this atrocity in burning anger is the most hilarious thing ever.
Akiyama (A Older model of a regular sedan):
Tumblr media
pic: 1989 Honda Civic/ other ex: 2000 Toyota Corolla Regardless his pocket being stacked, he decided to get a regular car that common people get. Partly out of pure laziness, having to deal with expensive cars and their issues but he got it from a client who wanted to get rid of their old vehicle so he jump on the occasion. Hana doesn’t like it since it’s uncomfortable for her (for being so small and barely functioning right). She thinks he could’ve afford wayyyyyyy better than a (probably) discontinued second hand car with inexistent resale value.
  Haruka (A Regular Civilan Family Car):
Tumblr media
pic: Red 2012 Toyota Corolla   Even if her uncles wanted to go all in and splurge for a ‘’luxury’’ or expensive a car for her , she refused and decided to go with something more simple. Also the simplicity of her also shows her current life as civilian and desiring a normal life like everybody else. While Kiryu is understanding of her choice, Nagumo and the crew (lowkey) expected her to take a larger (for more kids to come) but Kiryu shut down that idea and how its not happening before Mr.Yuta officially marries Haruka. BY THE WAY HER CAR IS RED just sayin…
80s Nishiki (Retro & Flashy):
Tumblr media
pic: 1988 Mercedes 560SL/ other ex: 1988 Ford Mustang GT Convertible, 1988 Jaguar XJsAlong with the other car he had in Y0, he had another red convertible car he keeps for special occasions like showing off to his bosses, impress cabaret girls (remember image is everything) or for laid back road trip with his kyoudai. Slick Back Nishikiyama (Expensive & Conservative): ex: white porche or mercedes Changing his mentality, goals and outlook on life also affected his vehicle choice. Nishiki sold his all retro flashy car to separate vfrom his old image of being easy going and a (bitch) weak boss. By doing that he wants people to take him more seriously so he can climb the Yakuza ladder, so he goes for safe and conservative in many things including his fashion style. Yumi: doesn’t know how to drive.
Saejima (Thick car):
Tumblr media
pic: 2005 Ford F-150/ other ex: 2005 Jeep Cherokee, 2021 Toyota Land Cruiser A big Heavy duty weather resistant car to fit his build (since he hates being uncomfortable). Also a big car to transport various things easily from camping equipment, drive well on dirt roads and snow and to carry Majima’s drunk body.
Daigo (what the chairman deserves)
Tumblr media
pic: Rolls Royce Phantom VIII In all his Tojo-related activities, he usually get around by his driver in a limousine. He has a Black Rolls Royce that he almost never uses. Even though Mine and many of his subordinates encourage him to use it to match his boss/ex-boss status (or stature as man Mine would say). He doesn’t like too much the negative attention on him especially when he’s visiting Kiryu or doing personal things. All this goes with him being a shit driver (sorry daigo-chan) regardless owning a valid driving license. The brat side of his younger self remained since he prefers having a driver than doing it himself even after the disbandment of the Tojo Clan (which Mine and all his ‘’uncles’’ are glad to do so).
Majima: there are things he is actually cheap and lazy about. Taking after daigo, he doesn’t presently owns a valid driving licence, the one he previously owned (to destroy Shangri-La) got revoked and suspended ever since. He doesn’t want all the trouble and the paper work to get it back. since Saejima can’t drive his kyoudai around town on demand; he elected Minami and Nishida to be his personal drivers. Regardless he still sometimes takes some driving strolls by himself, we he does he takes Daigo’s Rolls Royce, which he himself gave to the fourth chairman as a birthday present. So that’s why he always tells him he has the right to use the car as he pleases. Daigo doesn’t mind and actually thinks his car finds Majima’s style better.
Ryuji (Ryuji being Ryuji):
Tumblr media
car: HUMMER H2
Tumblr media
motorcycle: Kawasaki VN2000 Class/ other ex: 2022 Indian scout bobberAt some he did own a HUMMER (before when it was still poppin) but Kaoru convince him to sell it because it was wayyyyy too big, waste of (gas) money and in all honestly looked RICICULOUS. He later converted to a motorcycle which he uses all the time.
Minami:
Tumblr media
pic: Trap car Couldn’t wait to climb up the rank and earns enough funds to get rid of his trap to replace to his dream car to represent his status.
Nishitani (Wanna ride Majima-kun?)
Tumblr media
pic: 1984 Cadillac Eldorado/ other ex: 1965 Pontiac GTO Mine (Bad and Boujee)
Tumblr media
pic: 2021 Mercedes Mayback Class/ other ex: 2021 Porche 911Especially got a foreign model to make a statement as an accomplished Japanese businessman, that his pocket are stacked and he is not to be messed with. After surviving a suicide attempt (this is a headcanon remember mate). Now he volunteer to drive Daigo around to Kiryu’s opposition since he believes Daigo should drive for himself. He consider selling his fancy car (he already sold those he doesn’t use) because of Daigo’s desire of being discreet since the Tojo Clan’s collapse.
Tachibana (that car in Y0)
Oda:
Tumblr media
pic: 2021 Chevy Express Van CargoWhite Creppy Van. Period. (and that’s canon)
Shimano & Sagawa (Work harder Majima-chan!):
Tumblr media
pic: Japanese RickshawAlways used the cars provided by the clan and its drivers, if not he would make long hair Majima take him from point A to point B in a Traditinal Japanese rickshaw.
Kashiwagi (Fancy Refined)
Tumblr media
pic: 1991 Lincoln ContinentalAt some point owned a expensive recent car model (Audi A4 2020), but after getting rid of it he dig out a older car who was sleeping in his garage (Lincoln Continental 1991). It is the car he owned while in the Tojo Clan, it would be natural for him to get rid of it but he seems to be satisfied with the older car (he can’t find another one who could as charming as this one). He does most of his travels by foot so its not like he can be seen in his car anyway. 
Yakuza 7/Like A Dragon Ichiban & The Crew:
Tumblr media
pic: Redesigned Volkswagen The VW Van Type 2 It’s the first car Ichiban and Nanba got coming out of homelessness as soon as Ichi got his driving license from the vocational school. They got it from a scrap (a place where they stock old car they think are no good anymore) in almost perfect condition from one of Nanba’s homeless plugs. They got it fixed and upgraded by Sumire Sawa (the repairs chick). While Adachi was not the type to roll around in such flashy car, it officially became the LAD Crew’s official car. Saeko did some touchs up and decoration (with Seonghui funds) and VOILAAA! It’s now a place where they can both drive long distance and sleep (not all 7 but at least a few). Ichiban and Nanba like it the most since it’s reminiscent of their upgrade from the homeless life and can always be an option instead of bothering Kashiwagi at the bar (at least when Adachi does, he pissed him off so many times).
Zhao is less hyped about it. He keeps emphasizing on how he prefers hotels and a warm bed. He keeps repeating how he never been in a vehicle ‘’this cheap’’. He always find excuses to not go in it, deep down he’s just covering the fact that he is very uncomfortable sharing small spaces with many other people. Those scenarios brings up his uneasiness with everything outside the realm of lavishness or the comfort of the Liumang Headquarters. As for Joon-gi, while he constantly complains about not having enough space to breathe or the car being unconventionally ‘’tacky’’ and has never seen anyone in neither Japan or Korea driving a car like this. He low key likes it since it reinforces the family-like bond all the members of the party have. It also feeds into one of the deepest fantasies he had during his younger years which was to have siblings to quench his childhood loneliness.
They use this car especially for road trip and doing camping which ichiban succeeded to being everyone on their last camping trip.
Eri (Common Japanese Box Car)
Tumblr media
pic: 2018 Nissan Dayz/ other ex: 2018 Honda n Box It’s the cheapest car, her and her grandmother could afford keeping their whole situation with the business. Since the success of Ichiban Confections, her grandmother moved on to better transportations method, she got a small (but expensive) car for herself, she even offers herself boat rides. On her side, Eri is satisfied with their old car and kept it.   Zhao
Tumblr media
pic: Pink Lamborgini Aventador it's not that i needed it or even use it, it’s because I wanted it. AND I COULD AFFORD IT. Matter of fact i use the Liumang's limousine and its drivers for transportation.
Saeko:
Tumblr media
pic: Fiat 500 She loves the car she shares with all her friends but for some reason would like to have a small cute car for herself.
Judgement/Lost Judgement/Judge Eyes Yagami (That Skateboard…):
Kaito:
Tumblr media
pic: interior of 2019 Subaru ForesterI don’t know the model, but the insides are brown.
Tsukumo (Does he even go out?): mmhhh… just the few times he had to take public transportation since he started college (when he was attending, he then switched to do literally everything remotely, #Unaffected-by-Quarantine), it told him all he had to know about any forms of transportation. If it has to be necessary, then Sugiura will drive him around and is glad to do so.
Tesso (The Finest Electric Bike you can find):
Tumblr media
pic: VanMoof X3 Intelligent Electric Bike/ other ex: Cowboy 4He prefers bikes because he thinks they are faster and more versatile.
Akutsu Daimu (I Made It):
Tumblr media
pic: Lamborghini Aventador LP 720-4 / other ex: Orange 2015 Ford Mustang GT Finally realized one of his dreams by buying foreign sports cars to establish his image as a “feared” & accomplished gang leader. As flashy as it comes, Akutsu mostly use them to show off and imitates the rich and famous of the world (fake it till you make it). While his unique extravagance is showcased trough his vehicle choices, they are mostly reserved for a spectacular entry at parties and for the grams. It helps Akutsu since he always fantasized about being a rapper *play Zico’s VENI VEDI VICI* (especially the American ones he sees on TV/online) at least living the hip hop lifestyle (money, power & bitches) and being the face of RK helps him accomplish that goal.
Soma thinks all of this is completely foolish since his cars spend most of their time biting the dust in his garage and most of them are OBVIOUSLY too small for his 6’ 5’’ gigantic frame. WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT FROM A FLASHY IGNORANT FOOL ANYWAY?
191 notes · View notes
yakuzacanons · 1 month
Note
ok ok ok ok ok ok hear me out.... fem civillian reader stuck in a love PENTAGON with kiryu, daigo, majima, akiyama and saejima (am I crazy? Not at all) and hear me out! They all seem to get along as a group as they keep finding excuses to stay with her, they also do bicker alot with eachothers or try to steal her away for some time (none of them admit their crush to her tho), only ganging up when someone's bothering her. For some reason, Kiryu always manages to steal the show from his friends. (Oh my God I'm so sorry this is getting out of hand)
PLEASE this is so funny to me, I have been sitting on this ask for MONTHS now thinking about it. I am so sorry it took me so long but I finally have the goods, so here ya go!
First of all, the boys generally always do get along. This group dynamic is always fun to hangout with. Of course, YOU know who they are and their professions, etc. It was kind of scary at first; chances are, it was Akiyama that introduced you to the gang, as he's the only civillian there anyways.
Even though Akiyama was the one who started all this, you're pretty much equally close to all of them, the exception maybe being Daigo as he's the quietest and works the most. Chances are you just don't see him as regularly as the others.
You see Majima and Saejima the most and usually at the same time since the two tend to travel as a pair. They also bicker and tease each other (and you) the most. They're really into picking you up and carrying you around (Saejima IS better at this, by the way).
Kiryu and Daigo are more a mixed bag; sometimes you see them alone and sometimes they show up as a group since they work together. Both are always very kind and gentle around you but Daigo is the most noticeably shy at first. However, ironically he's the one that opens up the most around you as time goes on.
Akiyama is the first to notice that the other boys seem to like you as more than friends. He NEVER mentions this to you directly but he does love to stir the pot and ask you what you think of the other guys. He sometimes teases the guys as well, but only when you're not around. Mostly because he's fully aware he's had a crush on you for a while now and he can't blow his cover... but he also totally wants to sniff out how you're feeling or how they're feeling.
Kiryu is the hardest one to detect, man's stoic as hell. Honestly, he'll be the last one to realize he has a crush on you. Most of the time he's like "What? This is just how I am..." only to fully realize much much later that he is in fact only this way with you specifically and therefore you're really special to him.
Majima's the most likely to get physical with you but not in a sexual or uncomfortable way. He's a hugger for sure, which only makes Saejima and Daigo jealous in particular. Leans his head on your shoulder a lot too. Generally speaking, he's good at getting into close proximity with you.
Majima and Saejima compete the most. Very much "anything you can do, I can do better" deal which is hilarious for you and Akiyama to watch especially. There's been a couple times where the two of them bit off more than they can chew in a drinking challenge or something like that.
Akiyama teases them about it often, which only makes the three of them bicker more. Bickering just makes Daigo kind of shake his head or he'll try to make them make peace with each other which only makes them bicker with him, and so it goes on and on to your amusement.
Leave it to Kiryu to, whether he knows it or not, use these moments to get closer to you. He'll kind of just sigh and say something like "Ah, they're at it again, aren't they..." and joke about it with you. It isn't until the other four are done having their little tussle that they realize you'd spent the whole time just talking to Kiryu instead.
No one gets upset about it, although Majima might make some comment about Kiryu hogging your attention. It's always a little strange seeing some of the top brass of the Tojo Clan making a fuss over you; after all, you don't think you're all THAT special. Problem is, you are, very much so, to all five of them!
29 notes · View notes
Note
I'm not sure if you ever gave a review and no pressure at all but how did you like Infinite Wealth? I am almost done with it and I am curious what you think of it after so so much hype. I have largely enjoyed it though there are some things I have not loved
SPOILERS for those reading this
Bryce was such a lame villain even if I usually like cult villains but with so many villains it felt really crowded. I want to like Ebina and I like him more than Bryce but his twist felt lame especially given what we knew about Arakawa. I LOVE Yamai but it all felt so crowded.
But overall I love the game play and the characters and I have cried multiple times. But yeah, I miss really good villains like Aoki. Also I developed a really strong soft spot toward Sawashiro in the game
Yeah, the villains were easily the weakest part of the game. Tbh it was kind of a mixed bag for me overall lol. Especially since Gaiden was so fucking good and Y8 manages to cock up a lot of the best story parts of Gaiden. Hanawa getting killed off so unceremoniously after all the buildup and characterization he had was unsatisfying as fuck.
I also think Bryce would have worked better in the Japanese version by having his English lines be spoken by the dub voice actor because holy fuck, any characterization and actual intimidation flies out the window when you hear this white American fella speaking lines by a seiyuu who is NOT pulling off the English voice lines.
Joon-gi was basically stapled onto the story at the very end and it sucks since I really liked his character (the real Joon-gi in 6 and the agent in 7). He also got nerfed in terms of skills but considering how busted Kiryu is it kinda evens out.
Also regarding the Memories of Kamurocho, RGG TEAM IS RYUJI ALIVE OR NOT, HOW ARE YOU STILL TEASING THIS MOTHERFUCKER BEING ALIVE AND NOT DOING ANYTHING WITH IT
The gameplay is easily the biggest improvement and my favorite class was Kunoichi! It was also awesome to have Seonghee as a party member and getting to know more about her. Also I still think Saeko/Seonghee is a better ship than Ichiban/Saeko but I don't take shipping bullshit that seriously lol
The final boss was just a damage sponge, but the soundtrack was fucking great. Though I don't know why Saejima, Majima, and Daigo even show up when all they do is help in one mob of basic enemies and do nothing in the final fight. Ebina already sucks as a character but having the three of them come in during stages of the fight as strikers or assists would have been better so they actually like. Contributed as opposed to just standing there
Yamai is the best new character and the fact they end the story with him back in Japan makes me hopeful that he'll come back in future games. Though I'm a little worried he'll suffer from the same problem as Ichiban who...Look, Ichiban is a great character, but after LAD and his personal arc, IW would up with him being very static and I'm a little worried about his staying power as a protagonist. If each game just has him trusting everyone, staying optimistic af and never straying from that it'll get a bit old yk? Also I personally feel like end of 7!Ichiban would forgive Eiji as quickly and easily as he does in 8, he should have struggled with it at least a little. The dude threw a child down a flight of stairs, tied to a wheelchair for fuck's sake. He almost felt like a parody of himself in some spots, and that vibe carried through a lot of 8 for me in a way that I really didn't like.
As for the story, I feel like Yokoyama needs someone on staff to wrangle him the way Hideo Kojima does. 5 and 8 both have plots that kinda go off the rails and are messes regarding pacing.
Kiryu has a great sendoff and as someone who's had family members pass away from cancer, seeing him at the end in the wheelchair looking so frail was heartbreaking. But the fact he finally has his family back and is with Haruka again makes me so happy. He deserves to rest. Like in Gaiden, you see just how much it hurt him to be separated from them--I was bawling when he broke down seeing the kids at his grave and saw Haruto's drawing. And 8 kiiiinda lessens the impact of that plot point since he gets to see some of the kids in the end, but I am happy and satisfied with him reuniting with Haruka. The fact it was at the last second of the game and the actual reunion happened offscreen was kind of a letdown but still. Good end for Kiryu.
So if I had to TL:DR, Infinite Wealth is a delicious brownie in the parts where it's actually baked properly. A lot of spots are undercooked as fuck though, but it's still quite good.
1 note · View note
rivaiin · 3 years
Text
just got to chapter 9 and the plot is really starting to pick up some pace and im really really excited to see how things turn out
1 note · View note
gorochanfanclub · 3 years
Text
Yakuza Characters as Gift Givers
Had another deep meditation about what getting a Christmas (or birthday) gift from some yakuza characters would be like. Notice I say characters and not boys. There’s a surprise at the end ;)
Majima:
Goes over the top with each and every gift he gives. Plans them months in advance. Will give you the most expensive, most thoughtful, gift you could possibly imagine. Probably shirks his duties as a yakuza patriarch to plan it. Wants to make sure it is the best gift you’ve ever got- every single time. Finds it hard to top himself every year. You like murder mysteries? He’ll probably fake Nishida’s death just to let you solve the case, that’s how serious he is about giving you something you’ll never forget. 
Kiryu:
Will get you the most thoughtful gift ever. Might not be very expensive but it won’t matter because the thought he put into it will be more than worth it. Whether it’s a picture of you two in a frame he had custom made, something he saw that made him think of you, or something that references an inside joke or special memory between you, it’ll bring tears to your eyes when he gives it to you. 
Saejima:
Tries to plan his gift in advance but worries so much about getting you the right thing he misses his deadline. The poor boy will worry himself sick for weeks, or maybe even months about getting you something special but just won’t know what to get. Eventually, he’ll get you a card and present it to you, blushing like mad and apologizing for not getting you something better, but also promises to make it up to you. Seeing him so distraught over you, you’ll probably forgive him in a heartbeat. 
Akiyama:
Gifts experiences. Likes to get you concert tickets, cooking classes, dancing classes, vacations, anything fun the two of you can do together. He isn’t a very materialistic person so he wants to gift you the memory of doing something fun and special with with him by your side. A perk of his gifts is you always have the best Instagram feed. 
Ryuji:
Will get you something insanely expensive. Whether it be a new car, a designer outfit, a pure 24 karat gold necklace, you name it. His gifts are always so nice but with him constantly showering you in pricey gifts, you find it hard to keep up with them all. After being with him for a while, you’ll probably have an entire closet full of Louboutins. It’s not that he isn’t thinking of you, he just wants everyone to know that you belong to a rich, successful, man. That, and he wants you to feel as luxurious as he sees you as. 
Rikiya:
Totally forgot to get you a gift and runs out to the store the night before he’s supposed to give it to you and buys something on the spot. Probably won’t even wrap it because he won’t have time. So when he presents a plastic shopping bag to you, you know exactly what happened. Yet, you can’t find yourself to be mad at him when he smiles so brightly at you, hopeful you’ll like what he scrounged up. 
Mine:
Buys something very expensive but presents it in a way that shows he was really thinking of you. He might not understand yet that money can’t buy love, but when he gives it to you (which he will insist on doing in person) you’ll know that he meant well. The smile on his face as you open it though will almost be enough of a gift in of itself. 
Daigo:
Has no idea what to get you. Will (not so) covertly drop questions about what you might like. Stresses just a little about what to get you but eventually gets you something very... safe. Meaning it’s a nice gift, you appreciate it very much because he worked hard to figure it out, but it isn’t something you’d want to write home about. Definitely the type to gift jewelry, clothes, and things you’ll use in your daily life. (Loves seeing you use things he gives you)
Nishki:
Doesn’t understand how gifts work and will get you something he would like to get. A nice watch, tickets to a concert he wanted to go to, etc.  Will get upset if you point it out however and beat himself up for disappointing you. It’d probably just be best if you laughed it off and accepted it with glee. His happiness and triumphant look is a gift enough. 
Bonuses:
Hana-chan:
Gives you a very practical gift, something you never knew you needed in your life. When she gives it to you, you’ll be confused, wondering why anyone would give you something like this. Yet, after a few weeks or months of having it, you’ll find yourself wondering how you ever lived life without it. Don’t tell her you feel that way, however, because she’ll take it to heart and use every opportunity to remind you how good she is at what she does. 
Haruka:
Will probably cook you something. Presents it in a pretty box wrapped in a bow, no matter what it is. She already knows what you like to eat so expect your favorites. And of course it’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever had, it was made with love, after all...
327 notes · View notes
snuggetfish · 3 years
Note
This is the anon who sent the tattoo headcanon request. Thanks for answering it! I was thinking how Majima already had his whole tattoo complete by the Ueno Seiwa hit day, when he was like 21? Even Kiryu and Nishiki only had their outlines done by the time they were 20 and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to wait months between each session for healing. So basically, yeah I definitely interpret that as him being really overzealous to get his full tat complete as soon as possible even at the extent of his health, but also showing how much the yakuza is his whole life. he's dedicated his whole being to the yakuza life (and his oath brotherhood with saejima) so he feels he needs to get it done as fast as possible.
(previous tattoo ask here) Good points anon! I think I see two possibilities:
1. As you say, he rushed the process.
Probably had to deal with a lot of pain and had to take lots of precautions against infection, but powered through it all just for that pride of finally being able to say: it's done, I'm a "full" yakuza now, committed to this path.
In a way, it's a symbol of what I think is Majima's defining trait: loyalty. He's not the kind of person to take oaths lightly. Once he's made a promise, he sticks to it - whether it's refusing to abandon Saejima in '85, bowing to Shimano again despite the way he manipulated him, returning to support the Tojo clan and staying at Daigo's side, in spite of the young chairman's missteps. Majima's simply yakuza to the core, from his skin to his bones.
2. He started the tattoo when he was really young.
This is largely just a headcanon since there isn't any concrete evidence in canon, but I think Majima joined the yakuza as a teen, possibly a young teen.
In Y0 he drops a hint about some event that may have changed the course of his life at around 14 and from some real-life accounts of yakuza that I've read in articles in interviews, it seems it's not uncommon for misfit children to be inducted early, maybe as errand boys and lackeys at first. And what's more alluring to a teen than honour codes and elaborate ink that marks you as "belonging" somewhere? Check out this discussion thread from a while back on why it could be possible that the tattoo was Majima's reason for joining and one of the factors keeping him tethered to the family.
I personally think he may have started his sujibori at 17-18, gradually filling it in over the course of a couple of years. For a piece that big, it's still a short amount of time, but who knows, maybe Shimano had a hand in speeding the process along. He seems to take an unusual interest in Majima, after all...
Tattoos and Majima's early life are always fascinating topics for me, so if anyone has more thoughts or headcanons to add here, I'm all ears! 👀 And thank you anon for the ask! 💙
24 notes · View notes
syncrime · 3 years
Note
*slides you a wrinkly old dollar* Please talk about Saejima and why he's the best boy
YOU. You. I like you nonnie. I like you very much. Because Saejima is VERY good and is one of my top Yakuzie characters, and I thank you so much for letting me ramble about him. 😭💖
Spoilers for Y4 and Y5 below, so be wary!
BUT TO BEGIN. What hits me like a damn truck every time I think about Saejima is the fact that he wanted to be a teacher. He wanted to teach elementary school kids. He wanted to help them and guide them and hopefully put them on a solid path that lead to their futures. And looking at how gentle he actually is in canon? SAEJIMA WOULD HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL AT IT. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST KIND AND NURTURING AND SUPPORTIVE TEACHER ANYBODY EVER SAW. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST SO DAMN GOOD. 😤😤😭😭😭 But circumstance forced him into seedier avenues, until he could no longer back out (and honestly, given how black and white Japan's justice system is, the moment he eked even a toe across the line, that dream of his was long gone). Just the mental image of him in a colourful classroom full of kids who adore him, and kids he loves with his whole, gigantic heart, I just... wehhh 🥺🥺
Another thing I absolutely adore about Saejima is how much he cries. Big burly man like him who could crush my head with one hand, crying to an entire audience about how terrifying it is to kill someone? AND WHEN HE THOUGHT HE DID IT 18 TIMES?? (That's admittedly a grievance I have with Y4, I wish they didn't wipe his slate clean, it's.. such a contrivance sjdhf). The remorse he showed was genuine. The trauma related to that incident is real. AND HIS REUNION WITH SASAI!??!? I START TO CRY EVERYTIME, THE EXACT MOMENT SAEJIMA DOES BECAUSE FML. 😭😭💔💔💔 In this house we stan men who don't give two shits for toxic masculinity. Let men cry. Saejima does. A lot.
He's also generally just incredibly good natured and genuinely wants people to not only have ambition, but to succeed too?? This lends incredibly well into like... why he would have been a fantastic school teacher. What this doesn't explain however, is why, if he's been guiding Daigo along with Majima, there have been frequent Bad Decisions made for the Tojo Clan at large. 🤣🤣 Maybe Daigo says a thing, and he and Majima kinda of look at each other like
Tumblr media
before saying, with forced smiles, "haha ok son, whatever u say..."
And speaking of his kyodai, his relationship with Majima is something I deeply cherish too, not only from Saejima's viewpoint, but Majima's too (which is a WHOLE OTHER THING TBH). Their loyalty and devotion to one another, their unshakeable faith in the other, their belief in the other's strength. And like, he is SO loyal, but he isn't reckless about it. Saejima's acceptance of Majima's "death" in Y5 is something I look very fondly at, because when Saejima found out about it, he didn't seek revenge. He wholly accepted that Majima isn't the type of man to go down easy, and whoever killed him was simply stronger than him, and that's all there is to it? That isn't to say he wouldn't have grieved, but it speaks to the kind of man he is, and the depth of his relationship with Majima that his first instinct is to find out the truth instead of revenge. Even in Y4 when he underwent that trial from the Florist? Where he had to kill his opponent in the arena in order to gain the info he wanted? My mans didn't do it. He's not going to bloody up his hands for his own gain. Not like that, and not ever. He's a selfless man who lives for the people he loves. And when he loves, he loves with his WHOLE DAMN HEART. 💖
IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN SAEJIMA TAIGA
Tumblr media
...ya know what, it's been a hot minute since I replayed Y4 and Y5, I should do that to see my Battle Grandpa
14 notes · View notes
Note
Hi! I happened to stumble across your analyses on both Majima and Saejima and boy am I blown away by them! You captured their personalities so well it’s awespiring. Is there a chance you’ll write a post about Kiryu as well? It’s just that originally I’ve had a hard time liking him as a character because of the numerous mistakes he has made across the series (and the fact that others don’t really address them for some reason). Despite that I’m a huge fan of kazumaji and that’s why I feel conflicted sometimes. Anyway, I would really like to hear your thoughts about it!
Awww, you’re very kind ^^; Thanks for asking for more c: So, the reason why I haven’t yet made a post about Kiryu is NOT due to my lack of feelings about him, it’s quite the opposite. I have essays worth of feelings about Kiryu and just... have not found the time to really give those feelings credit ^^; But, since you ask and you’re having a hard time with his character, let me at least start. 
As a preamble, let me first say that there’s a difference between a character making a mistake and the writing making a mistake. This is not to say Kiryu never makes mistakes, far from it. I have a lot of feelings about Kiryu’s mistakes, they’re one of the reasons I love him, but a lot of the more egregious fuck ups are the writers making weak or poorly thought out choices. For example, like you point out, Kiryu makes mistakes and no one ever calls him out for it... that’s a writing flaw, not a problem with Kiryu. 
(Please note that to give my best reading of Kiryu, I’m going to reference as many games as I have seen, which is through game 6. If you do not wish to be spoiled through at least game 5 (I never reference game 6 if I can help it), do not read further.)
Continuing with that example... I cannot tell you how simultaneously OVERJOYED and FURIOUS I am about game 3 when Mine, MINE YOSHITAKA, a character who was introduced that game and then never appears again, is the only person who criticizes Kiryu’s decisions when he has DEMONSTRABLY made bad ones! Like, Mine’s criticisms are ENTIRELY valid, but because they come out of his mouth it’s hard to say if the audience is meant to sympathize or not. Especially since Mine is sort of the antagonist of that game and he’s not really pitched as a sympathetic character. You have to really be willing to be critical of Kiryu to hear what Mine’s saying there and agree with him. The way the scene is played, you’re sort of supposed to still identify with Kiryu and insist that he’s never done anything wrong ever, even though he’s put all of his friends in a vulnerable position and IS arguably to blame for the state Daigo’s in now, as Mine points out. 
And the writing is on some level aware that it is Kiryu’s fault or they wouldn’t have brought it up. They wouldn’t have had Mine say that if they didn’t see that problem. But the problem is they’re afraid of letting Kiryu be flawed. They’re afraid that if Kiryu’s wrong, even once, he won’t be The Good Guy anymore and the audience won’t like him anymore. This is weak and cowardly writing. Characters aren’t compelling because they’re never wrong, characters are compelling from what they do when they’re wrong. Any character who’s never wrong is unrealistic and, ultimately, boring. We all fuck up, we’re all only human. You ultimately will not identify with an infallible god because they would make choices you wouldn’t. I’m sure we can all think of characters who were pitched to us as infallible that, sooner or later, we ended up hating because of this very trait. So trying to pitch Kiryu as infallible is a ginormous mistake. But an understandable one, especially in a franchise that depends on the likability of its main character. But this means that they don’t trust their own writing, they don’t trust Kiryu’s inherent appeal and they fuck up the story around refusing to take risks. It’s one of the most heartbreaking writing decisions for me that those words come out of Mine’s mouth and not one of Kiryu’s friends. 
Because it’s Kiryu’s friends who deserve to get to say that. It’s Kiryu’s friends, the people who are directly affected by his actions and the people who CARE about Kiryu, who have the right to criticize him. Not some fucking young blood with a chip on his shoulder. Having Mine say it makes the criticism look biased an illegitimate when it isn’t. I understand the writing impulse to not let us criticize Kiryu, but think how much more compelling it would be to show that Kiryu’s relationships are strong enough to handle criticism. That the trust and love is there for a friend to come to Kiryu with this and to force Kiryu to confront himself and listen rather than ignore the problems and insist that he’s never done anything wrong. But to make that call, to let us doubt Kiryu, you, as the writer, have to trust your story, you have to trust your character, and, worst of all, you have to trust your audience. Many many writers of popular media do not trust their audiences. They don’t trust that if they let you doubt, you’ll come with them and see where the story leads. They’re afraid you’ll lose interest and turn away. Many writers feel that they cannot take the risk of trusting their writing for fear of losing their base and therefore their income.
And, again, part of the issue is the aims of the story. At the end of the day, RGG is here to produce a fighting video game, that’s it. Wrapping that up in a compelling story makes it more sellable, but their primary focus isn’t the story itself. It’s getting you to buy a fighting video game. If the mechanics aren’t up to par, if they fights aren’t cool and interesting, the rest doesn’t matter. RGG came up with a story to link the games together and invested in making an interesting protag, but it was to sell the games. If the point of this story was the story, I think we’d be seeing different writing decisions and maybe some of these flaws could have been avoided. And I don’t actually mean to point this out as a criticism and say why aren’t they creating art for art’s sake? I mean it really as a grain of salt that I personally use to try not to hold the writing here up to the standard that I would a novel or something. That may not be useful perspective for anyone else, but it’s a thing I like to keep in mind. 
So, part of what we see in Kiryu is that the writing fucking sucks. And it’s fair not to want to redeem Kiryu’s character or dig deeper into him when the writing hasn’t provided you with much. So no one feel bad if you’re not persuaded by my assessment, I’m not here to shame or convince anyone, I’m just offering my two cents. 
And now alllll of that said... Let’s talk about my boy, Kiryu Kazuma. 
I said earlier that characters are compelling based on how they react to mistakes, how they deal with them. Let me tell you, Kiryu is aware that he’s made mistakes. And he has regrets. 
What I find compelling about Kiryu is that he tries so fucking hard to do the right thing, all the fucking time. What I find compelling about Kiryu is that he wants so much to make people happy, to make people proud of him. He is scared all the time of doing wrong by people and making himself untrustworthy, making himself scary. He has lost so much, he has lost everything and he still gets up every goddamn day and tries. 
Does he fuck up? YES. ABSOLUTELY. ALL THE FUCKING TIME. But he gets up. Every. Fucking. Day. And tries. And you can’t buy that. You can’t ask for that. That’s just who he is, a guy who tries. 
I don’t... have time to explain the depths of my love for Kiryu, but let’s take my favorite Kiryu, what I think the best characterization of Kiryu is in the entire fucking series: game 5. Game 5 Kiryu is my favorite fucking Kiryu, including 1, including Zero, bar fucking none. I fucking love game 5 Kiryu. 
And Game 5 begins with a colossal mistake. 
Before the game starts, Kiryu is convinced, either earnestly or nefariously, to leave his little family and specifically abandon AHEM release his daughter Haruka to someone else. This is the stupidest fucking thing Kiryu’s done since giving up the chairmanship. But he does it because he is told that he is a greater threat to his family WITH them than abandoning them. I want you to think about that. Kiryu loves his family so much he would sooner leave them than do them harm. I need to remind you that Kiryu has already destroyed and rebuilt his own life once already. He has repeatedly given up everything for his dream of having a family and for all his beautiful kids more than once. And he just loves his little Okinawa home so much, he can’t stand the idea that he would bring it harm, so he fucks off. This is categorically the wrong decision and any other reasonable adult would know this. I’m sure you yourself understand intuitively why a parent, no matter how dubious, can’t just leave a brood of underage children to fend for themselves in the world.
But here’s the thing: Kiryu’s made a number of dumbass decisions that have led him to this point in his life. He doesn’t have any adult, peer friends to counsel him about this. He’s deliberately estranged himself from Majima, from Date, from all the people who could have helped him out here and told him not to. And deep down Kiryu’s always been worried that he was unworthy of this. He’s always been afraid that he didn’t really deserve to be happy, deserve his little family of innocents. And the plot SURE AS FUCK has confirmed that for him, repeatedly putting the kids in danger and reminding him that you can never actually leave the yakuza. Kiryu knows he’s fucked up. He knows adopting his family was a mistake, but it was too late, what was he gonna do now? But here comes this little insidious voice confirming his worst fears, telling him he needs to go, and Kiryu listens. He has no one else to listen to and he’s been so beaten down by the plot by this point, he’s lost so fucking much now, that he doesn’t have the strength to believe in himself anymore. So he goes. Believing that he is doing the right thing.
And then, as it always does, the plot comes for him, telling Kiryu he needs to come help, telling Kiryu only he can fix it. And Kiryu, for the first time in his life, puts his foot down. He’s so fucking tired, he won’t fucking do it, not one more time. Because every time he gets his ass up to help, what happens? Someone else dies. Someone else dies and it’s Kiryu’s fault all over again, and it’s Nishiki all over again, and Kiryu can barely fucking live with himself for all the guilt that he feels. He starts to help and he just loses. Every fucking time. So this time, no, this time he won’t do it. He can’t do it anymore. He just wants... everyone to be okay. And he’s so sure that everyone would be better off without him. 
If that’s a huge screaming red flag for anyone else IT SHOULD BE. Kiryu is in a depression spiral. He’s suicidal. He’s cut himself off from all his meaningful relationships, he’s not participating in his favorite hobbies, he’s alone and isolated in a new city where he doesn’t know anyone. He’s Not Doing Good. Game 5 is about finally, FINALLY confronting Kiryu’s demons, all the pent up unresolved guilt and turmoil that we never fucking addressed for 5 games running. (And if you’re hearing Bitter Resentment in the way the games have handled Kiryu’s emotional reactions OH BOY YOU BETCHA but that’s for another post.)
So Kiryu finally says no. He won’t fucking do it. But the plot comes for the fucking carotid. It’s Majima. It’s Majima. The only person Kiryu really, truly trusts. The person Kiryu was relying on to still be there, to be strong, to do the things Kiryu couldn’t. It’s Majima this time. And Kiryu loses his goddamn mind. That was the one thing you had left to take from him, his belief in Majima, and you took it. Kiryu nearly has a psychotic break at the news and decides, fine. Fine. I’ll go fix this, and then I can die. Then it’s over. Because there ain’t nothing left for him now. 
And he does. Kiryu gets his ass down there, he solves the fucking problem, and then he does his level best to die there. Because it’s what he feels he deserves. He’s let down everyone. All those losses, all those people... they’re his fault. If he was really the hero, he could have saved them. If he was really a good person, these tragedies wouldn’t keep happening. It must be his fault. Fuck, even Majima died, even Majima... and he wasn’t even there, he couldn’t even have helped him, he just... He abandoned him. And Kiryu feels intensely that guilt and grief for his mistakes and his missed opportunities. And all he can think to do with that feeling... is die. It’s what Nishiki did before him. It’s what Kazama did before that. That’s what you do when you’ve fucked up and you don’t know how to fix it. You die. Then no one has to deal with you anymore.
But Haruka. His daughter. The best thing he ever did. She’s up there on stage and she loves him. She still loves him and wants him to be her dad. She’s been with him the whole time, she knows all about it. And she’s not scared. And she doesn’t think he’s bad. Maybe... maybe he can stay alive then. Maybe it’s okay if Haruka is still his daughter. And against all belief, he finds his way back to Haruka. He stays alive for her. He won’t repeat the mistakes of the past. And maybe... he can learn to do something different this time.
Kiryu... makes mistakes all the time. But he knows. And he feels so guilty. The writing doesn’t always do a great job of showing it. We don’t process Nishiki the way we should. We kill Rikiya for no reason. We forget that game 3 should have been TRIGGERING AS SHIT. And we awkwardly no homo out of Kiryu’s most important relationship while still insisting that it is Kiryu’s most important relationship. The writing is spotty and flawed and sometimes you can barely piece together a coherent narrative out of it. 
But at its white burning core is a guy who just keeps trying. Who gets up the next day and tries again. Because he’s lost so much. Because he loves so much. Because he believes there is value in being nice to people and being a good person. And I love that.
47 notes · View notes
hazeldough · 3 years
Text
the more i think about it, the more it feels to me that the series really gave haruka the short end of the stick in the end...?
i cant be the only one who thinks they made some weird ass choices for haruka’s part in Y5....... like nevermind the fact that she couldn’t brawl-- though, that’s another can of worms-- i’m talking mostly about how they did things to show how being an idol wasn’t as great as it was, but they didn’t do much to offset it??
Y6 & Y7 spoilers
the main thing that grinds my gears is the running girl mini game where haruka was running around sotenbori and the director was acting SUPER creepy towards her-- and that’s putting it mildly. no one was there-- not park, yamaura, horie, or christina, to watch out for her. the least they could’ve done was have them eye roll at the director.
yes, i’d rather them just cut ties with the program, but i imagine the industry being more complicated than that so it wouldn’t be that simple. but idk, just something to be like, “hey, this guy’s a fucking creep. and that’s not okay.” and to my knowledge, they didn’t do anything about it...? (feel free to correct me if i’m wrong and someone powered through it proving me otherwise)
what boggles me about it is that ever since kiryu (and the player) has met haruka, we’ve known her to be a kid that’s way too mature for her age-- but makes sense considering the type of trauma she’s been through. she’s observant and willing to take a stand. she pranked kiryu, date, and the florist when she played that she didn’t know what a soapland was. she slapped mine when he was ready to wreck her home.
why didn’t she notice how much that director was being a creep????
i get it that haruka can’t know everything and yes, she’s still 16, of course she wouldn’t! but it just feels so...... off, and icky. and i hate that she didn’t get a chance to be a kid or question what happened to her in her childhood in the game.
we saw her grow up, but unfortunately didn’t see her character develop as much.
yes, she has a lot of unsolved trauma from experiences, and i know she can figure it out. but how come we never got to see that??
Y6, comparatively, was a game that broke out of a lot of recurring story patterns when comparing it to previous games. i loved the story, but i also can’t help but thinking that there was so much missing out of it. they were able to fill in the gaps with Y7 with majima, saejima, and daigo, but it’s such a shame they weren’t able to give haruka the same treatment, especially with how her happiness and well being was kiryu’s main motivation in the games.
speaking of, how fucked up is it that kiryu gave daigo a letter recognizing him as his son and reuniting with him, but haruka didn’t get that? like i’m glad it happened for daigo, but why couldn’t haruka get that too? especially when kiryu was the only one from Y6 who faced the consequences for revealing the secret of hiroshima even though the hirose boys were also with him?
it SUCKS that haruka was one of the most recurring characters in the series, but she was never given a chance to really shine and grow like everyone else. like she deserved SO much better than that!!!
anyways, this whole thing started bc i was listening to loneliness loop and thought, “haha, the daigo mod was funny, but isn’t it SO weird they put haruka in that outfit for the sequence...?” 🤦‍♀️
like i love this series and i complain out of love, but also. good GOD i want everyone on the dev team to chug respect women juice like it’s the first drink after a drought. and no, the whole “kiryu won’t hit women” bit is very dated bar. i want them to treat the female characters in this franchise the same as the male characters. (yes, i’m salty that we never got a seong-hui boss fight, but that’s besides the point)
(also do not get me wrong on that brief daigo comparison at the end. i think the series could’ve done better with him too. but this aint about him right now!)
4 notes · View notes
shinadog · 3 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Oh, hey, forgot to post this here - Mob Part 3 is up (and part 4 is on its way).
Summary : Something happened after Haruka’s concert. (PART 2) (AO3 Link)
 3 - BLAME
Eventually, people left him alone.
They had tried their best, but since he had refused their help, they decided to give him some space. He was more than alright with that. Not that "alright" could ever be a word he would use to describe himself. Not anymore.
He felt numb. Disconnected from it all.
All the events of the past few days - the concert, the crowd, the call he received in the middle of that fateful night, the sleepless nights where he almost choked because he couldn't stop crying, the funeral... He remembered living those things, but when he thought about them, he felt like a spectator watching them from afar. Not an actor, but a powerless observer, a blurry silhouette who was barely floating above those horrible scenes.
On his good days, the days where he was more or less aware of his surroundings, the awful numbness of loss was replaced by a burning anger. On those days, he started to think about the people he blamed.
He had managed to get his hands on an impressive number of newspapers and magazines. The hyenas who worked for those rags must have had a field day with this disaster - a lot of ink has been spilled over this, and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. Good. Every new article fueled his anger, made something warm shake his numb, freezing body.
Sometimes, he would see her name in those papers. His own name, too. The sight of it made him sick, and he usually skimmed past it. He didn't want to know what the idiots writing them thought about him and his pain. More often than not, her name was replaced by a number. Lumped together with the rest of the poor souls who lost everything that night. He wasn't sure he liked that better.
The journalists who were feeling exceptionally bold sometimes talked about the yakuza. He kept those articles close. In one of them, he had seen the face of that man for the first time. The buff, scary looking guy in a bad suit. The "Dragon", a big name in the yakuza world, who had apparently moved away from it all years ago. The fucker whose stupid daughter's speech ruined everything. Kazuma Kiryu.
It was so much easier to hate someone when you knew what they looked like.
**********************************
Kiryu had fought many formidable foes in all his years in (and out) the business. Deadly, dangerous men who were out to get him, monsters who wanted to hurt his family. Yet, none of them hit him as hard as the shitty little TV in his hospital room.
Whenever he was back in his room, when very tired nurses managed to drag him away from Haruka so that he'd try to rest for once, he would turn the bloody thing on. No matter what time it was then, it felt like he always managed to find a channel that talked about the concert.
Even though his various babysitters always tried to turn the TV off, to distract him from it somehow, Kiryu seemed to always come back to it. That thing was hypnotizing. He only stopped when he left the room. Or when a particularly pissed Majima threatened to explode the screen with his baseball bat.
Still, Kiryu watched those programs diligently, listening to all the people who had something to say about this whole mess with all the focus he could muster.
Seeing some of the people who were in the crowd that night talk and listening to their retelling of it left him weirdly numb.
The enemies he had faced before were, well, people. They had names, stories, reasons to act the way they did. They were tangible, something Kiryu could punch. Defeat. Forgive. He could do no such thing with a mob. There was no big guy who had orchestrated the whole disaster, no mastermind who ran things in the shadows. No one he could easily blame, fight, and move on from.
For some reason, this lack of a proper target made him resent everyone else.
Kiryu thought himself to be a pretty forgiving person. Those feelings rearing their ugly heads were definitely new, and he didn't really know what to do with them. He mostly kept them bottled up, though, because that's what he usually did with unknown feelings, but it was starting to get tiring. Blaming everyone only made it clearer than no one was to blame, and that made him somehow angrier.
Still, that's what he did.
He blamed himself, first and foremost, as it was the easiest thing to do. He shouldn't have let Haruka go, shouldn't have left the orphanage, shouldn't have left that Park woman come into their home... Oh, he wanted to blame Park herself, of course, but being dead shielded her from his rage. Mostly.
Thinking about their last discussion, before she chased him from his home, was somehow too much for him to process anyway, so he mostly tried to banish her from his thoughts. Which was not exactly easy because every time he saw Majima, he was reminded of the fact that he didn't find it necessary to warn him about her and her history with him. So, naturally, he blamed Majima for that. Among other things, including faking his own death, forcing Kiryu to come out of hiding.
He blamed Saejima and Akiyama, for pulling their annoying "let's fight together" bullshit again and making him believe this would work. It didn't. So he blamed them and their stupid plan, he blamed-
Kiryu took a deep breath, focusing once more on the TV screen. All this anger was exhausting, and he was feeling dizzy already. Oh, that was another one - he blamed his stupid body for being messed up and forcing him to lay still, when all he wanted was to do something, anything, to get his mind out of it.
The TV, showing no mercy, was still going with various interviews when he saw the crying man.
A big guy, with shaking shoulders and his head down, mumbling something as he shook.
Kiryu felt a bit too ill to really listen to what he said, which didn't matter because he couldn't take his eyes off that man. A small text at the bottom of the screen finally managed to catch his attention, and he felt a heavy lump in his throat as he realized what he was looking at.
That guy's daughter was among the four people who died that night. She was fourteen.
As if he knew Kiryu was watching, the man suddenly looked straight into the camera, and the pain in those eyes hit him hard. As if he had been stung, Kiryu immediately stood up, ignoring his stiff body's complaints and bolted out of the room.
He slammed the door behind him, and, taking the time to appreciate that no one was standing guard to see him completely freak out, decided he would not go to Haruka’s room. On his worst days, Kiryu would blame her, too, looking at her sleeping form with uncontrollable anger. He didn't want to go there when he was already this agitated, so he started limping through the corridors.
He had been allowed recently to use crutches to move around, which were replacing the wheelchair. He was shaking, though, so perhaps that it wasn't such an improvement. Collapsing in the middle of the hospital didn't exactly sound like a good idea. Walking at random in the corridors to escape his TV screen was also not a good idea, but Kiryu was already too deep in thoughts to decide to turn away.
As he kept moving blindly, trying to calm down while not losing his already fragile balance, he was startled by a man inexplicably bowing down as he passed. Kiryu found himself blinking at the guy, dumbfounded, before he noticed the Tojo pin on his lapel, and the small, almost inaudible “Fourth Chairman” he had whispered. Right. Just your average Tojo clan goon, lost in a random hospital hallway.
Well, maybe not that random. There was another man standing at the other end of the corridor, staring at him with wide eyes, and a third in the middle, his arms crossed as he stood near the closed door. Before Kiryu could ask himself why that particular hallway was packed with yakuza, the guy had hurriedly knocked on the door and opened it just as fast, getting inside in an instant.
The man who had bowed down to him straightened up, his voice hesitant as he asked, “Have you come to talk with the Sixth Chairman, Sir?”
Not really, no. In fact, if Kiryu could not speak with anyone for the next 24 hours, that would be great. Still, he frowned. “I thought Daigo’s room was a few floors up.”
“It is, but the chairman is visiting his friend.”
Friend.
Kiryu had a vague memory of Akiyama introducing Shinada as “a friend of Daigo”, something that felt like it had happened in another lifetime. And, now that he was thinking about it, someone (Akiyama again, or Saejima, he wasn’t sure) had told him the man had been admitted here after the mob roughed him up. Having been pretty much trampled by the angry crowd, he had been lucky to make it out with, to Kiryu’s knowledge, only a few broken bones and a ton of bruises. Beaten up, but still alive. Conscious, even.
Unlike Haruka.
Kiryu felt something flick in his mind, and suddenly talking didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all. He had been eating up footage of the incident for days now, listening to all the people who wanted to share what they had lived, and while it surely left an impression on him, the last example having been enough to send him running for the hills, it was not enough anymore.
He started moving again, careful not to fall, feeling heavy already after only having been using the crutches for a couple minutes. Not that he cared what the bodyguards would think if he collapsed in front of them. That would give them something fun to share with their fellow Tojo buddies.
Annoyingly enough, Kiryu had barely made two steps when he was stopped in his tracks again.
“Fourth Chairman.”
It wasn’t like he was surprised to see Daigo come out of the door, greeting him with an uncharacteristic anxious edge to his voice. His bodyguard had more or less already said he was in there, but Kiryu still couldn’t help but think there was something odd about this encounter. Maybe it was the fact that Daigo was still using a wheelchair, making Kiryu tower above him. Maybe it was the way he was looking at him now, his whole body tense as if he was expecting some kind of confrontation. Kiryu hadn’t seen this kind of hostility in Daigo’s eyes in years, but mostly, the man looked tired. Worried, too. Kiryu felt his own anger fade away slightly, as he got closer, wincing when  a sharp pain on his left side reminded him not to move so quickly.
“Looks like things aren’t going so well for either of us, Sixth Chairman.” he said, realizing they were not exactly the two yakuza big names they usually were, but just two wounded idiots staring at each other in a hospital hallway. The bodyguards were following the scene, looking nervous. Kiryu wondered if they were worried a fight was going to break out. He didn’t really think that was a possibility. Apart from throwing one of his crutches like a spear, which would certainly make him fall, he didn’t see how he could be a threat, right now.
Kiryu cleared his throat, remembering what he was doing here in the first place. “I came to talk with Shinada.” This wasn’t a question or a request. Maybe he was threatening, after all.
“I don’t think that would be wise.” Daigo’s voice was low, his eyes drifting back to the door. “He’s still pretty shaken up by this whole mess. It’s still too soon.”
“Akiyama told me he was doing better.”
“He is, but… I’m afraid talking about this would be too much. For him… Or for you.”
That was new. Talking to him like that was not like Daigo at all, and Kiryu had to admit he would have been impressed, if he hadn’t been instantly annoyed by this. He resisted the urge to get closer, and instead stayed where he was as he asked, “Are you going to stop me, Daigo?”
“ I’m not sure I can. I guess I could roll on your foot if you take one more step, though.”
Kiryu was about to reply that he would definitely hit him with his crutch if that happened, when a voice he failed to recognize came from inside the room. “Let him in already, will you?”
With a heavy sigh, Daigo turned his chair around, letting just enough space so that Kiryu could get in.
Once he was inside, Kiryu realized something. This room was nearly identical to the one Haruka was in. Which wasn’t so surprising - hospital rooms tended to look alike. What made him tick was the silence in this room. No machines or respirator in here, and somehow, this angered him. He didn’t like the ferocity with which this thought had imposed itself on him, but as he looked at Shinada, able to breathe on his own and even having the gall to be conscious, staring back at him with wide eyes, Kiryu felt furious.
So that’s what he was doing, now. Blaming someone he barely knew for having the audacity to be in a better shape than his daughter. Kiryu supposed his sudden surge of animosity must have been noticeable, because all the certainty Shinada had when he asked him to come inside seemed to have vanished.
Now that he was really looking at the man laying in the bed in front of him, Kiryu had to admit he wasn’t exactly looking his best. He didn’t know Shinada enough to really tell the difference, having only met him once before the concert, but he didn’t remember him looking this exhausted. His face was covered in bruises, and part of it was still slightly swollen. Of course the simple fact that he was awake at all made him look healthier than Haruka, but he had clearly been through a lot. Feeling the anger quiet down for a bit, Kiryu greeted the man with a small nod of his head, unsure of what to say, suddenly.
“Well, let’s get on with it.” Daigo’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “It’s late, already. You should both be getting some rest.”
And you’re not? Kiryu wanted to say, glaring at the corner of the room Daigo had retreated in. Kiryu had barely noticed he had gotten inside the room as well. Part of him wished he could have talked with Shinada alone, but he was somehow grateful that it wasn’t the case. He still felt agitated, ready to snap back at the smallest thing, so having some kind of onlooker in there was mildly reassuring. Still, Kiryu did not care much for his tone.
He was at least right on one thing. It was time to talk.
“Can you tell me what happened that night?” No preamble, no “hey how are you?”. Kiryu was not in the mood for small talk.
Shinada blinked, dumbstruck. “Haven’t… Haven’t they told you, already?”
“I want to hear it from someone who was actually there. I want to know how it could have come to this.”
He wasn’t wrong. Kiryu already knew more or less how it went. He had been filled in, and had seen enough from the news to fill in the blanks. He wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt like hearing it from Shinada’s mouth would be different, but he still felt a weird apprehension as he waited for the other man to answer.
It took him a couple of seconds, exchanging a worried look with Daigo from across the room, before he finally started. “I don’t… I don’t actually know how it began. The fight against that Baba guy had been harsh and since everything had gone well so far, I… I stayed behind for a minute. Caught my breath.”
Catching his breath. Losing precious minutes he could have used to grab Haruka before everything went downhill. Kiryu tried to be reasonable, reminding himself that he had never asked Shinada to actually get to Haruka after the concert. He was just supposed to stop the shooter. And he did. There was no real reason to blame him, as he had told himself countless times.
“When I left the Dome that’s when I realized something was up. It had already started then, and I heard the noises. The screams. People don’t make that kind of noise when they’re just leaving a concert, so I ran and-”
Though footage of the stampede no doubt existed, people having probably filmed it with their phones, the TV seemed to only show what happened after or before the mob was formed. Kiryu could only imagine the kind of racket thousands of people panicking and running everywhere would make. He frowned, feeling something boil inside him as he realized somewhere in all that noise, there might have been the voice of the child he swore he would protect.
He missed a sentence, and only came back to himself when Shinada started the next one. “It was crazy. It was like a sea of people, and they were everywhere, screaming and pushing and-”
With a nervous twitch in his eye, Shinada suddenly stopped talking. While he hadn’t talked that much yet, Kiryu noticed he seemed to be really agitated ever since he had started. He was breathing heavily now, eyes lost in some corner of the room.
He waited a few seconds for Shinada to catch his breath before he asked, “If you arrived after it had started, how did you end up caught in it?”
“Oh, uh. I heard some staff member guy yell something about one of their idols being lost in the crowd on his walkie-talkie. So I ran into the crowd.”
Somehow, Kiryu had never thought about all the people who were working there that night. Too busy focusing on Mirei Park and the fact that blaming her now was pointless, he had forgotten to add all the other folks who had worked with her to his now long list of people to blame. It was infuriating to think that between the staff members, the people of Dyna Chair who weren’t gruesomely murdered, the other idols and Shinada, all charged to keep her safe, Haruka had still been caught up in the mob.
“I thought “I’m a big tough guy, I can probably push my way into this” but that was really fucking stupid. There were hundreds of them, and everyone was panicking and running all over the place, I don’t-”
Kiryu knew that, had he been there that night, he would have ran into the angry crowd too, with no hesitation, no matter how stupid jumping right into a angry wave of people was. He wanted to believe he would have been able to fight it, too, to punch his way until he got to Haruka, but hearing the panic weaving its way into Shinada’s voice, his breath getting faster, he wasn’t so sure of it anymore. “I got knocked down pretty fast, and then I-”
There was another pause, and when Shinada talked again, it was with such a low voice Kiryu almost didn’t catch it. “It felt like drowning.”
“Enough.”
Having more or less forgotten that Daigo was in the room, Kiryu almost jumped as his hand landed on his shoulder. Apparently, while Kiryu had been busy focusing on Shinada’s retelling of the events, he had managed to drag himself from his chair, standing on his own though he was slightly hunched over, a hand pressed on his side. Kiryu would have yelled at him to sit back down, knowing that he had already messed up with his stitches at least once, but found that he couldn’t talk.
He was still stuck on Shinada’s last sentence.
  It felt like drowning.
Maybe it was the word “drowning”. It was visceral. Unpleasant. Kiryu felt sick as he wondered if that was how it had felt for Haruka, too.
Shinada had managed to find some of his composure back in the few tense seconds he took for Kiryu’s brain to finally start focusing on the scene again. Daigo’s hand was still on his shoulder, though he wasn’t sure if that was to get him to acknowledge him or if he was just leaning on him. Kiryu wanted to tell him to back off and sit down again before he hurt himself, but Shinada was faster, his breathing still somewhat erratic as he said, “It’s okay, Dojima, I can-”
“Kiryu.” Daigo ignored his friend’s attempt to stop him as he tried to straighten up, locking his eyes with Kiryu’s.   “What’s the point of this? You’re both still too tired to get upset about this. Let’s give it a rest.”
Upset.
The word sounded ridiculous when Kiryu could feel his anger threatening to overtake him at any moment. He was not “upset”, he was furious.
“You’re right.” He managed to blurt out, feeling somewhat nauseous all of a sudden. Maybe that he too could use some rest, that was the longest he had ever been standing up in days. He took a step back, careful not to lose his balance or make Daigo topple by removing himself from his grip too abruptly, giving Shinada one last look. “Thank you. I’ll let you rest.”
“Wait-” Shinada straightened up in his bed, trying to catch his eye. He was still talking too fast and breathing too hard, his voice cracking slightly as he said,  “I’m- I’m so sorry. I wish I could have done something to stop this.”
Kiryu had become something of an expert of empty, reassuring phrases after being fed so many of them in the past few days. He didn’t even look back as he walked out of the room, his voice probably harsher than he intended. “You did what you could. I can’t blame you.”
That was a lie, too. No matter how bad he felt seeing the man almost break down over the mere memory of the events, no matter how much he wanted to sympathize with him, Kiryu still blamed him. Like he blamed everyone. Like he blamed himself.
Feeling utterly sick with himself, he retreated to his room. The TV that he had left on when he ran away seemed to be taunting him, the bleak light it was projecting in the dark giving the room a ominous ambiance.
He punched the screen with such force that he almost broke his hand.
**********************************
Shinada had never been good at holding back his tears.
He had always cried easily, and never thought it useful to try to hide it.
Back in the day, he would cry when his baseball team won. Or when they lost. When he was banned after his first real game, he had wept for days. Some of these tears were also for his family, who had swore they would never talk to him again, but mostly, he was grieving the dream he was sure he had lost forever.
While he found many occasions to cry after that (being homeless for a while, being all alone, having no food for days, those kinds of things), Shinada had managed to more or less hold on for the past decades, and only cried every now and then.
The Dream Line concert had to be some kind of personal record. Shinada cried right after his fight against the shooter, overwhelmed by the adrenaline of it all, seeing the group perform from so far away while he was sitting in the stands, away from the spotlight. He also cried a few minutes later, when Takasugi’s call reminded him some people cared for him back in Nagoya. And, obviously, he cried after the incident, too. Because he was in pain, because he felt stupid and weak and useless. Because he blamed himself for what he was certain he could have prevented, had he been stronger.
Not crying while Kiryu, that man he had only just met and that he had still managed to disappoint, was standing in front of him, though? That was something. He could be proud.
Unfortunately, as soon as the door was closed behind Kiryu, he couldn’t hold it in anymore, and slumped back in his bed, and let out a small sob, knowing fully well he would be bawling his eyes out in a couple of seconds. Trying to delay the inevitable tears, he looked around, and was suddenly all too aware of Dojima still being in the room with him, standing awkwardly in the middle of it, looking at him with his usual stern expression.
It was not like Shinada minded him being here, really. If anything, he was grateful that he stuck around while Kiryu was there, a friendly face in a sea of hostility. As “friendly” as a scowling yakuza could get, at least. He supposed he should also be grateful for the way Dojima had insisted on bringing his interview with Kiryu to an early end. He couldn’t help but wish he could have said more, though. Apologized better. Still, he got him to leave the room right before Shinada hit his limit, so that was pretty great.
“Tatsuo…?”
Not expecting to hear his name hushed with such an hesitant tone, he took a second to wonder why Dojima was now looking at him with a slightly panicked expression.
Oh, right.
He  was  crying. He had barely noticed he had started to.
The room got more blurry now than actual tears were in his eyes, so much so that he almost missed Dojima dragging himself to his bed, gritting his teeth with each step. It only clicked in his mind that he had moved closer when he spoke again:
“Do you mind if I sit on your bed?”
Shinada shook his head. Sure, why not. The man should be sitting down, anyway, if his shaky steps were anything to go by. He still managed to get on the bed fairly quickly, making it creak under their combined weight.
A few seconds passed, the silence of the room disturbed by Shinada sniffing softly as he kept crying. Dojima said nothing, shifting awkwardly on the bed so that he was facing him, bending his body in a way that was probably not doing any good to his still healing bullet wound.
Shinada wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt overwhelmed by an urgent need for some kind of contact, but next thing he knew he had more or less collapsed in the other man’s arms. He felt Dojima stiffen against him, making him aware that perhaps entering the guy’s personal space like that without warning was a bit uncalled for. The man remained silent, though Shinada heard a very small gasp escape his lips.
Alright, so maybe he was out of line. No matter how shaken up he was, in pain and in tears, Shinada knew he wasn’t supposed to just throw himself at someone he hardly knew. Sure, technically Dojima and him had known each other for years, but they were not exactly friends back in high school. And their reunion had been so sudden that he barely had the time to process it. Vowing to protect each other’s dream meant they had  something , that much was certain, but Shinada wasn’t sure that would be the kind of relationship that involved offering a shoulder to cry on. Literally.
He could always stop, put some distance between them again. Apologize and blame it on the perfect blend of morphine and anguish in his body right now, making him a tad emotional. Dojima didn’t give him any time to back off though, wrapping his arms around him slowly. “Eh… Can I- I mean, do you…?”
Shinada wasn’t sure what he was asking. He wasn’t sure Dojima knew, either, with the way he was stammering. Still, he soon felt a hand stroking his back slowly, and that gesture was as soothing as it was unexpected. It was weird to think that last time those hands were on his body, they were in the middle of a full on brawl. The vicious punches he had received on that day suddenly felt very far away, replaced by a softness he would have never thought he’d see from his old classmate. He did look way less intimidating in his hospital gown, he had to admit. Maybe being shot just did that to people. Made them a bit more approachable. Or maybe he looked so pathetic right now that even the most cold-hearted criminal couldn’t resist him. Who knew. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he simply appreciated the fact he was offering some kind of comforting presence.
He allowed himself a few heartbeats to reposition himself, burying his face in the man’s chest before he returned to the task at hand.
Crying.
He cried because Kiryu blamed him, despite what he told him, he was certain of it. Because he blamed himself, too, obviously. Because he was exhausted, not having had a good night of sleep since the incident, waking up in a cold sweat every time he dozed off, his nightmare haunted by an angry crowd.
“I’m sorry,” Dojima’s voice interrupted his pity party, making him flinch. “I’m so sorry.” He kept repeating that, and Shinada had no idea why he was apologizing all of a sudden. He wanted to say that he was sorry too, sorry to have disappointed anyone who had believed in him when he left for the concert with the mission to protect that girl, but couldn’t make the words come out. So he kept on weeping, while Dojima kept whispering small apologies, pulling him closer.
Between two sobs, Shinada noticed there was something oddly familiar about this situation. It was not like it was a habit of his to break down and grab on to the nearest person to seek solace. Sure, he cried a lot, but he usually did it behind closed doors, alone. He had  some dignity left, surely. But being held like this as he wept brought him back to his first night in Nagoya, when he had felt a semblance of reassurance in Milky’s soft embrace. Well, sort of. Dojima was no Milky, he was still pretty stiff and the motion of his hand on Shinada’s back felt a bit awkward, he was clearly not used to this kind of gesture. Still, it felt nice.
It went on for a while, and Shinada felt like he was calming down when- “I need to move.” Just like that, Dojima released him, straightening up a bit too abruptly, shoving Shinada away. “Sorry. Bullet wound.”
Shinada watched him struggle to find a position that wasn’t putting any strain on his wound, before he settled for sitting on the edge of the bed, his feet planted on the floor. Dojima grimaced as he pressed a hand to his side, giving him a look that Shinada assumed was meant to be apologetic, but ended up looking like his usual tired scowl. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rush you like that, but if I open up those stitches again, I’m afraid my doctor’s going to give up on me.” And, because he clearly hadn’t said that enough in the last five minutes, “Sorry.”
Rubbing his eyes with his hands to chase any surviving tears, and feeling pretty confident he had calmed down enough to attempt to talk, Shinada came to join him, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Why do you keep saying you’re sorry?”
Apparently, Dojima hadn’t expected his question (that he had managed to ask with a not-so-shaky-voice, not bad for a guy who had been crying for the last ten minutes), looking at him with wide eyes. Turned out the guy could somewhat emote, when he wanted to. Shinada would have found it funny if his answer hadn’t come with such a sad, almost choked tone. “You’re only here because of me. I dragged you into this. Had I left you alone, you wouldn’t be…”
“A fucking mess.”
 “In pain.” His voice was low, sounding more like the man he had fought on his roof again. “I knew of the dangers and I still let you come here. And now you’re…” He trailed off, frowning even more. “I’m so sorry, Tatsuo.”
Shinada hadn’t really thought of it that way. Dojima waltzing back into his life was what had led to him being stuck here, with nightmares in his head and regrets in his heart, that was true. But when he thought of his home, where he was basically starving and where everyone had been hiding things from him, where he was basically rotting away while clinging on dreams that would never happen… Would he really have been better off if the yakuza never came to find him?
He sighed, realizing he would probably never find a satisfying answer to this question. Instead he settled for shuffling closer to his friend (he had decided that “friend” was an alright word to use, now that the guy had seen him cry and had tried his best to comfort him), resting his chin on his shoulder.
“Well, that’s silly.” Shinada’s voice was still a little hoarse, but he tried his best to sound cheerful. Well, more cheerful than he was a few moments ago, at least. “Remember how you tried to stop me from coming with you? And look, you’re nice enough not to go 'I told you so' about it, too.”
“I should have stopped you.”
“You wish. We fought for it, remember? And I won.”
“You won because I agreed to back down. I shouldn’t have. Should have kept fighting. Better have you stuck at home with a broken leg than here and in anguish.”
Shinada never thought he would hear someone say “I wish I had broken your leg” in a nice way, but here he was. He chuckled, and noticing Dojima looked still rather glum, avoiding to look at him as he stared at one corner of the room, took a deep sigh.
“Well, I don’t blame you, okay?”
He really meant it, too. Dojima remained silent, but Shinada noticed his lip twitching slightly. He wasn’t sure if it was because his wound was still acting up, or because his words had touched him somehow, but hoped it was the latter.
He knew what blaming himself felt like, and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
3 notes · View notes
okitanoniisan · 5 years
Note
What do u think of the theory that majima's mad dog persona is the result of the damage that was done to him when he got stabbed in the eye? I did some research on it and I think he would def have frontal lobe damage which causes like instability, and having difficulties between good and bad choices which would explain a lot of things (like mirei ?)
I’m going to tell you straight up that I don’t like this theory. It’s due to one very important reason; simply put, Majima is not deranged.
He isn’t “mentally unstable”, he’s just gone through a lot of trauma that he chooses to cope with by living life “crazier than the rest”.
He’s shown to have a VERY strong moral compass. I don’t think he struggles at all with right/wrong. (He even realizes what he’s done to Mirei is wrong and leaves her to protect her. He doesn’t want her life destroyed if he can help it, likely feels incredibly guilty about hitting her - and for putting her in that situation to begin with - and so he leaves. Mirei specifically states that it was the only time that Majima had hit her.) Majima states a thousand times over that he hates anyone that doesn’t follow the rules. He’s extremely by-the-book regarding just about everything. He goes out of his way to prevent a woman from bringing her dog into Millennium Tower because they have a “no pet policy”.
Either way, it’s incredibly important to remember that Majima’s “Mad Dog” persona is an act; one that he drops frequently. In fact, after Yakuza 2 he really starts to show his true colours, and it’s only during Dead Souls (prime example of “fuck it, the world is ending anyways”, and even still he manages to be somber and serious during most of the game) that we see him act in that manner again.
And I think it’s important to remember that Majima went 2 years without the supposed symptoms of frontal lobe damage. If his behaviour had been a result of an injury, then it likely would’ve happened right away, not that long after. He straight up tells Sagawa that he plans on adopting (primarily) Nishitani’s outlook on life before he does it. It’s a conscious decision, and it’s always been a conscious decision. Majima chose to act the way he did. Once he has a purpose, he stops. He focuses on leading the Tojo Clan with Daigo, he makes business deals and appeases rival clans; he goes off and acts the part of a lieutenant advisor.
Hell, even in Majima Saga you can see the two extremes of his character, and the contrast of his behaviour at the beginning of the campaign (busting into the meeting) vs. the end (dissolving his family in order to appease the Omi Alliance and prevent war between the clans; and he does, much to Sengoku, Takashima and Ryuji’s chagrin). When he needs to be serious, he’ll be serious.
The main difference between Pre-0 Majima and Post-0 Majima is simply that he doesn’t care how eccentric he’s perceived to be anymore. In 0 he’s caged, and when he breaks out, he goes as far as he can with it.
I don’t think that Majima even really knows who he is at all, and that’s why he latches onto acting the way he does in ½. He’s got no one left to care about with Saejima and Mirei gone, so he’s just gonna go apeshit and have fun doing it.
Throughout the series, he goes from Saejima’s Kyoudai to Lord of the Night, to Mad Dog of Shimano, to Patriarch of the Majima Family, to Majima. And you can see it all happen.
Majima isn’t crazy, he’s just really into his role.
218 notes · View notes
yakuzacanons · 1 month
Note
here’s a random one:
you did the boys and watching spooky movies w their s/o,
so how about the boys taking their s/o on a date to the movies? what types of movies fo they prefer, who’s getting what snacks, etc?
HELL yea, I'm a huge movie fan and I collect DVD so I lowkey spent time going through my collection wondering which ones the boys would watch lol. Each entry in this list is on the shorter side but I tried to include as many of the lads as possible here, enjoy!
Kiryu Kazuma
Not a big fan of movie dates as he prefers actual one-on-one time and interactions but does enjoy going to see a movie occassionally in a serious relationship. Likes action movies for the most part, partial to samurai dramas as well.
Majima Goro
Whatever you do, do not take his ass to the theater cuz he will not shut up during the movie. Even if he begs, do not give in, just make him watch the movie at home. Popcorn fiend, can eat an entire large bucket in one sitting. Will watch anything but he HAS to be entertained, that's the one rule.
Saejima Taiga
Thinks a movie and dinner date is cute as he can talk about the movie after. Almost never gets snacks at the theater but will buy some to share if you really want some. He likes westerns or samurai flicks. Romances make him cry sometimes.
Akiyama Shun
Secretly a rom-com enjoyer. Will hold your hand during the movie. Not big on snacks but almost always buys a drink of some kind. Romance movies and dramas are good choices for him. Likes anything with pretty cinematography and pretty music.
Tanimura Masayoshi
Fond of animated movies, both domestic and foreign. Prefers TV shows over movies since they're easier to get into on his days off work. Actually doesn't like buddy cop movies, finds them annoying or innaccurate. Serious crime dramas are okay but be warned he will have a lot of comments afterwards. ALSO he sneaks snacks into theaters. Most theaters never carry what he wants anyways.
Nishikiyama Akira
Likes a good movie date on occassion, but only if there's something both of you really want to see. Buys snacks to share, totally holds the popcorn bucket in his lap so you have to reach over to get some. His movie taste is kind of all over the place; one week he'll want to see a musical and next week he'll want to see an action movie.
Ryuji Goda
Not super into movie dates because he's usually super busy and he tends to fall asleep in them a LOT. He prefers dates that have the two of you doing something together, not just sitting in a dark room. He WILL however chow down on some snacks. You do have to stop him from going overboard on the popcorn butter...
Daigo Dojima
Same boat as Ryuji for similar reasons, although he'll gladly watch a movie at home with you as an indoor date, especially if it's bad weather out. Prefers oldies and classics; think Seven Samurai, Casablanca, etc. Watches them to try to get an understanding of what makes them so important, as he finds that aspect most interesting. Not snobby about it though; if he doesn't get it, he'll straight up be like "... THAT'S the movie people keep raving about?!"
Mine Yoshitaka
Sick horny bastard is into a movie date in the idea that you are in a dark room with him, teehee. He's not ALWAYS like that but he will try to get it on during a movie with you at least once. If he's actually going to watch the movie, it's crime thrillers for him. Loves a good, brooding atmosphere.
Tatsuo Shinada
With how expensive tickets are these days, his ass cannot afford to go to the theater often so it's very much a special treat. He also sneaks in his own snacks... likes comedies and 80's movies the most.
Ichiban Kasuga
Bless his heart but he cannot stay awake in a movie theater for the life of him... it's just so comfy in there. At home he actually has a better chance of staying awake, somehow. But still, it's not the best option for him and he knows it. Most fond of superhero or action movies though.
Yu Nanba
Doesn't watch a lot of movies or keep up on what's trendy so you'll likely have to suggest a movie date. Watches some documentaries at home by himself though. Pretty open minded otherwise.
Adachi Koichi
Lots of comedies or action movies for Adachi. Enjoys movies pretty frequently and likes going out to see them with you. Snacks are a must if it's a blockbuster movie. That's the rule, he claims.
Tianyou Zhao
Down to see a movie now and then but he does kind of get fidgety if he's not fully entertained. Also sits funny in movie theater chairs. He's a little embarassed to admit it due to how stereotypical it sounds but he likes movies with lots of cool stunt work or martial arts. Things like The Raid or John Wick are fun for him.
Joon-Gi Han
Kind of a human trash can in that you can make him watch just about anything. Not super into popcorn but WILL eat a whole bag of candy by himself if you don't watch out. It's not that his sweettooth is even that bad; he just kind of does it absentmindedly. Never talks during movies, ever.
Osamu Kashiwagi
Likes arthouse and underground films; if it's something he's never heard of, he will want to try it just to see if it's interesting. Also likes to check out local filmmakers or festivals if he can make it. He would love for you to join him!
43 notes · View notes
draayder · 4 years
Text
the sugoroku event in ryu ga gotoku online was EXTREMELY good Majima/Saejima content, here’s a rundown:
it’s new years 2012, Saejima is going back to jail to finish out his last 2 months following Y5, but he’s got a week or so out before that happens. Despite his protests that he just wants to stay in and have a quiet new years celebration with Majima (because Kiryu is still in the hospital and he doesn’t feel up to doing anything fun), Majima tells him he’s got a whole New Years tour planned and Saejima says “Well, it can’t be helped. Guess I’m going on a little date with my kyoudai.” 
Tour Stage 1: Get dressed in nice hakamas and go play Hanetsuki (traditional new years game, it’s like badmitton with no net and the loser gets their face drawn on with ink). They go to the empty lot area in the champion district cause it’s the only place big enough to play, but two goons show up and challenge them for the spot. Saejima and Majima keep colliding because Majima is overeager, then when they split into zones Majima gets bored and stops playing, leaving the score 0 to 9. The goons insult them for calling each other kyoudai when they clearly are not a good fit for each other, and they both instantly tilt into full gear and win 10:9.
Tour Stage 2: Kakizome! New Years writing with the theme of your goal for this year. Nishida says he wants to build a house for his parents. Minami says he wants a revenge match with Saejima, which Saejima obliges immediately. Saejima says he wants to get to the top. Majima wrote the exact same thing.
Tour Stage 3: Hatsumōde! The first shrine visit of the year. Saejima complains that they’re doing things out of order. They both do a prayer and write some emas and then Saejima gets his fortune drawn. Great blessing! His fortune says “You’ll have the best fight of your life”, which he just accepts as a thing a shrine might put on a fortune, because he’s a himbo. He fights a goon who comes at him, knocks over all the emas, and when he goes to put them back up he finds Majima’s which says “I want Sasai to return” which Saejima is really really moved by.
Tour Stage 4: Fukubukuro! Shops but out blind bags for a big discount to get rid of their stock from last year, so the boys go and buy one. The stall looks a little shady, but where’s the fun in buying from some big name store? Before opening the bag Majima gets a call, the Majima Family office has been robbed! They took a bunch of Majima and Nishida’s stuff, including something Majima kept in a safe in his office. Majima runs off and Saejima opens the fukubukuro to find... Majima’s snakeskin jacket??? He realizes that the robber is the one running the stall and beats the shit out of him, reclaiming all of the Majima property. The thing inside the safe was... a ring. Saejima realizes that Majima’s been through a lot while he was in jail. Tour Stage 5: Osechi! New years food prepared by Nishida (and presumably the rest of the fam). Btw they’ve taken over Tojo HQ to do all this stuff and everyone’s just like, cool with that. The meal served contains: tai - auspicious days  ebi - long life kazunoko - wanting a lot of kids in the coming year roast beef - no special meaning date maki - more auspicious days   Then there’s two Majima Family goons out front going ham on making mochi because there is just so fucking much rice flour. Nishida hits his food limit. Minami bravely tries to continue eating and collapses. Saejima doesn’t want to waste any of the flour, so these two absolute clowns go set up in the middle of theatre square and make mochi together with Minami and Nishida selling it. Some goon harasses them, they kick his ass, same old same old. They’re down to two mochi left and Majima says he knows who he wants to eat them, which surprises Saejima. They get in the car and visit... Yasuko’s grave. Majima talks about how he wishes she could be there to have this mochi they made, and Saejima realizes that Majima’s been taking care of the grave while he was in jail. He tries to express how much this means to him, but Majima brushes it off as nbd because that’s how Majima is. Majima then tells him that this tour is his new years gift for Saejima, and wants to know if he’s been having fun or if there’s anything he missed. Saejima says that it has been fun despite his misgivings, and there’s nothing more he needs. Tour Final Stage: Majima takes Saejima to the top of the Millennium Tower. Saejima asks if this whole tour was a set up to this fight and Majima says yeah pretty much. The hanetsuki was a warm up, the new years writing was to make sure Saejima still had that drive for the top burning in him, the shrine visit was to get him pumped for a fight, the fukubukuro went a little sideways but was supposed to be some stress relief, and then the good food would strengthen him physically and mentally. It’s all a set up to give Saejima the best fight he could have before he goes back to jail again, the one he didn’t get before he went back to jail in Y5. Saejima talks about what Majima said back then, about getting soft and needing to sharpen his fangs or else he’d never survive and, cue Receive and Slash You starting up, he wants Majima to see how strong he is.
They fight, both go down, Majima comments in a daze that Saejima’s fangs are really damn sharp and Saejima gushes about how fucking fun that was.
The scene ends and we’re told that a few days later Saejima turned himself in voluntarily and was sent to Abashiri prison for his last few months of his sentence.  Majima continued supporting Daigo and the Tojo clan. In their pursuit of climbing all the way to the top of the Tojo clan.............. the two beasts will keep fighting.
10 notes · View notes
rivaiin · 3 years
Text
ok thoughts about y6 and i guess kiryus story
im gonna say im not completely disappointed cause i know he shows up in y7 so im hoping theres more closure to his story there cause like honestly. what happened here was not it
i honestly was enyoing the ending and how things where closing up till the very end when he just. walks away from the orphanage like. kiryu. your children. stay with them youre legally dead now like i honest to god cant understant what the point of killing him in paper is if hes just gonna what. go live all alone in some hidden place so no one ever finds him. why would he want that and whats the point. if people think hes dead and daigo is fixing shit in the tojo no one should go after him or the kids again he Can go stay with them safely im not happy with this
the rest tho? Very good. the twists that happened over the course of the game were good. the plot was interesting and had personal ties to kiryu but also a big stupid yakuza conspiracy which is always intersting and i enjoyed the combat and the secondary stuff and the hirose family were Great. really missed majima and saejima but at this point im pretty sure their lack of screentime is cause the writers have no idea what to do with them so. yeah. also wish they did better with daigo he has good potential as a character
anyways i dont think kiryus and the rest of the old yakuza stories feel finished so i really really hope they close all that even if its more on the background around ichibans story cause if the last mention of their personal lives is this its shitty
0 notes
yakuzacanons · 6 months
Note
I know this is gonna sound pretty random but since I started playing Yakuza 6 (dw I won't spoil anything!!) I've been wondering how the boys would react to finding a baby and how they would take care of it while they find out what happened/take the baby back to their parents/etc. Feel free to use your imagination as how they found the baby (ex.: the classic "left it at your front door inside a straw basket lmaoo)
If possible do hc for all the boys pls 🙏🙏🙏
sksksk this is so funny to me, yes it's babey time. My apologies for such a late reply, been taking my time coming up with these. Love you guys, mwah. Headcanons below da cut, it's a long one. So many boys...
Kazuma Kiryu
His first thought: what the heck is a baby doing by itself out here. His second thought: if I don't care for this baby, who will? Pretty well practiced with kids so the most difficult thing is actually figuring out who the baby is and what happened to them. Type of guy to tell a baby to stop crying and have the baby actually listen magically.
Majima Goro
Similar reaction to Kiryu except louder and much faster. Baby is now number one priority. Protecting baby is now the most important thing. Will literally walk on water to figure out who the baby is, what happened to them, and most importantly, how to help them. Zero clue how to care for kids though so he mostly calls Kiryu for help.
Akiyama Shun
Clueless as hell and not afraid to admit it. Kind of just bullshitting his way through the whole taking care of a baby thing but he does think the baby is awful cute. Hana lends him a hand whenever Akiyama goes out to figure out more info on the baby. Pretty good at playing peek-a-boo with the baby though.
Saejima Taiga
Mostly confused by the fact that the baby doesn't instantly burst into tears upon seeing him as Saejima is kind of used to most people being freaked out by his appearance. Finding info about the baby is easy, it's the care itself that's hard. Treats the baby oh so very delicately. They take naps together a lot, typically with the baby in its crib, which Saejima most likely built himself, while Saejima naps on the floor next to it with his hand lazily draped over the edge of the crib.
Tanimura Masayoshi
Shockingly a natural with kids. Secretly dedicates a lot of his time on the job digging into the baby's past. Typically when he's working, he leaves the baby at Homeland. For some reason, he's really good at comforting babies when they cry. Fights tooth and nail to find out who this baby is as he feels some part of himself relating to the baby.
Ryuji Goda
This baby is an Omi Alliance issue now. Ryuji kind of relates personally to the baby as he himself felt so disconnected from his own childhood. Puts his Omi resources into not just learning info about the baby but also having the best care in the meantime. The baby's gonna have a nice crib with nice pajamas and a nice bottle and the baby's gonna have all that now, today, immediately, because Ryuji said so.
Nishikiyama Akira
Do not give him a baby, he doesn't know what the heck to do. Just as scared as the baby honestly. Similar to Saejima in that solving the mystery of who this baby is is actually quite easy, especially with Tojo resources. Nishiki does not understand babies. Type of dude to just ask the baby what they want as if the baby can answer. Poor guy, he's just trying his best.
Daigo Dojima
Mostly just wondering who the heck leaves a baby on the steps of the Tojo Clan Headquarters. Kind of just resigns himself to being a temporary dad until the situation gets sorted. Assigns some men to dig up info on the baby but handles the baby's care himself. Secretly thinks babies are adorable and is one of the most doting of the boys, almost on a similar level to Kiryu.
Mine Yoshitaka
Just as clueless as Nishiki but will not show his frustration because he, as silly as it sounds, refuses to be bested by a baby of all things. Kind of guy to kick himself down the line for getting himself so attached to said baby without realizing it. Similar to Daigo, he delegates the info gathering to some of the men below him. His job is more office related like Daigo's so he cares for the baby personally, but mostly out of efficiency, at least at the start of things.
Tatsuo Shinada
Caring for a lost baby is easy, but when it comes to figuring out who this baby is, he's kind of at a loss. Might honestly call up Daigo to ask for assitance, to which Daigo will probably say something like "What the heck do I know about finding information on babies?". Shinada's natural talent is playing with babies. Probably buys more toys than he can afford or that the baby would ever need.
Ichiban Kasuga
Ever the optimist, Ichiban isn't really phased by a lost baby. He and his friends will figure out who the baby is and care for the baby together, like a big happy family. The baby loves playing with his hair, which he resents at first but eventually thinks it's super cute. Calls the baby all kinds of silly pet names.
Tianyou Zhao
Honestly, he would just call up Ichiban and ask him to look after the baby while he goes out to figure out who this baby is and what to do with them. Zhao eventually learns that he does in fact think babies are cute and that he's really good at rocking them to sleep. Babies really like hearing him sing for some reason too. The baby can't stop trying to grab his glasses though, much to Zhao's annoyance and Ichiban's entertainment.
Joon-Gi Han
If he found a baby, he'd just go straight to Seonhee and ask her what they should do. Seonhee would honestly be the one gathering intel, especially with all the surveillance the Geomijul has, which means Joon-Gi still gets stuck babysitting. Treats babies super gently given his abusive childhood and he'd absolutely kick himself if physical harm ever came to the baby. Would give Seonhee a full break down of what the baby did that day even if she didn't ask. Also good at remembering what the baby likes, especially things like food.
38 notes · View notes