Year of the Dragon: The Live-Action Yakuza Series is Coming to Amazon Prime Video
The wait is finally over, folks! Amazon Prime Video has announced an original live-action series based on Sega’s successful Like a Dragon game series, previously known as Yakuza. The series, simply titled Like a Dragon: Yakuza, will consist of six episodes and is directed by Masaharu Take, best known for the drama series The Naked Director.
Kazuma Kiryu, the protagonist of the series
The series stars the hugely popular Japanese drama and stage actor Ryoma Takeuchi in the role of Kazuma Kiryu, a fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity. The live-action crime-suspense series is based on an original screenplay loosely inspired by the first game in the series, 2005’s Yakuza.
The Story Unfolds
The series will be set mainly in the Kamurocho entertainment district, straight from the games, and follows Kiryu and three of his childhood friends in two time periods, 1995 and 2005. The story will deal with the repercussions of Kiryu’s actions in the two time periods.
“You can’t play Kiryu Kazuma without getting into shape, so I knew I had to throw myself into it. This was a job not only for me but also for the costume and makeup teams. It took two and a half hours just to prepare for this shot.” - Ryoma Takeuchi
Ryoma Takeuchi and Masaharu Take at the press conference
The series was announced at a press conference at the picturesque Hotel Gajoen Tokyo, where Takeuchi and Take discussed the process of adapting the acclaimed game series for a live-action drama.
A New Take on the Yakuza Universe
The series will include intense fighting scenes, alluding to the wild action the series is famed for. Takeuchi commented that the show will include “intense fighting scenes”, and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.
“It’s partly Kiryu Kazuma and it’s partly me. I got so close to the part that it was hard to distinguish where he ended and I began.” - Ryoma Takeuchi
Director Take said, “Having someone with such a large physical presence as Takeuchi makes all the difference. I understood that he knows his body better than anyone, so I left it to him to get into shape. Takeuchi did all the action himself as well. It was impressive.”
The series will be available on Amazon Prime in over 240 countries and territories worldwide, released in two batches on October 25 and November 1, 2024.
The new live-action series is coming soon to Amazon Prime Video
Get ready to experience the gritty realism of the Yakuza universe like never before. With its intense action, gripping storyline, and stunning visuals, Like a Dragon: Yakuza is set to be a must-watch series of the year.
