Like a Dragon: Yakuza star Ryoma Takeuchi recently mentioned his approach to taking on the role of the beloved Kazuma Kiryu, and from the looks of it, his take on Kiryu will be a bit different.
Recently, Takeuchi was interviewed by IGN. There, he mentioned his thoughts on being cast as the iconic character, including the challenge of bringing him to life in live-action.
It’s fair to say that Kazuma Kiryu is one of the most beloved video game characters ever, especially online as the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series has an active and dedicated fanbase that continues to express their admiration for the Dragon of Dojima.
Given this, Takeuchi said that he considers the role of Kiryu as a challenge. Not because he’s feeling the pressure from fans though, but also given the fact that it is a role from an existing work. As such, Takeuchi said that he knows he “would have to give it everything [he has]” to do the role justice.
Aside from this, the interview also had an interesting statement from Takeuchi. He said that his approach is to have his own take on Kiryu. Of course, he still aims to portray Kiryu “with great respect for the original game” though he wants to create his own version of the Dragon of Dojima.
This isn’t too surprising given that the upcoming live-action series won’t be a straight-up adaptation of the first Yakuza game. Instead, it will partly be an original story.
As Yakuza has such a passionate fanbase, it’ll be interesting to see how fans will react to the live-action version of Kazuma Kiryu by Ryoma Takeuchi. On the flip side, the new take on Kiryu and his origin story should make this show a must-watch for fans. Of course, that’s if the show indeed captures what makes the Like a Dragon game series so great instead of going in an entirely different direction that fans may not like.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premiere on October 24, exclusively on Prime Video.