Kazuma Kiryu is the face of Yakuza. With such a legacy, it’s straightforward to see why Yakuza has struggled to maneuver previous its steely protagonist, however even earlier than the introduction of the charismatic Ichiban Kasuga, an obscure spinoff proved that the franchise may do exactly effective with out the Dragon of Dojima. Fourteen years later, although, it’s a disgrace that Black Panther: Like a Dragon New Chapter (Kurohyo: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsho in Japanese) lies all however forgotten by time, with Western followers by no means having the prospect to satisfy certainly one of Yakuza’s best characters.
Black Panther initially launched on PSP in 2010, and was adopted by a tv adaption the identical 12 months and a sequel two years later. Each video games are developed by Syn Sophia, the studio finest identified for the Def Jam video games. There’s an fascinating hyperlink there too, as Black Panther’s fight makes use of a equally brutal 1-on-1 combating type. It’s fairly a shift from Yakuza’s regular brawler gameplay, however it additionally reinforces the darker, grittier themes of Black Panther. Whereas there’s nonetheless a little bit of Yakuza goofiness to be discovered, Black Panther takes a recent strategy to its narrative, with a hero that’s deliberately unlikable initially.
Tatsuya is a product of Kamurocho itself, and every thing Kiryu and his compatriots have finished. (There’s a line in Black Panther the place a Kamurocho gang mentions their hazing ritual is sending individuals to get pummelled by the Dragon of Dojima.) He’s virtually the definition of teenage angst. Within the first scene, we see Tatsuya brutally beat his two pals once they don’t agree along with his plan, earlier than occurring to raid a Yakuza workplace and seemingly homicide a high-ranking member. He’s then blackmailed into competing within the Tojo Clan’s underground area, and promised his freedom if he can win ten matches straight. There are the everyday Yakuza twists and turns, however Black Panther is essentially a sport about Tatsuya breaking freed from the cycle of violence.
Kiryu’s arc all through the sequence can largely be summed up as a person making an attempt to retain his morality within the felony underworld. Tatsuya is just like the inverse of that, somebody who by no means thought twice about utilizing violence to resolve his issues, however shortly has his eyes opened.
Every chapter in Black Panther contains a completely different opponent, and every one is a lesson for Tatsuya. In a single chapter he fights the daddy of a child he despatched to the hospital in highschool, and it teaches him the need of atoning for previous errors. One other chapter has Tatsuya baffled on the showboating facade one other fighter places on, earlier than studying that it’s all to masks feelings. Black Panther builds up Tatsuya’s character piece by piece, and in some ways it looks like a precursor to the introduction of different protagonists from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, like Ichiban Kasuga and Judgment’s Yagami.
Yakuza has by no means shied away from speaking in regards to the actuality of violence: each its risks and the way it may be an efficient instrument. Black Panther looks like the right distillation of the sequence ethos. Tatsuya begins as a damaged misanthropic youth, however by means of combating he learns to develop into a greater particular person, to seek out actual values. When the second sport rolls round, Tatsuya’s utilizing these classes to try to educate others, and the story integrates extra themes of friendship and camaraderie.
It’s a disgrace that so many followers by no means had the prospect to expertise among the finest storytelling the Yakuza sequence has ever finished. The silver lining is that as of 2023 full fan translations of each Black Panther video games exist. However it’d be nice to see Sega acknowledge the spinoffs in a extra official capability.
There are boundless alternatives to convey Black Panther again, or at the least Tatsuya himself. Ryu Ga Gotoku has proven a penchant for remakes, and it looks like an grownup model of Tatsuya may even combine properly into the Judgment video games. (That may even be a greater choice now with Sega shedding picture rights to actor Takuya Kimura, who performs Yagami.) Nonetheless you take a look at it, Black Panther and its sequel are two of solely three Yakuza video games which have by no means made their manner West, and it’s excessive time that adjustments.
