SEGA’s Yakuza franchise is receiving a stage play adaptation in Japan. This stage play will cover the first Yakuza game and is set to run from April 24 to April 29. On the left we have Kazuma Kiryu, the protagonist of the series, and on the right we have his (former) best friend Akira Nishikiyama. Incidentally, as of late, we’ve been seeing more stage play adaptations of SEGA franchises than you might expect; last year Phantasy Star Online 2 was adapted into a stage play called “Phantasy Star Online 2 -ON STAGE-” and the Puyo Puyo series will see similar treatment with “Puyo Puyo: On Stage” in the beginning of May of this year.
The official website for the production can be seen at this link.
The Yakuza franchise follows Kazuma Kiryu, a grizzled and stoic ex-yakuza with a heart of gold who frequently ends up tangling with the underworld of Japan (though on occasion he’s on the opposite side of Japan’s elite, too) in order to protect society, the people he cares about and the people he meets throughout the journey of life. The first game follows Kiryu as he takes in the orphan Haruka Sawamura and as his life’s path with Nishikiyama separates.
This is actually not the first time we’ve seen Kazuma Kiryu depicted in a medium outside of video games. There was a Yakuza movie produced in Japan and released in 2007 commonly known as “Like a Dragon.” It was also released directly to DVD with English subtitles.
