Key Takeaways
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Reviews of Like a Dragon: Yakuza are a mix of negatives and a few positives.
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According to critics, the show failed to balance melodrama and comedic moments.
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This series has always been difficult to adapt because of how unique its presentation is.
How do you capture the unique feel of Yakuza / Like a Dragon? For the showrunners of Amazon's Like a Dragon: Yakuza, it's always been a tall order to succinctly capture the tone of a game series that's been built over decades, ensuring that each entry permanently adds something to the series' DNA.
Unfortunately, according to critics, Like a Dragon: Yakuza failed to balance the drama of Japan's criminal underworld with the wild and absurd moments of a video game. What makes Yakuza so beloved is its juxtaposition of seriousness and comedy, and critics say the series strays too far from the latter.
A bad look at the Dragon of Dojima
In its 4/10 review, IGN describes the show as “an overlong, meandering, bleak melodrama that would be ignored if it didn't have a name attached to it.” According to the site's reviewer, story threads come and go without resolution, eventually being abandoned near the end of the show. Positively, Kamurochō was “delightfully” adapted from the game.
Paste Magazine called Like a Dragon: Yakuza a “criminally lackluster adaptation” that had potential but left viewers “wanting to move from scene to scene” unable to form an attachment to the large cast in a 5/10 review.
In a more positive 4/5 review, Eurogamer said that Like a Dragon: Yakuza captures “the anarchic spirit of the source material,” depicting the juxtaposition between “bloody, unstoppable combat and ostentatious high culture.” In this critic's opinion, the show is “a very authentic Yakuza experience.”
An overly long, winding, dreary melodrama that would be ignored if it weren't named.
Slant Magazine said in a 2.5/4 review that the show was “a competent but sandpaper video game adaptation.” They describe the show as “glum and less toothy than the most tame beasts in RGG Studio's unique menagerie.”
A common theme in these reviews is that capturing the spirit of Yakuza is a very difficult task, and to understand these characters and their relationships, you're better off playing the game. Yakuza Kiwami, a 2016 remake of the original Yakuza game from which the show is adapted, is a fresher take on this particular story.
Neither Metacritic nor Rotten Tomatoes have average scores yet, but they will soon.
yakuza
Yakuza, also known as Like a Dragon, is an action-adventure game series developed by Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Taking place primarily in the fictional Tokyo region of Kamurochō, the game is a crime drama featuring characters such as Kazuma Kiryu, Goro Majima, and Ichiban Kasuga, and is known for fun minigames such as karaoke.
