November 14, 2024 • 31 mins
Welcome to Yakuza Kiwami 2 - In part 2, we enlist the help of an old friend as more threats reveal themselves, and a confusing mix-up leads to Date being wanted for murder. Don't forget to watch or play along - gameplay is posted weekly on our YouTube channel where we also have new video episodes! You can also find us on our website, Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit. Please consider supporting Eggy Toast here if you enjoyed the music in this episode.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In this episode, we go underwear shopping, Gary Buster Holmes gets shish kebabed, and
(00:06):
Kiryu says what we're all thinking.
What the hell is this?
I still can't get over the shish kebab.
We skipped through a lot of the fighting just to speed up our note taking, but I couldn't
skip over that part.
Too good.
You had to witness it.
Thank you for coming back from our replay reviews.
My name is Leah.
(00:26):
And my name is Kathy.
We are two friends who are here to replay, review, and analyze your favorite video games.
And since Kathy has never seen the games before, it helps me view them through her fresh eyes,
almost like I'm discovering them again for the first time.
We hope it will be a similar experience for you.
(00:48):
Alright then, Chapter 5, Hidden Past, Kiryu and Sayama arrive in Kamurocho.
Sayama's not doing too good, so Kiryu takes her to a now-abandoned Serena.
He then heads on his own to Tojo HQ to fill everyone in on what's going on.
Why are they trying to force a romance plot between Kiryu and Sayama with her carrying
(01:10):
him in the streets?
Bridal style?
Bridal style.
Isn't that what it's called?
Bride style?
Or is it?
I've never heard that.
Let me, I gotta Google it now.
Doesn't mean it's not a thing, but I've never heard of it.
I guess it's called the Bridal Carry, not a Bridal Style.
Bridal Style sounds better though.
Anyways, they're working real hard to force a romance plot over some minor issue of getting
(01:41):
shot in the shoulder, which I'm just kind of frustrated there.
On his way there, he gets a call from Daigo, but soon another person takes over the call
and tells Kiryu to meet him tomorrow at 1am at the Amano building if he wants Daigo to
live.
At the Tojo Clan HQ, they discuss all that's happening and they think that the Goryu and
(02:03):
the foreign group are connected.
Should we talk about Shindo now?
Mmhmm.
Okay, so Yayoi asks him, he's the Nishiki family patriarch, to give Kiryu some backup
as the Amano building is in his territory.
But he says, I don't think so.
(02:26):
Basically the Nishiki family is still mad at Kiryu and they're still loyal to Nishiki.
He's even dressed like him.
But how cool is it though?
Like it's kind of cool that he's still commanding respect a year later after his death.
That's exactly what I was gonna say.
Even though Nishiki struggled in the beginning, the fact that in the end his men still respect
(02:49):
him, that relationship that he's built demonstrates how much of a great leader he is.
Because you don't see Dojima's family willing to do that.
That's why he's my KFC, he's my favorite character because the respect he still gets is amazing.
This moment honestly pushes him so high up in just cool character.
(03:16):
He just did so much and he earned it.
And the fact that he grew up being pretty much emotionally abused by Kazama knowing
that he's the backup child, yet he still was able to make something out of his name.
I just love this character.
So Yayoi, her name is so fun to say.
(03:40):
She says she has something personal to discuss with Kiryu.
And she gives him a warehouse key saying, the personal effects of several of the officers
we lost last year are kept in there.
Perhaps you'll find something that can help guide the clan through this.
We don't find anything of Nishiki's, which I feel like is a bit of a slap in the face.
(04:01):
I mean I'm glad that we find Majima's dagger, but it's weird that his stuff is the only
stuff that we find.
Agreed.
Upon finding this dagger though, Kiryu gets the idea that maybe they need Majima to help
them through this.
So he tells his plan to Kashiwagi and Lady Dojima.
And we learn that the Shimano family was absorbed at some point within the past year by the
(04:25):
Nishikiyama family.
Kiryu's line is, what if he were to come back?
And Kashiwagi suggests looking for Majima in purgatory.
I'm excited to see him again, but it's almost like Kiryu can't do it by himself that he
needs Majima to come save the day.
(04:45):
You're not going to get this because it's a movie reference, but it's like all of Justice
League is all the superheroes are fighting and they can't win.
And then Superman comes into the scene and he single-handedly saves the day.
That's what it feels like he's not enough.
We need Majima.
And it makes me feel like Majima is the main character, that he's more powerful than Kiryu.
(05:07):
That, and I also feel like he keeps trying to pass everything off on other people like
Daigo first and now Majima.
Which then makes me confused why everyone thinks so highly of Kiryu.
If he can't handle things and he needs Majima to come into the scene, then why did he get
so much respect to begin with?
(05:29):
This is a series long question that we've had so far is what did Kiryu really do?
Because Nishiki did way more, but he got way less respect, which is what led to him becoming
a villain.
Okay, moving on.
Once back in Kamurocho, Kiryu gets a call from Sayama and she's pissed that he took off
(05:49):
without telling her.
But then she asks him to buy her some underwear and beer and then pretends like the phone
is breaking out so that he can't say no.
What a weird scene.
He gets the stuff for her and goes back to Serena where she comes out in a towel and
kind of practically flashes him.
(06:13):
And I like my question is what is she doing?
Based on the tone and the conversations she had, she's like annoyed with him all the time.
So if I hated someone or was annoyed with them, there's no way you can get me to be
in a towel and pretty much just rope in front of that person.
But I don't understand.
(06:33):
She had a robe with her, so you could have changed into the robe in the room you were
just in and not just drop towel right in front of Kiryu.
I was almost expecting her to have a sunflower tramp stamp.
Because why else would you make her drop her towel like that?
(06:55):
And then when she's in her robe, she barely has a cinch in the front.
So it's a lot of chesting for someone who's obviously uncomfortable with what Kiryu has
been doing.
Very unprofessional, Sayama.
Pull it together.
Literally, pull the robe together.
(07:15):
So Kiryu confronts her about her interest in the Tojo Clan.
She responds that she had overheard Tamiyo, her adopted mother, saying the Tojo Clan is
what made Karu's life a living hell.
I'm kind of annoyed that the plotline is like the parental trauma kind of thing.
She could have been a police officer for other reasons, but they had to made it into a situation
(07:39):
where it's the parents' fault or someone hurt their parents and then now they're seeking
revenge or seeking the truth.
I've had enough of the orphans.
So after their chat, they head to Purgatory.
Kiryu is surprised to see Purgatory is now a construction site.
Gary Buster Holmes approaches and tells him that the boss is waiting for him downstairs.
(08:05):
This is where we find out that the florist moved to the Millennium Tower and Majima moved
in to Purgatory to start Majima construction and his plan, Kamurocho Hills.
But I do love that his character is consistent where he goes like Kiryu, that kind of crazy
that we've seen from previous games.
(08:27):
I do like how his character is consistent.
And consistently inconsistent.
He'll go from just insane, which we understand why Sayama goes, who or what is that?
But then later in this scene, he'll go to just like super smart level headed talking normally.
(08:48):
Kiryu asks Majima to help the Tojo Clan and he is quite resistant, but eventually agrees.
If Kiryu fights in his tournament, big surprise, we have to have a tournament in every game.
So this is where one of his opponents is Gary Buster Holmes.
And I happened to have a rather large pole in Kiryu's pocket, which he uses in a choice
(09:15):
manner.
He lines it up perfectly with the pooper, the tooter, and then just smashes it in there.
And then Gary Buster Holmes' knees go inward like those...
It's almost as if, imagine Haruka standing still mid run when her knees are touching
(09:36):
and just kind of going inwards.
That's Gary Buster Holmes' reaction to getting a pole stabbed up his butthole.
What a way to end your opponent.
Who animated that?
So Kiryu wins and Majima keeps his word.
He says, let's hash this shit out over a drink.
(09:56):
He says to Majima, I just want you to give them a hand.
So he doesn't want him to come back to the Tojo Clan.
He just wants them to help out a little bit.
Are we sure it's not some kind of deeper plan that I'm going to first ask you for a hand
and then an arm and a leg and then slowly pull you back into the Tojo Clan?
I don't know.
(10:17):
I kind of get the feeling that Kiryu doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
Which is why I question in the previous episode, Kashibaki is like, what will Kiryu do?
I mean, the man doesn't even know himself.
We put Kiryu up on such a pedestal and it really just doesn't make sense.
I need someone has to explain why Kiryu has so much credibility.
(10:40):
If anyone says Kiryu is your favorite character, can you please tell us why?
Because I'm curious.
And part of that could be that he is flawed, which I understand.
But in this game, especially, and it might have something to do with Kiwami's the remake
of the original game, so maybe they were never planning on a sequel and that kind of had
to force it a little bit.
(11:00):
I think that could come into play a bit, but honestly Kiryu in this game just really irritates
me.
They talk through everything that's happening and Majima says, can't help but think someone's
pulling your strings.
So he does not trust this situation.
Specifically, he doesn't trust Ryuji.
He says that crazy f**k will kill you then steal your pants.
(11:20):
Which is a great call back to you haven't seen it, but in Yakuza 0 there's a sub story
as Majima where there's a young Ryuji and he steals your pants.
He just goes around stealing people's pants.
Oh my god.
And it's so weird.
So after this conversation, we pretty much learned that Majima never liked Turada and
(11:43):
that people like Majima and Kashiwagi got sidelined when he took over.
And eventually Majima just got tired of it and left the Yakuza.
I feel like Kiryu choosing Turada as the chairman and then immediately like, peace, I'm out.
That's so irresponsible of him.
I feel bad for his friends that know him because they're the ones who are suffering with Kiryu's
(12:08):
consequences of choosing a bad person.
I feel like Kiryu should get somewhat the blame if Turada was a villain.
So Kiryu returns to Serena and he and Sayama chat and he tells the story of his parents'
deaths and that whole backstory involving Kazuma.
This scene makes me sad I guess for Kiryu because I think he sunk so much into the Yakuza
(12:31):
that not forgiving Kazuma was just not an option because that would be admitting that
basically his whole life was a waste because he did everything that Kazuma asked him to
do.
It's not that I want him to not forgive Kazuma but I feel like there has to be a neutral
(12:52):
like you accept the facts of what happened.
You don't need to forgive Kazuma because the only reason why he got a chance to be a father
figure was him killing his own parents.
Kazuma was a manipulator and justified things using the wrong means and Kiryu is so brainwashed
(13:13):
that he forgave him.
And I feel like he could have just accepted the facts and leave it as it is and just keep
moving forward.
I still can't get over the fact that he forgave Kazuma so quickly.
I can't either and that's why I kind of feel like he really didn't have an option
because otherwise he would be forced to analyze his life and he doesn't want to have to admit
(13:35):
that all the time and loyalty he gave to the Yakuza is him giving that to people who destroyed
his life.
And then Kiryu has a line he says, I'm not proud of my life as Yakuza.
Kazuma did that.
Yeah, the life you're not proud of is the life that Kazuma built for you.
(13:58):
But you won't stop giving this man every benefit of every doubt.
Is that lighter that he uses the same lighter from Yakuza Zero that he shared the lighter
he shares with Mishki?
I can't remember at the end who has it.
I mean, I don't think Mishki has it but yeah, I couldn't remember either.
(14:18):
I wondered that too.
And there's one scene where I was like, Oh, no, it's not.
But I don't know why I thought that.
Okay, but I think it could be.
They then head out for their their meeting at the building at one o'clock.
That's all I have anything else before we get to Majima.
(14:38):
Okay, so here starts one of the big, big additions in the Kiwami edition, which is the Majima
saga.
And we're in chapter one Tojo Clan reform.
It's February 17 2006.
So about 10 months earlier, Toronto holds a meeting and Tojo members are pissed about
his reformation project.
(15:00):
Basically you buy you buy your way in what you earn is how high you get in the rankings.
So we meet a couple new patriarchs Uematsu and Ibuchi.
So we learned pretty quickly that this meeting is to use the reformation process to determine
the next clan captain.
So they pull up a graph of all the family's earnings.
(15:23):
And we see that Uematsu and Ibuchi are way, way higher earning than the rest.
But Uematsu will be the next captain based off of this new process.
The difference is so astonishing on the graph.
So one how is no one questioning if this information is even accurate?
Like who's tracking this?
(15:44):
I almost feel like Ibuchi being so supportive of Uematsu becoming the captain.
It's suspicious because he's not taking it.
It almost seems like he wants Uematsu to take the fall or that Ibuchi is working with Tarada
(16:05):
to try to get Uematsu to be like a front man of something, the puppet.
Because Uematsu seems like he's all bark and no brains.
Majima, he crashes the meeting and plops down in the captain's chair and he then summons
his mentor role in a ginormous cart of cash, which makes him the highest earner.
(16:31):
And he says next clan captain is going to be me.
Majima is putting Tarada in a hard position.
He either has to stick with his reformation criteria or abandon it, effectively admitting
that he wanted a certain person as captain.
And the reformation criteria was just a cover to like quell dissatisfaction among the other
(16:53):
families.
He played him.
He played him so good.
I love how smart Majima is because Kiryu could never.
But also, I'm wondering if Tarada is really that shallow in thinking that all of a sudden
changing this reform and having Uematsu is going to solve issues or is he pretending
(17:17):
like he's stupid and shallow when he's actually a really calculating man?
I think it's a little bit of both.
It seems like he's trying to play everybody to, and I think Majima says something along
these lines later.
He's essentially trying to just get his own men around him and in higher positions, but
(17:38):
he's using a cover of the reformation project to not just outright say he's doing that,
but it's so transparent that he just looks stupid.
And then his, so Ibuchi presses him like, hey, it's up to you.
And his responses look to table the issue for now.
How weak is that?
(18:00):
What a weak response.
Kiryu chose Tarada to be the chairman because he was a smart and neutral and fair person.
But this is the man who, if he doesn't get his way and he's trying not to lose face,
he's doing that.
I love how Majima puts him to be in that spot of demonstrating his weakness.
(18:21):
And the line that he says of, you can't mess with the Tojo Clan and not expect its dog
to bite you.
I love how he fully leans into his nickname.
I just love how he doesn't give a flying crap about anything, like anything, yet he's by
far the smartest person.
It's because he doesn't care.
(18:42):
That's why he's smart.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
It's great.
Everyone loves Majima.
You can't, you just can't not.
I kind of, I can understand why and why, Sierra, I was hesitant to like his character with
the background and everything.
I didn't really quite understand it.
And I think I liked Kiryu's stories, like whenever we see his saga because of Nishiki.
(19:05):
But now that Nishiki's out of the picture, I am fully embracing Majima and his smarts.
So the meeting disbands and as Majima leaves, he bumps into Kashiwagi.
Can I just say I like their dynamic?
Oh my gosh.
Yes.
That's something I was going to mention.
I, how should I say it?
It's two highly intelligent men with completely different styles, yet when they come together,
(19:29):
it's okay if they're different styles because at the end of the day it works.
They have completely different vibes, yet they still mesh together when they have a
common goal.
Kashiwagi warns him saying Uematsu is not likely to take a slight like that lying down.
Majima doesn't care.
Back in Kamurocho, he's jumped by who he assumes are men sent from Uematsu, but one
(19:50):
of them says you ought to be worried about your own family.
So this is when it appears that Uematsu attacked his family and so he immediately goes to confront
him.
That's where we find him dead.
He's already dead.
I bet it's Ibushi who probably killed him because he was mad that he couldn't be top.
(20:13):
So if he's not going to be able to be the puppet, there's no point in keeping him alive.
It's definitely fishy.
Anything else on Majima Saga Part 1 or should we go to Chapter 6?
Chapter 6.
Okay.
Chapter 6 is Schemes.
We're back to Date and Kuwara who meet with Yuya and Kazuki at Stardust.
(20:34):
Yuya excuses himself to go get some snacks for them and they set a trap for Kazuki telling
him investigators are about to come busting in and mention it's due to foreign groups
being involved with the Millennium Tower bombing.
They say if he's mafia, he'll go straight to his boys and before too long he does go
running out of the building.
It doesn't have to mean he's in the mafia.
(20:58):
He could be running to his other friends who own bars on that street to warn them.
They chase after him and then we're back to Kiryu and Sayama who track down the Amano
Building.
Why'd they wait till the last minute to start trying to find this building when they knew
that they didn't know where it was?
Because Kiryu's stupid and doesn't know how to prepare for things.
(21:18):
I need Kazuma to tell me his plan.
I don't know what that voice was.
If it was not Kiryu.
No you sound like Kazuma's dad.
Came from the depths.
I don't know what that was.
Moving on, wow.
So another wild goose chase.
Eventually we are able to go into the building.
(21:40):
Kiryu asks to go on alone since that's what the caller demanded and Sayama's not happy
but does agree to this.
So Kiryu fights his way up to the roof and once he gets up there he sees Date and Kawara
as well as two Kazukis and his reaction is what the hell is this?
Which I love.
How did they get one person to look so similar to the other person?
(22:03):
It's a Connor situation.
We've got duplicates here.
Only that one made sense.
This one.
Yeah.
This one doesn't make sense, Cathy.
To be honest, I don't get it at all.
I don't even know if the writers get it.
Well the other fact is how did they even match their entire outfit and hairstyle?
(22:25):
They had to be stocking Kazuki.
It makes absolutely zero sense in my opinion.
And this is not going to be the first time in the series where there's magically a double
of somebody.
So I'm just going to tell you that now.
They love doing this.
Things get confusing and heated.
(22:46):
Guns are drawn and then a fake Kazuki shoots both Kawara and the real Kazuki but they're
not dead so that's good.
What happened leading up to the shooting was Kawara ends up wanting to shoot one of them
without reasonable evidence and Date's kind of hesitant.
(23:08):
But then Date, why are you distracting him when he has a gun?
If Date would have freaking get out of the way, they wouldn't have ended up being in
the shooting situation.
I get he's trying to stop him but his hesitancy, this is not the first time we've seen Date
ruin things.
And I'm just so annoyed at him right now.
(23:29):
I know and it gets worse.
Well we find out that this fake Kazuki is the one who called Kiryu yesterday.
Kawara convinces Date to take a shot which grazes the fake's head.
But then Sayama appears out of nowhere and takes him down.
Why did Kiryu turn to look at Sayama like that?
(23:51):
We both did the same thing.
Why does he move like that?
I made you rewatch that like three times because I thought it was hilarious.
If you're a millennial, imagine the dramatic groundhog.
That's how he moves his head.
It looks like he's got a kink in his neck, he slept on it.
(24:12):
Funny.
And he has to turn everything to go look.
It cracks me up.
But I feel like this earns points in how cool Sayama is that she's staying so far away and
she can manage a headshot and Date, I don't know if it's intentional or not, but that
man can't shoot, that man loses kids, that man has a terrible relationship with his own
(24:33):
daughter, that man is distracting when you shouldn't be, he can barely solve cases.
How did he get to be so high ranking that he gets people respect when he's like the
equivalent of Giryu in Police World?
So they decide a situation is a bit too messy and they make a run for it when they hear
sirens.
(24:54):
Anything else on that scene for you?
Okay.
Final chapter of this part, chapter seven, the foreign threat.
They rush Kazuki and Koara to a clinic Kiryu knows of.
And again, we're just going everywhere except the hospital anytime we get hurt.
And the fact they had such a long debate on what to do while these two people were pretty
(25:17):
much bleeding out.
And then they decide to run and jostle the two injured people who are bleeding out everywhere
when there's multiple opportunities to get onto a bike or a moped and take you to where
you need to go to avoid running into people.
I just don't understand.
They're standing there talking about it like they don't look completely obvious just for
(25:38):
her and men piggybacking.
You don't see that.
That's not something you see.
So they get to the clinic, drop off the injured, and then they're told that it's probably best
for everyone if they leave.
So they head out and discuss that they shouldn't tell Yuya anything.
But then Yuya pops up, I don't know where, and they proceed.
(25:58):
Kiryu proceeds to just try to tell him everything and Date has to cut him off.
See I don't know how Kiryu made it this far.
He's poorly written in this game.
So after dealing with Yuya, Kiryu and Date head to Bacchus, now Bantam, to exchange information.
While there, we learn Date used to work with Besho, who is Sayama's captain, I guess?
(26:21):
Boss?
Yeah.
And that Kawara has a history of being too quick on the draw.
You can get away with self-defense a few times, but to have that kind of track record of pretty
much causing many genocides around in Japan, how do you get away with it?
Which makes me kind of nervous about Kiryu's future if he's going to be hanging around
(26:43):
Kawara, because Kawara is obviously a lot more powerful than what we think.
Yeah, it seems that way.
So after their chat, Kiryu meets up with Sayama back at the clinic, where Kawara is kind of
roasting her a little bit.
But when Kiryu shows up, two guys bust in right after him looking for a Kang, who we
(27:05):
can assume is the Kazuki double.
Sayama tries to question them, and they just punch her straight in the face.
Unnecessary, guys.
Why are we making...
First we have a female slap, and then we have a female immediately thrown under the bus,
and then now we have a female punched in the face.
(27:25):
So why is Kiryu now suddenly mad about women being hit, because he didn't care when he
slapped Haruka in the last game.
For reals, what a hypocrite.
Anyway, moving on.
So after he takes them down, Kawara jumps on one to question them.
Why does he fall on them like that?
(27:48):
It makes me laugh, I'll show you.
He tripped and fell, Leah.
It wasn't intentional.
He tripped and fell.
He landed with his elbow on the floor.
(28:08):
It's so funny.
We find out that they're from a Korean syndicate, the Jinguyeon Mafia, and then all three of
them leave to go meet Date at the bar.
But before they do, perhaps my favorite line of the game is Kawara saying, I need to find
a change of pants.
First underwear and now pants?
(28:29):
What is up with the scheme?
And then he has the audacity to say, took you long enough when we get to the bar.
We ran straight there.
I don't know.
You did not find pants in that time.
They tell Date about the Jinguyeon Mafia.
Apparently Kawara knows Korean and some history about this mafia.
He says what they do care about is absolute loyalty.
(28:51):
How does Kawara know Korean?
It's a good question.
He kind of brushes it off too.
So after they get all caught up, Date says they may not be safe there as the bartender
has been acting strange.
And he found a picture of Kiryu and Sayama behind the bar.
Kiryu stays behind to question the bartender.
(29:12):
And while doing so, some goons bust in.
And the bartender saying, please let us kill you.
It's hilarious.
I don't know what kind of response they're expecting to get when you ask someone, can
I kill you?
Please let us kill you.
What do you want him to say?
Right.
It cracks me up.
(29:32):
It's ridiculous.
But of course, Kiryu beats them.
And the bartender tells Kiryu a whole sob story.
The bar's in debt after what happened last year.
Kiryu's fault.
Driven away customers.
Someone came by offering to pay everything off.
And that someone was from the Sengoku family, Pistachio.
And they gave him the photos.
(29:53):
I feel like Kiryu is the type of person who falls for the Nigerian prince scam every single
time because he says this in Yomili.
You take his word for what it is and then you forgive him.
It's such a drawn out and unnecessary emotional moment.
(30:15):
I don't give a crap about this bartender.
Kiryu should have apologized for the ruckus he called that drove away customers last year.
That's what should have happened.
But no.
Okay.
So after this, Kiryu heads out to meet the others at Serena.
And this is where we learn that Date is wanted for murder after the Amino building incident.
(30:37):
Of course Date's into more hot water.
Wouldn't be Date if he wasn't boiling.
Well.
Well, should we end it?
I guess so.
Right at one hour.
Nice.
Audacity on one.
Three, two, one.
Thank you for listening and don't forget to send in any questions, comments, or game suggestions.
(30:58):
You can find all our contact info on our website, replayreviewspod.com, or contact us directly
through our site.
Do we completely miss something?
Are we way off the mark?
Or do you just want us to take a deeper look at anything from the game?
We'll tackle any topics you all want to hear in our season wrap up episode.
We also have our reddit where we discuss anything we're curious about.
Go take a look and let us know what you're thinking.
(31:19):
Our theme music is Condemned by Eggy Toast.
They'll play you out and we'll be back next week.
In this episode, we go underwear shopping, Gary Buster Holmes gets shish kebabed, and
(00:06):
Kiryu says what we're all thinking.
What the hell is this?
I still can't get over the shish kebab.
We skipped through a lot of the fighting just to speed up our note taking, but I couldn't
skip over that part.
Too good.
You had to witness it.
Thank you for coming back from our replay reviews.
My name is Leah.
(00:26):
And my name is Kathy.
We are two friends who are here to replay, review, and analyze your favorite video games.
And since Kathy has never seen the games before, it helps me view them through her fresh eyes,
almost like I'm discovering them again for the first time.
We hope it will be a similar experience for you.
(00:48):
Alright then, Chapter 5, Hidden Past, Kiryu and Sayama arrive in Kamurocho.
Sayama's not doing too good, so Kiryu takes her to a now-abandoned Serena.
He then heads on his own to Tojo HQ to fill everyone in on what's going on.
Why are they trying to force a romance plot between Kiryu and Sayama with her carrying
(01:10):
him in the streets?
Bridal style?
Bridal style.
Isn't that what it's called?
Bride style?
Or is it?
I've never heard that.
Let me, I gotta Google it now.
Doesn't mean it's not a thing, but I've never heard of it.
I guess it's called the Bridal Carry, not a Bridal Style.
Bridal Style sounds better though.
Anyways, they're working real hard to force a romance plot over some minor issue of getting
(01:41):
shot in the shoulder, which I'm just kind of frustrated there.
On his way there, he gets a call from Daigo, but soon another person takes over the call
and tells Kiryu to meet him tomorrow at 1am at the Amano building if he wants Daigo to
live.
At the Tojo Clan HQ, they discuss all that's happening and they think that the Goryu and
(02:03):
the foreign group are connected.
Should we talk about Shindo now?
Mmhmm.
Okay, so Yayoi asks him, he's the Nishiki family patriarch, to give Kiryu some backup
as the Amano building is in his territory.
But he says, I don't think so.
(02:26):
Basically the Nishiki family is still mad at Kiryu and they're still loyal to Nishiki.
He's even dressed like him.
But how cool is it though?
Like it's kind of cool that he's still commanding respect a year later after his death.
That's exactly what I was gonna say.
Even though Nishiki struggled in the beginning, the fact that in the end his men still respect
(02:49):
him, that relationship that he's built demonstrates how much of a great leader he is.
Because you don't see Dojima's family willing to do that.
That's why he's my KFC, he's my favorite character because the respect he still gets is amazing.
This moment honestly pushes him so high up in just cool character.
(03:16):
He just did so much and he earned it.
And the fact that he grew up being pretty much emotionally abused by Kazama knowing
that he's the backup child, yet he still was able to make something out of his name.
I just love this character.
So Yayoi, her name is so fun to say.
(03:40):
She says she has something personal to discuss with Kiryu.
And she gives him a warehouse key saying, the personal effects of several of the officers
we lost last year are kept in there.
Perhaps you'll find something that can help guide the clan through this.
We don't find anything of Nishiki's, which I feel like is a bit of a slap in the face.
(04:01):
I mean I'm glad that we find Majima's dagger, but it's weird that his stuff is the only
stuff that we find.
Agreed.
Upon finding this dagger though, Kiryu gets the idea that maybe they need Majima to help
them through this.
So he tells his plan to Kashiwagi and Lady Dojima.
And we learn that the Shimano family was absorbed at some point within the past year by the
(04:25):
Nishikiyama family.
Kiryu's line is, what if he were to come back?
And Kashiwagi suggests looking for Majima in purgatory.
I'm excited to see him again, but it's almost like Kiryu can't do it by himself that he
needs Majima to come save the day.
(04:45):
You're not going to get this because it's a movie reference, but it's like all of Justice
League is all the superheroes are fighting and they can't win.
And then Superman comes into the scene and he single-handedly saves the day.
That's what it feels like he's not enough.
We need Majima.
And it makes me feel like Majima is the main character, that he's more powerful than Kiryu.
(05:07):
That, and I also feel like he keeps trying to pass everything off on other people like
Daigo first and now Majima.
Which then makes me confused why everyone thinks so highly of Kiryu.
If he can't handle things and he needs Majima to come into the scene, then why did he get
so much respect to begin with?
(05:29):
This is a series long question that we've had so far is what did Kiryu really do?
Because Nishiki did way more, but he got way less respect, which is what led to him becoming
a villain.
Okay, moving on.
Once back in Kamurocho, Kiryu gets a call from Sayama and she's pissed that he took off
(05:49):
without telling her.
But then she asks him to buy her some underwear and beer and then pretends like the phone
is breaking out so that he can't say no.
What a weird scene.
He gets the stuff for her and goes back to Serena where she comes out in a towel and
kind of practically flashes him.
(06:13):
And I like my question is what is she doing?
Based on the tone and the conversations she had, she's like annoyed with him all the time.
So if I hated someone or was annoyed with them, there's no way you can get me to be
in a towel and pretty much just rope in front of that person.
But I don't understand.
(06:33):
She had a robe with her, so you could have changed into the robe in the room you were
just in and not just drop towel right in front of Kiryu.
I was almost expecting her to have a sunflower tramp stamp.
Because why else would you make her drop her towel like that?
(06:55):
And then when she's in her robe, she barely has a cinch in the front.
So it's a lot of chesting for someone who's obviously uncomfortable with what Kiryu has
been doing.
Very unprofessional, Sayama.
Pull it together.
Literally, pull the robe together.
(07:15):
So Kiryu confronts her about her interest in the Tojo Clan.
She responds that she had overheard Tamiyo, her adopted mother, saying the Tojo Clan is
what made Karu's life a living hell.
I'm kind of annoyed that the plotline is like the parental trauma kind of thing.
She could have been a police officer for other reasons, but they had to made it into a situation
(07:39):
where it's the parents' fault or someone hurt their parents and then now they're seeking
revenge or seeking the truth.
I've had enough of the orphans.
So after their chat, they head to Purgatory.
Kiryu is surprised to see Purgatory is now a construction site.
Gary Buster Holmes approaches and tells him that the boss is waiting for him downstairs.
(08:05):
This is where we find out that the florist moved to the Millennium Tower and Majima moved
in to Purgatory to start Majima construction and his plan, Kamurocho Hills.
But I do love that his character is consistent where he goes like Kiryu, that kind of crazy
that we've seen from previous games.
(08:27):
I do like how his character is consistent.
And consistently inconsistent.
He'll go from just insane, which we understand why Sayama goes, who or what is that?
But then later in this scene, he'll go to just like super smart level headed talking normally.
(08:48):
Kiryu asks Majima to help the Tojo Clan and he is quite resistant, but eventually agrees.
If Kiryu fights in his tournament, big surprise, we have to have a tournament in every game.
So this is where one of his opponents is Gary Buster Holmes.
And I happened to have a rather large pole in Kiryu's pocket, which he uses in a choice
(09:15):
manner.
He lines it up perfectly with the pooper, the tooter, and then just smashes it in there.
And then Gary Buster Holmes' knees go inward like those...
It's almost as if, imagine Haruka standing still mid run when her knees are touching
(09:36):
and just kind of going inwards.
That's Gary Buster Holmes' reaction to getting a pole stabbed up his butthole.
What a way to end your opponent.
Who animated that?
So Kiryu wins and Majima keeps his word.
He says, let's hash this shit out over a drink.
(09:56):
He says to Majima, I just want you to give them a hand.
So he doesn't want him to come back to the Tojo Clan.
He just wants them to help out a little bit.
Are we sure it's not some kind of deeper plan that I'm going to first ask you for a hand
and then an arm and a leg and then slowly pull you back into the Tojo Clan?
I don't know.
(10:17):
I kind of get the feeling that Kiryu doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
Which is why I question in the previous episode, Kashibaki is like, what will Kiryu do?
I mean, the man doesn't even know himself.
We put Kiryu up on such a pedestal and it really just doesn't make sense.
I need someone has to explain why Kiryu has so much credibility.
(10:40):
If anyone says Kiryu is your favorite character, can you please tell us why?
Because I'm curious.
And part of that could be that he is flawed, which I understand.
But in this game, especially, and it might have something to do with Kiwami's the remake
of the original game, so maybe they were never planning on a sequel and that kind of had
to force it a little bit.
(11:00):
I think that could come into play a bit, but honestly Kiryu in this game just really irritates
me.
They talk through everything that's happening and Majima says, can't help but think someone's
pulling your strings.
So he does not trust this situation.
Specifically, he doesn't trust Ryuji.
He says that crazy f**k will kill you then steal your pants.
(11:20):
Which is a great call back to you haven't seen it, but in Yakuza 0 there's a sub story
as Majima where there's a young Ryuji and he steals your pants.
He just goes around stealing people's pants.
Oh my god.
And it's so weird.
So after this conversation, we pretty much learned that Majima never liked Turada and
(11:43):
that people like Majima and Kashiwagi got sidelined when he took over.
And eventually Majima just got tired of it and left the Yakuza.
I feel like Kiryu choosing Turada as the chairman and then immediately like, peace, I'm out.
That's so irresponsible of him.
I feel bad for his friends that know him because they're the ones who are suffering with Kiryu's
(12:08):
consequences of choosing a bad person.
I feel like Kiryu should get somewhat the blame if Turada was a villain.
So Kiryu returns to Serena and he and Sayama chat and he tells the story of his parents'
deaths and that whole backstory involving Kazuma.
This scene makes me sad I guess for Kiryu because I think he sunk so much into the Yakuza
(12:31):
that not forgiving Kazuma was just not an option because that would be admitting that
basically his whole life was a waste because he did everything that Kazuma asked him to
do.
It's not that I want him to not forgive Kazuma but I feel like there has to be a neutral
(12:52):
like you accept the facts of what happened.
You don't need to forgive Kazuma because the only reason why he got a chance to be a father
figure was him killing his own parents.
Kazuma was a manipulator and justified things using the wrong means and Kiryu is so brainwashed
(13:13):
that he forgave him.
And I feel like he could have just accepted the facts and leave it as it is and just keep
moving forward.
I still can't get over the fact that he forgave Kazuma so quickly.
I can't either and that's why I kind of feel like he really didn't have an option
because otherwise he would be forced to analyze his life and he doesn't want to have to admit
(13:35):
that all the time and loyalty he gave to the Yakuza is him giving that to people who destroyed
his life.
And then Kiryu has a line he says, I'm not proud of my life as Yakuza.
Kazuma did that.
Yeah, the life you're not proud of is the life that Kazuma built for you.
(13:58):
But you won't stop giving this man every benefit of every doubt.
Is that lighter that he uses the same lighter from Yakuza Zero that he shared the lighter
he shares with Mishki?
I can't remember at the end who has it.
I mean, I don't think Mishki has it but yeah, I couldn't remember either.
(14:18):
I wondered that too.
And there's one scene where I was like, Oh, no, it's not.
But I don't know why I thought that.
Okay, but I think it could be.
They then head out for their their meeting at the building at one o'clock.
That's all I have anything else before we get to Majima.
(14:38):
Okay, so here starts one of the big, big additions in the Kiwami edition, which is the Majima
saga.
And we're in chapter one Tojo Clan reform.
It's February 17 2006.
So about 10 months earlier, Toronto holds a meeting and Tojo members are pissed about
his reformation project.
(15:00):
Basically you buy you buy your way in what you earn is how high you get in the rankings.
So we meet a couple new patriarchs Uematsu and Ibuchi.
So we learned pretty quickly that this meeting is to use the reformation process to determine
the next clan captain.
So they pull up a graph of all the family's earnings.
(15:23):
And we see that Uematsu and Ibuchi are way, way higher earning than the rest.
But Uematsu will be the next captain based off of this new process.
The difference is so astonishing on the graph.
So one how is no one questioning if this information is even accurate?
Like who's tracking this?
(15:44):
I almost feel like Ibuchi being so supportive of Uematsu becoming the captain.
It's suspicious because he's not taking it.
It almost seems like he wants Uematsu to take the fall or that Ibuchi is working with Tarada
(16:05):
to try to get Uematsu to be like a front man of something, the puppet.
Because Uematsu seems like he's all bark and no brains.
Majima, he crashes the meeting and plops down in the captain's chair and he then summons
his mentor role in a ginormous cart of cash, which makes him the highest earner.
(16:31):
And he says next clan captain is going to be me.
Majima is putting Tarada in a hard position.
He either has to stick with his reformation criteria or abandon it, effectively admitting
that he wanted a certain person as captain.
And the reformation criteria was just a cover to like quell dissatisfaction among the other
(16:53):
families.
He played him.
He played him so good.
I love how smart Majima is because Kiryu could never.
But also, I'm wondering if Tarada is really that shallow in thinking that all of a sudden
changing this reform and having Uematsu is going to solve issues or is he pretending
(17:17):
like he's stupid and shallow when he's actually a really calculating man?
I think it's a little bit of both.
It seems like he's trying to play everybody to, and I think Majima says something along
these lines later.
He's essentially trying to just get his own men around him and in higher positions, but
(17:38):
he's using a cover of the reformation project to not just outright say he's doing that,
but it's so transparent that he just looks stupid.
And then his, so Ibuchi presses him like, hey, it's up to you.
And his responses look to table the issue for now.
How weak is that?
(18:00):
What a weak response.
Kiryu chose Tarada to be the chairman because he was a smart and neutral and fair person.
But this is the man who, if he doesn't get his way and he's trying not to lose face,
he's doing that.
I love how Majima puts him to be in that spot of demonstrating his weakness.
(18:21):
And the line that he says of, you can't mess with the Tojo Clan and not expect its dog
to bite you.
I love how he fully leans into his nickname.
I just love how he doesn't give a flying crap about anything, like anything, yet he's by
far the smartest person.
It's because he doesn't care.
(18:42):
That's why he's smart.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
It's great.
Everyone loves Majima.
You can't, you just can't not.
I kind of, I can understand why and why, Sierra, I was hesitant to like his character with
the background and everything.
I didn't really quite understand it.
And I think I liked Kiryu's stories, like whenever we see his saga because of Nishiki.
(19:05):
But now that Nishiki's out of the picture, I am fully embracing Majima and his smarts.
So the meeting disbands and as Majima leaves, he bumps into Kashiwagi.
Can I just say I like their dynamic?
Oh my gosh.
Yes.
That's something I was going to mention.
I, how should I say it?
It's two highly intelligent men with completely different styles, yet when they come together,
(19:29):
it's okay if they're different styles because at the end of the day it works.
They have completely different vibes, yet they still mesh together when they have a
common goal.
Kashiwagi warns him saying Uematsu is not likely to take a slight like that lying down.
Majima doesn't care.
Back in Kamurocho, he's jumped by who he assumes are men sent from Uematsu, but one
(19:50):
of them says you ought to be worried about your own family.
So this is when it appears that Uematsu attacked his family and so he immediately goes to confront
him.
That's where we find him dead.
He's already dead.
I bet it's Ibushi who probably killed him because he was mad that he couldn't be top.
(20:13):
So if he's not going to be able to be the puppet, there's no point in keeping him alive.
It's definitely fishy.
Anything else on Majima Saga Part 1 or should we go to Chapter 6?
Chapter 6.
Okay.
Chapter 6 is Schemes.
We're back to Date and Kuwara who meet with Yuya and Kazuki at Stardust.
(20:34):
Yuya excuses himself to go get some snacks for them and they set a trap for Kazuki telling
him investigators are about to come busting in and mention it's due to foreign groups
being involved with the Millennium Tower bombing.
They say if he's mafia, he'll go straight to his boys and before too long he does go
running out of the building.
It doesn't have to mean he's in the mafia.
(20:58):
He could be running to his other friends who own bars on that street to warn them.
They chase after him and then we're back to Kiryu and Sayama who track down the Amano
Building.
Why'd they wait till the last minute to start trying to find this building when they knew
that they didn't know where it was?
Because Kiryu's stupid and doesn't know how to prepare for things.
(21:18):
I need Kazuma to tell me his plan.
I don't know what that voice was.
If it was not Kiryu.
No you sound like Kazuma's dad.
Came from the depths.
I don't know what that was.
Moving on, wow.
So another wild goose chase.
Eventually we are able to go into the building.
(21:40):
Kiryu asks to go on alone since that's what the caller demanded and Sayama's not happy
but does agree to this.
So Kiryu fights his way up to the roof and once he gets up there he sees Date and Kawara
as well as two Kazukis and his reaction is what the hell is this?
Which I love.
How did they get one person to look so similar to the other person?
(22:03):
It's a Connor situation.
We've got duplicates here.
Only that one made sense.
This one.
Yeah.
This one doesn't make sense, Cathy.
To be honest, I don't get it at all.
I don't even know if the writers get it.
Well the other fact is how did they even match their entire outfit and hairstyle?
(22:25):
They had to be stocking Kazuki.
It makes absolutely zero sense in my opinion.
And this is not going to be the first time in the series where there's magically a double
of somebody.
So I'm just going to tell you that now.
They love doing this.
Things get confusing and heated.
(22:46):
Guns are drawn and then a fake Kazuki shoots both Kawara and the real Kazuki but they're
not dead so that's good.
What happened leading up to the shooting was Kawara ends up wanting to shoot one of them
without reasonable evidence and Date's kind of hesitant.
(23:08):
But then Date, why are you distracting him when he has a gun?
If Date would have freaking get out of the way, they wouldn't have ended up being in
the shooting situation.
I get he's trying to stop him but his hesitancy, this is not the first time we've seen Date
ruin things.
And I'm just so annoyed at him right now.
(23:29):
I know and it gets worse.
Well we find out that this fake Kazuki is the one who called Kiryu yesterday.
Kawara convinces Date to take a shot which grazes the fake's head.
But then Sayama appears out of nowhere and takes him down.
Why did Kiryu turn to look at Sayama like that?
(23:51):
We both did the same thing.
Why does he move like that?
I made you rewatch that like three times because I thought it was hilarious.
If you're a millennial, imagine the dramatic groundhog.
That's how he moves his head.
It looks like he's got a kink in his neck, he slept on it.
(24:12):
Funny.
And he has to turn everything to go look.
It cracks me up.
But I feel like this earns points in how cool Sayama is that she's staying so far away and
she can manage a headshot and Date, I don't know if it's intentional or not, but that
man can't shoot, that man loses kids, that man has a terrible relationship with his own
(24:33):
daughter, that man is distracting when you shouldn't be, he can barely solve cases.
How did he get to be so high ranking that he gets people respect when he's like the
equivalent of Giryu in Police World?
So they decide a situation is a bit too messy and they make a run for it when they hear
sirens.
(24:54):
Anything else on that scene for you?
Okay.
Final chapter of this part, chapter seven, the foreign threat.
They rush Kazuki and Koara to a clinic Kiryu knows of.
And again, we're just going everywhere except the hospital anytime we get hurt.
And the fact they had such a long debate on what to do while these two people were pretty
(25:17):
much bleeding out.
And then they decide to run and jostle the two injured people who are bleeding out everywhere
when there's multiple opportunities to get onto a bike or a moped and take you to where
you need to go to avoid running into people.
I just don't understand.
They're standing there talking about it like they don't look completely obvious just for
(25:38):
her and men piggybacking.
You don't see that.
That's not something you see.
So they get to the clinic, drop off the injured, and then they're told that it's probably best
for everyone if they leave.
So they head out and discuss that they shouldn't tell Yuya anything.
But then Yuya pops up, I don't know where, and they proceed.
(25:58):
Kiryu proceeds to just try to tell him everything and Date has to cut him off.
See I don't know how Kiryu made it this far.
He's poorly written in this game.
So after dealing with Yuya, Kiryu and Date head to Bacchus, now Bantam, to exchange information.
While there, we learn Date used to work with Besho, who is Sayama's captain, I guess?
(26:21):
Boss?
Yeah.
And that Kawara has a history of being too quick on the draw.
You can get away with self-defense a few times, but to have that kind of track record of pretty
much causing many genocides around in Japan, how do you get away with it?
Which makes me kind of nervous about Kiryu's future if he's going to be hanging around
(26:43):
Kawara, because Kawara is obviously a lot more powerful than what we think.
Yeah, it seems that way.
So after their chat, Kiryu meets up with Sayama back at the clinic, where Kawara is kind of
roasting her a little bit.
But when Kiryu shows up, two guys bust in right after him looking for a Kang, who we
(27:05):
can assume is the Kazuki double.
Sayama tries to question them, and they just punch her straight in the face.
Unnecessary, guys.
Why are we making...
First we have a female slap, and then we have a female immediately thrown under the bus,
and then now we have a female punched in the face.
(27:25):
So why is Kiryu now suddenly mad about women being hit, because he didn't care when he
slapped Haruka in the last game.
For reals, what a hypocrite.
Anyway, moving on.
So after he takes them down, Kawara jumps on one to question them.
Why does he fall on them like that?
(27:48):
It makes me laugh, I'll show you.
He tripped and fell, Leah.
It wasn't intentional.
He tripped and fell.
He landed with his elbow on the floor.
(28:08):
It's so funny.
We find out that they're from a Korean syndicate, the Jinguyeon Mafia, and then all three of
them leave to go meet Date at the bar.
But before they do, perhaps my favorite line of the game is Kawara saying, I need to find
a change of pants.
First underwear and now pants?
(28:29):
What is up with the scheme?
And then he has the audacity to say, took you long enough when we get to the bar.
We ran straight there.
I don't know.
You did not find pants in that time.
They tell Date about the Jinguyeon Mafia.
Apparently Kawara knows Korean and some history about this mafia.
He says what they do care about is absolute loyalty.
(28:51):
How does Kawara know Korean?
It's a good question.
He kind of brushes it off too.
So after they get all caught up, Date says they may not be safe there as the bartender
has been acting strange.
And he found a picture of Kiryu and Sayama behind the bar.
Kiryu stays behind to question the bartender.
(29:12):
And while doing so, some goons bust in.
And the bartender saying, please let us kill you.
It's hilarious.
I don't know what kind of response they're expecting to get when you ask someone, can
I kill you?
Please let us kill you.
What do you want him to say?
Right.
It cracks me up.
(29:32):
It's ridiculous.
But of course, Kiryu beats them.
And the bartender tells Kiryu a whole sob story.
The bar's in debt after what happened last year.
Kiryu's fault.
Driven away customers.
Someone came by offering to pay everything off.
And that someone was from the Sengoku family, Pistachio.
And they gave him the photos.
(29:53):
I feel like Kiryu is the type of person who falls for the Nigerian prince scam every single
time because he says this in Yomili.
You take his word for what it is and then you forgive him.
It's such a drawn out and unnecessary emotional moment.
(30:15):
I don't give a crap about this bartender.
Kiryu should have apologized for the ruckus he called that drove away customers last year.
That's what should have happened.
But no.
Okay.
So after this, Kiryu heads out to meet the others at Serena.
And this is where we learn that Date is wanted for murder after the Amino building incident.
(30:37):
Of course Date's into more hot water.
Wouldn't be Date if he wasn't boiling.
Well.
Well, should we end it?
I guess so.
Right at one hour.
Nice.
Audacity on one.
Three, two, one.
Thank you for listening and don't forget to send in any questions, comments, or game suggestions.
(30:58):
You can find all our contact info on our website, replayreviewspod.com, or contact us directly
through our site.
Do we completely miss something?
Are we way off the mark?
Or do you just want us to take a deeper look at anything from the game?
We'll tackle any topics you all want to hear in our season wrap up episode.
We also have our reddit where we discuss anything we're curious about.
Go take a look and let us know what you're thinking.
(31:19):
Our theme music is Condemned by Eggy Toast.
They'll play you out and we'll be back next week.
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