December 5, 2024 • 50 mins
Welcome to Yakuza Kiwami 2 - In part 5, Kaoru discovers the truth about her past while Majima clears his name and finally gets closure after 18 years. Meanwhile, the Omi and Jingweon make their final moves and Kiryu confronts Ryuji. 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.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In this episode, we witness fish lips and an unfortunate hand placement.
(00:06):
And has everybody lost their mind?
That's an understatement.
Thank you for coming back from our replay reviews.
My name is Leah.
And my name is Cathy.
We are two friends who are here to replay, review, and analyze your favorite video games.
And since Cathy has never seen the games before, it helps me view them through her fresh eyes,
(00:26):
almost like I'm discovering them again for the first time.
We hope it will be a similar experience for you.
I guess we'll just start with chapter 14, the Goryu March.
So Kiryu the florist, Date, Saema, and Tamiyo meet up with Kawara's ashes.
(00:50):
And during this meeting, they discuss the other child that was given up and the possibility
that the Jinguyan could have gotten to him first.
I don't understand why they aren't really thinking through things before, but now they're
finally starting to think.
With Saema, she made all these assumptions that her dad is with the Jinguyan mafia and
(01:11):
spacing one thing off of one assumption and then just going with it.
But now they're finally taking the time to think about it.
Yeah.
Maybe they thought Saema was that kid.
But now we know she's younger than that kid.
Which by the way, Kiryu is what?
An adolescent 20 years ago?
(01:33):
26 years ago?
Saema's not even born yet.
Do we need to talk about the age difference?
Wait, wait a second.
You have a point there.
What?
Oh no, you look like you have the answer.
It's a 13 year age gap.
(01:53):
I've heard worse.
But that's not the only issue with her age though, because now we also have the question
how the hell did she get to such a high position in the Osaka police department?
She's 25.
She's younger than us.
Yeah.
That, no.
I don't believe it.
(02:14):
The math ain't mathin'.
Also discussed is a CD that Date took off of Kurahashi's corpse.
And you think Saema can crack it open with her hacking skills?
I'm kind of cringing at it.
Oh great.
You set up a one scene in the beginning saying that she's the best at what she does with
her computer and then just for the scene as in like, oh, how convenient that you can crack
(02:38):
something.
So next we see that Ryuji is on his way to Kamurocho with about, I don't know, a hundred
cars.
What's up with all the cars looking the exact same, going the same speed?
It's so obvious.
It's really awkward.
(02:58):
Back to our gang, Saema can't break the CD without special programs, so they decide their
best bet is to use Osaka PD's system.
Here you can tell that something isn't sitting right with Saema and finds her at Serena.
She feels like she needs to go back to Osaka with Tamio, which I don't know.
That's fair.
Also going back to the whole scene about the brute force with the CD, I just have to say
(03:24):
how stupid Giddy up looks standing in the background useless, but having this really
longing eye contact with Saema, I feel like again, they're just reiterating the point
why Saema should be the protagonist of this game.
She tries to leave and Kiryu stops her to kiss her.
(03:46):
I feel like that's just overwhelming her with even more emotions.
Are you conveying your feelings for her or is it like, don't go or is it stay safe?
And then you get like a stupid promise of like, come back.
This romance is problematic.
Well, it's just unnecessary.
Yes.
And there's not the chemistry that I feel like we need.
(04:07):
I mean, come on, Shindo and Yuyoi had more chemistry than these two.
Yes.
Anyway, Saema heads out.
Kiryu gets a call from Date who informs him that Kazuki has woken up and is talking nonsense
about bombs.
Okay, so Date's like, he's talking nonsense and Kiryu's like, you mean he's like not
(04:28):
coherent or something?
And Date goes, yeah, he's mumbling about bombs.
Anyway, just moves on from the bombs so quickly.
Again, none of these characters know how to communicate.
He literally dropped a bomb on Kiryu and just kept going.
Okay, so at the clinic, we learned that the Jinguyan mafia had Kazuki locked up for six
(04:52):
months and that they're planning to destroy the entire city.
There are 33 bombs in total, one for each of the victims from the raid, and there's
31 left.
Date's gonna contact the police for help while Kiryu heads to Tojo HQ to get their support.
How did Yuya not notice any weird behaviors of Kazuki?
(05:15):
There's a few times we were watching this where we were like, wow, Yuya's kind of like,
he's kind of stupid, honestly.
There's that.
All right, ready for scene two?
Kiryu briefs Yayoi and Daigo on the situation.
Daigo decides that he's gonna lead what men they have currently.
(05:35):
The music is so cringey.
I need to talk with whoever's in charge of the music for this game because they're missing
the mark every single time.
It's distracting.
This would feel like an impactful moment.
It's like, oh, it's Dojo Masan ready to take charge, but then they have this corny...
Is it guitar?
(05:57):
It's too much and it distracts you from what's happening and makes it just feel corny.
Date calls Kiryu, so he and Daigo head to meet him at Purgatory where we learn that
the PD is sitting this one out.
No surprise.
They want to arrest Date, but they don't want to stop 31 bombs from demolishing the city.
(06:20):
Who's making these decisions?
Anyway, they say, we'll just do it ourselves.
We'll just diffuse 31 bombs by ourselves.
Majima then shows up to Purgatory and he gets the system up and running by smashing his
noggin against the desk multiple times.
And this allows them to pinpoint all the locations of the bombs.
(06:41):
Majima saves the day.
Always.
Okay, so Kiryu gets a call from the Bantam bartender, the clinic doctor, and Yuya.
All three of them are like, help us.
Omi men are here.
And one by one we go and we rescue everybody.
We finish up at Stardust where Ryuji's waiting for him.
(07:03):
And after defeating his men, Ryuji tells Kiryu that the bombs are a JM special.
That's probably me abbreviating, not Ryuji.
And it seems like he wants Kiryu to stop it because he says Kamurocho is going to be mine
soon.
Again, Ryuji's making sense.
And he has such great honor to not just kill Kiryu at this moment, but pretty much tell
(07:26):
him that I still want a fair fight.
I don't understand how the villain in the game is the one that actually makes the most
sense.
Here's what I've been thinking over the last two days.
I don't think it's even fair to call Ryuji a villain because put him in any other position
where he's not fighting against Kiryu, we would still see him as another character.
(07:46):
Yeah, he doesn't feel like one, but if our perspective is the Tojo Clan, then he is.
Because he's trying to destroy the Tojo Clan.
But I agree, he doesn't really feel like a villain.
He feels like another character.
He's no different than...I guess the question is, would you consider Nishiki a villain in
(08:07):
Kiwami?
Yeah.
Okay.
It just depends on our perspective.
If our perspective is the Tojo Clan, then yeah.
I think that's fair because I never thought of it in that way.
I always thought Nishiki was just another character and if anyone, Kazama was the villain.
Oh, I agree with that for sure.
(08:30):
You know I hate him.
I know you do.
And so for me, I always saw the Jingguan army as the villain because that's the boss.
The big people are trying to fight again.
So okay.
I mean, it's both.
Yeah.
They have a common goal.
(08:51):
After Kiryu has dealt with all that, he'll be waiting for him at the highest point in
Kamurocho.
Anything else unseen too?
I want to go back and talk about Daigo.
Which when I quoted you on this, when you're like, take your clothes off Daigo.
(09:11):
I wish that they gave him a little bit more growth in terms of his character's outfit
just to illustrate that because we kind of get that between Kiryu and Majima's character
and same with Nishiki.
Every time they level up, they get a new outfit.
Yeah, it hurts to see him back in the marshmallow jacket because when we find him, we're like,
(09:35):
oh, he's like some stupid thug now, right?
In his dumb marshmallow jacket.
And then it's like in this moment, he's I guess manning up in the Yakuza sense to take
the position that he should.
And we see him without the marshmallow jacket or the necklace.
And then suddenly he's back in it again.
(09:57):
So it just feels like, well, now he looks like a punk again.
And I don't like it.
So speaking of Daigo, he arrives at Stardust as Kiryu is chatting with Yuya.
He tells Kiryu that they have handled 30 of the bombs.
That's a miracle.
And that Majima is working on the last one.
We then cut to Majima and his right hand man working on the bomb.
(10:19):
This scene is a masterpiece.
I love it so much.
I think his name might be Murata, but I can't remember.
But his right hand man is obviously uncomfortable because Majima is just going on gut instincts
to decide which wires to cut.
And Majima says, you got gas or something.
I just seriously love Majima in this scene so much because it's the humor we needed in
(10:47):
this game that we haven't really received yet.
OK, but then it looks like he chooses the wrong wire because we see an explosion.
But then we cut to Sayama who wakes up and says, what an awful dream.
So she's cracking the disk.
And I think we see an image of Ryuji on the screen.
(11:07):
We then go back to Kiryu and Daigo.
And it is confirmed that Majima is working on the bomb.
So I'm not sure what's real anymore.
Was that whole scene a dream of Sayama's?
Was just the part where the building exploded her dream?
Is Majima dead?
Sayama doesn't know about the bombs though.
That's what I'm saying.
(11:27):
I'm so confused.
She doesn't know about the bombs.
So why is she dreaming of bomb explosions?
But she's also not that close with Majima either.
So why is she dreaming about Majima?
I don't know.
I'm very, very confused by this.
I guess we should just be expecting that from this game at this point.
(11:48):
Kiryu and Daigo head to Purgatory where we find Majima alive.
And then Kiryu takes Haruka out again for a while while he waits for Sayama to return.
Kiryu then meets back up with Date who has Sudo with him.
And I guess Date made a copy of the disk and had Sudo crack it.
(12:08):
How and when?
I don't really know why we sent Sayama at all.
We're just going to glaze over that though.
So he knows that Sayama and Ryuji are half siblings.
It is confirmed.
And then right as this is going down, Sayama just shows up.
But she lies and says that she could not break the disk at Osaka PD.
I don't understand why she lied.
(12:30):
This is why in my out of context summary, I'm like, has everyone lost their minds?
Because nobody is doing anything properly.
Well and then she tries to convince Kiryu not to fight Ryuji but he insists.
And what is Kiryu doing?
If you love her, why are you going to try to kill her brother?
(12:52):
That's a great point.
I forgot.
I don't understand.
So early on you know and yet he still makes these decisions.
What dog does Kiryu have in this fight?
He's not in the Yakuza.
Why the hell does he care?
Who's the dragon?
You know what I mean?
Didn't you give all that up?
That's actually a really great point.
(13:12):
You know what?
So much could have been avoided if he just told Ryuji that I'm not in the Yakuza.
I don't give a flying crap about who the dragon is going to be.
Be him for all you want and this all would have been avoided.
And what does Kiryu losing a one on one fight have to do with the survival of the Tojo clan?
(13:34):
It goes back to our question I think we're going to have in this summary which is why
is Kiryu here in this game?
Back to Sayama she insists that Kiryu go meet with her chief.
So Kiryu and Date go to where she said that he would be waiting but instead they find
a video left by Sayama and in this video she admits she cracked the disk and that she knows
(13:58):
about Ryuji.
She's going to try to talk to him and maybe talk him out of the war and then continues
to talk about the time that she and Kiryu spent together and makes it sound like she'll
never see him again.
What I don't understand is why didn't she tell everyone that she knows who Ryuji is?
Kiryu gets very upset.
(14:19):
He pounds the table and then assaults the door on his way out.
How many times did I make you watch Kiryu be mad?
More than enough.
Oh boy.
Alright Kathy.
Oh my god.
Buckle up.
This is where it hurts.
Back to Majima chapter 3, Mad Dog of Shimenoh.
(14:42):
We're right back where we left off with Majima trapped by Makoto giving him a massage.
There is some weird music going on.
I'm not surprised.
Okay, well she moves to his feet and then she's like I'm going to do your arms next
and she says it kind of sensually.
(15:04):
Well now that she can see Majima and maybe her husband's boring and she likes a tatted
up dude.
Oh also, okay wait.
She's also wearing black socks with white shoes.
Is this just an acceptable way of doing socks and shoes in Japan?
I mean I never really thought about it.
(15:26):
It's like standard.
We need to watch some kind of fashion show and just stare at their ankles and sock of
choice.
Well but it can't be a fashion show though because they try to look stupid on purpose.
It has to be like etiquette.
We took a tangent.
We need to get back on track.
Okay I have a note here because obviously Majima is still hiding from her and I had
(15:54):
this thought.
Have we ever seen Majima hide from anything?
That's the thing that's something I had in my character analysis part of this scene I
guess.
Which is that he wants to know so much more without giving away anything.
He wants to be protective without showing how protective he is and I think that's why
(16:17):
we're getting this.
I don't think he's scared.
I think he's trying to protect her and protect himself.
So at some point Majima notices her watch, the one that he left buried for her, and she
notices him look at it and then begins to talk about it telling their story pretty much.
I'm kind of mad that Majima doesn't ask her to elaborate or have any follow up questions
(16:44):
and I get part of the reason why is he's again trying to protect her from everything.
At the same time though I'm just so mad he's not saying anything.
I think he does want to say something so bad but he knows he can't.
If they actually had a conversation how do you think that conversation would have gone?
(17:05):
I don't think it would have been a question.
I think he would have just turned so she could see his face and maybe like grab is a weird
word but lightly grab her watch, her wrist and just say her name.
It's his voice that she really would recognize.
If they were going to reveal in this moment I feel like that's how they would do it and
(17:27):
then after that I don't know.
That's where the scene ends.
Yeah.
Well I mean I think maybe we do know.
I think it would either be tragic, she wouldn't leave her husband and child for him which
we find out she has, or it would be tragic because she does leave her husband and child
for him.
(17:48):
It's a lose-lose.
I need to know more about what Makoto is thinking because did she choose this husband and child
because she just was ready to settle down because she said that she always remembers
Majima without her saying his name but she's married and with kids so did she just choose
(18:08):
to move on because she's ready to put Majima behind her life knowing that she'll never
find him or do you think that she's truly happy with where she is?
Let's get into it.
Starting back after he notices the watch she says a few things like it's a treasure of
mine and when the strap wore out I even got a new one.
(18:30):
It's an old piece though so new colors don't really match it.
She goes on to say I got it from someone who saved my life and this is where she tells
their whole story and we realize she still has never known his name.
She credits him for regaining her vision and having her normal life including her husband
and child and she says life is great so we know that she likes her life but then I don't
(18:54):
know if you want to chime in at all yet.
Keep going.
I should keep going.
So but then she says I never got a chance to thank him for that.
I've regretted it ever since and she says basically that she moved back here because
of him.
It's a special town to me full of memories of the time we had.
In my notes I'm like yeah she loves him even if she doesn't know it.
(19:18):
Yeah.
Right?
That's yeah.
I'm going to cut you off here because that's what I'm feeling but I'm also very conflicted
and I keep going back and forth in my notes because on one hand I'm worried that she's
mistaking this gratitude of someone saving her life for like romantic affection but at
the same time she went on those like takoyaki dates with him and just thought like when
(19:44):
he was guiding her and waving her in and out of just those crowds just they're like strengthening
her romantic affection for him based on what she's saying right now.
She truly loves him and that's why she moved back but at the same time if you truly loved
him I don't know if she would have gotten married.
(20:04):
Okay.
A couple things.
Yes I do think a lot of it could be mistaking it for you know oh it's my savior and that
obviously that's going to make you fall for someone easier.
We'll learn later.
It's been 18 years.
I don't think you move your whole life and stay there for 18 years waiting for someone
(20:27):
just for that.
You know what I mean?
That's true.
And I think at the end of the last game when she finds the watch or she's talking to dead
Tachibana she says I don't even know if he's alive or dead.
So she didn't really even know what she was waiting for.
If we can get real deep about it.
I think she's probably never felt anything close to what she felt during that and that's
(20:52):
why she's going back even though there's a strong possibility he's dead.
That's such a great point.
That made so much sense.
I think that's the killer is that she's never going to feel that level of closeness with
anyone, not even her husband.
Because of that.
But here's the thing.
(21:12):
She didn't get married and didn't have kids.
Do you think Majima would continue to protect her now that he found out where she is?
Maybe make a move or do you think he would still continue to be in the shadows after
18 years knowing that she's here because of him?
Hold on to that question and move it to scene five.
(21:34):
And I'll address it then.
All right, so let's finish up kind of her one sided conversation.
So she tells him all of this and then goes on to say not even my husband knows that story.
So it's our secret.
Ah, that kills me.
Number one, I'm like Majima loves that.
But I was like, is this this is kind of like borderline emotional cheating.
(21:56):
It's really dishonest to make your husband move your guys' lives for this guy that he
has no idea about that may or may not be alive.
Just for the chance of seeing him again, she moved their lives.
And the thing is, she doesn't even know she'll recognize him if she sees him.
I think that if she told her husband that this is my savior, I want to bump into him
(22:20):
and not tell him that there's romantic affection.
I could see he being on board with that, but I agree with you.
I still think it's a bit of emotional cheating.
If there was nothing to hide, she wouldn't be hiding it.
Mm hmm.
Like she could have been honest with him.
I really want to move back here, like like what you said and give the reasoning.
And the only reason to not do that is if you feel some sort of guilt, perhaps.
(22:44):
OK, do we have to go to the line now?
The line.
We have to.
All right.
I'll set it up.
So massage is over.
She's like seeing him out.
Basically, she goes, have we met before?
This is when he thinks really hard about whether or not to tell her.
(23:04):
And you can just see it on his face.
He thought so hard about whether or not to tell her that he is that guy.
Another reason why he and Nishiki are some of my favorite characters are because they
think before they act.
Giryu just acts on whatever impulses he wants without thinking about consequences.
(23:26):
He really considers other people in this situation like how is my actions going to affect Makoto?
So something you said just made me realize that I can't really I feel like we don't
get enough scenes with Nishiki to talk about him in this.
But like if we compare Kiryu to Majima and you look at the eyes or eye in Majima's case,
(23:48):
you can see Majima thinking and processing.
You do not see that behind Kiryu's eyes.
I mean, we are dumping on him in this game.
But truly, pay attention to his eyes.
But he just shakes his head and starts walking out.
And then she goes, do you at least feel better?
(24:09):
And he says, you worked out some knots I've had for 18 years.
After all that line, it slaps harder than when Simon left the handprint on that guy.
Right.
Like it's such a good line.
But also he reveals his voice by doing this.
I think the hardest part is that it felt like a conclusion and I wasn't ready for it.
(24:35):
Maybe he's speaking again is to give her a chance to see like test out the waters that
maybe she might still remember my voice.
I'm going to say something, but obviously she doesn't.
And maybe that's what is the nail in the coffin.
It was a risk.
He took a risk.
I think we'll discuss it more when we get when we get more information.
(24:57):
But are we ready to go outside of the massage parlor now?
Yeah, let's not give ourselves more heartache.
So Majima learns from Makoto's coworker that she'll be moving out of the country next week.
And then as he's walking away, Majima gets a call from the hostess at the Grand.
Kawamura is there and apparently he rushed in and shot an Omi exec.
(25:22):
So Majima arrives at the Grand to find Kawamura still with gun in hand.
He says, if I didn't kill him, it would have been me.
Just one more.
When that's done, I'll be free.
If I kill you, I get out alive.
Of course, Majima defeats him.
So just as Kawamura is about to reveal everything, he's shot by Ibuchi who says your debt is
(25:43):
paid in full.
I knew Ibuchi wasn't a good guy.
When someone that clean cut and looks like he doesn't want to get his hands dirty joins
the Yakuza, you know, it's not good.
It turns out Ibuchi was playing a very long game of planting Kawamura in the Majima family.
I guess he just hates the Yakuza and he wants to introduce proper management.
(26:05):
So my question is if you hate them so much, why join?
He's one of those rich boys that want to prove themselves wrong but has never worked a day
in their life so they tackle the biggest thing and only fail at it.
Okay, and then so we're sitting back and forth conversation and then all of the sudden
there's this woman peeping from a booth in the background.
(26:30):
Where did she come from?
She just appeared.
Okay, so yeah, basically he's killing people simply to overthrow the Yakuza.
And his ultimate goal is to take control of the Tojo and hand it over to the Omi.
He's such a little baby for using a gun instead of like real fist fight and it makes me respect
Ryuji so much more.
(26:51):
I also love that Majima just sits there while Ibuchi makes this long speech that just rambles
on and he just watches him do it.
He's just not bothered at all.
And then yeah, we have the fight where he gets a gun and we don't.
And after defeating him, this is where Majima's character just gets so good because we just
(27:16):
saw him with Makoto all tender and now we see him here just so intense.
He says, if you thought I'd let you get away with taking out one of mine, who's the real
idiot?
We have to address this line because as we've discussed, Majima is the most loyal person
(27:38):
ever.
He's still loyal to Kawamura simply because he was one of his despite him betraying him.
Majima's character is so complex.
You have him being just outright crazy and then you also have him being strategic and
then you also have him showing his loyalty to Kawamura despite everything that went on.
(28:03):
I love this scene of Majima.
To me, this is like peak Majima.
And then he says, go eat your slop in the can and learn to see things my way.
I guess we figured out why that random woman is there.
She screams, which alerts Majima that Ibuchi's picking up a gun.
But he doesn't use it on Majima.
He kills himself.
(28:23):
And then Majima is going to go straighten things out with the Turada.
Anything before we get there.
I do have a question.
Do you think that Turada knew what Ibuchi was trying to do or do you think it just so
happens that Ibuchi was power hungry in this way?
He says he doesn't know about it, but I think that's pretty weak because as we know, we'll
(28:46):
find out.
Turada is pretty pro-Omi and he brought those men in.
So I think he has to know.
He decides to smooth things over at the Omi that Majima will leave the Yakuza and disband
his family.
So they head to the Omi Alliance to make this announcement.
And why is Ryuji sitting like a girl on the beach?
(29:08):
I was about to say, why is his back arched like that?
So yeah, he says all of us are leaving the Tojo Clan.
And that's pretty much it.
That's the end of the Majima family.
I'm wondering if one of the reasons why Majima was so willing to disband his family comes
from the fact that he just same day produced broke up with Makoto even though they were
(29:31):
never together.
But it's like he knows that's the end of it.
And maybe he just is trying to find a life purpose and that's why he's so okay with
disbanding his family.
Okay, I'm going to address things one at a time.
So the question that you asked me earlier that I said to move to this scene is if there
was no husband or child in the picture, would Majima still be hiding?
(29:55):
Or would he reveal himself?
So the timing of this, especially the first time I played it, it gave me hope that he's
leaving the Yakuza to go after her.
He says he's going to leave.
And we know that Makoto is about to leave.
It's his only chance.
So that's what I was like, oh my gosh, he's going to go after her the first time I saw
(30:16):
this.
But I almost wonder because the Yakuza was kind of his focus away from Makoto.
The Yakuza is not what it used to be, which we learned earlier that he does not like it
with Turada.
And so now he leaves to go start a construction company.
I think he's just trying to find his place again.
(30:36):
And that just he decides it's a construction company.
He says they're going to just look it up on the internet and start building.
But I also love how serious he was about like morning greetings and just getting everyone
in the right attitude for his company when these are people who have probably spent their
entire lives being the Yakuza.
(30:57):
This is when again, his right hand man who I'm just calling Murata.
And I have no idea if that's correct.
But he's kind of asking questions, Majima's, you know, Majima about it.
And he grabs his face in his hand to the point where it squishes his lips into fish lips
into little fish lips.
(31:19):
Anything else before we go back to Makoto?
No.
All right.
So then we go back to Makoto who Majima unfortunately did not stop her moving the country.
She's with her family flying to her new life.
But in her bag, she finds a gift that we see had been sent to her from somebody unknown,
which turns out to be a new watch band that is basically just like the original.
(31:42):
It's at this point that she realizes who Majima is and Makoto's ready for her fresh start,
though no longer feeling pulled back to the past.
Is she though?
That's that's where I'm just going to jump in.
That's where I don't feel like whoever wrote her character did a good enough job.
(32:04):
I just think that if she's willing to to move into this whole new city with her entire family
and having secrets behind her husband's back and all of a sudden by seeing a single watch
knowing that that's him and then also being OK with everything like you don't process
all that information in less than five seconds.
(32:27):
So OK, let's I hear you.
But let's discuss.
We're going to get into the weeds a little bit.
She goes over the story with Majima about why she moved back here and then he learns
she's moving.
I think that's his point of decision of confirmation that it's the right thing to not bother her
(32:50):
because she's moving on now.
She's leaving the country, so she's not staying there anymore.
I'm like refusing to accept the fact that her flying out is enough confirmation for him
to know that she'll never be back.
It's not that she'll never be back.
It's that she's just moving on.
She's letting go of it, and that's why she's able to even move or even entertain the idea
(33:14):
of moving.
And I think he realizes that when he hears that she's moving.
And that's why he decides to just give her the watch band, which her husband asked if
she has any regrets and she says not anymore.
And honestly, Majima did that for her.
He found a way to tell her because her big thing was like, I want to thank him.
(33:34):
And he found a way to let her know that she had in fact thanked him without revealing
himself in the moment and having to deal with all of that.
It felt like the door closed too easy.
And I appreciate how much Majima did it for her, again, demonstrating how great he is
because he knew that she probably wanted the conclusion and he gave that to her.
(33:58):
I think she just I struggle with the fact that she accepted it so easily after 18 years
of thinking about this man.
What do you mean by accepted it?
Like she was ready to move on.
And then when he says that, does she have any regrets?
She says, like, no, I feel like I would.
(34:18):
Yeah, because her one regret was not being able to thank him.
But now she knows she did thank him.
Yeah, I guess I thought her regret should have been that she never tried to have a relationship
with him.
That's her regret.
That's our regret.
(34:39):
Yes.
I think I get it.
I think I'm just still so heartbroken over them not being together that I'm still in
denial.
It's heartbreaking.
This is better romance than you see in any like romance show book.
I mean, I don't consume a whole lot of that.
(34:59):
But honestly, this is probably why because can it get better than this?
Well, should we close the door on Makoto and move on to Chapter 16?
Yeah.
Chapter 16 decision.
Kiryu heads out to face Ryuji and chase after Sayama, I guess.
He fights his way through the city up to Kamurocho Hills, Majima's building, where he finds a
(35:21):
sign Sayama pointing a gun at Ryuji.
She demands that he hand over Chairman Goda and Ryuji says, he's over there, knock yourself
out.
And then we just see Chairman Goda in the corner.
This poor man.
I totally forgot about him.
Okay.
So after ensuring that the chairman is in good condition, Sayama says she'll be arresting
(35:41):
Ryuji and also turning herself in.
And this is when she breaks the news to Ryuji about them being half siblings.
I feel like Sayama isn't quite processing any emotions since finding out who her dad
is.
Yeah.
Chairman Goda chimes in and talks about your mother was exhausted trying to keep you safe,
(36:02):
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
He took in Suihan, their mother, until Kawara stole her away from him.
I think.
He begs her to leave Ryuji with him because he felt like he was his son.
This age gap though is massive, isn't it?
Ryuji looks like the grandson more than a son.
(36:23):
But I also feel like him feeling like, oh, Ryuji's my son is such a weak excuse.
And it would have been so much better if they had just let him be kind of a bad guy in this
moment.
And he had actually just wanted Ryuji for the sake of having a successor and not because
he actually cared about him.
Okay.
(36:43):
We're getting mad at Kiryu again.
So he's chiming in, you know, going back and forth with Ryuji a little bit.
And he says something along the lines of, I knew a man like you once, clearly referencing
Nishiki.
Don't disrespect his name.
Just leave him out of it.
Let him rest.
So despite Sayama being very upset with both of them, they decide to just lock her out.
(37:09):
Sayama could have easily climbed up that gate.
There was no roof on it.
It was basically a ladder.
It had rungs.
And she could have just shot a warning shot in between the bars.
Okay.
What's your next note?
Tarada.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
(37:29):
He just comes walking up talking about some perfect script.
I'm so confused that talk about being dramatic.
He takes it a whole nother level with this was my plan.
This is my play.
These are the lines you're about to say.
Yeah.
Of course he's one of the Jinguyan survivors.
(37:52):
Of course he's not actually dead, which we haven't even addressed yet.
Kira chose the wrong man to be the chairman.
Yeah.
And another flashback.
Yeah.
Another flashback.
Before we get there, for some reason Kiryu is like the one pillar holding up the Tojo
clan and so he has to die.
(38:13):
And he says once you're dead, I'll end it with the switch for the explosives.
That seems like a weird line, but I have it in quotes.
So I guess that's what he said.
And that's when we see a giant bomb.
He does recognize he's also in the vicinity of the bomb, right?
I would hope so, but I don't have a lot of confidence in Tarada's thought processing.
(38:36):
Do you want to discuss the flashback?
Here's when we try to make Kazama look like a god again.
We learn about how Kazama was the one who spared him and Kurahashi from dying.
And then Kiryu just pops into the scene, makes eye contact with all of them, and they watch
(38:57):
him leave that situation.
And so he's like, well Kazama did so much for you, why are you not doing the same thing?
Also a couple things.
Number one, young Tarada, worse than young Kiryu.
Get it out of my sight.
Oh my gosh.
It's worse than skinny boy Shimano.
(39:17):
Okay, and then also there's a scene.
So when Kazama is facing young Kurahashi and Tarada, it then cuts to like a back view and
Tarada's hand just happens to be angled right between Kazama's legs.
So all of a sudden you're like there's something flesh colored between Kazama's legs and it's
(39:42):
jolting.
It makes you do double take and pause and lean forward.
So yeah, basically Kazama let them live and then I think we're done with the flashback.
Chairman Goda chimes in and says that Kazama begged him to take Tarada into the Omi Alliance.
(40:05):
Why?
Why is he bringing them into the Yakuza when they could have?
This was the perfect time for them to just leave the mafia lifestyle.
He did more for Tarada than he did for Nishiki.
I'm so mad.
We're bringing Nishiki back into it.
Who the hell is Tarada to you?
(40:28):
Why do you care what happens to him?
There is absolutely zero reasoning for this.
And who is he to you compared to you taking Hiryu and Nishiki as your children yet you
set one up for success and you set one up for failure?
When you're on your hands and knees for a stranger?
(40:48):
They need to stop trying to make Kazama look like a good guy.
It's too late.
Hiryu defeats Tarada but then he gets shot in the back by Takashima who has now arrived.
Chairman Goda gets shot as well.
Through dialogue we learn that the Jinguyan infiltrated the Omi simply to have a way to
take down the Tojo Clan.
(41:09):
And yet Takashima is also one of the Jinguyan survivors who isn't at this point.
Who's doing all these counts of how many survivors there are because that person cannot count.
Takashima then turns on Tarada and shoots him point blank.
And then the detonator for the bomb I think which I think we'll learn later it's a fuse.
(41:31):
So I'm not sure but anyway he drops it as he collapses.
Okay so things continue to get confusing.
Tarada arms the bomb and then tells Hiryu to stop Takashima and says trust me.
Trust him with what?
Okay so I think you have a note about this but at some point Sayama gets the gun shot
(41:53):
out of her hand.
She's had multiple opportunities to pick it back up.
But Cathy what does she do instead?
She takes her stupid little baton and thinks it's more lethal than her gun.
You could just reach down and pick up your gun.
His back was to you multiple times but no you run at an armed man with a baton.
(42:16):
Well to no one's surprise the baton is not an effective weapon against a man with a gun.
And he's about to kill her but this is when Ryuichi wakes up to stop him.
And he shoots the heck out of Takashima but he gets hit a couple times himself.
I love this I love seeing this.
So like it's like beast mode.
Yes.
And he ends it with a headshot to finish the deal.
(42:38):
Like that's the only way to do it and he does it.
Ryuichi finishes what he starts.
Oh Cathy.
So as you as you mentioned they have mirroring gunshots.
So they're on equal playing field now right?
So they decide hey there's a bomb about to explode.
We're on equal footing.
(43:00):
Let's hash this out right now.
Fight to the death.
Sure let's do it.
Sayama who gives a f*** about her?
Sunder down.
I know.
Exactly.
And the thing is so what if you won the bomb's about to explode because you got like what
less than 10 minutes on it.
And so what's your escape plan when you're about to die but you still need to leave the
(43:24):
tower to become the ruler of dragons.
Okay here's the big question that I typed out in all caps.
What about Haruka?
He's probably okay with the freaking pedophile agent kidnapping her because he obviously
doesn't care about her.
(43:45):
He doesn't care about his promises to Yumi.
I said it before I'll say it again.
He is horribly written in this game.
You have energy to fight Ryuji who is the half brother of the woman that you say you're
in love with.
You could do that.
You could destroy that relationship with her.
You could stay here and die or you could use that energy that you still currently have
(44:07):
and leave.
I don't understand why it's so hard to give up his position as the dragon of Kansai.
It'd be one thing if he never left the Yakuza but he did.
And again at the start of this game he's like I'm gonna be a civilian and be a good
father to Haruka.
Melee dumps her.
Although who is his role model as a father?
(44:30):
I was gonna say that he learns the selfishness from the most selfish man.
So they pretty much beat each other up and long story short Ryuji is forced to die because
Kiryu is the hero.
Okay yeah but so long to Ryuji.
I don't care if he's the villain.
(44:52):
He's a mother respecter.
All the way through and through.
He did everything by his own moral code that he never wavered from.
I would argue to say one of the most mother respecters of all the mother respecters we've
done so far off the top of my head.
The only one that would be above him is Tachibana.
(45:12):
Yeah that is true.
Very disappointed that his character dies because I do think he is one of the best characters.
There was so much potential for him and I see this even though as much as I love Nishiki
Ryuji was better in a lot of ways that he could have gone so far in this series.
(45:34):
Are we talking about the the Sudo and Date come in?
Yeah okay.
Ugh okay there's three minutes left on the bomb.
As the helicopter approaches with Date, Sudo, and Haruka inside.
How would you put her so close to a bomb and possibly watch her see her only family member
(45:58):
left get blown to smithereens?
Who brings a child up to a bomb.
Which by the way Date announces they need to run.
But for some reason they decide to instead just kiss until they blow up.
And they had time.
They had time.
He could have pulled the plane, dropped the ladder down.
They only need to climb up two three rungs and they would be fine.
(46:21):
But instead they're like you know what screw Haruka let's just die together.
And they know it too.
What was the line?
Oh they do.
Yeah.
She's like oh poor Haruka.
And Kiryu goes but at least I know she'll understand.
Understand what Kiryu?
(46:41):
Exactly.
And then this music who is in charge of this and the close ups.
I cannot with the music ruins it for me.
I mean I'm already pretty mad about what's happening but seriously.
If you have the physical capability to make out for three minutes I think you can muster
the strength to walk down to the elevator.
(47:04):
All you gotta do is roll a few times.
You're on that elevator.
You hit the button.
Mm-hmm.
There you go.
Or try to defuse the bomb.
Huh.
Yeah right.
Let's see we've defused how many bombs in this past three hours?
31.
You think we can maybe handle one more?
Exactly.
(47:24):
Which is it bad that I kind of wish they died?
No I do too.
And then okay are we ready to move on to the after credits scene?
Yeah.
Okay we watch the credits and then we see Haruka in the cemetery talking to someone.
And we assume oh it's Kiryu.
He died.
(47:44):
But no she's not thanking Kiryu's grave.
She's thanking the grave of Turada?
So what?
For what?
For what?
What?
For making the bomb look realistic?
For letting her know that Kiryu doesn't give a flying crap about her?
(48:05):
And the thing is this isn't even the first time.
This is repeat offense like trying to leave her with that pedophile prediction dude.
Haruka should not be with Kiryu.
No.
Who by the way we quickly see that he is alive.
And he and Date are watching Haruka.
And this is when we learn the bomb was defused already.
(48:28):
Okay.
And then Saima shows up.
With flowers for whose grave?
Turada?
Why do we give a f*** about Turada?
Exactly.
I enjoy playing this game.
I enjoy it greatly.
But it's also bad.
It's not very good character development or clear storyline in terms of like the details.
(48:56):
I'm with you on this one.
I kind of hate this ending.
We're taking a break from Yakuza on a great ending.
I know I told you.
Yeah.
Is there a way to end or just to pause on Yakuza on watching Haruka walk weirdly?
Watching Kiryu know that he would want to die then to try?
(49:19):
We need a break.
Especially after this one.
Okay.
I don't have anything more to say.
No.
Okay.
I'm calling it.
Let's do a Dasty on one.
Three, two, one.
Thank you for listening.
Don't forget to send in any questions, comments, or game suggestions.
You can find all our contact info on our website, replayreviewspod.com, or contact us directly
(49:42):
through our site.
Did we completely miss something?
Are we way off the mark?
Or 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 a Reddit where we discuss anything we're curious about.
Go take a look and let us know what you're thinking.
Our theme music is Condemned by Eggy Toast.
So play you out and we'll be back next week with a summary episode.
(50:31):
Bye.
Bye.
In this episode, we witness fish lips and an unfortunate hand placement.
(00:06):
And has everybody lost their mind?
That's an understatement.
Thank you for coming back from our replay reviews.
My name is Leah.
And my name is Cathy.
We are two friends who are here to replay, review, and analyze your favorite video games.
And since Cathy has never seen the games before, it helps me view them through her fresh eyes,
(00:26):
almost like I'm discovering them again for the first time.
We hope it will be a similar experience for you.
I guess we'll just start with chapter 14, the Goryu March.
So Kiryu the florist, Date, Saema, and Tamiyo meet up with Kawara's ashes.
(00:50):
And during this meeting, they discuss the other child that was given up and the possibility
that the Jinguyan could have gotten to him first.
I don't understand why they aren't really thinking through things before, but now they're
finally starting to think.
With Saema, she made all these assumptions that her dad is with the Jinguyan mafia and
(01:11):
spacing one thing off of one assumption and then just going with it.
But now they're finally taking the time to think about it.
Yeah.
Maybe they thought Saema was that kid.
But now we know she's younger than that kid.
Which by the way, Kiryu is what?
An adolescent 20 years ago?
(01:33):
26 years ago?
Saema's not even born yet.
Do we need to talk about the age difference?
Wait, wait a second.
You have a point there.
What?
Oh no, you look like you have the answer.
It's a 13 year age gap.
(01:53):
I've heard worse.
But that's not the only issue with her age though, because now we also have the question
how the hell did she get to such a high position in the Osaka police department?
She's 25.
She's younger than us.
Yeah.
That, no.
I don't believe it.
(02:14):
The math ain't mathin'.
Also discussed is a CD that Date took off of Kurahashi's corpse.
And you think Saema can crack it open with her hacking skills?
I'm kind of cringing at it.
Oh great.
You set up a one scene in the beginning saying that she's the best at what she does with
her computer and then just for the scene as in like, oh, how convenient that you can crack
(02:38):
something.
So next we see that Ryuji is on his way to Kamurocho with about, I don't know, a hundred
cars.
What's up with all the cars looking the exact same, going the same speed?
It's so obvious.
It's really awkward.
(02:58):
Back to our gang, Saema can't break the CD without special programs, so they decide their
best bet is to use Osaka PD's system.
Here you can tell that something isn't sitting right with Saema and finds her at Serena.
She feels like she needs to go back to Osaka with Tamio, which I don't know.
That's fair.
Also going back to the whole scene about the brute force with the CD, I just have to say
(03:24):
how stupid Giddy up looks standing in the background useless, but having this really
longing eye contact with Saema, I feel like again, they're just reiterating the point
why Saema should be the protagonist of this game.
She tries to leave and Kiryu stops her to kiss her.
(03:46):
I feel like that's just overwhelming her with even more emotions.
Are you conveying your feelings for her or is it like, don't go or is it stay safe?
And then you get like a stupid promise of like, come back.
This romance is problematic.
Well, it's just unnecessary.
Yes.
And there's not the chemistry that I feel like we need.
(04:07):
I mean, come on, Shindo and Yuyoi had more chemistry than these two.
Yes.
Anyway, Saema heads out.
Kiryu gets a call from Date who informs him that Kazuki has woken up and is talking nonsense
about bombs.
Okay, so Date's like, he's talking nonsense and Kiryu's like, you mean he's like not
(04:28):
coherent or something?
And Date goes, yeah, he's mumbling about bombs.
Anyway, just moves on from the bombs so quickly.
Again, none of these characters know how to communicate.
He literally dropped a bomb on Kiryu and just kept going.
Okay, so at the clinic, we learned that the Jinguyan mafia had Kazuki locked up for six
(04:52):
months and that they're planning to destroy the entire city.
There are 33 bombs in total, one for each of the victims from the raid, and there's
31 left.
Date's gonna contact the police for help while Kiryu heads to Tojo HQ to get their support.
How did Yuya not notice any weird behaviors of Kazuki?
(05:15):
There's a few times we were watching this where we were like, wow, Yuya's kind of like,
he's kind of stupid, honestly.
There's that.
All right, ready for scene two?
Kiryu briefs Yayoi and Daigo on the situation.
Daigo decides that he's gonna lead what men they have currently.
(05:35):
The music is so cringey.
I need to talk with whoever's in charge of the music for this game because they're missing
the mark every single time.
It's distracting.
This would feel like an impactful moment.
It's like, oh, it's Dojo Masan ready to take charge, but then they have this corny...
Is it guitar?
(05:57):
It's too much and it distracts you from what's happening and makes it just feel corny.
Date calls Kiryu, so he and Daigo head to meet him at Purgatory where we learn that
the PD is sitting this one out.
No surprise.
They want to arrest Date, but they don't want to stop 31 bombs from demolishing the city.
(06:20):
Who's making these decisions?
Anyway, they say, we'll just do it ourselves.
We'll just diffuse 31 bombs by ourselves.
Majima then shows up to Purgatory and he gets the system up and running by smashing his
noggin against the desk multiple times.
And this allows them to pinpoint all the locations of the bombs.
(06:41):
Majima saves the day.
Always.
Okay, so Kiryu gets a call from the Bantam bartender, the clinic doctor, and Yuya.
All three of them are like, help us.
Omi men are here.
And one by one we go and we rescue everybody.
We finish up at Stardust where Ryuji's waiting for him.
(07:03):
And after defeating his men, Ryuji tells Kiryu that the bombs are a JM special.
That's probably me abbreviating, not Ryuji.
And it seems like he wants Kiryu to stop it because he says Kamurocho is going to be mine
soon.
Again, Ryuji's making sense.
And he has such great honor to not just kill Kiryu at this moment, but pretty much tell
(07:26):
him that I still want a fair fight.
I don't understand how the villain in the game is the one that actually makes the most
sense.
Here's what I've been thinking over the last two days.
I don't think it's even fair to call Ryuji a villain because put him in any other position
where he's not fighting against Kiryu, we would still see him as another character.
(07:46):
Yeah, he doesn't feel like one, but if our perspective is the Tojo Clan, then he is.
Because he's trying to destroy the Tojo Clan.
But I agree, he doesn't really feel like a villain.
He feels like another character.
He's no different than...I guess the question is, would you consider Nishiki a villain in
(08:07):
Kiwami?
Yeah.
Okay.
It just depends on our perspective.
If our perspective is the Tojo Clan, then yeah.
I think that's fair because I never thought of it in that way.
I always thought Nishiki was just another character and if anyone, Kazama was the villain.
Oh, I agree with that for sure.
(08:30):
You know I hate him.
I know you do.
And so for me, I always saw the Jingguan army as the villain because that's the boss.
The big people are trying to fight again.
So okay.
I mean, it's both.
Yeah.
They have a common goal.
(08:51):
After Kiryu has dealt with all that, he'll be waiting for him at the highest point in
Kamurocho.
Anything else unseen too?
I want to go back and talk about Daigo.
Which when I quoted you on this, when you're like, take your clothes off Daigo.
(09:11):
I wish that they gave him a little bit more growth in terms of his character's outfit
just to illustrate that because we kind of get that between Kiryu and Majima's character
and same with Nishiki.
Every time they level up, they get a new outfit.
Yeah, it hurts to see him back in the marshmallow jacket because when we find him, we're like,
(09:35):
oh, he's like some stupid thug now, right?
In his dumb marshmallow jacket.
And then it's like in this moment, he's I guess manning up in the Yakuza sense to take
the position that he should.
And we see him without the marshmallow jacket or the necklace.
And then suddenly he's back in it again.
(09:57):
So it just feels like, well, now he looks like a punk again.
And I don't like it.
So speaking of Daigo, he arrives at Stardust as Kiryu is chatting with Yuya.
He tells Kiryu that they have handled 30 of the bombs.
That's a miracle.
And that Majima is working on the last one.
We then cut to Majima and his right hand man working on the bomb.
(10:19):
This scene is a masterpiece.
I love it so much.
I think his name might be Murata, but I can't remember.
But his right hand man is obviously uncomfortable because Majima is just going on gut instincts
to decide which wires to cut.
And Majima says, you got gas or something.
I just seriously love Majima in this scene so much because it's the humor we needed in
(10:47):
this game that we haven't really received yet.
OK, but then it looks like he chooses the wrong wire because we see an explosion.
But then we cut to Sayama who wakes up and says, what an awful dream.
So she's cracking the disk.
And I think we see an image of Ryuji on the screen.
(11:07):
We then go back to Kiryu and Daigo.
And it is confirmed that Majima is working on the bomb.
So I'm not sure what's real anymore.
Was that whole scene a dream of Sayama's?
Was just the part where the building exploded her dream?
Is Majima dead?
Sayama doesn't know about the bombs though.
That's what I'm saying.
(11:27):
I'm so confused.
She doesn't know about the bombs.
So why is she dreaming of bomb explosions?
But she's also not that close with Majima either.
So why is she dreaming about Majima?
I don't know.
I'm very, very confused by this.
I guess we should just be expecting that from this game at this point.
(11:48):
Kiryu and Daigo head to Purgatory where we find Majima alive.
And then Kiryu takes Haruka out again for a while while he waits for Sayama to return.
Kiryu then meets back up with Date who has Sudo with him.
And I guess Date made a copy of the disk and had Sudo crack it.
(12:08):
How and when?
I don't really know why we sent Sayama at all.
We're just going to glaze over that though.
So he knows that Sayama and Ryuji are half siblings.
It is confirmed.
And then right as this is going down, Sayama just shows up.
But she lies and says that she could not break the disk at Osaka PD.
I don't understand why she lied.
(12:30):
This is why in my out of context summary, I'm like, has everyone lost their minds?
Because nobody is doing anything properly.
Well and then she tries to convince Kiryu not to fight Ryuji but he insists.
And what is Kiryu doing?
If you love her, why are you going to try to kill her brother?
(12:52):
That's a great point.
I forgot.
I don't understand.
So early on you know and yet he still makes these decisions.
What dog does Kiryu have in this fight?
He's not in the Yakuza.
Why the hell does he care?
Who's the dragon?
You know what I mean?
Didn't you give all that up?
That's actually a really great point.
(13:12):
You know what?
So much could have been avoided if he just told Ryuji that I'm not in the Yakuza.
I don't give a flying crap about who the dragon is going to be.
Be him for all you want and this all would have been avoided.
And what does Kiryu losing a one on one fight have to do with the survival of the Tojo clan?
(13:34):
It goes back to our question I think we're going to have in this summary which is why
is Kiryu here in this game?
Back to Sayama she insists that Kiryu go meet with her chief.
So Kiryu and Date go to where she said that he would be waiting but instead they find
a video left by Sayama and in this video she admits she cracked the disk and that she knows
(13:58):
about Ryuji.
She's going to try to talk to him and maybe talk him out of the war and then continues
to talk about the time that she and Kiryu spent together and makes it sound like she'll
never see him again.
What I don't understand is why didn't she tell everyone that she knows who Ryuji is?
Kiryu gets very upset.
(14:19):
He pounds the table and then assaults the door on his way out.
How many times did I make you watch Kiryu be mad?
More than enough.
Oh boy.
Alright Kathy.
Oh my god.
Buckle up.
This is where it hurts.
Back to Majima chapter 3, Mad Dog of Shimenoh.
(14:42):
We're right back where we left off with Majima trapped by Makoto giving him a massage.
There is some weird music going on.
I'm not surprised.
Okay, well she moves to his feet and then she's like I'm going to do your arms next
and she says it kind of sensually.
(15:04):
Well now that she can see Majima and maybe her husband's boring and she likes a tatted
up dude.
Oh also, okay wait.
She's also wearing black socks with white shoes.
Is this just an acceptable way of doing socks and shoes in Japan?
I mean I never really thought about it.
(15:26):
It's like standard.
We need to watch some kind of fashion show and just stare at their ankles and sock of
choice.
Well but it can't be a fashion show though because they try to look stupid on purpose.
It has to be like etiquette.
We took a tangent.
We need to get back on track.
Okay I have a note here because obviously Majima is still hiding from her and I had
(15:54):
this thought.
Have we ever seen Majima hide from anything?
That's the thing that's something I had in my character analysis part of this scene I
guess.
Which is that he wants to know so much more without giving away anything.
He wants to be protective without showing how protective he is and I think that's why
(16:17):
we're getting this.
I don't think he's scared.
I think he's trying to protect her and protect himself.
So at some point Majima notices her watch, the one that he left buried for her, and she
notices him look at it and then begins to talk about it telling their story pretty much.
I'm kind of mad that Majima doesn't ask her to elaborate or have any follow up questions
(16:44):
and I get part of the reason why is he's again trying to protect her from everything.
At the same time though I'm just so mad he's not saying anything.
I think he does want to say something so bad but he knows he can't.
If they actually had a conversation how do you think that conversation would have gone?
(17:05):
I don't think it would have been a question.
I think he would have just turned so she could see his face and maybe like grab is a weird
word but lightly grab her watch, her wrist and just say her name.
It's his voice that she really would recognize.
If they were going to reveal in this moment I feel like that's how they would do it and
(17:27):
then after that I don't know.
That's where the scene ends.
Yeah.
Well I mean I think maybe we do know.
I think it would either be tragic, she wouldn't leave her husband and child for him which
we find out she has, or it would be tragic because she does leave her husband and child
for him.
(17:48):
It's a lose-lose.
I need to know more about what Makoto is thinking because did she choose this husband and child
because she just was ready to settle down because she said that she always remembers
Majima without her saying his name but she's married and with kids so did she just choose
(18:08):
to move on because she's ready to put Majima behind her life knowing that she'll never
find him or do you think that she's truly happy with where she is?
Let's get into it.
Starting back after he notices the watch she says a few things like it's a treasure of
mine and when the strap wore out I even got a new one.
(18:30):
It's an old piece though so new colors don't really match it.
She goes on to say I got it from someone who saved my life and this is where she tells
their whole story and we realize she still has never known his name.
She credits him for regaining her vision and having her normal life including her husband
and child and she says life is great so we know that she likes her life but then I don't
(18:54):
know if you want to chime in at all yet.
Keep going.
I should keep going.
So but then she says I never got a chance to thank him for that.
I've regretted it ever since and she says basically that she moved back here because
of him.
It's a special town to me full of memories of the time we had.
In my notes I'm like yeah she loves him even if she doesn't know it.
(19:18):
Yeah.
Right?
That's yeah.
I'm going to cut you off here because that's what I'm feeling but I'm also very conflicted
and I keep going back and forth in my notes because on one hand I'm worried that she's
mistaking this gratitude of someone saving her life for like romantic affection but at
the same time she went on those like takoyaki dates with him and just thought like when
(19:44):
he was guiding her and waving her in and out of just those crowds just they're like strengthening
her romantic affection for him based on what she's saying right now.
She truly loves him and that's why she moved back but at the same time if you truly loved
him I don't know if she would have gotten married.
(20:04):
Okay.
A couple things.
Yes I do think a lot of it could be mistaking it for you know oh it's my savior and that
obviously that's going to make you fall for someone easier.
We'll learn later.
It's been 18 years.
I don't think you move your whole life and stay there for 18 years waiting for someone
(20:27):
just for that.
You know what I mean?
That's true.
And I think at the end of the last game when she finds the watch or she's talking to dead
Tachibana she says I don't even know if he's alive or dead.
So she didn't really even know what she was waiting for.
If we can get real deep about it.
I think she's probably never felt anything close to what she felt during that and that's
(20:52):
why she's going back even though there's a strong possibility he's dead.
That's such a great point.
That made so much sense.
I think that's the killer is that she's never going to feel that level of closeness with
anyone, not even her husband.
Because of that.
But here's the thing.
(21:12):
She didn't get married and didn't have kids.
Do you think Majima would continue to protect her now that he found out where she is?
Maybe make a move or do you think he would still continue to be in the shadows after
18 years knowing that she's here because of him?
Hold on to that question and move it to scene five.
(21:34):
And I'll address it then.
All right, so let's finish up kind of her one sided conversation.
So she tells him all of this and then goes on to say not even my husband knows that story.
So it's our secret.
Ah, that kills me.
Number one, I'm like Majima loves that.
But I was like, is this this is kind of like borderline emotional cheating.
(21:56):
It's really dishonest to make your husband move your guys' lives for this guy that he
has no idea about that may or may not be alive.
Just for the chance of seeing him again, she moved their lives.
And the thing is, she doesn't even know she'll recognize him if she sees him.
I think that if she told her husband that this is my savior, I want to bump into him
(22:20):
and not tell him that there's romantic affection.
I could see he being on board with that, but I agree with you.
I still think it's a bit of emotional cheating.
If there was nothing to hide, she wouldn't be hiding it.
Mm hmm.
Like she could have been honest with him.
I really want to move back here, like like what you said and give the reasoning.
And the only reason to not do that is if you feel some sort of guilt, perhaps.
(22:44):
OK, do we have to go to the line now?
The line.
We have to.
All right.
I'll set it up.
So massage is over.
She's like seeing him out.
Basically, she goes, have we met before?
This is when he thinks really hard about whether or not to tell her.
(23:04):
And you can just see it on his face.
He thought so hard about whether or not to tell her that he is that guy.
Another reason why he and Nishiki are some of my favorite characters are because they
think before they act.
Giryu just acts on whatever impulses he wants without thinking about consequences.
(23:26):
He really considers other people in this situation like how is my actions going to affect Makoto?
So something you said just made me realize that I can't really I feel like we don't
get enough scenes with Nishiki to talk about him in this.
But like if we compare Kiryu to Majima and you look at the eyes or eye in Majima's case,
(23:48):
you can see Majima thinking and processing.
You do not see that behind Kiryu's eyes.
I mean, we are dumping on him in this game.
But truly, pay attention to his eyes.
But he just shakes his head and starts walking out.
And then she goes, do you at least feel better?
(24:09):
And he says, you worked out some knots I've had for 18 years.
After all that line, it slaps harder than when Simon left the handprint on that guy.
Right.
Like it's such a good line.
But also he reveals his voice by doing this.
I think the hardest part is that it felt like a conclusion and I wasn't ready for it.
(24:35):
Maybe he's speaking again is to give her a chance to see like test out the waters that
maybe she might still remember my voice.
I'm going to say something, but obviously she doesn't.
And maybe that's what is the nail in the coffin.
It was a risk.
He took a risk.
I think we'll discuss it more when we get when we get more information.
(24:57):
But are we ready to go outside of the massage parlor now?
Yeah, let's not give ourselves more heartache.
So Majima learns from Makoto's coworker that she'll be moving out of the country next week.
And then as he's walking away, Majima gets a call from the hostess at the Grand.
Kawamura is there and apparently he rushed in and shot an Omi exec.
(25:22):
So Majima arrives at the Grand to find Kawamura still with gun in hand.
He says, if I didn't kill him, it would have been me.
Just one more.
When that's done, I'll be free.
If I kill you, I get out alive.
Of course, Majima defeats him.
So just as Kawamura is about to reveal everything, he's shot by Ibuchi who says your debt is
(25:43):
paid in full.
I knew Ibuchi wasn't a good guy.
When someone that clean cut and looks like he doesn't want to get his hands dirty joins
the Yakuza, you know, it's not good.
It turns out Ibuchi was playing a very long game of planting Kawamura in the Majima family.
I guess he just hates the Yakuza and he wants to introduce proper management.
(26:05):
So my question is if you hate them so much, why join?
He's one of those rich boys that want to prove themselves wrong but has never worked a day
in their life so they tackle the biggest thing and only fail at it.
Okay, and then so we're sitting back and forth conversation and then all of the sudden
there's this woman peeping from a booth in the background.
(26:30):
Where did she come from?
She just appeared.
Okay, so yeah, basically he's killing people simply to overthrow the Yakuza.
And his ultimate goal is to take control of the Tojo and hand it over to the Omi.
He's such a little baby for using a gun instead of like real fist fight and it makes me respect
Ryuji so much more.
(26:51):
I also love that Majima just sits there while Ibuchi makes this long speech that just rambles
on and he just watches him do it.
He's just not bothered at all.
And then yeah, we have the fight where he gets a gun and we don't.
And after defeating him, this is where Majima's character just gets so good because we just
(27:16):
saw him with Makoto all tender and now we see him here just so intense.
He says, if you thought I'd let you get away with taking out one of mine, who's the real
idiot?
We have to address this line because as we've discussed, Majima is the most loyal person
(27:38):
ever.
He's still loyal to Kawamura simply because he was one of his despite him betraying him.
Majima's character is so complex.
You have him being just outright crazy and then you also have him being strategic and
then you also have him showing his loyalty to Kawamura despite everything that went on.
(28:03):
I love this scene of Majima.
To me, this is like peak Majima.
And then he says, go eat your slop in the can and learn to see things my way.
I guess we figured out why that random woman is there.
She screams, which alerts Majima that Ibuchi's picking up a gun.
But he doesn't use it on Majima.
He kills himself.
(28:23):
And then Majima is going to go straighten things out with the Turada.
Anything before we get there.
I do have a question.
Do you think that Turada knew what Ibuchi was trying to do or do you think it just so
happens that Ibuchi was power hungry in this way?
He says he doesn't know about it, but I think that's pretty weak because as we know, we'll
(28:46):
find out.
Turada is pretty pro-Omi and he brought those men in.
So I think he has to know.
He decides to smooth things over at the Omi that Majima will leave the Yakuza and disband
his family.
So they head to the Omi Alliance to make this announcement.
And why is Ryuji sitting like a girl on the beach?
(29:08):
I was about to say, why is his back arched like that?
So yeah, he says all of us are leaving the Tojo Clan.
And that's pretty much it.
That's the end of the Majima family.
I'm wondering if one of the reasons why Majima was so willing to disband his family comes
from the fact that he just same day produced broke up with Makoto even though they were
(29:31):
never together.
But it's like he knows that's the end of it.
And maybe he just is trying to find a life purpose and that's why he's so okay with
disbanding his family.
Okay, I'm going to address things one at a time.
So the question that you asked me earlier that I said to move to this scene is if there
was no husband or child in the picture, would Majima still be hiding?
(29:55):
Or would he reveal himself?
So the timing of this, especially the first time I played it, it gave me hope that he's
leaving the Yakuza to go after her.
He says he's going to leave.
And we know that Makoto is about to leave.
It's his only chance.
So that's what I was like, oh my gosh, he's going to go after her the first time I saw
(30:16):
this.
But I almost wonder because the Yakuza was kind of his focus away from Makoto.
The Yakuza is not what it used to be, which we learned earlier that he does not like it
with Turada.
And so now he leaves to go start a construction company.
I think he's just trying to find his place again.
(30:36):
And that just he decides it's a construction company.
He says they're going to just look it up on the internet and start building.
But I also love how serious he was about like morning greetings and just getting everyone
in the right attitude for his company when these are people who have probably spent their
entire lives being the Yakuza.
(30:57):
This is when again, his right hand man who I'm just calling Murata.
And I have no idea if that's correct.
But he's kind of asking questions, Majima's, you know, Majima about it.
And he grabs his face in his hand to the point where it squishes his lips into fish lips
into little fish lips.
(31:19):
Anything else before we go back to Makoto?
No.
All right.
So then we go back to Makoto who Majima unfortunately did not stop her moving the country.
She's with her family flying to her new life.
But in her bag, she finds a gift that we see had been sent to her from somebody unknown,
which turns out to be a new watch band that is basically just like the original.
(31:42):
It's at this point that she realizes who Majima is and Makoto's ready for her fresh start,
though no longer feeling pulled back to the past.
Is she though?
That's that's where I'm just going to jump in.
That's where I don't feel like whoever wrote her character did a good enough job.
(32:04):
I just think that if she's willing to to move into this whole new city with her entire family
and having secrets behind her husband's back and all of a sudden by seeing a single watch
knowing that that's him and then also being OK with everything like you don't process
all that information in less than five seconds.
(32:27):
So OK, let's I hear you.
But let's discuss.
We're going to get into the weeds a little bit.
She goes over the story with Majima about why she moved back here and then he learns
she's moving.
I think that's his point of decision of confirmation that it's the right thing to not bother her
(32:50):
because she's moving on now.
She's leaving the country, so she's not staying there anymore.
I'm like refusing to accept the fact that her flying out is enough confirmation for him
to know that she'll never be back.
It's not that she'll never be back.
It's that she's just moving on.
She's letting go of it, and that's why she's able to even move or even entertain the idea
(33:14):
of moving.
And I think he realizes that when he hears that she's moving.
And that's why he decides to just give her the watch band, which her husband asked if
she has any regrets and she says not anymore.
And honestly, Majima did that for her.
He found a way to tell her because her big thing was like, I want to thank him.
(33:34):
And he found a way to let her know that she had in fact thanked him without revealing
himself in the moment and having to deal with all of that.
It felt like the door closed too easy.
And I appreciate how much Majima did it for her, again, demonstrating how great he is
because he knew that she probably wanted the conclusion and he gave that to her.
(33:58):
I think she just I struggle with the fact that she accepted it so easily after 18 years
of thinking about this man.
What do you mean by accepted it?
Like she was ready to move on.
And then when he says that, does she have any regrets?
She says, like, no, I feel like I would.
(34:18):
Yeah, because her one regret was not being able to thank him.
But now she knows she did thank him.
Yeah, I guess I thought her regret should have been that she never tried to have a relationship
with him.
That's her regret.
That's our regret.
(34:39):
Yes.
I think I get it.
I think I'm just still so heartbroken over them not being together that I'm still in
denial.
It's heartbreaking.
This is better romance than you see in any like romance show book.
I mean, I don't consume a whole lot of that.
(34:59):
But honestly, this is probably why because can it get better than this?
Well, should we close the door on Makoto and move on to Chapter 16?
Yeah.
Chapter 16 decision.
Kiryu heads out to face Ryuji and chase after Sayama, I guess.
He fights his way through the city up to Kamurocho Hills, Majima's building, where he finds a
(35:21):
sign Sayama pointing a gun at Ryuji.
She demands that he hand over Chairman Goda and Ryuji says, he's over there, knock yourself
out.
And then we just see Chairman Goda in the corner.
This poor man.
I totally forgot about him.
Okay.
So after ensuring that the chairman is in good condition, Sayama says she'll be arresting
(35:41):
Ryuji and also turning herself in.
And this is when she breaks the news to Ryuji about them being half siblings.
I feel like Sayama isn't quite processing any emotions since finding out who her dad
is.
Yeah.
Chairman Goda chimes in and talks about your mother was exhausted trying to keep you safe,
(36:02):
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
He took in Suihan, their mother, until Kawara stole her away from him.
I think.
He begs her to leave Ryuji with him because he felt like he was his son.
This age gap though is massive, isn't it?
Ryuji looks like the grandson more than a son.
(36:23):
But I also feel like him feeling like, oh, Ryuji's my son is such a weak excuse.
And it would have been so much better if they had just let him be kind of a bad guy in this
moment.
And he had actually just wanted Ryuji for the sake of having a successor and not because
he actually cared about him.
Okay.
(36:43):
We're getting mad at Kiryu again.
So he's chiming in, you know, going back and forth with Ryuji a little bit.
And he says something along the lines of, I knew a man like you once, clearly referencing
Nishiki.
Don't disrespect his name.
Just leave him out of it.
Let him rest.
So despite Sayama being very upset with both of them, they decide to just lock her out.
(37:09):
Sayama could have easily climbed up that gate.
There was no roof on it.
It was basically a ladder.
It had rungs.
And she could have just shot a warning shot in between the bars.
Okay.
What's your next note?
Tarada.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
(37:29):
He just comes walking up talking about some perfect script.
I'm so confused that talk about being dramatic.
He takes it a whole nother level with this was my plan.
This is my play.
These are the lines you're about to say.
Yeah.
Of course he's one of the Jinguyan survivors.
(37:52):
Of course he's not actually dead, which we haven't even addressed yet.
Kira chose the wrong man to be the chairman.
Yeah.
And another flashback.
Yeah.
Another flashback.
Before we get there, for some reason Kiryu is like the one pillar holding up the Tojo
clan and so he has to die.
(38:13):
And he says once you're dead, I'll end it with the switch for the explosives.
That seems like a weird line, but I have it in quotes.
So I guess that's what he said.
And that's when we see a giant bomb.
He does recognize he's also in the vicinity of the bomb, right?
I would hope so, but I don't have a lot of confidence in Tarada's thought processing.
(38:36):
Do you want to discuss the flashback?
Here's when we try to make Kazama look like a god again.
We learn about how Kazama was the one who spared him and Kurahashi from dying.
And then Kiryu just pops into the scene, makes eye contact with all of them, and they watch
(38:57):
him leave that situation.
And so he's like, well Kazama did so much for you, why are you not doing the same thing?
Also a couple things.
Number one, young Tarada, worse than young Kiryu.
Get it out of my sight.
Oh my gosh.
It's worse than skinny boy Shimano.
(39:17):
Okay, and then also there's a scene.
So when Kazama is facing young Kurahashi and Tarada, it then cuts to like a back view and
Tarada's hand just happens to be angled right between Kazama's legs.
So all of a sudden you're like there's something flesh colored between Kazama's legs and it's
(39:42):
jolting.
It makes you do double take and pause and lean forward.
So yeah, basically Kazama let them live and then I think we're done with the flashback.
Chairman Goda chimes in and says that Kazama begged him to take Tarada into the Omi Alliance.
(40:05):
Why?
Why is he bringing them into the Yakuza when they could have?
This was the perfect time for them to just leave the mafia lifestyle.
He did more for Tarada than he did for Nishiki.
I'm so mad.
We're bringing Nishiki back into it.
Who the hell is Tarada to you?
(40:28):
Why do you care what happens to him?
There is absolutely zero reasoning for this.
And who is he to you compared to you taking Hiryu and Nishiki as your children yet you
set one up for success and you set one up for failure?
When you're on your hands and knees for a stranger?
(40:48):
They need to stop trying to make Kazama look like a good guy.
It's too late.
Hiryu defeats Tarada but then he gets shot in the back by Takashima who has now arrived.
Chairman Goda gets shot as well.
Through dialogue we learn that the Jinguyan infiltrated the Omi simply to have a way to
take down the Tojo Clan.
(41:09):
And yet Takashima is also one of the Jinguyan survivors who isn't at this point.
Who's doing all these counts of how many survivors there are because that person cannot count.
Takashima then turns on Tarada and shoots him point blank.
And then the detonator for the bomb I think which I think we'll learn later it's a fuse.
(41:31):
So I'm not sure but anyway he drops it as he collapses.
Okay so things continue to get confusing.
Tarada arms the bomb and then tells Hiryu to stop Takashima and says trust me.
Trust him with what?
Okay so I think you have a note about this but at some point Sayama gets the gun shot
(41:53):
out of her hand.
She's had multiple opportunities to pick it back up.
But Cathy what does she do instead?
She takes her stupid little baton and thinks it's more lethal than her gun.
You could just reach down and pick up your gun.
His back was to you multiple times but no you run at an armed man with a baton.
(42:16):
Well to no one's surprise the baton is not an effective weapon against a man with a gun.
And he's about to kill her but this is when Ryuichi wakes up to stop him.
And he shoots the heck out of Takashima but he gets hit a couple times himself.
I love this I love seeing this.
So like it's like beast mode.
Yes.
And he ends it with a headshot to finish the deal.
(42:38):
Like that's the only way to do it and he does it.
Ryuichi finishes what he starts.
Oh Cathy.
So as you as you mentioned they have mirroring gunshots.
So they're on equal playing field now right?
So they decide hey there's a bomb about to explode.
We're on equal footing.
(43:00):
Let's hash this out right now.
Fight to the death.
Sure let's do it.
Sayama who gives a f*** about her?
Sunder down.
I know.
Exactly.
And the thing is so what if you won the bomb's about to explode because you got like what
less than 10 minutes on it.
And so what's your escape plan when you're about to die but you still need to leave the
(43:24):
tower to become the ruler of dragons.
Okay here's the big question that I typed out in all caps.
What about Haruka?
He's probably okay with the freaking pedophile agent kidnapping her because he obviously
doesn't care about her.
(43:45):
He doesn't care about his promises to Yumi.
I said it before I'll say it again.
He is horribly written in this game.
You have energy to fight Ryuji who is the half brother of the woman that you say you're
in love with.
You could do that.
You could destroy that relationship with her.
You could stay here and die or you could use that energy that you still currently have
(44:07):
and leave.
I don't understand why it's so hard to give up his position as the dragon of Kansai.
It'd be one thing if he never left the Yakuza but he did.
And again at the start of this game he's like I'm gonna be a civilian and be a good
father to Haruka.
Melee dumps her.
Although who is his role model as a father?
(44:30):
I was gonna say that he learns the selfishness from the most selfish man.
So they pretty much beat each other up and long story short Ryuji is forced to die because
Kiryu is the hero.
Okay yeah but so long to Ryuji.
I don't care if he's the villain.
(44:52):
He's a mother respecter.
All the way through and through.
He did everything by his own moral code that he never wavered from.
I would argue to say one of the most mother respecters of all the mother respecters we've
done so far off the top of my head.
The only one that would be above him is Tachibana.
(45:12):
Yeah that is true.
Very disappointed that his character dies because I do think he is one of the best characters.
There was so much potential for him and I see this even though as much as I love Nishiki
Ryuji was better in a lot of ways that he could have gone so far in this series.
(45:34):
Are we talking about the the Sudo and Date come in?
Yeah okay.
Ugh okay there's three minutes left on the bomb.
As the helicopter approaches with Date, Sudo, and Haruka inside.
How would you put her so close to a bomb and possibly watch her see her only family member
(45:58):
left get blown to smithereens?
Who brings a child up to a bomb.
Which by the way Date announces they need to run.
But for some reason they decide to instead just kiss until they blow up.
And they had time.
They had time.
He could have pulled the plane, dropped the ladder down.
They only need to climb up two three rungs and they would be fine.
(46:21):
But instead they're like you know what screw Haruka let's just die together.
And they know it too.
What was the line?
Oh they do.
Yeah.
She's like oh poor Haruka.
And Kiryu goes but at least I know she'll understand.
Understand what Kiryu?
(46:41):
Exactly.
And then this music who is in charge of this and the close ups.
I cannot with the music ruins it for me.
I mean I'm already pretty mad about what's happening but seriously.
If you have the physical capability to make out for three minutes I think you can muster
the strength to walk down to the elevator.
(47:04):
All you gotta do is roll a few times.
You're on that elevator.
You hit the button.
Mm-hmm.
There you go.
Or try to defuse the bomb.
Huh.
Yeah right.
Let's see we've defused how many bombs in this past three hours?
31.
You think we can maybe handle one more?
Exactly.
(47:24):
Which is it bad that I kind of wish they died?
No I do too.
And then okay are we ready to move on to the after credits scene?
Yeah.
Okay we watch the credits and then we see Haruka in the cemetery talking to someone.
And we assume oh it's Kiryu.
He died.
(47:44):
But no she's not thanking Kiryu's grave.
She's thanking the grave of Turada?
So what?
For what?
For what?
What?
For making the bomb look realistic?
For letting her know that Kiryu doesn't give a flying crap about her?
(48:05):
And the thing is this isn't even the first time.
This is repeat offense like trying to leave her with that pedophile prediction dude.
Haruka should not be with Kiryu.
No.
Who by the way we quickly see that he is alive.
And he and Date are watching Haruka.
And this is when we learn the bomb was defused already.
(48:28):
Okay.
And then Saima shows up.
With flowers for whose grave?
Turada?
Why do we give a f*** about Turada?
Exactly.
I enjoy playing this game.
I enjoy it greatly.
But it's also bad.
It's not very good character development or clear storyline in terms of like the details.
(48:56):
I'm with you on this one.
I kind of hate this ending.
We're taking a break from Yakuza on a great ending.
I know I told you.
Yeah.
Is there a way to end or just to pause on Yakuza on watching Haruka walk weirdly?
Watching Kiryu know that he would want to die then to try?
(49:19):
We need a break.
Especially after this one.
Okay.
I don't have anything more to say.
No.
Okay.
I'm calling it.
Let's do a Dasty on one.
Three, two, one.
Thank you for listening.
Don't forget to send in any questions, comments, or game suggestions.
You can find all our contact info on our website, replayreviewspod.com, or contact us directly
(49:42):
through our site.
Did we completely miss something?
Are we way off the mark?
Or 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 a Reddit where we discuss anything we're curious about.
Go take a look and let us know what you're thinking.
Our theme music is Condemned by Eggy Toast.
So play you out and we'll be back next week with a summary episode.
(50:31):
Bye.
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com