Amazon Prime Video is adapting another popular game franchise, Yakuza, into a series for its platform. Following the success of the Fallout series and the announcement of a Tomb Raider series, Amazon Prime is now set to bring the Yakuza game to life.
Amazon Prime Announces Yakuza Series After Fallout
Sega’s Yakuza games have a complex history and chronology, starting with the original Yakuza in 2005 and culminating in the ninth game, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, released in January 2024. Although the original name of the game is Yakuza, Sega has been promoting it globally as Like a Dragon for the past five years. Amazon Prime’s series will follow suit, adopting the name Like a Dragon instead of Yakuza.
This won’t be the first live-action adaptation based on the game. A previous production was released in Japan in 2010, followed by a second one. It was called Kurohyō, and you can find it on YouTube.
Amazon plans to release the series, originally filmed in Japanese in Japan, with subtitles and dubbing for international audiences. The six-episode series, starring Ryoma Takeuchi (Kamen Rider: Drive) as the main character Kazuma Kiryu and directed by Masaharu Take (We Make Antiques) and Kengo Takimoto (Kamen Teacher), will be set in 1995 and 2005.
The story of Amazon’s Yakuza series will focus on the life of a formidable and unique Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity, along with his childhood friends and the consequences of their decisions.
The series has the official seal of approval from video game writer and producer Masayoshi Yokoyama, who is also involved as the lead producer. He has explicitly stated that he does not want to rewrite the events based on his games.
Like A Dragon: Yakuza will be released in two parts, each consisting of three episodes, on October 25th and November 1st, respectively. However, there is no information yet on the duration of each episode.
