Like a Dragon


Like a Dragon or Yakuza: Like a Dragon, released in Japan as, is a 2007 Japanese crime film directed by Takashi Miike and based on the 2005 PlayStation 2 video game Yakuza. The film stars Kazuki Kitamura, Goro Kishitani, Show Aikawa, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Kenichi Endō and Tomorowo Taguchi. The movie's storytelling was inspired by yakuza films and is the original episode of a successful franchise that has since expanded to eight main series games plus spin-offs and an original video film called .
The English subtitled version premiered on June 23, 2008 at the New York Asian Film Festival '08, and was released on DVD on February 23, 2010 by a Media Blasters affiliate.

Plot

The plot is loosely based on the original Yakuza game and is a separate, "one-night-story" that unfolds in a hot summer night in Kamurocho, the fictitious version of Tokyo Shinjuku's Kabukichō.
The night begins with a bank robbery by a manzai duo of amateur masked gunmen, and the disappearance of ten billion yen belonging to the Tojo Clan, a powerful yakuza syndicate. Meanwhile, in the streets of Kamurocho, former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu and his adopted daughter, a young girl called Haruka Sawamura, search for Mizuki Sawamura, the latter's mother and the sister of Kiryu's childhood love, with Kiryu's old rival, the psychotic yakuza Goro Majima, and his men following them.
After a meeting with Kiryu and Haruka in a convenience store called Poppo, employee Satoru and his new girlfriend Yui decide to start holding up stores for money and for fun. Elsewhere in the district, a mysterious Korean hitman, Park, tracks down the culprit behind the Tojo Clan heist, which leads him towards the infamous Jingu, a figure also known as Mister N, and the Kamurocho landmark, the Millennium Tower.
The search for Mizuki brings Kiryu to the top of Millennium Tower and ends with a climatic battle against yakuza Akira Nishikiyama, Kiryu's childhood best friend, who declares his intention to beat Kiryu and finally prove he is the better man.

Video

Amuse Soft Entertainment released the regular DVD edition on September 28, 2007 in Japan, with a limited edition "Deluxe Box" featuring three Kubrick figures.
American distributor Tokyo Shock released a licensed DVD titled Yakuza: Like a Dragon on February 23, 2010 to coincide with the North American localization of Yakuza 3. The release date was originally planned to March, probably in order to coincide with the North American localization of the PlayStation 3 video game Yakuza 3.
Prior to this official release, the English subtitled DVD was distributed in North America by Bonzai RCS, the case featured a Korean cover for some reason, it was similar to the Korean market edition by CJ Entertainment.

Soundtrack

The motion picture soundtrack features three songs by Crazy Ken Band from his 2006 album Galaxy released on the Almond Eyes label, these are Hama no Ambassador featuring Fire Ball and Papa B., Kuroi Kizuato no Blues and the ending theme 12 gatsu 17 nichi. The latter two are also included in the Yakuza 2 game's soundtrack.

Cast