He believes that Ichiban fits the Yakuza setting due to his love for Dragon Quest, as well as his heroic demeanor which goes along the new type of gameplay Like a Dragon provided to the franchise. Date of Birth A high-offense job that allows Kasuga to learn terrain-based Skills. This is the unofficial subreddit for Sega's long-running game series, Yakuza, known in Japan as Ry ga Gotoku. Member of the Arakawa Family (formerly)President of Ichiban ConfectionsLeader of the Kasuga PartyIndependent politician He wears his heart on his sleeve and is prone to letting his emotions get the best of him, whether it be sheer rage or getting overly excitable. Masumi's body was thrown in the river and recovered the next morning. Masumi is shot in the chest and dies a painful death, the last sight in his life being Tendo's smile. Kazuhiro Nakaya Nicknames However, that night at the restaurant, Toshio was murdered by a hitman sent by the Seiryu Clan. Horinouchi is also the person responsible for having Adachi demoted. The year after the death of his father, he stopped going to junior high school at fifteen and resorted to whatever means necessary to earn money and support himself, leaving his education behind for good. Afterwards, he interrogates Ogasawara to learn of Aoki's ambitions and plans to use the Omi. Beyond being a wild plot twist, this also ties nicely into Ichiban's character arc. To Yokoyama, Ichiban's comical "fool" deliberately contrasts the dark setting of Like A Dragon, and that his most important role in the game is to overturning "worldly prejudices" and fight against "invisible discrimination". [14][9] A line of Yakuza franchise merchandise developed by apparel company SuperGroupie was launched in June 2021, including watches, bags, jackets, and shoes, all of which will have details inspired by Ichiban's appearances in the games. A masked Joon-gi Han frees them and they rush to Chinatown to stop a war between the Liumang and the Seiryu Clan. The way I see it, he either knew or was very suspicious and hoped Ichi was his real son. The men demanded he takes responsibility for Kasuga's actions. Appearance He asks Kasuga to turn himself in, telling him the lie that it was Sawashiro who committed the murder. His features are typically obscured by his fedora or by shadow, but he appears to have short black hair and brown eyes. Place of Birth Kazama machinations are pretty much the plot calls for it, whereas Arakawa is basically a tired dad that wants the fighting to stop, but will fight as needed. Before their fight escalates, Arakawa and Daigo Dojima explain that Arakawa's betrayal was planned by them and Masaru Watase in order to split the Omi forces between Tokyo and Osaka to make their plan of disbanding the Tojo and Omi easier to accomplish. Associations *spoilers*" - Page 2. They went back to save the baby, but Arakawa had already freed the baby from the locker, declaring that it was now his child. Nicknames [20] Michael Higham from GameSpot praised Ichiban as an endearing lead character who is immediately loveable and helps gives the franchise "a fresh start". Kazuhiro Nakaya, the voice actor of Ichiban Kasuga in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, has addressed the future of the Yakuza . Is Arakawa Ichiban's dad? Japanese In 2004, Masato fakes his death and starts a new identity as Ryo Aoki with assistance from the Arakawa Family and leaves for the USA. His moveset, much like that of Kiryu and Majima, is a reskinned version of the Streets of Rage series' main character, Axel. So, since only Ichiban was extremely loyal to Arakawa, they decided to choose him. Arakawa asks Kasuga to shoulder the blame and go to prison on Sawashiro's behalf, and that he is banished from the family. Relationships They find Nanba collaborating with Mabuchi, Bleach Japan, and Hajime Ogasawara. Kasuga's tattoo covers most of his back and ends just above his thighs. Kenyu Horiuchi He also makes use of a baseball bat in an extremely professional manner. Ichiban Kasuga ( , Kasuga Ichiban) is the protagonist of the Like a Dragon series from Yakuza: Like a Dragon onward, as well as the protagonist of The Legend of Ichiban Kasuga: Part 1 in Ryu Ga Gotoku Online. There, they meet the Liumang leader Tianyou Zhao and convince both him and Mamoru Takabe to stand down temporarily. His eyes are gray and he has medium-length dark hair styled into a massive afro after his release from prison, as well as a beard. Koichi Adachi is one of the members of Kasuga's party, a former cop who lost his job and pension due to corruption in the department. Tojo Clan (formerly)Arakawa Family (formerly) and our Also Known As So after this, Kiryu and Saejima go to jail. He willingly goes to prison for a murder that he did not commit at the turn of the 21st century, having acquiesced to the request of his clan patriarch, Masumi Arakawa. The game follows Ichiban Kasuga, who spends 18 years in prison for a murder that he didn't commit at the request of his patriarch, Masumi Arakawa. Appearance After a discussion between Yokoyama and Nagoshi, Nakaya was chosen for the role. Height 23-41 (The Legend of Ichiban Kasuga: Part 1). Ichiban and the Ijin Three leaders resolve to field a candidate they would endorse to compete with Bleach Japan loyalist Souta Kume's candidacy for the upcoming regional representative election. Nationality May instantly knock out the enemy. In fact,Ichiban spends the majority of game saying that he has always felt like Arakawa is a father to him, so the reveal that he might actually be his father drives that connection even deeper. Kasuga bluffs to Aoki of having incriminating evidence to lure him and Tendo to the Millennium Tower. It also has been revealed that Aoki used the Yakuza to help him attain power, which is why the Tojo and Omi were disbanded. He meets ex-detective Koichi Adachi, who explains that while Ichiban was in jail, Arakawa defects to the Osaka-based Omi Alliance and betrayed the Tojo Clan to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. After retrieving the baby from locker 0099, he rushed him to the hospital, where the baby was diagnosed with hypothermia-induced multiple organ failure. Yoko Arakawa (mother)Toshio Arakawa (father)Unnamed ex-fianceAkane (girlfriend)Jo Sawashiro (right-hand, co-parent? Masumi's first card in Ryu Ga Gotoku Online, SSR Masumi Arakawa (Black), was first released on September 24, 2020 and depicts the version of him seen in the main story of Ryu Ga Gotoku Online. Arakawa offered them his finger in exchange for Kasuga's freedom and the men quickly let Kasuga go. It is the second card released as part of a series of SSR cards known as Black cards, which center around various antagonists in the Yakuza series. I felt like Masato knew Ichiban was his son, but he also knew how tough Ichiban was and how Masato would have no one without him and for sure wouldnt make it in prison. The previous night, Masato had killed a man from the rival Sakaki Family. Part of his little finger on his left hand is missing. Afterwards, Ichiban gets to reunite with Arakawa, whom he tells he feels is like a surrogate father, and the two share a nice moment. Height Arakawa says that Ichi was like a son to him, but isn't it hypocritical that only moments later of him stating that Ichi felt like a son to him, he still sells him out making him go to prison because his other actual son (or so he though) messed up ? Japanese At the Arakawas' funeral, Kasuga turns down an invitation into a security firm by the ex-Tojo and Omi officers to stay with his newfound treasured friends in Ijincho, and reflects on Aoki's last words to him. His personal skills revolve around healing for his allies and himself. While visiting a graveyard, he sees his former patriarch and is ignored by him, learning from Adachi that the Arakawa Family has sided with the Omi Alliance, who forced the Tojo Clan out of Kamurocho. Damage an enemy by hitting them hard in their vital spot. Aoki's arc is sad, as he spent the first several years of his life wheelchair-bound, feeling like he had no control over his life. Ichiban Kasuga (Japanese: , Hepburn: Kasuga Ichiban), also nicknamed Ichi (), is a character from Sega's Ryu ga Gotoku media franchise, known internationally as Yakuza. Ichiban declines, saying that his place is in Yokohama with his new friends. Kazuhiro Nakaya Masumi talks about his concerns with Masato and his plans for post-yakuza life and Kasuga expresses his desire to be a family again. Like many of the gangsters in Yakuza, Ichiban has a prominent back tattoo. He only made his relationship and the pregnancy known to his patriarch the day Akane was due; however, having lost face, his patriarch had his men beat him badly and ordered them to kill both Akane and the baby. Kasuga is also a huge fan of Dragon Quest, a video game he loved to play ever since his youth. Actors Arakawa is a yakuza and saved his life, he grew up in the slums where the proper Japanese job archetype would spit on his face and it's the Assassin that gives him a job and some sense of worth. Kaiji Tang shares his experiences voicing Ichiban in Yakuza: Like a Dragon", "Kaiji Tang Interview - Ichiban's voice talks Yakuza: Like a Dragon, 13 Sentinels & Trails of Cold Steel", "Say Hello To Kazuga Ichiban, The Next Hero Of The Yakuza Series", "Ichiban Kasuga Teaches Everyone How to Make an Omelet", "Yakuza Series April Fool Joke Involves Ichiban Kasuga In An RPG Battle", "Yakuza SuperGroupies Items Are Inspired By Kiryu, Majima, and Kasuga", "Smell Like Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga With the Latest Yakuza Colognes", "Yakuza: Like A Dragon - Everything We Know About Sega's Newest Yakuza Game", "Yakuza: Like a Dragon preview: What turn-based combat means for a Yakuza lover and JRPG hater", "Yakuza: Like a Dragon Cosplay Performance Is Impressively Accurate", "Best Games Of 2020 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon", "Yakuza: Like a Dragon's secret weapon isn't a magic baseball bat, it's optimism", Ichiban Kasuga Is A Worthy Successor To The Yakuza Throne, "Yakuza's Ichiban Kasuga is an awesome dude, and his story may have only just begun", "Ichiban Kasuga hat das, was vielen Helden fehlt: ein groes Herz und Emotionen", "Yakuza: Like a Dragon Proves that It's Time for the Yakuza Series to Grow Up", "2020 may have been a crap year but it gave us some amazing new characters", "2020's best video game hero exposes the worst part of 'Last of Us 2', "Yakuza's Ichiban Is the Most Important Protagonist of the Year", "Yakuza's Latest Protagonist Is The Hero I Need Right Now", "Yakuza: Like a Dragon reinvigorates the series, but can't shake all of Yakuza's flaws", "Yakuza: Like a Dragon Review Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam", "I Wish Kingdom Hearts' Sora Was More Like Yakuza's Ichiban Kasuga", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ichiban_Kasuga&oldid=1126987462, This page was last edited on 12 December 2022, at 08:29. Arakawa, who serves as a father figure to protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, proved to be a much more compelling character than he thought. Occupation Aoki was weak and couldn't do a lot on his own without scheming. Affiliation In 1984, the year the design of the 10,000 bill changed, he was gifted a defective counterfeit by Hoshino. With the rough events, Kasuga starts to lose himself, but an exchange of blows with Kazuma Kiryu gets him back to his senses. Boosts their criticality rate by up to 80% for 8 seconds. Japanese Ichiban learns that Arakawa is a double agent, and that once the Omi chairman, Masaru Watase, is released from prison, he will make a joint announcement with Dojima to disband their respective clans. Biographical Information Ryu Ga Gotoku OnlineYakuza: Like a DragonLike a Dragon 8 Kasuga puts all his energy into a single punch that may leave the enemy stunned. The incident had a profound effect on Masumi, who spent the next seven years searching for the killer. Year of Birth They explain their plan to their guests. something similar also mentioned in the post climax scene but doesnt explicitly say he didnt know.not much clarity there either. In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, he is the first patriarch of the Arakawa Family and the acting captain of the Omi Alliance. 4 0 comments Best Add a Comment Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Date of Birth He is a former member of the Arakawa Family, a Tojo Clan subsidiary. Y:LAD "Yakuza: Like a Dragon" takes that formula and gives it a fresh set of characters with a JRPG framework. If points fall below opponent's points (by percentage), initiates Boss Assault outside of Boss Raid Mode. [19], Ichiban has received a very positive response from the video game community following the release of Like a Dragon. Character appears in 4 games. Japanese [3] Yokoyama positioned Ichiban's personality as the opposite of Kiryu's in many ways: "thoroughly uncomplicated, direct, cheerful, reckless". [21] Jorge Jimenez from PC Gamer praised Ichiban's optimistic characterization, a "goofy, happy go lucky gangster who loves classic JRPGs", as an effective way of explaining the franchise's drastic genre shift with Like a Dragon. Outside the Seiryu offices, the three discuss what happened and Adachi says it's quite a shock that Nanoha would agree to euthanizing her father. In the final boss fight of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Freelancer will be forcibly equipped, but will have all its skills unlocked if they are not already unlocked. Valve Corporation. Black Black, later graying Appears In He also wears black leather loafers with gold buckles and a matching black leather belt with a gold buckle. 58[3] Ichiban Kasuga exclusive job. He appears to have a relatively slim build. Kasuga defeats Tendo, and engineers a confession with the help of Mirror Face to end Aoki's political career. Ichiban learns from Seiryu Clan chairman Ryuhei Hoshino that the counterfeit bill is proof that Arakawa shot him in a non-lethal manner to create a false impression of his demise. 1959/1960[d] Appears In Sawashiro tries to have Kasuga's finger cut off, but Arakawa interrupts them and takes Kasuga out for dinner. Masumi, Tendo, Watase's mysterious bodyguard, and Kasuga and his party fight the opposition and win, allowing the dissolution to succeed. Ichiban is first introduced in the 2018 mobile game Ryu ga Gotoku ONLINE, a freemium collectible card game spin-off which is exclusively released in Japan. Nanba explains the situation with the Ijin Three and shows Kasuga the severity of his bullet wound, which leads to him discovering a defective counterfeit 10,000 yen bill. However, one day, he severely injured and hospitalized a yakuza. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Kasuga was instead taken in by Shangri-La's manager, Jiro Kasuga, and raised by the people of Kamurocho. After Ichiban was shot by Masumi Arakawa and lost consciousness, Nanba saves his life and begins working with him. Ryu Ga Gotoku OnlineYakuza: Like a DragonLike a Dragon 8 All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries. IchiIcchanKasugacchiSoapy IchibanIchi-badNumber One Associations Although he appeared to have assistance from his men, raising Masato proved difficult. (Arakawa Masumi) Initially a street thug, Daigo becomes the Sixth Chairman of the Tojo Clan by Kazuma Kiryu's recommendation, representing a new generation of yakuza. Learning from Reiji Ishioda that Tendo murdered Arakawa, the group goes into hiding with Nick and heads to Kamurocho. If you have any familiarity with the "Yakuza" franchise, you know that developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio likes to blend soap opera-style drama with absurd gameplay and side stories. [13] A 2019 gameplay trailer featuring Ichiban and his party engaging enemies in a turn-based RPG battle system was initially interpreted as an April Fools' Day joke due to its gameplay mechanics which was considered unusual for the series, as well as the timing of its release date and its proximity to the 1st of April. However, unbeknownst to him, she hid the baby in locker number 0101, adjacent to locker 0099 where Jo Sawashiro and his girlfriend at the time had abandoned their newborn. For more information, please see our However, Sawashiro later claims that after Arakawa left with Sawashiro's son (Ryo Aoki), the owner of the local brothel came to pull another baby out of the locker (Ichiban Kasuga), who is Arakawa's actual son. [Spoilers] Why did Arakawa have only Ichi go to prison despite considering him as a son ? RGG Studios' chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto explained in an interview that Kasuga appears as a Trooper Card instead of a full character in Like a Dragon: Ishin! Ichiban is presented with the chance to choose his own path for the first time in almost 18 years. [25] On the other hand, Dia Lacina from Paste Magazine expressed mixed feelings over Ichiban's portrayal: while Lacina liked that Ichiban is more imminently relatable and achievable as a hero archetype, she criticized the naive speech Ichiban gives to defend Nonomiya's reprehensible behaviour based on his own experience of having grown up under the care of a brothel manager as unconvincing and somewhat insulting. Relationships Ichiban and his friends take this opportunity to strike as they fight their way up the tower to the Arakawa Family office, where Tendo, who had also murdered Arakawa in cold blood earlier, lies in wait for Ichiban to settle the score with. Afterwards, Zhao directs Kasuga to meet with Mitsuo, who is keeping a low profile. Overview He realizes far too late how important his family is. Aliases Despite the amount of bloodshed throughout the story, this is one of the most optimistic endings in the series. They beat Kasuga to the brink of death, and fearing for his life he blurted out the name of a feared yakuza, Masumi Arakawa, saying that if they killed him they'd be hearing from him; in reality, he had never met the man and was only aware of him due to his reputation as "Killer" Arakawa. It explains this and technically he didnt send him to prison ichiban went willingly out of his own choice but it explains he went for masato so masato doesnt get the blame, I know that. A powerful skill that damages an enemy with an improvised weapon lying about the city. After Aoki dies, the game cuts to Juro Horinouchi, the Kamurocho police commissioner who worked closely with Aoki and took money from him. Kasuga Ichiban (Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin! we dont know for sure the dream that arakawa has started occuring even before he sends him to prison. All rights reserved. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Yoko Arakawa (paternal grandmother)Toshio Arakawa (paternal grandfather)Akane (mother)Masumi Arakawa (father, former patriarch)Jiro Kasuga (adoptive father)Masato Arakawa (adoptive brother, former dependent, rival)Jo Sawashiro (former superior, complicated ally)Mitsuo Yasumura (oath brother, friend, ally)Yu Nanba (friend, ally)Koichi Adachi (friend, ally)Saeko Mukoda (friend, ally)Eri Kamataki (friend, ally)Tianyou Zhao (friend, ally)Joon-gi Han (friend, ally)Seong-hui (ally)Ryuhei Hoshino (ally)Masaru Watase (ally)Kazuma Kiryu (ally)Daigo Dojima (ally)Goro Majima (ally)Taiga Saejima (ally)Nick Ogata (ally) Through Saeko Mukoda, they learn one of the Liumang's bosses Akira Mabuchi may be involved. Masumi held onto the bill from that point onward. You get a lot more out more human elements out of him. It is implied that he may hav felt like kasuga is the real son. On the way, a helicopter spots them on a rooftop and Adachi stays behind. Brown Granted, he had a good reason to do so, but when it turns out that Ichiban is Arakawa's biological son, must've been quite painful for him to have to shoot his own son (or rather someone that he regarded as a son) just to get said plan going.. Will Ichiban Kasuga be back? As to why he asked Ichiban to take the fall, probably because he thought Ichi could handle prison, being so tough and all. "Yakuza: Like a Dragon" has multiple storylines that all begin to culminate at the end of the game, with the toppling of multiple crime families and the possibility of some babies being swiped at birth all being thrown at the player. They meet Hamako and Bleach Japan after a bodyguard job, and Adachi rejoins them afterward. However, one hundred million yen in counterfeit bills turned up missing while in Toshio's possession, prompting the Seiryu Clan to eliminate him; in reality, the money had been stolen by Yoko and the man she was having an affair with at the time, his former co-star Tora. Kiichi NakaiWP Occupation [4], Ichiban is an orphan raised in Kamuroch by Jiro Kasuga, the manager of a soapland, a type of prostitution establishment that provides its services based on the exploitation of a loophole in Japanese law. After their job is done, however, Nonomiya dies apparently from suicide. A high-ranking member of the family like Sawashiro would've probably hurt their reputation too much. 18 years later, Ichiban is released from prison. Note: This is ONLY to be used to report spam, advertising, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts. These skills mainly focus on increasing the survivability and offensive capabilities of Offense-type allies and confer a huge boost of up to 92% in total to criticality rate. It puts the pain of shooting Kasuga and the importance of the counterfeit bill into proper perspective, and the finality of Arakawa's life, of being able to finally look at his own son, not as. [22] Leah Williams and Tegan Jones from Kotaku Australia welcomed the decision to have Ichiban succeed Kiryu as the new lead character of the franchise, lauding his character arc to be simultaneously moving as well as one filled with ridiculous fun. Ichiban Kasuga was first publicly revealed in August 2017 as part of the developer's promotional efforts for the then-upcoming Ryu ga Gotoku ONLINE. Initially hesitant, he accepts after learning the Liumang had sent assassins after Nanba. He has a scar on the right side of his face he received from his mother in childhood, which is shallow enough to cover with makeup.