Beast in the East: Yakuza 0 - Part 21

Let's keep Yakuzin!

hot mike hot mike dan

No shirt brawlin'

The racism Tachibana suffered pisses me off so much. I know a half chinese, half japanese person and they still get the same shit he talks about in this game. People in the west only talk about the local racism, I wouldn't have known about it normally.

Dan's mike levels is way higher than the others but seems to be okay from the 4-minute point.

I know this was shot some weeks after the previous episode, but I still think the whole 'who is omi/red suit/white suit/etc' questions and whatnot kinda make a strong case for doing two episodes a week rather than just the one. It's one thing to talk over important cutscenes, but combined with only playing 90 minutes every week, it's too much.

Centuries of hostility and Japan's actions shortly before and during WW2 can be thanked for that.

Japan has issued so many apologies for comfort women and the acts they committed but South Korea and China seem unwilling to leave it in the past, demanding more remorse and apologies.

All it does is make Japanese people angry, like why do they need to apologise even more than they already have? I know some Japanese politicians do and say things that are sometimes antagonistic, but it's ludicrous to think modern day Japan has anything to do with comfort women or Nanjing... what can more apologies possibly achieve?

With this said, there's a lot of people from these countries living in harmony and enjoying each other's culture. It's the older people and the governments that need to grow up.

It's amazing to think of the progress Germany has made with its image, yet in Asia there's still these calls for Japan to apologise for the Imperial Army. 70+ years later!

I don't think China's antagonistic military operations help matters either, I would also guess that a lot of anti-Chinese (mainland) sentiments spread from Taiwan and Hong Kong across the entire region.

#AsiaThings

Ugh. This is where this game gets sad. :(

The animators for this series really know how to make a hit a fucking hit, eg. the thumbnail. Very few games get me as hyped for a boss fight like Yakuza does.

The current government's & Shinzo Abe's attempts at revisionism sure doesn't help...

@alex@danryckert@vinny@ybbaaabby

Maybe you could use this as a reference, here's some of the catchy / good songs:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfp29KYn6RxqSmzl1R3ub8ym9TJZaUWcf

• Debt Cleanup
• La Di Da (70s Kungfu)
• Trouble Shooting Star
• Customer Creed (Jazz big band, Majima intro when he was manhandling the drunk sales guy)
• Tiger Flute (70s Kungfu)
• We're Long Hua Expedition (70s Kungfu)
• To be prepared --- (Sunshine Club)
• Try to have some fun for me!! (Sunshine Club)
• Fever Time (Sunshine Club)
• 怨魔の契り (Wrath of the Demon, aka Kuzeeeeeeeeeee)
• Breeze Time (Pocket Racer)
• Beyond The Speed (Pocket Racer)
• JUDGEMENT-審判-(Judgement Shinpan, aka Bruce Springsteen Karaoke)
• 24時間シンデレラ (24 hours Cinderella, aka Majima's ice skating karaoke)

Edit:

That ain't no mushroom, that's a fugu platter, sliced thin enough till it's translucent.

That guy with the hammer, is the same guy that you put his face into the toilet during first large fight:

@wynnduffy: in conclusion, everyone is terrible and we could all do with a little more forgiveness in our lives.

Quick refresher, as it came up (for anyone watching, not just the Beast crew, hopefully it's helpful):

(All specific to current Beast in the East knowledge)

Tojo Clan (primarily in Kamurocho):

• Acting Second Chairman (Takashi Nihara) is the top guy.
• Dojima Family (Sohei Dojima) is part of Tojo Clan.
• Shimano Family (Futoshi Shimano "Bald monobrow dude") is also part of Tojo Clan.
• Nikkyo Consortium (Masaru Sera "White Suit") works for Tojo but is not strictly a subsidiary - they often do Tojo's "dirty work" and such.

Omi Alliance (primarily in Osaka):

• Fifth Chairman (unnamed so far in 0) is in charge.
• Sagawa Family (Tsukasa Sagawa) is part of Omi Alliance.
• Kijin Clan (Homare Nishitani "Red Suit") is also part of Omi Alliance.

The above, but in pictures (from SEGA)!

Gallery

These are the main players in this game.

Kiryu is Dojima Family (at least until the early events of the game), while Majima was Shimano Family until his exile to Osaka (as portrayed early in this game also).

The key note is that Sagawa (Omi) and Shimano (Tojo) are "sworn brothers" (much like Kiryu + Nishiki), hence why Majima is under Sagawa's watch during his exile from the Shimano Family.

Here are some more specific details if you want to get fancy:

I was yelling hell yes at my tv during the shirtless Kiryu and Nishiki fight, and then got incredibly sad during the next big scene. This game is pretty good.

Every VA in this game seriously need to be commended for their performances.

@y2ken said:

Quick refresher, as it came up (for anyone watching, not just the Beast crew, hopefully it's helpful):

(All specific to current Beast in the East knowledge)

Tojo Clan (primarily in Kamurocho):

• Acting Second Chairman (Takashi Nihara) is the top guy.
• Dojima Family (Sohei Dojima) is part of Tojo Clan.
• Shimano Family (Futoshi Shimano "Bald monobrow dude") is also part of Tojo Clan.
• Nikkyo Consortium (Masaru Sera "White Suit") works for Tojo but is not strictly a subsidiary - they often do Tojo's "dirty work" and such.

Omi Alliance (primarily in Osaka):

• Fifth Chairman (unnamed so far in 0) is in charge.
• Sagawa Family (Tsukasa Sagawa) is part of Omi Alliance.
• Kijin Clan (Homare Nishitani "Red Suit") is also part of Omi Alliance.

The above, but in pictures (from SEGA)!

Gallery

These are the main players in this game.

Kiryu is Dojima Family (at least until the early events of the game), while Majima was Shimano Family until his exile to Osaka (as portrayed early in this game also).

The key note is that Sagawa (Omi) and Shimano (Tojo) are "sworn brothers" (much like Kiryu + Nishiki), hence why Majima is under Sagawa's watch during his exile from the Shimano Family.

Here are some more specific details if you want to get fancy:

Dojima Family:

• Sohei Dojima (chubby moustache guy) is your top man.
• Shintaro Kazama (man in prison) is Dojima's right hand man and the "brains" of the operation - he's also the founder of the Sunflower Orphanage and Kiryu/Nishiki's adoptive "father." Dojima is scared of him, as revealed in this episode.
• Osamu Kashiwagi (scar dude) is Kazama's captain.
• Daisaku Kuze (shades), Hiroki Awano (Wayne Newton), and Keiji Shibusawa (shaved head) are the lieutenants under Kazama.

Additional Notes:

1. Shimano asked Sagawa to task Majima with killing Makimura Makoto (but Sagawa says he is unsure of Shimano's reasoning behind this - his true motive is revealed at the end of this episode).
2. Shibusawa asked Nishitani to bring in Makoto alive (Nishitani tells Majima this in prison).
3. Oda was feeding information about Makoto's location to Shibusawa (revealed by Shibusawa and Oda upon Oda's death).
4. Kuze reveals in this episode that someone within the Tojo Clan is trying to sell the empty lot to the Omi Alliance, giving them a foothold in Kamurocho - this would be a big betrayal of the Tojo family. The traitor's identity is currently unknown as of this episode...

Cheers mate. Doing the lord's work there.

@alex@vinny@danryckert@ybbaaabby

There's a menu in the pause screen under Notebook/Help -> Characters that has all of the major characters in the game sorted by their affiliations and has their picture and a paragraph that tells you about their backstories and relationships.

The game tells you about it in the very beginning but never mentions it again. Hope that helps.

It's like seeing an old friend you haven't seen in years, except it's a nutshot - Alex Navarro

He got two toes with the sledgehammer. Maybe if you guys paid attention...

@wynnduffy:

The idea that this only goes one way (China and Korea targeting Japan) and only exists in older generations is absurd. Relations are strained all the way around, and there are no shortage of young ultranationalists carrying the same old hatreds, whether it be in China, South Korea, or Japan. The discrimination the zainichi face living in Japan is a very real thing, and it's even worse for Chinese.

Anyone know what song is at 1:31:00? It is the best.

Uhm, I don't think you read my post very well so I'll address this clearly.

1) I didn't say it goes one way, that's exactly why I wrote:

I know some Japanese politicians do and say things that are sometimes antagonistic

2) I never said only young people can have anti-Korean/Chinese attitudes, I said the older generation will have more of them. Japan is more open than it used to be and foreign language acquisition has shot up.

I've spent enough time in Japan (moving back soon) among Taiwanese, Korean and Chinese students to get a grasp on their lives there, and the overwhelming amount of Japanese I have met are curious about their neighbours, not prejudiced (although, China is treated with far more scepticism, and it's not undeserved)

3) I never said anything about the zainichi nor did I hint that discrimination doesn't take place. I am well aware of zainichi, actually it was funny you mentioned them because they were the topic of an essay I did last year.

If you take issue with what I said feel free to PM me, I've already typed too much about this in the comments of a Yakuza video.

Really hoping you guys at least finish yuki's hostess club quest, you barely touched that stuff. Majima can even do postcards from the back.

I love the idea that all of the yakuza dudes in this universe wear tear-away suits designed for male strippers.

It's fun to watch Vinny, who hasn't even touched this series, have a better grasp of heat mechanics than Dan, who has played for 21 parts. Would've liked to see more than one of those two-person combo heat moves.

Edit: I stand corrected. Thanks to Vinny, we saw more than one. Cool beans.

Doesn't Segawa go into the details (i.e. it's Shimano)?

@alistercat: I know you're talking mostly in the context of Japanese-Chinese relations, but speaking as a Chinese person (albeit American born), Chinese people be racist as hell, even against other Chinese from different parts of China. Mainlanders against overseas Chinese, Hong Kongers and Taiwanese and vice versa; long time urbanites versus recent rural migrant workers (who the former think are uncultured assholes moving to the cities and coasts looking for work who still piss and shit in the streets, because that does happen); even overseas Chinese racist against newcomers, who are stereotyped as uncultured swine overwhelmingly from Fujian province (my aunt went on a 10 minute rant against new Fujianese immigrants to the US to my cousins based off of her experiences dealing with Fujianese while working at a Chinese Senior Center and Food Pantry in Brooklyn, a couple weeks ago when we were in a Chinese food court in Flushing, Queens, because what we thought was a recent Fujianese immigrant started a fight a table behind us and was thrown out by security, egged on by my cousin's stories dealing with Fujianese patients at the medical office where he works in Chinatown, and how difficult they are to understand).

Add this to the overwhelming history that China and Japan have, plus the nationalistic fervor whipped up from time to time by their respective governments, and you can see why there's a ton of racism there from both sides. I know that Japan has apologized a bunch of times for all the excesses of the Imperial government prior to and during World War II, but Abe's recent stances have been seen as real wishy washy with regards to that (Yasukuni Shrine visits don't help things), not to mention the stuff that the far right members of his party who hold important positions do (the former governor of Tokyo comes to mind), which gets blown up by the Chinese nationalist media to whip up a frenzy amongst the populace.

Not saying it's solely Japan's fault, but the Chinese leadership in the CCP certainly takes advantage of it, to stir the feelings of the populace to help maintain their social control. I know some of the younger Chinese population certainly enjoy Japanese cultural exports, but there is also a large ultranationalist segment there even amongst the younger generations that feeds the animosity between the two a lot, which the Chinese government likes to exploit.

This is just mostly talking about the Chinese side because that's pretty much what I know. I'm sure there's a lot on the Japanese side I haven't touched on because I don't know about it.

Holy crap, plot thicc episode! Thanks for this one beasties!

Is the Empty Lot location going to end up being Millennium Tower?

This game deserves a lot of awards. You don't see a story and performance this good nowadays, especially not from a prequel from a game that didn't have much popularity in the west.

It`s kinda funny that Alex has asserted that both Sagawa and Sera must be dead after they where shot because they're eyes where open/rolled back, though it didn`t happen with either of them. Memory is a weird thing.

Also there is a bit of people being shot and then being fine in the other games, but 0 really leans into it.

@drew327: Pretty much.

Also, Lao Gui means Old Ghost/Demon in Chinese. Thematic naming!

Just reminded me how much _great_ music there is to come in the closing acts. The boss themes 閻魔の誓い and Two Dragons are so good.

Edit: While we're on the subject of music, here's Awano (Takeuchi Riki):

Fuck, someone used a Spicy Knife on my eyes a bit past the hour mark X_X

alex is going to Japan right? Wonder if he would ever visit Kabukicho, or at least that main gate.

Eat some Yakuza ass ramen, maybe pick some fights with the local criminals.

Absolutely

@ghoststalker: I appreciate the context. Being white and in the west we focus on our neighbouring countries problems, but in a way that makes it seems like only we have a problem with racism here and the rest of the world doesn't because it's never discussed. Like I said, I was only made aware through knowing someone that it affects. Everywhere is terrible, justified or not.

Mitch Mcconnel's tattoo would definitely be a turtle.

The one thing that Kiryu has over Majima, IMO, is multiple excellent boyfriends. Majima, sadly, has no boyfriends, except for in flashbacks.

Fuck, this game is so good.

I'm guessing someone has already pointed this out in the comments, and it probably doesn't matter as the story is winding to a close- but there is an NPC/side quest that allows you to share money between characters. And he reminds me of Yoshinori Ono the way he giggles all the time.

Kiryu and Nishiki fighting shirtless together is even cooler when you think about how Yakuza 1 ends.

Tachibana dying came out of nowhere. The way he was introduced in the game had me assuming that he was one of the central characters of the series. So even after hammer time I thought he would at least be alive. But nope. Can't wait for the protagonists to go on a revenge spree.

The urge to read the entire history of Yakuza lore is soooooo strong.. but I am in this for the long haul. Love this series, look forward to it every monday.

So that's how Mitch McConnell became head of the Senate.

Or one that lasts 60+ hours without letting up or letting a bad performance slip thorugh.

So yeah I cried when that thing happened with Tachibana, that scene made me real sad. Seriously that scene made me cry when i got there during my playthrough, and games don't usually do that to me.

Just so fucking sad

Anyone else?

I can't wait for the final episode: "Who's Shibusawa again?"

Even having seen so much of this game being played, if I had a PS4 I'd definitely buy it and do a full playthrough. It's too damn stylish to pass up otherwise.

What's the significance of the koi fish tattoo?

Cause everyone else has a dragon or an oni or some kind of angry samurai man, and then there's one of the most harmless, meatiest, domesticated fish...