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Takayuki Yagami
Yakuza character
The protagonist of Sega's Judgment video game
Takayuki Yagami as seen in Judgment
First appearanceJudgment (2018)
Created byToshihiro Nagoshi
Voiced byJapanese
Takuya Kimura
English
Greg Chun

Takayuki Yagami (Japanese: 八神 隆之, Hepburn: Yagami Takayuki) is a fictional character in Sega's 2018 action-adventure video game Judgment, which is a spin-off from the Yakuza game series. Yagami is a former defense attorney who resigns after a client he successfully defended kills their partner. Three years later, Yagami is a private detective in his own "Yagami Detective Agency" (八神探偵事務所) and investigates a serial killer who gouges out their victims' eyes. Yagami is voiced by Takuya Kimura in Japanese and by Greg Chun in English.

When developing Yagami, the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio team wanted to create a new type of main character following the release of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, which concludes the story of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. In contrast to the Kiryu's strong, heroic presence, Yagami is meant to be a more relatable character due to his troubled life. To differentiate between the two protagonists, Yagami was given sidequests in which he becomes friends with residents of Kamurocho. Takuya Kimura was chosen to voice Yagami to appeal to a wide audience. Greg Chun, who played Yagami in English-language versions of the game, said the role was challenging but enjoyable.

Critical response to Yagami has been generally positive. Video game journalists have praised the depth of Yagami's character arc and backstory in Judgment, and have favorably compared him to former protagonist Kiryu. Kimura and Chun have both been commended for their portrayals of the character.

Creation and development

Writer and executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi (left) used multiple detective stories as inspiration for Yagami's character, most notably Paul Newman (right) in The Verdict.

Since the game Yakuza 6: The Song of Life concluded the story of Yakuza series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game developers wanted to create a distinctive character for the story. At the behest of producer Kazuki Hosokawa, the team decided the character should be a detective.[1] The biggest influence was the Paul Newman film The Verdict, in which Newman's character Frank Galvin suffers a crisis similar to Yagami's in regards to his career as a lawyer.[2] In order to a stark contrast between Kiryu and the new protagonist, the staff wanted to develop Yagami as a more relatable character, with his fall from grace and gradual redemptive arc designed to appeal to players. Due to the popularity of detective stories, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio wrote Yagami as a man who would become more knowledgeable alongside the player as the game progressed.[3] Sega described Yagami as "a man of conviction who fights for his beliefs, despite the overwhelming despair surrounding him".[4] Yagami's fighting style was inspired Chinese martial arts.[5]

Executive director and writer Toshihiro Nagoshi said the detective idea drew on multiple influences, primarily Korean films.[6] Because there are few games based on detective dramas, Hosokawa wanted Yagami to stand out but recognized creating a new character is a major challenge. To make a protagonist who would be a fitting successor to Kiryu, Hosokawa wanted Yagami to be "more grounded to fit the noir vibe". He also said:

"When you’re writing a story and there’s a really solid character that’s been around for a long time, the character dictates what happens next. In contrast to that, with Yagami, at the start of development we didn’t really have anything attached to him at all. It was a challenge, but also an opportunity for a development team that has been working so long on the same series."[1]

The staff wanted the protagonist to have a deep connection to the city. To emphasize this, they introduced a gameplay mechanic known as the Friendship System, allowing Yagami to befriend and form bonds with the residents of Kamurocho.[7] The developers used the main story to explore facets of Yagami's personality, using sidequests to please fans wanting a balance between seriousness and comedy. Hosokawa regarded the friendship system as one of his favorite parts of Judgment due to the bonds Yagami forms with other characters. As a result, Hosokawa believes that a Judgment sequel would have to remain in Kamurocho due to Yagami's strong connection with the city and its people.[8] In contrast to previous Yakuza protagonists, who are often only visitors to Kamurocho, Yagami was written as a civilian resident in the city, allowing his social life to be further explored.[3]

Localization producer Scott Strichart said though fans might miss previous Yakuza characters, like Kiryu and Goro Majima, he hoped they would be receptive to Yagami, describing him as "his own person – super smart, a razor-sharp wit, and a guy who harbours his own flaws, too".[9] The relationship between Yagami and his ex-lover Mafuyu Fujii was changed during development because Nagoshi found the romance spoiled the thriller aspects of Judgment. Nagoshi also expressed doubts about the game's popularity in English-speaking countries because Takuya Kimura is not popular in Western regions.[10] Following the release of the game, Sega staff felt that if there should be a sequel to Judgment, Yagami and his partner Masaharu Kaito would retain their lead roles and would still be set in Kamurocho.[11]

Voice actors

Early in the development of Judgment, the developers considered using a famous actor to portray Yagami, deciding upon Takuya Kimura. Nagoshi was afraid audiences would accuse them of toning down the character due to Kimura's popularity. However, Kimura was open to the team's suggestions and worked with the developers to hone the character. Yagami has more spoken dialogue in Judgment than Kiryu had in any individual Yakuza game. Sega was pleased with Kimura's performance, noting he needed far fewer retakes during recording than they anticipated. Some lines were rewritten to better fit Kimura's delivery, but the writers ensured these changes would not deviate from Yagami's personality. The game's dialogue was recorded in chronological order so players would feel Kimura's voice evolving as Yagami's character develops during the story. Kimura enjoyed his work on the game, and Nagoshi remarked on Kimura's quick response to his messages. In contrast with previous Yakuza titles, the game was not recorded until after the whole scenario was written, which helped Kimura and the other actors.[12] The game also references other parts of Kimura's career, such as the dialogue line "Chotte mateyo" (Hey, wait a minute!), a line spoken by Kimura's character in the 1997 television drama Love Generation and Yagami's use of multiple outfits like Kimura.[13]

Based on his previous knowledge of the Yakuza franchise, Greg Chun was surprised and pleased to be selected to voice Yagami in the English-language version of Judgment.[14] Yagami's voice was meant to make him sound like a "bona fide badass" regardless of language, something the localization team believed they succeeded at.[15] Chun found his work on the game gratifying, saying, "it really did require me to let go of the tricks that you use to push a performance through, and I really did need to fall back on authenticity and genuine groundedness".[16] Chun found staying faithful to the spirit of the Japanese version challenging, but enjoyed portraying Yagami's blend of seriousness and comedy. He said having to scream in certain parts of the game was difficult.[16] Chun was surprised by the depth of Yagami's character arc, considering his work on the game an unforgettable experience.[17] He found the character easy to connect with because of his realistic characterization.[18]

Plot summary

Born in 1983, Takayuki Yagami is orphaned as a teenager after his attorney father proves an accused murderer innocent, leading the victim's father to kill his parents in retribution. Yagami moves to Kamurocho, where he is taken in and raised by yakuza patriarch Mitsugu Matsugane.[19] Matsugane's friend Ryuzo Genda takes an interest in Yagami, paying his law school tuition and later hiring him to work at his law firm. Yagami develops a romantic relationship with prosecutor Mafuyu Fujii, and gains widespread recognition in 2015 after proving Advanced Drug Development Center (ADDC) janitor Shinpei Okubo innocent of murdering patient Koichi Waku.[20] Shortly thereafter, Okubo is arrested for killing his girlfriend Emi Terasawa and burning down his apartment. As a result, Yagami breaks up with Fujii and gives up practicing law.[21][22]

Three years later, at the beginning of Judgment, Yagami has become a private detective, working alongside former Matsugane family yakuza Masaharu Kaito. While helping prove Matsugane captain Kyohei Hamura innocent of murder, Yagami becomes interested in a serial murder case in which the victims' eyes are removed from the bodies. Dubbing the killer "The Mole", Yagami and Kaito begin investigating the case with help from Fujii, Genda, and several others.[23]

After the Mole kills Yagami's former colleague Masamichi Shintani, Yagami discovers ties between the Mole and ADDC doctor Yoji Shono. Yagami meets Shigeru Kajihira, who reveals a failed plan to take over the area around the ADDC for a land redevelopment program that was foiled when researchers claimed to have found a potential cure for Alzheimer's disease named "AD-9". Kajihira asks Yagami to investigate the death of former ADDC vice-director Toru Hashiki. While police detective Mitsuru Kuroiwa accuses fellow detective Kazuya Ayabe of being the Mole, Yagami theorizes the real culprit is conducting human experiments to test the effectiveness of AD-9 and that the deaths of Waku, Shintani and Hashiki were failed experiments. He also suspects Shono killed Terasawa to cover up the experiments.[24]

After Matsugane is killed defending them both from the Mole, Hamura tells Yagami that Kuroiwa is the Mole and provides Yagami with evidence of the ADDC's connection to Shintani's murder.[25] Yagami successfully defends Ayabe in court and proves the ADDC's involvement in the murders. During the trial, Yagami learns Kuroiwa has escaped and pursues him to the ADDC. Yagami defeats Kuroiwa, who is shot by the police, while Shono dies of side effects from an AD-9 injection. The court frees Okubo and places the others involved in the conspiracy under arrest. In the aftermath, Yagami declines to take up law again and continues to work with Kaito at the Yagami Detective Agency.[26]

Reception

Critical response to Takayuki Yagami has been generally positive. IGN India and Entertainment Focus enjoyed the character's personality and depth provided by his role in the story.[27][28] Engadget called him a "flawed but lovable hero" for his sense of honor, comparing him to detectives in television dramas.[29] RPGamer called Yagami a likable hero and considered his character arc the best part of the game,[30] something which IGN agreed with.[31] His dynamic with Kaito was praised by GameSpot and Siliconera due to the duo's likable chemistry.[23][32]

Several outlets compared and contrasted Yagami with Kazuma Kiryu. EGM Now found the differences between Yagami's upbeat attitude and Kiryu's stoic nature to be interesting.[33] GameInformer noted Yagami has no similarities with Kiryu and considered him a more relatable character.[34] Kotaku called Yagami a more realistic character than Kiryu because of the way his story is portrayed.[35] GamesRadar considered Yagami's character one of the biggest differences between Judgment and the Yakuza games, highlighting Yagami's different worldview; the reviewer praised Yagami because he stands out both physically and mentally.[36] GameRevolution considered Yagami more complex than Kiryu due to his ability to show weakness.[37]

GameSpot considered it challenging to see Yagami as a true successor to Kiryu's legacy but liked the narrative presented through the character, comparing him to fellow Yakuza character Shun Akiyama.[20] Another IGN writer compared Yagami's fighting styles instead to the works of Jackie Chan.[38] Despite fearing Yagami might seem similar to Kiryu, Polygon said Yagami's interactions with secondary characters give him an identity of his own.[39] USGamer and HobbyConsolas were more critical, saying Yagami is not as appealing as his predecessor and that his backstory is similar to Kiryu's.[40][41] Following the worldwide success of Judgment, PushSquare and GamesRadar said they would enjoy to see Yagami return in a sequel, with GamesRadar finding him as a fitting successor to Kiryu.[36][42] Due to their similar jobs, Yagami has often been compared to Phoenix Wright, the main character from Capcom's Ace Attorney series.[43][44][45]

Journalists also commented on the vocal performances of Yagami's two voice actors. RPGamer gave Judgment its Editors' Choice Award for Best Voice Acting, praising both Kimura and Chun's performances as Yagami.[46] VG247 noted Kimura's appeal to female Japanese fans based on his portrayal of the character,[47] while USGamer said Kimura's performance was one of the strongest influences on Yagami's character.[48] Kotaku said Kimura's similarities with Yagami make the detective popular in Eastern regions for similar reasons.[13] Chun's performance as Yagami was praised by The Hollywood Reporter and Game Informer.[34][49] EGM Now believed Chun's performance was more striking than Kimura's, who the writer did not find suitable for the character.[33] In the 2020 NAVGTR Awards, Kimura was nominated for the "Performance in a Drama, Lead" award for his work as Yagami,[50] but lost to Charlotte McBurney's Amicia from A Plague Tale: Innocence.[51]

References

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