‘We Tried to Consider Somebody Who Makes You Go, ‘This Man’s a Creep”: Yakuza/Like a Dragon Director Addresses Controversial Casting

The director of Yakuza 3 Kiwami + Darkish Ties has damaged his silence on Ryo Ga Gotoku Studio’s controversial hiring of Teruyuki Kagawa to play Goh Hamazaki, saying they wanted somebody who would make audiences suppose, “This man’s a creep.”

This comes from an interview with Horii performed by Japanese outlet GAME Watch, and independently translated by IGN. Within the interview, Horii is requested immediately concerning the choice to recast sure characters in Kiwami from their unique Japanese actors. His basic response as to why he recast each Hamazaki and Rikiya Shimabukuro is that whereas it might “actually be safer to not recast them and keep away from on-line criticism,” the studio “felt there was no use being afraid.”

Horii goes on to say that they based mostly their choice on who they most needed to see carry out. When requested immediately about Kagawa taking part in Hamazaki, that is what Horii needed to say:

Hamazaki is a sleazy, persistent, and militant yakuza, proper? Since he is not an explosive character like Kanda, after we tried to consider somebody who makes you go, “This man’s a creep,” naturally it was Kagawa – that was the principle issue. Kagawa’s appearing is enjoyable to look at. Even when he is chopping a pig’s ft off with a chef’s knife, it has a slimy really feel. That feeling permeates his efficiency, so it brings a freshness to the scene and made it really feel actually enjoyable.

Kagawa’s casting as Hamazaki has been met with anger from Yakuza followers as a result of actor having been accused by a number of girls of sexual assault, with one girl coming ahead with what appears to be photographic proof of the incident. In 2022, Kagawa admitted to and apologized for one of many incidents, however one other of his accusers has stated she obtained no apology.

Following the announcement of Kagawa’s casting, Yakuza followers reacted in anger on social media, getting #REMOVEKAGAWA trending on a number of networks and making a Change.org petition that on the time of this writing has almost 10,000 signatures. Followers have accused RGG Studio of suppressing the #REMOVEKAGAWA hashtag and deleting feedback referencing the difficulty on its official Instagram web page. And a lot of them have identified that Sega has recast actors for offenses previously – Pierre Taki was recast in Judgment again in 2019 after he was arrested for cocaine possesssion.

Up so far, neither RGG Studio nor Sega has provided official touch upon Kagawa’s casting, nor the accusations – Horii’s reply is the primary assertion that is been provided on the topic. Nonetheless, Sega did publish a trailer on its official YouTube after the wave of criticism, which launched the Japanese voice solid and opened on an extended clip of Hamazaki. IGN reached out to Sega for added remark forward of this story, however didn’t hear again in time for publication.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Acquired a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.