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Kiryu Kazuma is an incredible character, but is Like a Dragon Gaiden really the end? We’re supposed to think so, and it makes sense. Some fans have felt that Yakuza 5 should have been the natural ending to his story, but one could argue that the ending of Yakuza 6 was perfect. If I had never seen another entry with the Dragon of Dojima in it, other than perhaps a cameo, I would have been perfectly happy. He’s a character that has suffered greatly across the titles he’s been the lead of.
However, I’m not convinced SEGA or Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios are quite ready to let Kiryu Kazuma walk off into the sunset on his own. Even with a cancer diagnosis confirmed during the trailers for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, we have to ask: have we really seen the last of the Dragon after Like a Dragon Gaiden?
Note: This piece is purely speculatory. It also contains footage of the ending of Like a Dragon Gaiden.
Kiryu Kazuma could return for another solo game after Like a Dragon Gaiden
I have a really hard time swallowing the pill that this game was Kiryu’s solo adventure swan song. It should be. Even though Yakuza 6: The Song of Life should have also been the end, I wanted to see this one play out. The Dragon of Dojima appearing out of nowhere after faking his own death is very interesting. I wanted to know what happened between the two mainline entries of the series.
Fans love Kasuga Ichiban, though. Some of it might be due to him sharing a voice actor with Nishikiyama from Yakuza 0/Yakuza Kiwami. He was Kiryu’s best friend, after all, and so it’s sort of heartwarming for him to finally be the star of the show after all these years.
Do we really have any reason to suspect that SEGA will make another solo game for Kazuma? There’s no hard proof, but one line in the ending of Like a Dragon Gaiden made me incredibly suspicious. It made me think that the developers have decided they can’t let go of the star.
The leader of the Daidoji Faction - or at least the highest-ranking officer we’ve seen so far - points out that it was a good idea to give Kiryu a vacation. It will raise the morale of his other “pawns” if they think their hard work will also be rewarded.
The monk who attended him has worked with the Dragon of Dojima since coming to the temple. He warned the leader that he shouldn’t make an enemy of Kiryu Kazuma. While he’s a useful, powerful ally, the protagonist of the Yakuza series has done incredibly violent things to people who wrong him or threaten the orphans he protects.
That one line in Like a Dragon Gaiden's ending made me think there’s at least one more solo Kiryu game in the works, either currently in development or planned for the future. The various appearances of the franchise protagonist after Yakuza 6 show that they refuse to let him go and simply let Kasuga be the star of the series going forward.
Even Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was tagged as having two protagonists: Kazuma and Kasuga. While I’d be interested in seeing what they do with him in another game - either set in current times or perhaps past events - I think it’s time to let him go.
Let Kiryu walk off quietly into the sunset and be at peace after Like a Dragon Gaiden, and let Kasuga bask in the spotlight.
