Like a Dragon: Prologue
Encyclopedia
Like a Dragon: Prologue, known in Japanese
as , is a 2006 Japanese crime drama
Original Video directed by Takeshi Miyasaka with Takashi Miike
as executive director. It is based upon Toshihiro Nagoshi
's 2005 video game Yakuza
released on PlayStation 2
.
This drama stars puroresu champion Masakatsu Funaki
in the title role and is a prequel to the original episode of the Yakuza series
which was itself ported on the screen by Takashi Miike as Like a Dragon: Movie Version.
joins them. Following a yakuza
tradition, the honorable Kazama secretly raises orphans he has directly or indirectly killed the parents. In return, these children look at him at their father and he eventually introduces the teenagers in the Dojima Family, a Tojo Clan affiliate.
Years later the promising Kazuma Kiryu quickly rises the yakuza hierarchy and earns the nickname "the Dragon of the Dojima Family" for the Dragon irezumi
tattoo on his back (hence the original title ). His childhood friend Nishikiyama his torn between loyalty for his kyodai (yakuza "brother") and jealousy against the one who has always been Kazama's protégé. Another subject of rivalry between the two friends is their secret love for Yumi who looks at them as her older brothers. 1990, in order to remain close to both of them, she left the orphanage and moved to Tokyo
's red-light district
Kamurocho, where they found her a job as hostess at Reina's Serena bar.
October 1, 1995, Kazuma Kiryu announces his friends he is ready to create his own yakuza Family, only lacks the Chairman of the Dojima Family Sohei Dojima's go ahead. Later that night the latter kidnaps Yumi from Serena, Nishikiyama tries to interfere but Dojima's men hold him. When Nishikiyama eventually reaches Dojima's office, he finds his boss raping Yumi and shots him dead. Kazuma who was at a meeting with Kazama had been called by Reina and comes shortly after only to find Dojima on the ground, Nishikiyama and Yumi in shock. Then Kazuma takes the responsibility in order to protect Yuko who needs her brother Nishikiyama as she is about to get a last chance operation. Kazuma orders the pair to leave before the police arrives.
product it was released on DVD
by Sega
on March 24, 2006 in Japan. Extra material included game FMV
s.
The English subtitled version was released by Sega Europe on August 15, 2006 on the game's European website. It was made available as free VOD
with four chapters called "episodes" available for download.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
as , is a 2006 Japanese crime drama
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
Original Video directed by Takeshi Miyasaka with Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
as executive director. It is based upon Toshihiro Nagoshi
Toshihiro Nagoshi
is a Japanese video game producer and designer for Sega. Nagoshi headed Sega AM4/Amusement Vision. He is best known as the producer and director of the Super Monkey Ball series, excluding Super Monkey Ball Adventure. His credits also include Virtua Striker, Daytona USA, and Spikeout...
's 2005 video game Yakuza
Yakuza (video game)
Yakuza, originally released in Japan as is an action-adventure fighter video game developed and published by Sega in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2...
released on PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
.
This drama stars puroresu champion Masakatsu Funaki
Masakatsu Funaki
, is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling, PWFG, as well as the UWF. He is currently performing at All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is one half of the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Champions, along with Keiji Mutoh...
in the title role and is a prequel to the original episode of the Yakuza series
Yakuza (series)
Yakuza is a Fighting game video game franchise created by Amusement Vision and owned and published by Sega.The series has sold at least 3.2 million copies as of March 2009...
which was itself ported on the screen by Takashi Miike as Like a Dragon: Movie Version.
Plot
During the 1970s three children, Kazuma Kiryu, Akira Nishikiyama (a.k.a. Nishiki) and his younger sister, Yuko Nishikiyama, are raised in Shintaro Kazama (a.k.a. Fuma)'s Sunflower Orphanage. In summer 1980, Yumi Sawamura, a young girl who had her parents incidentally shot during a gangs shootoutShootout
A shootout is a gun battle between armed groups. A shootout often, but not necessarily, pits law enforcement against criminal elements; it could also involve two groups outside of law enforcement, such as rival gangs. A shootout in a military context A shootout is a gun battle between armed groups....
joins them. Following a yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
tradition, the honorable Kazama secretly raises orphans he has directly or indirectly killed the parents. In return, these children look at him at their father and he eventually introduces the teenagers in the Dojima Family, a Tojo Clan affiliate.
Years later the promising Kazuma Kiryu quickly rises the yakuza hierarchy and earns the nickname "the Dragon of the Dojima Family" for the Dragon irezumi
Irezumi
Irezumi is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing....
tattoo on his back (hence the original title ). His childhood friend Nishikiyama his torn between loyalty for his kyodai (yakuza "brother") and jealousy against the one who has always been Kazama's protégé. Another subject of rivalry between the two friends is their secret love for Yumi who looks at them as her older brothers. 1990, in order to remain close to both of them, she left the orphanage and moved to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
's red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
Kamurocho, where they found her a job as hostess at Reina's Serena bar.
October 1, 1995, Kazuma Kiryu announces his friends he is ready to create his own yakuza Family, only lacks the Chairman of the Dojima Family Sohei Dojima's go ahead. Later that night the latter kidnaps Yumi from Serena, Nishikiyama tries to interfere but Dojima's men hold him. When Nishikiyama eventually reaches Dojima's office, he finds his boss raping Yumi and shots him dead. Kazuma who was at a meeting with Kazama had been called by Reina and comes shortly after only to find Dojima on the ground, Nishikiyama and Yumi in shock. Then Kazuma takes the responsibility in order to protect Yuko who needs her brother Nishikiyama as she is about to get a last chance operation. Kazuma orders the pair to leave before the police arrives.
Cast
- Masakatsu FunakiMasakatsu Funaki, is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling, PWFG, as well as the UWF. He is currently performing at All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is one half of the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Champions, along with Keiji Mutoh...
as Kazuma Kiryu (桐生一馬) - Mikio Ohosawa as Akira Nishikiyama (錦山彰)
- Ayaka Maeda as Yumi Sawamura (澤村由美)
- Harumi Sone as Sohei Dojima (堂島宗兵)
- Hirotaro Honda as Shintaro Kazama (風間新太郎)
- Unknown actor as Sunflower principal
Video
As a direct-to-videoDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
product it was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
on March 24, 2006 in Japan. Extra material included game FMV
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
s.
The English subtitled version was released by Sega Europe on August 15, 2006 on the game's European website. It was made available as free VOD
VOD
VOD may stand for:*Velocity of detonation, the speed of a shock wave through a detonated explosive*Veno-occlusive disease, a complication of bone marrow transplantation*Versant Object Database, a database management system...
with four chapters called "episodes" available for download.