For a while, it seemed like the Yakuza spinoff Judgment would stay exclusive to consoles. If fans wanted to see what new guys Takayuki Yagami and Masaharu Kaito brought to the table, they’d have to get a PS4 or PS5. Instead, both Judgment and its sequel, Lost Judgment just appeared on PC via Steam on September 15th, 2022. Just out of the blue, too, as an aside to RGG Studio’s other bombshells like Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin’s remake and Like a Dragon 8.
So now, PC owners can finally see what console owners were fussing about back in 2019. However, there may be a few details about its lead, Yagami, that they didn’t notice. From his design to his quirks, here is some trivia about Yagami.
1 He Was Inspired by Paul Newman
It was producer Kazuki Hosokawa’s idea to make the protagonist of the spin-off series a detective. The dev team took inspiration from a lot of mystery and crime stories to build up the man who’d become Takayuki Yagami. The most significant source of inspiration came in The Verdict, a 1982 film starring Paul Newman.
Newman played the part of Frank Galvin, an alcoholic lawyer who tackles a medical malpractice case, settling on his convictions when the hospital and their attorneys try to make him settle. It was this fall from grace and subsequent rising that inspired Yagami’s backstory as an ex-lawyer brought down by a rough case and coming back against a conspiracy surrounding a string of killings around Kamurochō.
2 He is the Anti-Kiryu
RGG Studio have been producing protagonists that contrast with Yakuza lead Kazuma Kiryu since Yakuza 4 gave fans three of them at once in the fleet-footed Akiyama, burly brute Saejima, and counter-holding cop Tanimura. Yagami followed this same line of thinking and is perhaps the most distinct of all of them.
Kiryu is an ex-yakuza heavy who can send foes flying down the street with one punch and doesn’t shy away from using guns or blades in battle. Yagami is a law-abiding detective who peppers enemies with agile strikes and would sooner disarm a gun than use it. He can’t take damage as well as Kiryu, but he can dodge hard strikes better and bound off walls and other people to get ahead. However, like Kiryu, Yagami has a strong sense of justice and sticks to his convictions.
3 The Law Runs in His Families
Being on the other side of the coin from Kiryu doesn’t mean Yagami doesn’t have ties to the yakuza himself. In fact, his upbringing is rather close to his suited counterpart. Yagami’s parents were killed when his father, a defense attorney, proved a murderer innocent. The victim’s father took umbrage with that and rendered the young Yagami an orphan. He moved to Kamurochō, where he was adopted by Mitsugu Matsugane, the patriarch of the Matsugane family of the Tojo clan.
Instead of joining Matsugane’s ranks, the patriarch helped him focus on his ambition to become a lawyer. With the help of his friend Ryuzo Genda, they both funded Yagami’s way into law school and got him a job at Genda’s law office. So, Yagami ended up with two father figures on different sides of the law helping him on his way to upholding it. However, his sense of justice is all his own.
4 His Kung Fu is Self-Taught
Yagami’s combat isn’t as hard-hitting as the Yakuza cast, though it is nimbler, quicker, and can attack more foes at once. While it’s inspired by Chinese kung fu, Yagami didn’t learn it from any of the Chinese characters in the game. It’s a self-taught style he refers to as ‘Kamurochō-style’ and was developed by the creators to lighten the mood of the dark narrative. This is why his moves are flashier and more light-hearted than his predecessors.
His Crane style is all about swooping wide kicks that can hit multiple foes, while his Tiger style focuses on single foes with hard-hitting strikes. Lost Judgment gave him a new style, Snake, that Yagami developed on the side. It’s a more merciful style where Yagami can use EX-Actions to make opponents faint or submit instead of knocking them out directly. This new style was likened to Aikido by Yakuza executive producer Toshihiro Nagoshi. In practice, it looks more like Wing Chun kung fu with the holds and throws of Yakuza 4’s Tanimura.
5 His Prototype Look Can Be Found in Yakuza Kiwami 2
Judgment would've been in development while the finishing touches were being applied to Yakuza Kiwami 2. Considering the two games were both made on the Dragon Engine, it's not surprising the two games share DNA. It's noticeable enough with their versions of Kamurochō. Still, it was odd when people delved into the files of the PC version of Yakuza Kiwami 2 and found a render of a familiar-looking character.
The character's face is different, but there's no mistaking those clothes. His design is very similar to Yagami, right down to the leather jacket, sneakers, and wallet chain. The data for his move set was also found in Kiwami 2 but without hitboxes. The beautiful render above was created by Manghiam Nongsiej. You can see more from the creator on their Instagram and Tumblr.
6 He Is Played by a Boyband Member
Outside of Japan, Takuya Kimura is perhaps best known for his film roles, like in Takashi Miike’s Blade of the Immortal. Within Japan, he’s a TV, screen, and music icon. He made his name as a member of SMAP, one of the most successful boybands in Asia. One of the longest-lasting too, with a career lasting from 1988 to 2016. The band was a mainstay on Japanese TV, but they also did projects separately.
Kimura’s solo acting debut on the series Long Vacation in 1996 caused such a commotion that it’s been referred to as the “Long-Vaca Phenomenon”. Still, Kimura’s squeaky-clean image did give Nagoshi and others pause, thinking they’d have to tone Judgment down to fit the actor. Surprisingly, he was open to their ideas, leading to the game being produced as is, with a few nods to Kimura’s prior roles.
7 This May Have Caused Complications for the Series
Judgment is Kimura’s biggest video game role since the Japanese commercials for Earthbound. It’s led Japanese fans to refer to the Judgment games as ‘Kimutaku Ga Gotoku’ (Like Takuya Kimura). Nagoshi was worried Kimura would only appeal to home audiences and not international ones or that his national fame would overshadow the game entirely. Luckily, the series has caught on due to its own merits too. However, its fate is still up in the air.
Kimura’s talent agency, Johnny & Associates, is infamous for strictly controlling access to their clients’ likenesses. Strict to the point where their own website would use silhouettes instead of photos for their clients’ films. It was because of this control that both Judgment games didn’t make it onto PC until September 2022. With this release, a third Judgment game with Kimura as Yagami may still be likely. If not, Yagami’s friend Kaito or a new character will have to step up as a protagonist, lest Lost Judgment becomes the last Judgment game.