The upcoming Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name spin-off confirmed that there will be brand-new English dub voice actor for longtime protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, with fans split on the casting decision. This upcoming spin-off is going to fill in the gaps regarding recent entries, taking place in between Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The focus will also be on a retired Kiryu, who has taken up to be a secret agent in service of the Daidoji Faction, taking up the codename of Joryu.Earlier this June, the developers of the game, RGG Studio, revealed the actors and characters of Like a Dragon Gaiden asides from Kiryu who will be a part of this adventure. Joining Kiryu's Sotenbori escapade are Omi Alliance family members Shishido Kosei and Tsuruno Yuki. There's also a mysterious woman named Akame that Kiryu is tasked with protecting, along with Homare Nishitani, the third member of the family to carry the name of the eccentric Yakuza 0 villain. While the entire English dub cast hasn't been revealed yet, the voice actor for Kiryu has been confirmed, which has earned some mixed reception.Kazuma Kiryu will be voiced by Yong Yea, a voice actor who many may also know for being a gaming news coverage YouTuber. He will be succeeding Darryl Kurylo, who first played Kiryu in the original Yakuza game, for Gaiden and Infinite Wealth. The announcement was met with both positive and confused reactions from across the fanbase. Many were happy to see the actor in a role as big as Kiryu's, while a vocal minority were quick to criticize the casting decision.
The main point of contention was the idea that a YouTuber would get a big role just because they were a famous for making videos on the website. Yea was quick to point out that he had been a voice actor for a longer amount of time than he was a YouTuber, with fellow voice actor Gianni Matragrano noting he received similar backlash since he was considered famous on the website. Another voice actor, SungWon Cho or ProZD, discussed a similar experience that there is a big stigma about YouTubers being perceived as being unable to act, and some of his experiences revolving around the subject.
Yong Yea has previously done a number of roles in anime and video games, such as Sword Art Online, Cookie Run, and The Prince of Tennis. Anime fans might know him best as Father Enrico Pucci from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, which some argue was his star-making role. Despite some of the vocal minority's vitriol, many also believed Yea deserved the role as Kiryu, which he thanked the fans for.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will launch November 9 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
