Like a Dragon: Yakuza’s Kiryu actor knows exactly why the adaptation’s already-divisive time jump scenes are important: “We wanted to depict the humanity”

There’s already been early talk of fans not gelling with the back-and-forth time jumps of Like a Dragon: Yakuza. But, as Kiryu actor Ryoma Takeuchi explains, the skipping back to the wannabe Dragon of Dojima’s early life in Kamurocho is crucial to understanding the growth of the Prime Video series’ cast of characters.

“Depicting these characters in their childhood in 1995 in the drama was a very important element,” Takeuchi told GamesRadar+ (via translation).

“Even myself as a person, and I think it’s the same for everyone, how you spent your childhood and how you grew up and [were] raised and the people around you actually makes who you are as a person when you become an adult,” Takeuchi says. “And I think depicting those backgrounds was a very important part of this drama.”

Still, a cursory glance around at social media suggests the structure of the time skips between 1995 and 2005 – if not the content – is putting off some viewers. “Time jumps are killing me,” one wrote on Reddit. Another replied, “I feel like they should have shown the past in the first episode and then continue with the story while adding some small flashbacks. Because right now, without the other 3 episodes out, the storytelling is a little messy.”

“We need to set a very clear reasoning behind why they ended up in this kind of life,” Takeuchi explains. “And also that was the mindset of [director Masaharu Take]. He wanted to depict this very much in this drama… We wanted to get the storyline pretty much linked up with the game itself, so the fan would be thrilled with it. But of course, at the same time, we wanted to sort of depict the humanity or the human drama aspect in this work. And this part of focusing on the young people in 1995 was a very important part of [it].”

The first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza are now streaming worldwide on Prime Video. For more, check out the full Like a Dragon: Yakuza release schedule, our verdict of the first season in the Like a Dragon: Yakuza review, and our ranking of the best Yakuza games.