For the franchise itself, see Like a Dragon. For the 2020 video game, see Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Like a Dragon: Prologue (龍が如く 〜序章〜, Ryū ga Gotoku ~ Joshō ~), 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.
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.
Plot[]
The film opens in Sunflower Orphanage, which is owned by Shintaro Kazama, in the 1970s. At this point, its three residents are Kazuma Kiryu, Akira "Nishiki" Nishikiyama and his younger sister, Yuko Nishikiyama. Yuko suffers from a heart defect and regularly goes to hospital for treatment. They are joined by Yumi Sawamura in Summer 1980, after her parents were caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout. Kazama, a Tojo Clan yakuza, was the man who inadvertently killed them, as well as having killed Kiryu's and Nishikiyama's parents. Thus, following yakuza protocol, he takes them in as his own. In return, the males will join the Tojo Clan when they come of age.
During the 1980s, Kiryu and Nishiki join the Tojo Clan's Dojima Family and move to Kamurocho. Kiryu becomes well known for his fearsome fighting style, earning the "Dragon of Dojima" moniker, which stems from the irezumi dragon tattoo on his back. Nishikiyama feels conflicted: although Kiryu is his kyoudai (sworn brother), he has always resented him for being Kazama's golden boy. Additionally, both young men are secretly in love with Yumi. This is compounded in 1990 when she moves to Kamurocho and becomes a hostess at Serena, a bar run by Reina, in which they are regulars.
October 1, 1995: Kiryu tells his friends that after collecting a large payout from a loan shark, he has enough funds to become the patriarch of his own family. The only thing he needs to do now is ask his own patriarch Sohei Dojima for permission. Later on that night, Dojima Family men kidnap Yumi from Serena. Nishikiyama tries to stop them, but the men overpower him. Nishikiyama hustles over to Dojima's office to find him raping Yumi. Nishikiyama grabs his gun and shoots his patriarch multiple times, killing him.
During the drama, Kiryu was meeting with Kazama in his office, and received a call from Reina. Kiryu quickly makes his way over to the Dojima Family office and finds Sohei Dojima lying dead on the floor. Nishikiyama tells him that he did it to protect Yumi. Knowing that Nishikiyama has to look after Yuko due to her having her last surgery soon, Kiryu tells the pair to leave the office, saying that he will take the fall for his kyoudai. Nishikiyama is driving Yumi out of the city, when she apparently loses her memory, no longer knowing who he is. She has a flashback to him shooting Dojima, and in this panicked state, she escapes from the car. She then runs back to Sunflower Orphanage, where Kazama finds her.
Cast[]
- Masakatsu Funaki (船木 優治) as Kazuma Kiryu (桐生 一馬)
- Mikio Osawa (大沢 樹生) (credited as Mikio Ohosawa) as Akira Nishikiyama (錦山 彰)
- Ayaka Maeda (前田 綾花) as Yumi Sawamura (澤村 由美)
- Harumi Sone (曽根 晴美) as Sohei Dojima (堂島 宗兵)
- Hirotaro Honda (本田 博太郎) as Shintaro Kazama (風間 新太郎)
- Unknown actor as the Sunflower Orphanage principal
Video[]
As a direct-to-video product it was released on DVD by Sega on March 24, 2006 in Japan. Extra material included game FMVs.
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.
Trivia[]
- Sohei Dojima is depicted as being bald in this film.
Gallery[]
