Masaru Sera[note 4] (世良 勝, Sera Masaru) is a supporting character featured in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. He is also featured as the protagonist of the Sera and Kazama: Tojo Clan Classified event in Ryu Ga Gotoku Online. He is the third chairman of the Tojo Clan and the former president of the Nikkyo Consortium, a black ops group responsible for handling the clan's dirty work.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Sera has short slicked-back hair and a goatee.
Attire[]
In Yakuza 0, Sera wears an off-white suit over a white dress shirt and a dark yellow tie, a pair of off-white dress pants and a pair of tan dress shoes. He does not wear a Nikkyo Consortium crest on his lapel due to the covert nature of the Nikkyo Consortium. In his chairmanship days, he's usually seen wearing a set of off-white kimono with socks and a pair of sandals.
Personality[]
Sera appears as a calm, composed, yet assertive individual, all of which are commonly regarded qualities of a good leader. He also described himself as a cautious person, not entirely trusting on a certain result until he can verify it himself, to a point where in Yakuza 0 he challenges Majima into a fight just to prove how committed Majima is to protect Makoto Makimura.
Like Shintaro Kazama, who mentored him, Sera has a good heart, being willing to protect Makoto himself and believing that innocents should not be involved in Tojo Clan matters. This was initially lost when he decided to work with Kyohei Jingu and complied with his request to kill his ex-girlfriend and daughter; it was not until Kazama himself intercepted his assassin that Sera learned the error of his ways and engineered the 10 billion yen theft after realizing that Jingu was using the money to manipulate the Tojo clan to do his bidding. He is also rather fearless; even knowing that he would eventually be assassinated himself due to his betrayal against Jingu, Sera stays headstrong and unbending to the pressure.
Background[]
A young Sera as he appears in a news article
During the 1970's, Sera was an infamous student activist leader who frequently organized anti-government protests. On January 20th, 1977, at the age of 21, he was arrested on charges of inciting a riot, and was subsequently sentenced to an unspecified amount of time in prison. While in prison, Sera met Shintaro Kazama of the Tojo Clan, and the two would form a strong friendship which would eventually lead to Sera joining the yakuza. Throughout the early 1980's, Sera advanced within the ranks of the Tojo and prior to 1988, he was made patriarch of his own organization, the Nikkyo Consortium.
Involvement[]
Yakuza 0: 1988-1989[]
Sera kidnapping Makoto Makimura
As the conflict over the Empty Lot drags all three families into a state of war, Sera goes to Sotenbori after learning from Tachibana that Makoto Makimura, his sister, is the heir of the land after learning her grandfather entrusted it to one of their grandchildren. When Tsukasa Sagawa learned of Goro Majima's attempt to save Makoto and get her out the city and uses a car bomb to kill Lee and finish off both Makoto and Majima, he denies Sagawa his bounty by shooting him, knocking Majima unconscious and then taking Makoto to Kamurocho as Tachibana wanted to see his sister again.
Majima finds Sera at the heart of Camelia Grove
After handing Makoto over to Kazuma Kiryu and Jun Oda as well giving Makoto a cane with a hidden blade, he challenges Majima to a fight in exchange for telling who was keeping Makoto where Majima emerges victorious. He was then shot by Sagawa who wanted the death of a person in exchange for Majima's freedom and allows him to return to Kamurocho to kill Makoto together.
Sera informs Majima that Makoto will be taken to the hospital
Sera meets Majima again shortly after Makoto was shot, he offers to save her on one condition: as Majima was given the right to hand the land over to anybody he wants, he gives it to Sera to save her. After Kiryu and Majima defeat the last two lieutenants of Dojima, Majima prepares to kill Lao Gui for his attempt on Makoto's life only to be stopped by Sera, who tells him if he kills Lao Gui, he is going to be no better than Sohei Dojima or Lao Gui and instead tells him to leave them for the authorities to put them in a cell. With the land secured, he secures the position of Tojo Clan Captain in 1989.
1993[]
Sera becomes the third chairman of the Tojo Clan and uses his strong political alliance with Kyohei Jingu to steer the Tojo into prosperity, giving him a long and stable reign.[3]
Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 1995-2005[]
Shortly after Kazuma Kiryu is sent to prison in 1995 for the murder of Sohei Dojima, 39-year-old Sera supposedly sends an assassin to attempt to kill him. Later, he helps Jingu launder 10 billion yen that the latter acquired by storing the money in the Tojo Clan's bank. However, after his assassination attempt on Jingu's wife and daughter (ordered by Jingu himself) is stopped by Shintaro Kazama, and Jingu plans to use the 10 billion yen to bribe the clan to perpetuate his agenda, Sera repented and removes the money from the bank with Kazama and Yumi Sawamura's help.
In 2005, before they can expose Jingu's crime, Akira Nishikiyama, who partnered with Jingu so that he could be the new chairman of the clan, called an emergency meeting and tells the Tojo captains that the 10 billion yen was stolen. This prompts a civil war among the Tojo Clan since everyone believed that it was a robbery of hard-earned money. In addition, those who could find the missing money were promised chairmanship. Sera goes back to cover up his tracks but was nonetheless assassinated. The Florist of Sai and the surviving Nikkyo Consortium members suspect that Nishikiyama killed him.
Kiryu, upon being released, also learns that Sera allowed Kazama to choose who should be the next chairman, as he suspected that his death is near. The will's existence was originally perpetuated as a rumor that turned out to be true as Kazama wrote Kiryu's name in Sera's will.
- Yakuza Kiwami: Kiryu finds Prisoner 1356 after 10 years and realizes that the new leader of the Nikkyo Consortium, Masashi Kunieda, was the one who gave out the order to kill him after Dojima's death. When Kiryu tracks Kunieda down and defeats him, the latter then reveals that Sera requested it himself. The reason that Sera did so was actually to save him. Sera intended for Kiryu to return to the clan as soon as he was able to, proven by Kiryu's expulsion from the clan, rather than complete banishment. However, because of Kiryu's crime, the other families would likely try to kill him; thus, Sera ordered the hit as a way of sending a message to the rest of the Tojo Clan that only he could end Kiryu's life, as well as testing Kiryu to see if he was worth saving. After the failed hit, Kiryu lived a quiet 10 years in prison, free from any other attempts at his life.
Fighting Style[]
Yakuza 0[]
Sera is a skilled and precise combatant, but does not apply any more effort than is necessary when fighting. Making use of techniques from both Kodokan Goshinjutsu and Jeet Kune Do, his style emphasizes balance — he almost never breaks his upright posture when attacking, making him difficult to knock down.
He has three combos, including:
- a Rush Combo comprised of a right hook, a left elbow strike, a right hook, and a right shoulder strike command grab, followed by him tripping Majima with a right foot sweep kick before throwing a low right side kick;
- a left inward backfist-overhand right combo, and
- a combo made up of a right slap-left slap, a low right front snap kick, and a right backfist.
The rest of his moveset is listed as follows:
- an overhand right,
- a right hook-right backfist, which can stun Majima;
- a sidestepping right/left shin-kick as a right/left dodge attack respectively,
- Daigo Dojima's downed attack, and
- a taunt where he holds his left forearm and loosens out his wrist.
Sera's dodge attacks can knock Majima off balance, leaving him vulnerable to incoming attacks. They can even interrupt his otherwise highly effective spinning moves in his Breaker style.
Sera enters Heat Mode immediately after his QTE, he starts using some additional moves. These include:
- Kamon Kanai's guard reversal, and
- a right body hook command grab, followed by him grabbing Majima in a headlock with his left arm and tripping his right leg, before throwing a right hammerfist to his face and a spinning right side kick to his chest.
His Heat Mode aura is bright neon pink, and his attack trails are neon purple and also emits a faint glow in his calm state.
Yakuza Kiwami[]
Sera is encountered at the very end of Melee Battle 10, the final Climax Battles challenge in the 'Melee' category. He remains in his calm state throughout the encounter, and due to his super armor, normal attacks are incapble of knocking him down.
Gallery[]
Yakuza[]
Yakuza 0[]
Yakuza Kiwami[]
_Sera_(Yakuza_1_Kiwami).jpg "Masaru (Masa) Sera (Yakuza 1 Kiwami).jpg (40 KB)")
.jpg "Sera's title card (YK1).jpg (179 KB)")
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online[]
![SSR [Third Chairman of the Tojo Clan] Masaru Sera](/wiki/File:RGGO_-_Card_-_SSR_Masaru_Sera.png "RGGO - Card - SSR Masaru Sera.png (345 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - SSR Masaru Sera (1988).png (367 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - SSR Masaru Sera (Black).png (299 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - KSR Masaru Sera (1988 II).png (372 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - KSR Masaru Sera ('88 Ascension).png (384 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - KSR Masaru Sera ('05 Kiwami).png (376 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - UR Masaru Sera ('88 Black).png (393 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - UR Masaru Sera ('05 Black).png (393 KB)")
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 On the newspaper describing Sera's arrest in 1977, he was stated to be 21.
- ↑ While Sera's age of reaching chairmanship (in 1993) would be around 37 based on his given age, it is inconsistent with his character profile in the original Yakuza.[1]
- ↑ The given birth year of 1956 is an estimate based on Sera's age and is not intended as a substitute for an official date.
- ↑ In the original western release of Yakuza, Sera was renamed to Masa Sera.
References[]
- ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, formerly New Entertainment R&D, Pause Menu - Profiles - Tojo Clan - Masa Sera, Yakuza (2005; Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2006), PlayStation 2/PlayStation 3/Wii U.— Yakuza
The Third Chairman of the Tojo Clan. Something of a legend for reaching the rank of Chairman in his 40's.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Found in Yakuza (2005) Booklet Character Bios
- ↑ "Following Takashi Nihara's retirement, Nikkyo Consortium President Masaru Sera rises to Tojo Clan Chairman. There, he enjoys a long and stable reign over eastern Japan's yakuza. His political connections earn a great deal of money for the Tojo Clan coffers, but in 2005, his actions send the clan into another chaotic upheaval" Epilogue text of Yakuza 0