Template:Character infobox
Takayuki Yagami (八神 隆之, Yagami Takayuki) is the main playable protagonist of Judgment. Yagami was a lawyer until the guilt of his recently acquitted client murdering his girlfriend causes him to resign from his job at Genda Law Office and became a private investigator.
Personality
Yagami is fiercely idealistic and has a strong principle, evident when he rejected Genda's offer to return to work as a lawyer, due to his already tarnished reputation. When compared with Kaito, he serves as the calmer mind of the two.
Yagami holds no animosity towards the yakuza, having been cared for by Mitsugu Matsugane alongside Masaharu Kaito.
He is not above using criminal means to gain evidence or testimony, though he is well aware that workarounds must be used in order to have it be admissible in court.
Appearance
Yagami has a slim build, which allows him to move with fluidity and grace while fighting. His standard outfit is a black leather jacket over a fitted white tee-shirt, a pair of skinny jeans and a pair of white sneakers. He also wears a wireless earpiece in his right ear. He has a chain on his jeans, which attaches to his wallet to prevent it from being stolen.
While in court, he wears a gray tweed suit with a red striped tie, a pair of brown dress shoes, and his attorney pin on his lapel. In several flashbacks to 2015, his hair is shown to be slicked back in a much more conservative style.
Background
Yagami's father was a defense lawyer who proved his client - accused of raping and strangling a 15-year-old girl - innocent. While Yagami was at a friend's house for the night, his parents were murdered by the victim's father, leaving him parentless.
Following his parents' death, Yagami headed for Kamurocho to secure a job at a bar named Tender, which he was only able to do after lying about his age.
Yagami states that he has three fathers, only one of which is biologically related to him; the other two being Mitsugu Matsugane, the patriarch of Matsugane Family, who raised him as a foster son, and Ryuzo Genda, who oversees Yagami's pursuit to be a lawyer by paying for his tuition and later hiring him into his law firm.
He gained a reputation after successfully proving the innocence of Shinpei Okubo, despite Japan's criminal court is notorious for having a 99.9% conviction rate; a feat that was considered miraculous. In truth however, he was only able to prove that Okubo did not murder Koichi Waku and Emi's outburst at the court ridden the jury with guilt. Regardless Okubo was proven that he did not murder Waku but Yagami was unable to uncover the Waku's murderer.
However, soon after Okubo's acquittal from the court he was found guilty of another crime, this time, accused with the murder of his girlfriend, Emi Terasawa. The trial ended with the destruction of Yagami's reputation as a lawyer, and Okubo being sentenced to death. Yagami quit his job and became a private investigator, burdened by the guilt of having let a murderer walk free like his father before him.
Judgment
On December 10th, 2018, the third victim in a series of serial murders is found dead behind Club Amour. Yagami is asked by his former mentor, Ryuzo Genda, to prove the innocence of the suspect Kyohei Hamura, a yakuza from the Matsugane Family. Yagami's investigation results in Hamura being cleared of all charges, however, he refuses to leave the case unsolved, as he still believes that the true murderer - which he dubs "The Mole" - is still at large.
Yagami is warned by Genda to stop his investigation, but he stubbornly refuses to leave it be. He and Kaito look into the other two near-identical murders, and plan on meeting with the corrupt cop, Kazuya Ayabe for more information. Kaito and Yagami are ambushed once they arrive at Koi Bride, but prove themselves by taking down a number of thugs and are granted access to the secret underground casino where they meet Ayabe. He informs Yagami that that the investigation into the serial murders is being headed by Mitsuru Kuroiwa - Ayabe's superior on the force - and that he had been the one responsible for Hamura's arrest. He gives Yagami the full case file, along with a warning about Kuroiwa.
Back at the office, Yagami reviews the file, though it doesn't give him much to go on aside from the name of The Mole's second victim, who appears to have been being watched by the police prior to his death. This information leads Yagami to Konban Wife, a brothel where the victim was last seen. Yagami is met by Hamura, who also warns Yagami to stay away from the case. Following Hamura's threat, Yagami heads to the Matsugane Family Office in order to meet with Patriarch Matsugane and discuss his findings. He then meets with Hamura again at Cafe Alps, who is furious about Yagami reporting to Patriarch Matsugane, and sets his lackeys upon him. Just before Yagami is shot by Hamura guiding Kengo's gun, a masked thief appears and saves him, and the two outrun their pursuers.
Yagami returns to his office only to learn that Toru Higashi has paid a visit on Hamura's orders to look for him, and has roughed up Kaito in the process. Yagami is warned yet again to stay out of the case by Higashi.
Kaito asks Yagami to tail Higashi out of concern over Higashi's change of personality, which leads him to Charles, where he witnesses Higashi lending money to a child and deems his tough guy exterior a façade. After muscling his way past the Charles Clerk, he finds Higashi in the back room, where he recounts the events leading up to Kaito's expulsion from the Matsugane Family. Higashi tells him that Hamura now operates as the de facto leader of the family, and that Kaito's expulsion only served to diminish Matsugane's influence, something that Higashi is unable to right.
The next morning, Yagami wakes to find Ayabe waiting at his desk. He gives Yagami more information about the murders, and Yagami sets out to find Red Nose, the homeless man who had taken the ¥100 million yen that Kaito had been guarding that had led to his expulsion. He discovers that Red Nose had been killed a year prior, and that the most likely suspect is none other than Higashi. Kaito is reluctant to believe that Higashi killed the homeless man, and deduces that there must be more to the story.
After the death of a Matsugane Family member the following day, Yagami learns from Higashi that Hamura has gone missing, and that the Kyorei Clan's Captain, Satoshi Shioya is allegedly on his way to Kamurocho to start a war. Higashi believes that the Kyorei Clan had mistakenly killed the other man instead of Hamura due to the shared attributes and outfits between he and the victim. Higashi requests that Yagami also warn Masamichi Shintani, given the fact that he had acted as Hamura's lawyer.
Back at Genda Law Office, Shintani is less than pleased about Yagami's investigation, and yet again, Yagami is told to stop investigating. Yagami says that he knows The Mole is still at large, and he believes that Hamura had played both of them for fools. He warns Shintani that he may be a target, telling him to be careful before he leaves.
Yagami heads for Tender to meet up with Ayabe and Kaito, where Ayabe reveals that the Kyorei Clan is financially backed by the Kajihira Group, which enables the clan to get a foothold of Kamurocho despite it being greatly outnumbered by Tojo Clan.
Kaito and Yagami head out to investigate KJ Art, only to be held at gunpoint by Kyorei Clan goons, joined by none other than Shioya himself, who they manage to defeat with the help of the masked thief.
One they are back at Charles, the masked man introduces himself as Fumiya Sugiura, who states that he used to work for Kajihira Group as a member of their IT staff before finding out that the group had shady dealings with KJ Art, setting him on a path that crossed with Yagami and Kaito's.
Yagami returned to his office, where Saori calls him, worried that Shintani hasn't picked up his phone. Yagami calls Shintani, though it appears that the phone is ringing from somewhere in the office. He opens his closet only to have Shintani's maimed corpse fall to the floor in front of him. Following Shintani's death, he is called to the Genda Law Office, where Yagami gives a report about Shintani's death and investigates the case alongside Issei Hoshino. They start with Shintani's recent call history, which leads them to the Advanced Drug Development Center. The facility brings back bad memories for Yagami, as it had been the scene of Koichi Waku's murder, supposedly at the hands of his client, Shinpei Okubo back in 2015.
The next day, Yagami heads for Charles to report the situation to Kaito and Sugiura, despite Higashi's reluctance to accept the guests. They figure out that a new type of drug is being researched at the ADDC; AD-9, a drug intended to cure dementia. With a promising lead, Yagami heads for the ADDC, accompanied by Hoshino. They search out the director, a man named Dr. Ryusuke Kido, and it is revealed that Shintani was trying to call Yoji Shono, a researcher at the facility, before his death. Their talk is cut short with the arrival of Kuroiwa, who has been looking for Yagami.
After being kicked out from Dr. Kido's office, Yagami manages to find Shono with the assistance of an unknowing researcher, only to be asked to leave the premise by Shono and the Vice Minister of Health, Kaoru Ichinose. On their way out, Yagami remembers the Minister of Health from his last encounter with Ayabe, who had mentioned that Kajihira Group's chairman was meeting with the Minister of Health.
Yagami receives a call from Sugiura, who tells him that Shigeru Kajihira and the Minister of Health, Naohisa Kazami, are having a meeting about the redevelopment project. After meeting up with Sugiura, Yagami heads for Genda Law Office, hoping to find Ko Hattori in order to confirm the redevelopment rumors. However, upon his arrival, Hoshino tells him that Hattori has already left, and he is instead met with Mafuyu Fujii, who informs Yagami that Keigo Izumida wants to have him in for questioning about Shintani's murder.
After Mafuyu's departure from the office, Sugiura calls Yagami to tell him that there are yakuza following Mafuyu through town. Yagami assumes that they are attempting to abduct Mafuyu due to her ties with him, and rushes after her, saving her from an abduction attempt. The van that involved in the abduction attempt stops at a cabaret club named Honmaruen, and Kaito, Sugiura and Yagami burst inside to find Shioya, who says that he had thought Mafuyu would have been a good bargaining chip. Kaito angrily says that if they'd wanted their help, they never should have touched Mafuyu.
After Shioya's defeat, Shigeru Kajihira, chairman of Kajihira Group is wheeled out with Hattori following close behind. Chairman Kajihira reveals that Hattori had been the one to suggest the scheme, believing Mafuyu to be Yagami's "weakness", though reassures him that the Kyorei Clan is no longer a threat to Yagami, requesting his help with solving the circumstances of former Vice Director of the ADDC, Toru Hashiki's death. His death had been written off as the result of a drunken brawl, but Kajihira suspects there is more to the altercation. He believes that Hashiki's murder had been premeditated due to Hashiki's initial suspicion towards the validity of the AD-9 project.
Hoshino digs up details of Hashiki's murder, noting that the murderer had reportedly been a man wearing a black raincoat. While Yagami, Hoshino, and Saori still believe that Hashiki's death may not be as planned as Chairman Kajihira may have suspected, Kaito thinks otherwise; that Hashiki had been killed by a skilled assassin, hired by the true murderer, and both had walked away scot-free.
Yagami meets Ayabe's temporary replacement at L'Amant, who provides more information about the murder - that Hashiki had been to a cabaret club, Queen Rouge, accompanied by Shono before his death - as well as a warning from a disguised Mafuyu that the police are planning on arresting Yagami as a suspect of Shintani's murder.
Kaito and Yagami arrive at the club, only to be shooed away by the club's manager. Queen Rouge is a membership-exclusive club, and they quickly realize that their fastest way in is to recruit Saori to go undercover as a hostess and gather intel in their stead. Initially, Saori is unimpressed with the plan, though changes her mind after setting her sights on becoming the number one hostess and reveling in Hoshino's encouragements.
While waiting for Saori's findings, Yagami returns to his office, only to be greeted by Kuroiwa, this time accompanied by an abnormally quiet Ayabe. Kuroiwa inquires about a case file that had gone missing from the prosecutor's office, and also requests Yagami's cooperation.
He meets Saori at Tender, along with the hostess, Mika, who confirms that Hashiki had suspected foul play regarding AD-9 in the form of data fabrication, and that he was killed by someone who wanted to protect both AD-9 and the ADDC.
Yagami heads for the prosecutor's office the next morning, where he meets with Mafuyu, Izumida, and Chief Prosecutor Morita. Yagami recounts the events leading up to his discovery of the body, as well as the murder of Hashiki. After some discussion, Morita tells Yagami that the reason behind his supposed arrest in Shintani's murder case is really a ploy to keep Ayabe from suspecting that he's being watched, as it takes a political move to arrest an active police officer. Morita also informs Yagami that it is possible for him to be summoned to testify in court for Ayabe regarding his side business of leaking information.
Yagami and Hoshino visit Ayabe, at the detention center to hear his side of the story. He is adamant that someone else had pinned the murder on him, knocking him out and stealing his gun, which Yagami believes, once again suspecting The Mole as Shintani's true killer. He deduces that in order to reach the Mole, he'll have to get close to an acquaintance of the Mole, which, now that Hamura has gone into hiding, he believes his best chance is contacting Patriarch Matsugane through Higashi. Yagami arrives at Kamuro Kikunoya, where Matsugane tells Yagami to stay away from Hamura, a warning that Yagami chooses to ignore. Realizing that Yagami won't budge unless he uncovers the truth, Patriarch Matsugane relents, telling him that The Mole is an assassin on Hamura's payroll, but that The Mole and Hamura are part of an even bigger scheme.
After the fight with Higashi, Kaito realizes that Matsugane had given them a considerable hint; Hamura's position as acting patriarch means that the family must eventually seek advice from him, which means that if they are able to bug the office, they can potentially track Hamura's wherabouts. With Yagami's stature and build being similar to Tashiro, they steal his outfit, and Yagami sneaks into the office in disguise.
After the office is bugged, they manage to figure out Hamura's wherabouts at a cho-han parlor in the Champion District. A fight ensues between Yagami, however, it is cut short by a grenade exploding within the parlor.
From his encounter with Hamura, Yagami realizes that it must have been Shono who gave the orders, not Kido. Hoshino sends Yagami to meet with Hattori in order to discuss the research papers, much to his displeasure. Hattori gives Yagami a rundown of AD-9, and tells him that Kido's name is only on the project in order to give the papers more credibility; Shono is the real mind behind AD-9.
Later, while sharing his findings with Kaito, Higashi and Sugiura, they are taken aback by the entirely plausible theory in which Hoshino suggests that perhaps Waku's death had been due to human experimentation performed by Shono. Sugiura, however, doesn't seem to believe their theory and still insists that Okubo had been the one to murder Waku, prompting Yagami to finally pay a visit to the prison.
At the prison, Yagami finally met Okubo after three years, during which Okubo bursted into tears after adamantly pleading his innocence for both the ADDC case and his then-girlfriend murder case. Afterwards, Hoshino and Yagami revealed the possible culprit behind the murders that brought Okubo to death row. In order to get Okubo up to speed about Yagami and Hoshino's theory of the murder cases, Yagami explained his thought that the culprit brought Waku's dead body to Okubo's laundry truck, which leads to Okubo being charged with Waku's murder. Upon returning from prison, Yagami decided to head for Tender, where he's greeted with Kuroiwa and also an unknown assailant, which prompts him to meet Kaito at KJ Art, where they're welcomed by the Kyorei Clan. At KJ Art, Sugiura hinted that Shono's looking even more suspicious than before, which makes Yagami think about a stakeout. However, the stakeout failed, and Yagami had to find another way: the service entrance. The next morning, after spending the night at the hospital's service entrance, Yagami and Sugiura managed to find Shono and interrogate him and reveal how he murdered Emi and framed Okubo.
Back at Kamurocho, Yagami, Kaito, and Sugiura are eavesdropping on the Matsugane Family from Sugiura's van in an effort to capture Hamura. Yagami decided to tail Higashi to get to him, which leads him to the back alley of Tenkaichi Street, just behind New Serena. Higashi tipped Yagami and Kaito that Hamura's doing what it takes to hunt them down, which Kaito figured that if they hit Matsugane Family's turfs, the family may jump them and it should bring them closer to Hamura. The plan worked, and they managed to meet Hamura after a fight and a pursuit at Little Asia, along with Higashi, who was badly beaten, and Patriarch Matsugane. Kaito was shot in an effort to protect Patriarch Matsugane, and the standoff was stopped by Sugiura, who jumped the Matsugane Family men, giving him enough time to escape to Sugiura's van. At the van, Sugiura managed to locate Hamura's current hideout: an abandoned building by the name of Soleil Building at Champion District. There, they meet Hamura, who keeps Kaito as a hostage. After defeating Hamura, Yagami managed to save Kaito. A short while later, Higashi and Patriarch Matsugane joined them, leaving Kaito to be taken care by them. Then, Yagami holds Hamura at gunpoint in order to get him to speak about the Mole's identity and whereabouts. Realizing that Matsugane Family's goons might arrive sooner or later, Yagami and Patriarch Matsugane decided to bring Hamura somewhere else, which Yagami figured that Cabaret Honmaruen may be a good place for them to get Hamura to talk. There, Shioya agreed under one condition: if Yagami's done with Hamura, he should be handed over to Kyorei Clan.
Over at Honmaruen, Yagami started interviewing Hamura in order to gain information about the Mole, as well as the murder cases. Hamura told him that the Mole was an old acquaintance of his, where he used to be an informant who made a name for himself after his mentor was arrested, and that their first hit together was the murder of Toru Hashiki. Hamura also told Yagami that the Mole works through a contact named Ishimatsu, who offered generous rewards for what Hamura calls "jobs": murdering Hashiki, and later, provide test subjects for the AD-9 project and disposing of its bodies, as well as Ichinose's role, from founding The Medical Institute which serves as the retirement haven for Ministry of Health executives as well as ADDC's parent body to his involvement in the murders. Through Hamura, Yagami also learned that the Kyorei Clan yakuza were picked as subjects under Shono's order to keep things discreet, as well as conforming to Shono's aversion to experiment on civilians. Afterwards, Yagami confronted Hamura about his role in Kume's murder, to which Hamura responded that he only brought Kume to an unknown rendezvous point, which made Yagami think that the experiments happened there. Then, Yagami asked about Shintani's murder, which Hamura admit that it was his fault as he paid the Mole to off him, presumably after someone figured that Hamura was telling Shintani about the ADDC conspiracies, framing Ayabe in the process by using his gun as the murder weapon. At this point, the interrogation was cut short by a burning smell from outside the room, which Hamura figured that Matsugane Family must've raided the club and that the Mole might be at the club. Outside, they found the club largely empty, with only a few of Kyorei Clan men left. A fight ensues at the burning club, where Yagami managed to defeat the Matsugane Family thugs. After defeating the Matsugane Family, a man wearing a black raincoat came to find Hamura; instead of Hamura, it was Patriarch Matsugane who took the bullets, killing him. Angered at the dying patriarch, the remaining Matsugane goons decided to jump the man; however, they fail to do so and were murdered by him. Following Patriarch Matsugane's death, Hamura decided to spill the beans to Yagami that the Mole is none other than Kuroiwa.
Later on, Yagami was brought to the station, where he and Kuroiwa had an argument and threaten each other. The next morning, Yagami was awaken by Mafuyu, who phoned him that Shioya has just been found dead outside Matsugane Family office. Over at the Matsugane Family office, Yagami told Mafuyu that Kuroiwa himself is the Mole, acting under orders from Shono, and that the murder victims were human experiments for AD-9.
Afterwards, Yagami is seen in two places: the Tojo Clan headquarters, where he attended Patriarch Matsugane's funeral along with Genda, and the courthouse, where he accompanied Hoshino for the pre-trial conference for Ayabe's case with the Prosecutor. They then head to prison, where Yagami told Ayabe about Kuroiwa's alternate identity. In return, Ayabe told a backstory of Kuroiwa. After the visit, Yagami heads straight back to his office, where Hattori greets him to say that Chairman Kajihira wanted to talk about the investigation at Kamuro Kikunoya. They also had a small talk, where Yagami spilled the beans about The Mole. Down at the Kamuro Kikunoya, Chairman Kajihira extended his gratitude in Hashiki's place while praising Yagami's work and address a message from Chairman Koba of the Kyorei Clan to put an end to the Mole. In this occasion, Yagami told his plan to use Ayabe's trial as a leverage to bring the culprits behind the AD-9 conspiracy, a move that will also clear Okubo's name. It is also revealed that Okubo's counting his days, as he's enlisted as candidate for execution, which will kill all traces to Kuroiwa and Shono. Yagami also received a suggestion from Hattori to go after Kido first due to him being a more vulnerable target due to his womanizing habit by luring him using a woman. Thinking that Hattori's advice may be right, Yagami decided to ask for Saori's help to set a honey trap for Kido, which she agreed.
With some prep work to disguise Saori as a journalist, Yagami and Saori headed to ADDC, where Yagami planted a video camera in Saori's purse and equip her with a wireless earpiece. The trap proved successful; both Yagami and Saori managed to make Kido to do his antics and recording it, as well as luring him into Kamurocho. Next, they head to the batting cages, where Kido would show up. Sugiura figured that the team would jump Kido at the batting cages and bring him to Charles for interrogation. Over at Charles, Kaito stripped Kido of his clothing and the team started to interrogate him and they managed to get Kido to talk, where he explained the roles of himself, Shono, and Ichinose, as well as telling the team that Shono has a secret lab where all of his human experiments happened. Kido also mentioned the name Ishimatsu, as well as his whereabouts: Millennium Tower. With Ishimatsu's whereabouts at hand, Sugiura and Yagami decided to tail him, which leads them to a dilapidated love hotel named Monsieur Lee. Inside, they found a room full of medical supplies along with Shono himself and Sugiura attempts to murder Shono, revealing to Yagami that he was her brother and he was here to avenge Emi. Before Sugiura could kill , the police and Prosecutor arrived at the scene. In a bid to make the secret lab as a crime scene, Yagami requested Prosecutor Morita to arrest him under suspicion of trespassing. However, they were joined by the Vice Minister of Health soon after. At this point, much to Yagami's disappointment, the Chief Prosecutor sided with the Vice Minister of Health. Meanwhile, back at Charles, Kaito and Higashi were jumped by Kuroiwa, but managed to recover after a short while. Soon after, Yagami and Sugiura rejoined Kaito and Higashi, where Sugiura told his story.
After Sugiura's story, Mafuyu phoned in, telling Yagami to meet her about Prosecutor Morita at Tender. Hearing that Mafuyu seems to be followed by unknown men, Kaito decided to tag along. Over at Tender, Mafuyu is deeply concerned about Prosecutor Morita, figuring out that Prosecutor Morita's stance towards the AD-9 may be influenced from his past. To confirm this, Mafuyu intended to get a case file from a former police detective who waits at Children's Park, with Yagami and Kaito acting as bodyguards. Yagami agreed under one condition: he gets to see the files. Outside Tender, Mafuyu's suspicion proved correct: a number of thugs confronted them, all the way to Children's Park. Upon arrival, Yagami and Kaito were surprised that the ex-detective that Mafuyu contacted to gain access to the files is the horseplayer detective that he encountered earlier.
With the files at hand, Mafuyu, along with the ex-detective, told Yagami and Kaito about Prosecutor Morita's past, which she thinks influenced his stance towards the AD-9. However, Yagami was less than happy when Mafuyu felt sympathetic towards Morita's backstory. Afterwards, the detective left the scene, and Mafuyu handed the file to Yagami. After the exchange, Mafuyu and Yagami head for Genda Law Office to tell Saori the latest information about AD-9 conspiracies. During the meet, Saori requested Yagami to help with Ayabe's defense, which he agreed after being convinced by Mafuyu, Saori, and Hoshino. After leaving the office, Prosecutor Izumida messaged Mafuyu to meet him at Mijore; however, Yagami decided to go there in her place and telling her to go home.
Over at Mijore, Prosecutor Izumida informed Yagami that Chief Prosecutor's being in cahoots with the Vice Minister is not normal, to which Yagami responded by giving him the files he received from Mafuyu to confirm his theory about Prosecutor Morita being entangled in the AD-9 conspiracy, as well as convincing him to join Yagami's cause. Yagami also told him that he's going to use Ayabe's trial as a leverage to unravel the truth and get the Vice Minister to testify, which Izumida agrees. The following day, Yagami checks things out with the team; he joins Higashi to go to Matsugane Family office to persuade Kengo to let him take care of the Mole, then to the prison to speak to Okubo about Sugiura, who wants to visit Emi's grave with him, and later joining Hoshino to ask Kido to be a witness in Ayabe's trial. He then heads to Genda Law Office to speak to Genda and Izumida, who told Yagami that Ichinose will testify at the trial. A short while later, Mafuyu phoned Yagami, telling him that Ayabe's underground casino is being raided, which Yagami figured is a plot to smear Ayabe's reputation. After the exchange at Genda Law Office, Yagami heads for L'Amant, where he's granted entrance after Chief Prosecutor Morita vouched for them. Chief Prosecutor Morita told about his backstory, which Yagami figured that it's the reason behind his support towards AD-9. Yagami then confronted Morita's story by his findings about the experiments, putting Chief Prosecutor Morita to a state of denial towards his guilt. Moments later, Kuroiwa stepped in and fought Yagami, which was stopped by Chief Prosecutor Morita, who told Kuroiwa to drop the act and told Yagami to leave the premises. Outside, Yagami and Kaito were joined by Hoshino, who apologized for blackmailing Dr. Kido, and Hattori, who snapped a photo of him and leaves; however, Yagami's attention was centered towards a man with a black raincoat, whom he chased to the roof of the batting cages, who turned out to be Hamura.
A month later, Yagami made his return to the court, representing Ayabe as his lawyer alongside Hoshino. As planned, he used the trial as a leverage to uncover the conspiracies behind the Mole, ADDC, and AD-9. During Ichinose's session to testify, Prosecutor Izumida concludes by saying that Shintani's murder had nothing to do with ADDC, to which Yagami responded by confronting him about how he can attain such position: by forming the Medical Institute, and by proxy, the ADDC. Yagami then proceeds by showing a magazine article about the human experiments of AD-9.
The scene temporarily shifts to Yagami and Hamura's exchange at the batting cages. He expressed his regret towards what happened at Patriarch Matsugane's funeral, and wished to atone for it and avenge Patriarch Matsugane's death by handing him a smartphone containing Ichinose's involvement data with him.
Back at the trial, Yagami revealed a voice note between Ichinose and Hamura to the trial, where it was revealed that it was Ichinose who ordered Hamura to let Kuroiwa kill Shintani for knowing too much, which Ichinose quickly denied. In response, Yagami decided to summon Hamura as a witness to corroborate the evidence. Hamura also told Ichinose that Dr. Kido will testify at the trial to give a brief summary; however, the trial was interrupted by Ishimatsu, who ran away from the trial, prompting Higashi, Sugiura, and Kaito to chase after him. Realizing that Ichinose won't budge, Yagami told Hoshino to take over the trial, while he attend to Ishimatsu. At the court's corridor, Kaito managed to apprehend Ishimatsu, who ordered to eliminate the Mole, something which Yagami can't afford. Realizing that Kuroiwa is just another tool in the conspiracy, the team heads back to Kamurocho, where they were faced with Ministry of Health's thugs. Further into the town, Yagami found three dying thugs, which Sugiura thinks that it is Kuroiwa's doing. Yagami asked one of them, who told that Kuroiwa's heading to the ADDC, going after Shono. Realizing that Shono is in danger of getting murdered by Kuroiwa (which would leave the case cold), Yagami phoned Mafuyu to get the police to the ADDC to ensure Shono's safety and take Kuroiwa, as he's armed.
Over at ADDC, the team managed to find Kuroiwa, but their progress was halted by the police, where they were forced to fight them. After the fight, Yagami continued chasing Kuroiwa all the way to the research wing. Upon reaching the research wing, Yagami and Sugiura found Shono, taken hostage by Kuroiwa. They managed to get Shono to safety, allowing Yagami to fight Kuroiwa. After a long fight, Kuroiwa managed to be defeated, just in time when Kaito and Higashi caught up along with the police who agreed to help apprehend Shono and Kuroiwa. Afterwards, Kuroiwa intended to kill Shono by putting out a small knife; however, the police put a stop to it by opening fire on Kuroiwa. Then, Shono puts out a syringe containing a dose of AD-9, believing that he had finished the drug despite all the casualties. Yagami confronted him by telling Shono about Okubo's innocence and Emi's murder, to no avail.
Afterwards, the scene shifts back and forth between the situation at ADDC and Dr. Kido's testimony at the court. Dr. Kido testified that AD-9 contains a toxin that was impossible to remove after being administered to a number of test subjects, a conclusion taken from Shono's research, admitting the drug's failure in the process. Meanwhile, at the ADDC, Shono decided to administer the drug to himself, in a bid to prove that he had finished the drug. Shortly after, Shono began to express some sort of pain, followed by his eyes turning blue, which Dr. Kido explained at the court that it was the side effect of AD-9: a severe headache and blue pigmenting of the eyes, followed by death, which explained why all the bodies found in Kamurocho had their eyes removed.
Following the trial, Yagami is seen at the detention center, paying a visit to Okubo, whose about to be freed in a few days. He's seen again at his office, refusing Kaito's consideration and Mafuyu's conviction for him to make a full return as a lawyer, with Kaito convincing him that he can look for jobs around Kamurocho. However, Mafuyu accepted Yagami's argument that he proved Okubo's innocence as a detective, contemplating that as a lawyer, he ran away from the truth, yet seen it very clearly as a detective. Their dialogue was interrupted by an incoming phone call from a client whose cat ran away from home, a case which both men happily accepted.
Fighting styles
Much like Goro Majima and Kazuma Kiryu in Yakuza 0, Yagami has selectable fighting styles. In this case, there are two styles, based around Tiger Kung Fu and Crane Kung Fu, even being named after them in the western version. In terms of the Shaolin five-animal Kung Fu school, Tiger and Crane are considered opposites. Tiger is an offensive style for fighting one-on-one, whereas the Crane is a reactive style designed for dealing with groups. Yagami's Tiger style also seems to have some elements of Bajiquan, particularly in its elbow techniques. Yagami is proficient in both hand-to-hand and blunt-weapon-based melee combat, though he refuses to use bladed weapons. He also does not use firearms.
He learned the basics of Kung Fu as a child but his style was primarily created through his experiences on the streets of Kamurocho. As such, he refers to his style as Kamurocho-style.
Crane
- The crane style, represented by a blue crane icon and a light blue aura, enables Yagami to tackle multiple enemies with ease, with attacks that are acrobatic and have a better reach for more than two enemies. The crane style is called "waltz" (円舞) in the Japanese version of the game.[1]
Tiger
- The tiger style, represented by a red tiger head icon and a bright red aura, is best used for one-on-one situations. Yagami can deliver more powerful, precise strikes and break enemy guard. The tiger style is called "flash" (一閃) in the Japanese version of the game.[2]
Besides the aforementioned styles, Yagami is also able to perform wall attacks, where he launches himself off of a wall and onto an enemy. This wall attack ability can be used for crowd control or to stun enemies and enable Yagami to perform several unique EX Actions.
Yagami is also able to boost his fighting powers through the EX Boost mode. It increases Yagami's power, makes him temporarily immune to damage, prevents him from being stunned, and makes him temporarily immune to critical attacks (dubbed as "Deadly Attacks") that can otherwise permanently damage Yagami's health, which can only be healed by using a Medkit.
Trivia
- An early version of Yagami's model was found in Yakuza Kiwami 2's files.[3]