Takayuki Yagami (八神 隆之, Yagami Takayuki) is the protagonist of Judgment and Lost Judgment. He is a former defense attorney at Genda Law Office and the director of the Yagami Detective Agency, where he works as a private investigator.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Yagami has a slim and athletic build, which allows him to move with fluidity and grace while fighting. He has medium-length black hair in a messy middle part. As a teenager, his hair was dyed brown and slicked back.
Attire[]
Yagami's standard outfit is a black asymmetrical zip up leather moto jacket with snap-down lapels and epaulettes over a fitted white tee-shirt, a pair of blue medium wash washed out skinny jeans that are distressed around the knees, and a pair of white low-top 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 two-piece suit with a red and white regimental striped necktie, 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. He dislikes how he looks when he wears a suit.
When he first meets Matsugane, he wears a satin red and white zip up varsity jacket, medium wash blue jeans, and red and white skate shoes.
When finding his parents dead at their house, he wears a black cropped blazer, red t-shirt, black baggy slacks, and black oxfords.
Personality[]
Yagami is fiercely idealistic and has strong principles, which are evident when he rejected Genda's offer to return to work as a lawyer due to his desire to unpack the truth from "both sides". When compared with Kaito, he serves as the calmer mind of the two, but becomes enraged whenever he witnesses people justify crimes in the name of their idealistic philosophies.
Yagami holds no animosity towards the yakuza, having been cared for by Mitsugu Matsugane alongside Masaharu Kaito. Genda even comments that as both a detective and lawyer he was seen as more of a hired gun for the yakuza as he would help investigate incidents the smaller crime families will get into.
He is not above using criminal means to gain evidence or testimony but sees it as a last resort. In every other situation, Yagami empathises with the accused, such as how he expressed concern for Yoko Sawa despite suspecting her for the serial murders.
He dislikes cats as they poop all over the place. However, he helps a cat-loving Masakazu Nekomiya to find stray cats. Even after the end of the main story, he and Kaito has a case of finding a cat, they eventually took care of it during end credits until the owner could retrieve it.
Background[]
During his childhood, Yagami took a few martial arts lessons. Yagami's father was a defense lawyer who proved his client, accused of raping and strangling a fifteen-year-old girl, innocent. While Yagami was at a friend's house for the night to avoid them because he was angry about the hours they were working, his parents were murdered by the victim's father, who then hanged himself at the scene of the crime, leaving him an orphan. Following their deaths, Yagami dropped out of high school and moved to Kamurocho where he secured a bartending job at Tender by lying about his age.
During his teenage years, Yagami would get into alleyway fights with Masaharu Kaito, a member of the Matsugane Family. Eventually, the fights would catch the attention of its patriarch Mitsugu Matsugane, who saw himself in Yagami and raised him as a son. Yagami would later be introduced to Ryuzo Genda, who paid for his education and supported him as he went through law school, and offered him a part-time job at the Genda Law Office. Yagami spent his first paycheck on buying a coffee maker for Matsugane. After graduation, Genda offered Yagami a full-time job as an attorney.
In 2015, Yagami's reputation increased greatly after successfully proving the innocence of Shinpei Okubo, despite the Japanese criminal court's notorious 99.9% conviction rate; his feat was considered miraculous. In truth, however, he was only able to prove that Okubo did not murder Koichi Waku, and Okubo's girlfriend Emi Terasawa's outburst in court had ridden the jury with guilt. Okubo was declared innocent regardless, but Yagami was unable to uncover Waku's true murderer.
However, soon after Okubo's acquittal, he was found guilty of another crime- this time for the murder of Emi. Emi's family berated Yagami for setting a murderer free; 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 apparently let a murderer walk free like his father before him. He started up Yagami Detective Agency and would later have Kaito as his partner.
Involvement[]
Judgment: 2018-2019[]
On December 10, 2018, the third victim in a series of Kyorei Clan serial murders is found dead behind Club Amour. Yagami is asked by 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 in spite of interference from the Kyorei's Akira Murase, but he refuses to leave the case unsolved, as he still believes that the true murderer - whom he dubs "The Mole" - is still at large.
During his investigation alongside Kaito, Yagami is met by Hamura, who warns him to stay away from the case. He tries to have Matsugane ask Hamura to back off, but learns that Matsugane is powerless as Hamura gained absolute control of the family following Kaito's expulsion. Yagami is then summoned by Hamura, furious about his reporting to Matsugane and sets his lackeys upon him. Just before Yagami is shot, a masked thief appears and saves him, and the two outrun their pursuers. Much later, Yagami warns Hamura's lawyer Masamichi Shintani that his life may be in danger due a recent assassination attempt on Hamura according to Toru Higashi.
Kazuya Ayabe informs Yagami that the Kyorei Clan is financially backed by the Kajihira Group, enabling them to establish a foothold in Kamurocho despite being greatly outnumbered by the Tojo Clan. Kaito and Yagami head out to investigate KJ Art, only to trigger a trap set by Satoshi Shioya. They are saved by the masked thief, who later introduces himself as Fumiya Sugiura and allies with them. Yagami returns to his office, where Saori Shirosaki calls him, worried as Shintani has not answered her calls. Yagami tries to call him and he finds Shintani's maimed corpse in his closet. Following Shintani's death, Yagami investigates the case alongside Issei Hoshino. They start with Shintani's call history, which leads them to the Advanced Drug Development Center.
The next day, Yagami, Kaito and Sugiura figure out that a new type of drug is being researched at the ADDC: AD-9, a drug intended to cure Alzheimer's. With a promising lead, Yagami heads for the ADDC accompanied by Hoshino. They search out the director Ryusuke Kido, who reveals that Shintani was trying to call researcher Yoji Shono before his death. Yagami is not able to obtain answers due to being kicked out by Health Vice-Minister Kaoru Ichinose. Yagami looks Ko Hattori to try getting a lead, but he is instead met with Mafuyu Fujii, who informs him that Keigo Izumida wants to question him about Shintani's murder.
After Mafuyu's departure, Sugiura calls Yagami to tell him there are yakuza following Mafuyu through town and Yagami rushes after her, saving her from an abduction attempt. The yakuza van stops at Honmaruen, and Kaito, Sugiura and Yagami burst inside to find Shioya. After Shioya's defeat, Shigeru Kajihira appears with Hattori close behind. Kajihira reveals that Hattori had suggested using Mafuyu as bait for the detective, but reassures him that the Kyorei Clan is no longer a threat to Yagami and requests his help with investigating Toru Hashiki's death, which Kajihira suspects was premeditated.
Hoshino digs up details of Hashiki's death, noting that Hashiki had confronted a man wearing a black raincoat. Through Mafuyu, Yagami receives files that state Hashiki had been to Queen Rouge accompanied by Shono before his death. Thanks to Saori, Yagami is able to confirm Hashiki's suspicion of AD-9, and his death being premeditated. Yagami heads for the prosecutor's office the next morning, where he learns that the reason behind his supposed arrest in Shintani's murder case is really a ploy to keep Ayabe from suspecting that he was being watched, as it takes a political move to arrest an active police officer.
Yagami and Hoshino visit Ayabe at the detention center, who is adamant he was framed. Yagami suspects the Mole is responsible; he deduces that in order to reach the Mole, he needs to get close to one of their acquaintances, namely Hamura. Hamura's position as acting patriarch means that the family must eventually seek advice from him. They steal Tashiro's outfit and Yagami sneaks into the office in disguise and bugs it, discovering from the wiretap that Hamura is at a gambling parlor in the Champion District. A fight ensues between Yagami and Hamura there, but 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. Yagami meets Hattori, who gives him a rundown of AD-9, and tells him Shono is the real mind behind it. Later, while sharing his findings with Kaito, Higashi and Sugiura, they are taken aback by the plausibility of Hoshino's suggestion that Waku's death may have been caused by human experimentation performed by Shono. Sugiura, however, does not believe their theory and still insists that Okubo had been the one to murder Waku, prompting Yagami to finally pay a visit to Okubo. At the prison, Yagami meets Okubo after three years, where he tearfully pleads his innocence for both Waku's and Emi's murders. Afterwards, Hoshino and Yagami reveals Shono as the possible culprit behind the murders that brought Okubo to death row. The next morning, after spending the night at the ADDC, Yagami and Sugiura find Shono, interrogate him and reveal how he murdered Emi and framed Okubo.
Back at Kamurocho, Higashi notifies Yagami and Kaito they are wanted by Hamura; they draw attention to themselves to lure him out. The plan works all too well, as Kaito is shot by a trap Hamura laid for them while Sugiura gives Yagami an opportunity to escape. At Hamura's hideout, they find him keeping Kaito as a hostage, and after defeating him, Yagami manages to save Kaito. From Hamura, he learns of his history with the Mole, Hashiki's premeditated murder, Ichinose's involvement, and Shintani's death. The interrogation is cut short by arson and an assault by the Matsugane Family. A man wearing a black raincoat comes to find Hamura; Matsugane shields Hamura from his bullets and dies. Hamura is shaken by the sacrifice, and reveals to Yagami that the Mole is the man in charge of investigation the Kyorei murders: Detective Mitsuru Kuroiwa.
At Kamuro Kikunoya, Kajihira extends his gratitude in Hashiki's place while praising Yagami's work. Yagami reveals 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. Yagami discovers from him that Okubo has been listed as a candidate for execution, which will remove all traces to Kuroiwa and Shono, and receives a suggestion from Hattori to go after Kido first since his perversion makes him a vulnerable target.
Yagami decides to ask for Saori's help once again to set a honey trap for Kido, which she agrees to do. The trap proves successful; Yagami and Saori manage to record Kido harassing Saori, as well as lure him into Kamurocho. The team manages to have Kido explain the roles of Shono and Ichinose as well as his own; Kido reveals that Shono has a secret lab where he performs his human experiments. They have Ishimatsu lead Yagami and Sugiura to an abandoned love hotel, where they find the secret lab along with Shono himself. Sugiura attempts to murder Shono, revealing to Yagami that he was Emi's brother and he was here to avenge her. Before Sugiura can kill him, the police and Kunihiko Morita arrive at the scene, and are joined by Ichinose soon after. Much to Yagami's disappointment, Morita sides with Ichinose and turns a blind eye to the lab.
Yagami gives Izumida some files received from Mafuyu to confirm his theory about Morita's involvement in the AD-9 conspiracy, and has Izumida agree to join Yagami in the trial to expose AD-9. The following day, Izumida tells him that Ichinose will testify at the trial. Yagami heads for L'Amant with Kaito after being informed of its raiding by police. There, Morita tells Yagami about Alzheimer's effect on his family; Yagami confronts him with his findings about the experiments, putting Morita in a state of denial about his guilt, and a brief scuffle with Kuroiwa ensues. Outside, a man with a black raincoat draws Yagami's attention and he chases him to a rooftop, where he reveals himself as Hamura. Hamura expresses his regret about Matsugane's death, and wishes to atone for it and avenge the patriarch by handing him evidence of Ichinose's involvement.
In early 2019, Yagami returns to court, representing Ayabe as his lawyer alongside Hoshino. As planned, he uses the trial as a leverage to uncover the conspiracies behind the Mole, ADDC, and AD-9. During Ichinose's testimony, Izumida concludes by saying that Shintani's murder had nothing to do with ADDC, to which Yagami responds by confronting him about how he can attain such position and recounting his discoveries about the AD-9 experiments. Yagami presents a conversation between Ichinose and Hamura from Hamura's phone, which reveals Ichinose ordered Hamura to have Kuroiwa kill Shintani. Ichinose denies this, but Yagami summons Hamura as a witness to corroborate the evidence.
Yagami tells Hoshino to take over the trial so he can chase Kuroiwa, whom Ichinose ordered a hit on to bury evidence. After fighting the interfering policemen, Yagami chases Kuroiwa all the way to the ADDC's research wing, where he takes Shono hostage. Yagami and Sugiura manage to get Shono to safety, allowing Yagami to fight Kuroiwa. After a long fight, Yagami defeats Kuroiwa, and Kaito and Higashi arrive with the police to apprehend Shono and the wounded Kuroiwa. Yagami then witnesses Shono dying from administering AD-9 to himself out of hubris, which turns his eyes blue and gives the evidence needed to vindicate Okubo and incriminate Ichinose.
Following the trial, Yagami visits Okubo, who will be freed in a few days. Afterwards, he elects to remain a detective after contemplating how he found the truth from his current profession, against Kaito and Mafuyu's suggestions. Their discussion is interrupted by an incoming phone call from a client whose cat ran away from home, a case he and Kaito happily accept.
Lost Judgment: 2021-2022[]
Three years after the events of the AD-9 incident and acquitting Okubo, Yagami continues his work as a detective alongside Kaito. They resolve a case on behalf of Genda for Keiko Hamada, a young woman in debt to her boyfriend Kosuke, who is in fact a conman. Taking down the bar that Kosuke was in partnership with, Yagami learns of Akihiro Ehara's sexual harassment trial and how it escalated to the point that Saori had to defend such a man in court. At the same time, Yagami and Kaito learn that Suguira and Tsukumo have opened a branching detective agency called Yokohama 99, who ask the two to commute to Isezaki Ijincho for a large-scale case.
Yagami and Kaito arrive in Yokohama to help Sugiura and Tsukumo tackle a bullying case at Seiryo High School. They set up hidden cameras and speakers while avoiding detection from Class 2-2's homeroom teacher Yoko Sawa, and are able to make Mami Koda's bullies stand down. When discussing the matter with Seiryo High's Chairman Yuzo Okuda, Yagami receives a call from Saori, who reveals that Ehara's groping case may be inherently connected with the bullying at Seiryo High, and asks him to investigate the murder of Seiryo-alumnus and former student teacher Hiro Mikoshiba. To probe information regarding Mikoshiba without revealing his death, Yagami questions Sawa, who had been mentoring Mikoshiba during his three-week teaching program here and did not find anything irregular with his behavior as he got along well with the Basketball Club. Yagami questions their members and learns that Mikoshiba was fairly close yet harsh on Koda, who later quit soon after he left Seiyro.
Yagami is confronted by delinquent students during his investigation and eventually defeats them and learns from Matsui and Sakaki that Sawa loathed Mikoshiba because he was responsible for driving Toshiro Ehara, Ehara's son, to suicide. Before Yagami can press Sawa on his matter, Kanagawa police arrive to inquire both Sawa and Okuda. Soon after hearing the full story from the police, Sawa agrees to meet Yagami at Plage that night, but Yagami is ambushed by the Yokohama Liumang, who eventually get sent packing by Jin Kuwana, a local handyman. As Yagami meets Sawa, she immediately tries to leave, having been warned by a mysterious person to stop investigating Mikoshiba, and gives Yagami a photo of Mikoshiba before his death.
Yagami visits the crime scene the next day and meets officer Kisuke Watanabe, who agrees to cooperate with him in their investigation. Watanabe states that Kanagawa police have been unable to secure a meeting with Ehara due to orders from the higher-ups and asks Yagami in his capacity as Genda's affiliate to question him. Shortly after their conversation, Yagami chases down three men, all alumni from Kurokawa Academy who were seemingly not connected to the case. To build his repertoire of interview questions in preparation, Yagami returns to talk to Sawa after their failed cafe meeting, who reveals that she saw Mikoshiba bully Toshiro and reported it to Mikoshiba's homeroom teacher, but he told her to ignore it as Mikoshiba was nearing graduation with honors. After Toshiro hung himself, the homeroom teacher disposed of evidence of Toshiro's bullying and Sawa was forced to testify ignorance when Ehara sued the school, causing Mikoshiba to walk free.
That night, Yagami is lured to the Yokohama Liumang's hideout by Tesso, while at the same time a group of masked assailants attack Sugiura and Tsukumo at Yokohama 99. With the situation becoming dire, Kuwana decides to cease cooperation with the team and leaves. Yagami and Kaito then return to Kamurocho where they discover that the RK have taken over the city and are looking for a missing man. As Yagami returns to his own detective agency, Kaito reports to him that video footage of Ehara murdering Mikoshiba has been made public. Though they are skeptical of the video's authenticity, Tsukumo insists that it is very real, but Mafuyu reports that the prosecution's office insists otherwise. With no real way to prove its authenticity, Yagami decides to disprove Ehara's train station alibi instead. With the RK breathing down on their necks at every second, Kaito speaks with leader Daimu Akutsu while Yagami meets Kazuki Soma for the first time. Afterwards, Yagami accompanies Saori to speak with Ehara's victim Yui Mamiya at her house, where they gain some insight on the case.
Returning to Genda's office, Yagami assumes that if the video is indeed truly authentic, then there was a flaw in the groping case, deducting that the groping was staged, and that the actual perpetrator was an impostor and switched with Ehara at a blind spot in the train station. They later learn that Mamiya, Sawa, and the three men who had spied on Yagami and Watanabe before, were all classmates who had a suicidal classmate in their year, Mitsuru Kusumoto, who is still comatose to this day. The person responsible for Mitsuru's comatose state was Shinya Kawai, whom RK was looking for. Yagami goes to Sawa's apartment to speak with her; however, Kuwana had arrived with the RK on his tail. Suggesting that Kuwana and Sawa were somehow connected, Yagami fights the RK and is kidnapped by Soma, who tells him that Kuwana's real name is Kitakata. After being saved by Kaito and Sugiura, Yagami arrives at Sawa's apartment, only to find that she had been murdered by Soma. As the cops arrive, Yagami takes Sawa's Kurokawa Academy yearbook and reports his findings to Watanabe, who reveals that the higher-ups wants to sweep the case under the rug.
Okuda reports Sawa's death in a school assembly and confides in Yagami to help get justice for their dear friend. Following up on their questions about Kuwana, Yagami and Kaito visit his flat and find a USB drive, deducing that there may be a mastermind behind Soma and Akutsu. A neighbor of Kuwana's leads Yagami and Kaito to visit Kuwana's uncle, who urges Yagami to see the USB's contents before Kuwana skips town for good. Looking at the USB drive, they discover video footage of Kawai mercilessly bullying Mitsuru, with Mamiya and several others in the footage. Kuwana - then-known as Kitakata - was their homeroom teacher who sought revenge against Mitsuru's bullies. Yagami believes that Kuwana used the footage to leverage those in the footage into helping him kill Kawai, explaining why RK was in Yokohama. Yagami returns to Mamiya to confront her about the groping case once again, but as she calls her classmates to attack him, Yagami defeats them and brings Mamiya to Charles. There, she confesses that Kuwana blackmailed her and her classmates into helping him using the footage by kidnapping Kawai, an action which Kuwana had also filmed to further leverage them. Since Kawai, Kuwana has embarked on a nationwide journey to kill school bullies out of his disdain for the failed justice system, contacting the families of the bullied victim before proceeding with the kill. This included his cooperation with Ehara to kill Mikoshiba.
Yagami returns to his agency to meet Kuwana, who reveals that he initially dismissed Mitsuru's bullying but was too late to stop it once he had video proof, as Mitsuru had jumped hours earlier, which prompted him to begin his acts of revenge. He adds that he was the one who hired the Liumang to attack Yagami at Plage, and that it was Mamiya who gave Sawa the photo while the attack was happening. Kuwana runs again, and Yagami follows him to a parking lot where Kuwana escapes and has the students attack Yagami. Yagami stands his ground after Mamiya attempts to attack him, and brings her back to Charles. She confesses to the fabrication of the groping case and how it was orchestrated, which Yagami and Saori take to their interview with Ehara. Unfortunately, Ehara reveals that the revealing of the murder footage was part of his plot to embarrass the justice system, and agrees to appeal his groping alibi on the condition that he is allowed to not to confess to Mikoshiba's murder.
Saori calls Yagami, reminding him that Kuwana always speaks to the bullying victim's families before carrying out his murders, and deduces that Mitsuru's mother, Reiko Kusumoto, may be behind the RK. A sudden news report reveals that Kuwana is now wanted for Sawa's death. Confused, Yagami meets with Watanabe who tells him that camera footage was modified to only leave video of Kuwana, meaning someone from Public Security is covering this up and allowing RK to roam around, with Kuwana now being set up to “die” in an accident. Kuwana is then reported to be in Koreatown, and Yagami sneaks his way into Geomijul, with them confirming Yagami's identity and revealing that the Kuwana is with Tesso at the Liumang hideout. Yagami brings up his theory about Kusumoto, but Kuwana shoots him down as he would have already been seeded out a long time ago if Kusumoto was really responsible. Agreeing to work together, Yagami tells Kuwana of a plan to lure Public Security out and confirm the identities of their enemies. As part of the plan, Kuwana ensures to Kusumoto that her safety was guaranteed, while Yagami confirms that the RK are truly being controlled by Public Security.
Yagami later speaks with Kusumoto, who reveals that she herself was a target by Public Security, who want her gone for her pension funds that is worth trillions, and admits that she had personally killed Kawai five years ago. Later, Yagami and Saori meet with the prosecutor Sadao Takano to discuss whenever the evidence submitted for Ehara's appeal is admissible, and are later joined by Hidemi Bando from Public Security. Takano insists that the video is not admissible as any potentially new video could render this one void. As Yagami argues that he can prove that Ehara and Mamiya worked together, the judge agrees to the appeal on the condition that a video of unknown source cannot be brought in as evidence. That night, Akutsu returns to Kamurocho and Saori goes undercover to lure herself to his location, with Yagami and team later confronting him at the RK hideout. After consideration, they deduce that Soma is an undercover cop who founded RK with Public Security to manage ex-Tojo Clan yakuza. Soon after, two police officers storm the hideout and kill Akutsu.
For information on Soma, Yagami and Kaito see his former superior Irie. Though Irie does not know where Soma is, he reveals to the duo that the RK is performing a shakedown on the same casino that Kosuke had partnered with that night. They raid the casino, but Soma is not there. Kosuke tells Yagami that he overheard that Soma was giving orders from Ijincho. Yagami returns there and takes Tesso's secret passageway to Kuwana, who entrusts Yagami with a locket photo of Toshiro. They are then ambushed by Soma, due to which Kuwana deduces that Kusumoto had betrayed him and escapes. The next morning, Yagami confronts Kusumoto about the ship explosion and learns that Mitsuru had awoke from his coma. Yagami returns to Yokohama 99 and finds the master copy of Mikoshiba's murder footage, unaltered on a WORM SD card hidden in the locket. At the agency, Matsui comes asking Yagami to save Koda and Akane, who had been kidnapped by the RK to get to Yagami. With Tsukumo's plan, they successfully rescue the girls, but Soma arrives and admits his undercover status and responsibility for Sawa's justified death. He requests Yagami to not mention Kusumoto's name during Ehara's trial.
A month later at the appeal trial, Ehara continues to deny connection with Mikoshiba but Yagami presents the voice recording between Sawa and Kuwana talking about how Mikoshiba bullied Toshiro and she couldn't say anything. Ehara ultimately authenticates the murder footage and admits to the fabrication of the groping, while promising to present the knife he used to kill Mikoshiba to court. After the end of the trial, Kusumoto and Bando visit Yagami with a phone call from Kuwana, who is now using Kawai's body to lure RK, with Bando tracing the call and dispatching them to Kuwana's location. Yagami and his team go to see Kuwana with Tsukumo updating him on the location of Kawai's body.
As they arrive and defeat thugs, they and close in on Soma who has found Kawai's body, with Kuwana joining them afterwards. While everyone holds the thugs off, Yagami and Soma face off on their own, with Yagami knocking him out. But as they find victory, Kuwana reveals the bomb planted in the freezer Kawai's body is in, as he plans on blowing it up to free Kusumoto of her shackles. Yagami tries to convince him that wouldn't do justice and they both fight it out. In the end, Yagami says that even when the law fails, the truth is what ultimately matters.
In the aftermath, Kusumoto turns herself in, and Bando is arrested for his power plays. As for Kuwana, he is still on the run but Yagami believes that the man can one day turn over a new leaf as he enjoys a celebratory sushi platter with his friends.
The Kaito Files: 2022[]
Yagami is away from Kamurocho to take care of a divorce mediation job for Genda. Due to the husband disappearing with the son, the job takes longer than expected and Yagami asks Kaito to watch over the agency in his absence. While searching for the missing family in the mountains, Yagami and his search party encounter a bear.
After the husband runs off again, Yagami manages to catch him in a boat. He returns to Kamurocho after his work is complete and drops off a fruit basket for a recuperating Kaito.
Fighting Styles[]
Yagami is a master of various martial arts. In Judgment, he uses two styles based around Tiger Kung Fu and Crane Kung Fu, which are 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 or firearms.
He learned the basics of Kung Fu as a child from his father but his style was primarily created through his experiences on the streets of Kamurocho. As such, he refers to his style as "Kamurocho style".
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 and Deadly Attacks that cause Mortal Wounds, and prevents him from being stunned. It also enables several EX Actions and allows Yagami to pick up motorcycles and other heavy objects that he cannot otherwise carry, similar to Kiryu's Beast Style or Extreme Heat Mode.
EX Boost in Lost Judgment has been reworked to be more balanced at the start, requiring upgrades to gain some of the abilities it had in Judgment. EX Boost no longer absorbs damage in place of the health bar and requires an upgrade to do so. It also does not protect from knockdowns and likewise requires an upgrade.
Crane[]
Crane Style's Icon
LJ
Waltz (円舞) Style's icon
Crane (円舞, Enbu, Lit. "Waltz"), represented by a blue crane icon and a light blue aura (also has indigo colored particle effects in Lost Judgment), enables Yagami to tackle multiple enemies with ease, with attacks that are acrobatic and have a better reach for more than two enemies.
The animation for entering Crane style is a 360 degree rightward spin in place before he enters his stance. In Judgment, Crane and Tiger both have the same stance, consisting of Yagami in a low stance with open outward-turned hands with his left hand reaching farther out than the right hand. In Lost Judgment, Crane has been given its own stance, consisting of a low stance in which Yagami places his right hand near his jaw and his left hand near his hips.
Crane tends to be highly ineffective against boss enemies who will frequently dodge, block, or simply endure and retaliate. Without upgrades, only the final double finisher in Crane style has a launch effect upon hit. A common strategy is to utilize Crane style to eliminate a group of weaker enemies and then switch to Tiger style in order to defeat a boss or any stronger enemies still remaining.
Combos[]
The Rush Combo (which can be looped infinitely) is a low right kick, a mid left kick, a backwards right kick and a spinning right roundhouse kick. Finishers consist of: a left bear claw, a left overhead kick and a left jumping push kick; a left roundhouse kick, an outward-inward crescent kicks, and a left tornado side kick; a left spinning heel kick, a right 720° kick and a low right sweep kick; and a right roundhouse kick, a left reverse hook kick and a forward flip left kick.
In EX Boost mode, a heavy attack combo is unlocked: a sweeping right palm, a sweeping left palm, a backwards sweeping left-and-right palm, and a spinning flying left reverse roundhouse kick. This can be used to set up an EX Action.
Basic attacks[]
Crane style's heavy attack in Judgment is a double front kick, and in Lost Judgment it is a double right reverse roundhouse kick. While running, pressing evade has Yagami perform a low right roundhouse kick, pressing light attack has Yagami perform a tornado kick and pressing heavy attack has Yagami perform a flying waving kick combo. Yagami's quickstep attacks include a left sobat kick, a left reverse push kick, a right reverse push kick and a high right reverse roundhouse kick, and his downed attack is Kiryu's Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2 downed attack. Pressing heavy attack near environmental objects will have Yagami kick them away towards enemies.
Grab attacks[]
From a grab, Yagami has 3 follow-ups: pressing light attack has him headbutt and knee the opponent, pressing heavy attack has him reverse roundhouse kick them away and pressing grab again has him throw them overhead. In Lost Judgment, the throw animation is a judo throw. In EX Boost mode, pressing grab has Yagami perform a right reverse roundhouse kick, lock the enemy and choke them with the crook of his knee.
Blocking, dodging and reversals[]
If Yagami is knocked down, he can perform either Kiryu's Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2 get-up attack, a sweeping right roundhouse kick, or a kick similar to Shun Akiyama's Sliding Reversal. In Lost Judgment, Yagami has both a unique pirouetting dodging animation, and Sky Dancer, an ability performed by pressing light attack while blocking that has him momentarily fly. He can follow this up with: a spinning right roundhouse kick, a double left overhead kick and a left frontflip kick.
Unique to Lost Judgment is the "Mortal Reversal", which is performed after evading a Deadly Attack. Crane style's Mortal Reversal has Yagami perform a butterfly kick to get out of the way before swinging around the enemy's waist and then lifting them up in the air by their right leg and slamming them into the ground with a right hammer fist. Due to the large range and spinning motion, this Mortal Reversal is especially effective against groups of large enemies.
Counterattacks[]
In Judgment, Crane style's counterattack is Tiger Drop, though the animation is an open palm strike instead of a punch. In Lost Judgment, it is True Crane Beast Slayer, a juggling right reverse roundhouse kick.
In Lost Judgment, if opponents send objects flying towards Yagami, he can counter by throwing the objects back at them.
Vault and wall attacks[]
Unique to Yagami is the ability to vault over opponents and jump from walls to attack. From a vault, he can deliver: a double hammerfist, a left reverse overhead kick and a falling throw (in Lost Judgment, the first attack has been changed to a spinning left reverse roundhouse kick). From a wall jump, he can deliver: a right haymaker, a backflip kick and a double leg grab-and-throw (in Lost Judgment, the first attack has been changed to a right tornado kick).
EX Actions[]
Many EX Actions done in Crane will change to attack up to three enemies, usually at the cost of dealing less damage than those done in Tiger. Two of Crane's rush combos lead into attacks that put enemies into juggle states which can be followed with a continued combo or EX Action.
Tiger[]
Tiger Style's icon
LJ
Flash (一閃) Style's icon
Tiger (一閃, Issen, Lit. "Flash"), represented by a red tiger head icon and a bright red aura (with pink accents in Lost judgement), is best used in one-on-one situations. Yagami can deliver more powerful, precise strikes and break enemies' guards.
The animation for entering Tiger style is Yagami raising his right knee, placing his left hand near his chin, and leaving his right hand low near his hips before entering his stance. Tiger style's stance in both games has Yagami in a low stance with open outward-turned hands with his left hand reaching farther out than the other.
Combos[]
The Rush Combo is a low left palm strike followed by a right palm strike, a right overhead punch followed by a left jab, a lunge punch followed by a gut punch, and two left overhead punches. Finishers include: a right horse kick, a right axe kick and a right elbow dash; a right spinning backfist, a right cartwheel kick and a right backflip kick; a left haymaker, a right open palm thrust and a repeater right kick; and a right elbow uppercut, a left uppercut and a dashing dual punch. Unique to this style are directional finishers, though they are all Kiryu's Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2 directional finishers.
By holding and releasing the light attack button while performing a Rush Combo, Yagami can do Flux Fissure - an extremely powerful palm-driven energy blast that has more power than most EX Actions.
All finishers in this style can be individually charged. Combos of Tiger style automatically break enemy guards and cause them to flinch, making it suitable for both bosses and taking out lesser enemies one by one. In Lost Judgment, however, Tiger style has been reworked so that charged finishers send enemies flying away, and attacks no longer automatically break through enemy guards. Instead, a new skill- Flashing Palm- gives Yagami's charged finishers the ability to completely ignore enemy guard when he is at full health.
In EX Boost mode, a heavy attack combo is unlocked: left backfist-right punch-left backfist, left punch-left elbow, right flying knee and right overhead kick. This can be used to set up an EX Action.
Basic attacks[]
Tiger style's heavy attack is a double front kick. While running, pressing evade has Yagami do a sliding right kick, pressing light attack has Yagami do a flying left knee attack and pressing heavy attack has Yagami do a triple flying push kick combo. His quickstep attacks and downed attack are all Kiryu's Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2 quickstep attacks and downed attacks.
Grab attacks[]
From a grab, Yagami has Crane style's 3 follow-ups. In EX Boost mode, pressing grab has him throw the enemy by their arm.
Blocking, dodging and reversals[]
Yagami has 2 guard reversals: light attack has him uppercut palm strike the enemy, and heavy attack has him double-palm strike them away. If knocked down, he can perform Kiryu's Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2 get-up kick. In Lost Judgment, the aforementioned is changed to a right palm strike, and Yagami can also gain the ability to Perfect Guard an enemy attack, which is a block that staggers the enemy just as they attack. He can even perform a reversal attack with Flux Fissure after Perfect Guard through another skill. Tiger style's Mortal Reversal is a rushing right elbow strike.
Counterattacks[]
In Judgment, Tiger style's counterattack is Tiger Drop. In Lost Judgment, it is Dragon Crushing Fist, which has the same effect as Tiger Drop but a different animation - a kibadachi stance punch.
Vault and wall attacks[]
From a vault, Yagami can deliver: a spinning left backfist, a double hammerfist and a head grab. From a wall jump, he can deliver: a right haymaker, a double hammerfist and a flying head grab with his elbow.
EX Actions[]
Snake[]
Snake Style's Icon
Flow (流) Style's Icon
Snake (流, Nagare, Lit. "Flow"), represented by a green snake icon and a bright green aura with teal accents, is a counter-based style ideal for dealing with armed opponents. Yagami can utilize joint locks, throws, precise strikes, and parries in order to redirect foes' powers back at them and defeat them with poise and grace. Snake style requires patience and seems to be more focused on countering than direct damage, similar to Tanimura's fighting style. A lot of its movements are heavily influenced by Wing Chun, notably in the multiple punching and certain take downs.
The animation for entering Snake style has Yagami jut his right leg out at a downward diagonal angle as he brings his right hand close to his jaw and his left hand close to his chest. The stance for this style has Yagami in a very bladed stance with open hands. Yagami's right hand is placed close to his jaw, while his left hand is placed near his mid-section and hips.
Combos[]
The Rush Combo is a low right kick, two downward knifehand strikes and three quick chain punches. Finishers include: a double palm strike; a low right backfist and a left tetsuzanko; and a low right roundhouse kick and a right backfist. All finishers can be followed up with a grab.
In EX Boost mode, a heavy attack combo is unlocked: a throw immediately followed by another throw.
Basic attacks[]
Snake style's heavy attack is a right uppercut, which is followed up with a shoulder throw if it connects. While running, pressing evade has Yagami perform a low waving kick combo, pressing light attack has Yagami perfrom a right shoulder bash and pressing heavy attack has Yagami grab and throw the enemy. His quickstep attacks include open palm strikes and quick backfists.
Grab attacks[]
Snake style has a unique grab animation, where Yagami puts his opponent in a Waki-gatame arm lock. He has 3 follow-ups: light attack has him fling the enemy, heavy attack has him floor them and grab has him throw them over his body. Also unique to this style is the back grab, which also has 3 follow-ups: light attack has Yagami headbutt the enemy twice, heavy attack has him perform Kiryu's grab punch and grab has him twist and throw the enemy.
Yagami can attack other opponents with either a right backfist or a right push kick while holding an enemy. In EX Boost mode, pressing grab has him throw the enemy to the ground and immediately throw them again. Snake style will attempt to disarm enemies with weapons when they are grabbed, which will successfully parry the attack and disarm them provided you perform the QTE.
Blocking, dodging and reversals[]
In this style, Yagami can weave in any direction in order to avoid attacks, similar to weaving in place with Rush Style as Kiryu. If grabbed, Yagami can: elbow the enemy off of him, knee the enemy away, kick them away, and throw them off of him. If knocked down, Yagami can get up, cartwheel grab the enemy, and throw them away. If approached when in EX Boost mode, pressing block has Yagami smoothly deflect an enemy and kick them away.
Counterattacks[]
Holding guard as an opponent attacks can have Yagami parry the enemy, not unlike Tanimura. Pressing circle as an opponent attacks has Yagami perform Twisting Viper, a counter-throw.
Vault and wall attacks[]
From a vault, Yagami can deliver: a right haymaker, a left-leg dropkick and a spinning throw. From a wall jump, he can deliver: a spinning right backfist, a right reverse push kick and a throw.
EX Actions[]
EX Actions include grabbing an opponent's left arm and twisting it to spin their entire body, sending them slamming into the ground, and then using an omoplata mixed with an armbar. Another one has Yagami knee the enemy in the rear to throw them off balance, forcefully reap an opponent's leg to spin them upside-down and back-first into a wall, then throw three chain punches to their mid-section, and deliver a straight right stomp to their head against a wall. Additionally, a unique attribute to the Snake style are the EX Surrender actions; in this combat style, Yagami can use his opponent's fear to his advantage by scaring his opponent into fainting. These include Yagami punching and narrowly stopping his fist in front of his enemy's face, feinting a punch and then narrowly stopping a right hook kick before it hits the enemy's face, going to an opponent on the ground and twisting their arm behind their back until they tap out, jumping and landing a kick right next to the enemy's head before playfully patting the enemy's cheek, and turning a feint punch into a kabedon and then leaning in and intimidating the enemy into fainting.
Boxer[]
Boxer Style's Icon
Fist Might (拳威) Style's Icon
Boxer (拳威, Ken-i, Lit. "Fist Might"), represented by a symbol of a clenched boxing glove and a marigold aura, is an exclusive School Stories Expansion Pack DLC style similar to the boxing combat found in the Todoroki Boxing Gym during Yagami's engagement in School Stories. With this style, Yagami can use high-speed flurries of traditional boxing moves such as jabs, straights, hooks and uppercuts. The boxer style is noted to be similar to Tiger, but being particularly useful for single-opponent fights. It is also reported to have a unique "Counter Verdict" that boosts power and is achieved by matching Yagami's attack with his opponent's. Compared to all of Yagami's other styles, the acquisition of all of Boxer's skills is rather unique: most of your skills are locked off until you acquire them in the boxing minigame, after which you can buy the skills for a low price of 100 SP. He fights in orthodox stance, which matches his stance as a regular skater (right leg back in both cases).
Combos[]
Boxer style does not have a Rush Combo. Pressing light attack has Yagami deliver jabs, while holding down the light attack button has yagami deliver a flurry of 3 jabs. The only finisher is a powerful right cross, but pressing grab after the finisher results in an uppercut that sends enemies airborne. The relevant skill has to be acquired to use the uppercut.
In EX Boost mode, a heavy attack combo is unlocked (Todoroki Rush): a low right cross, a low left jab, a right uppercut, and a flurry of punches ending with a juggling left uppercut.
Basic attacks[]
Boxer style's heavy attack is a straight left jab. Holding the heavy attack button will have Yagami perform Chizuru Lance, a powerful step-and-jab. While running, pressing light attack will have Yagami deliver a right haymaker, pressing heavy attack will have Yagami deliver a more powerful right haymaker, and pressing grab will have Yagami deliver a right cross.
Grab attacks[]
Yagami cannot grab in this style. Pressing grab will have him perform a hook, and holding the same button will have him perform Todoroki Blow, a charged hook.
Blocking, dodging and reversals[]
If Yagami's guard is broken, he can retaliate with a right jab. His quickstep attacks include: a right hook, a left hook, a left uppercut, a right cross and a charged right cross (Submarine Straight). If knocked down, he can get up and deliver a right gut punch. Boxer style's Mortal Reversal is a right cross, a left gut punch and a right uppercut. With the Ethereal Weave skill, successfully dodging an attack with good timing awards Yagami with more heat.
Counterattacks[]
Yagami can counterattack with a right jab (Champion's Jab), a left jab (Champion's Straight), and a low left hook (Champion's Hook). Champion's Jab has a high chance to Stun and Champion's Hook has a high chance to inflict the Agony status. Successfully execution one of these reversals increases the rate in which Yagami gains heat, if he has the Champion's Hidden Arts skills.
Vault and wall attacks[]
From a vault, Yagami can deliver: a right haymaker, a double hammerfist and a right hook. From a wall jump, he can deliver: a spinning right hook, a double hammerfist and a right haymaker.
EX Actions[]
Boxer style's EX Actions are mostly reused from other styles, though the unique ones are often focused on singular opponents. EX Piercing Straight is his easiest heat action to execute, as it only requires the enemy to be in the Agony state (which is easily achieved with Snake Style or Champion's Hook), and for Yagami to be in EX Boost.
Extracts[]
Yagami also has access to extracts, which are special items crafted from various ingredients found around the city. They grant him a variety of powers and new moves, such as pyrokinesis and other characters' movesets.
As Kamulop[]
When Yagami dons the Kamulop outfit, it cannot be controlled by the player. He only has two moves: Hop back on defense and diving headbutt on offense.
Trivia[]
- Yagami's fighting styles use kanji as their icons. In the English version, they are given special icons.[3]
- Early versions of Yagami's character model and movesets were found in Yakuza Kiwami 2's files.[4]
- Yagami has a pinball machine in the PS4 version of Judgment. Despite not being present in other versions of the game, Yagami still talks about playing it.[5]
Notes[]
- ↑ The given birth year of 1983 is an estimate based on Yagami's age and is not intended as a substitute for an official date.
- ↑ The given height of 185 cm (6′ 1″) is based on the character model's scaling factor within Lost Judgment's data.[2] For Dragon Engine games, this method is believed to be very accurate (±2 cm). However, this is intended as an estimate, not a substitute for an official statistic.
References[]
- ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Pause Menu - Help - Characters - Takayuki Yagami, Lost Judgment (Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2021), PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5/Windows/Xbox One/Xbox Series X and S/Amazon Luna.
- ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “character_model_model_data” (.BIN file), Lost Judgment (Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2021), PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5/Windows/Xbox One/Xbox Series X and S/Amazon Luna.
- ↑ Jon Riesenbach (@moriyoshijon), “One of my personal favorite localization things we were able to do for Judgment involved Yagami's fighting styles: in Japanese, these were known as 一閃 (flash) for the blue stance, and 円舞 (waltz) for the red one.
This presented us with a problem. Do we localize them directly as Flash and Waltz styles and be done with it, or do we try to find something that makes more sense in English (and fits in the space)? What we ultimately landed on with the dev's help was the Crane and Tiger stances.
This allowed us to not only further reinforce Yagami's kung-fu roots and match the original intent/meaning of the Japanese, but create these super cool icons that exist only in our localized version of the game!, ” Twitter, July 5, 2019, 16:24 UTC, https://twitter.com/moriyoshijon/status/1147179330910351361. - ↑ @SpookyMajora, “@devilleon7
You wouldn't happen to know if this head goes used on any sort of character in Kiwami 2, would you? Otherwise I might've stumbled onto an early Yagami from Judge Eyes. (it's under c_am_yagami_face in the kiwami 2 files), ” Twitter, September 21, 2018, 01:07 UTC, https://twitter.com/SpookyMajora/status/1042943241996447744.
- ↑ In the date with Sana Ｍihama, he refers to the pinball machine as "an old hunk of junk".