The director of Yakuza 3: Kiwami + Darkish Tides has damaged his silence on Yakuza Studio’s casting of Teruyuki Kagawa to play the controversial position of Go Hamasaki, stating that they wanted somebody who would make viewers suppose, “This man is creepy.”
That is videogameaddicted’s personal translation of an interview with Horii carried out by Japan’s GAME Watch. Throughout the interview, Horii was requested immediately concerning the resolution to recast some characters in Kiwami from their unique Japanese actors. His normal response as to why he recast each Hamasaki and Rikiya Shimabukuro was that though it was “definitely safer to not recast and will keep away from on-line criticism,” the studio “felt it had no use in worry.”
Horii went on to say that they made the choice primarily based on whose efficiency they most wished to see. When Kagawa requested immediately about taking part in Hamasaki, Horii stated:
Hamasaki is a vulgar, persistent, belligerent yakuza, proper? He isn’t an explosive character like Kanda, so once I considered somebody who would make folks suppose, “This individual is creepy,” I naturally selected Kagawa, and that was the most important deciding issue. Kagawa-san’s performing is enjoyable to observe. Even when slicing off a pig’s foot with a beef knife, it feels slimy. That feeling permeated his efficiency, which introduced freshness to the scene and made it plenty of enjoyable.
Kagawa’s casting as Hamasaki has sparked outrage from Yakuza followers after the actor has been accused of sexual assault by a number of girls, and one lady got here ahead with what seemed to be photographic proof of the incident. In 2022, Kagawa acknowledged and apologized for one of many incidents, however one other accuser stated she had not obtained an apology.
Following Kagawa’s casting announcement, Ryu ga Gotoku followers reacted angrily on social media, with #REMOVEKAGAWA trending on a number of networks and a Change.org petition created, with almost 10,000 signatures as of this writing. Followers accused RGG Studio of suppressing the #REMOVEKAGAWA hashtag and deleting feedback mentioning the problem on its official Instagram web page. And lots of level out that Sega has recast actors with previous violations, together with Pierre Taki, who was recast in Judgment in 2019 after he was arrested for cocaine possession.
Up to now, neither RGG Studio nor Sega have made any official remark about Kagawa’s casting or accusations. Horii’s reply is the primary assertion made on the topic. Nevertheless, after receiving plenty of criticism, Sega launched a trailer on its official YouTube web page. The trailer introduces the Japanese voice solid and opens with an extended clip of Hamasaki. videogameaddicted reached out to Sega for added remark previous to this text, however didn’t obtain a response in time for publication.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at videogameaddicted. Do you might have any story suggestions? Ship it to rvalentine@videogameaddicted.com.