Yakuza: Like a Dragon - Meet the main characters

Our new hero is a bit different to what fans are used to. Where Kiryu was a proud and quiet protagonist, Ichiban is loud, brash and a bit wacky.

They both represent underdogs fighting against the brutality of the Yakuza underworld, however. Ichiban was charged for murder and sentenced to eighteen years behind bars after taking the fall for his father figure, Masumi Arakawa.

After all those years, Ichiban has emerged from prison, finding the Tojo clan has vanished. It is Ichiban’s mission to reunite with Masumi and discover truths about his old family clan and patriarch – Arakawa – uniting with the Omi Alliance.

A martial arts expert. Jo Sawashiro has been close to Masumi Arakawa for years, coming up together in the Tojo clan.

He's the shadowy right-hand man, full of anger and violence. The main thing to know about Jo is his hatred for Ichiban.

He has never liked the younger member of the family and in his absence has risen in power within the Omi Alliance. As captain of the Arakawa clan, under the Omi Alliance, he is one of several antagonists in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

A disgraced former doctor, Yu lost his licence to practice medicine after funnelling drugs onto the black market. Now homeless and living on the streets in the prefecture of Isezaki Ijincho he comes across our hero and helps patch up a wound.

While the fighting styles of the other characters are based on real world martial arts, Yu Nanba kicks it up a notch by breathing fire from alcohol and throwing beans at his enemies so they’re attacked by pigeons.

Patriarch of the Arakawa family, now standing as acting captain of the Omi Alliance, Masumi has seemingly betrayed everything his family once stood for. Masumi become known for guiding his family into a very militant stance, using murder and fear to climb the ladder of success.

When he murders a member of the Sakaki family after discovering they were selling Tojo clan information to the highest bidder, he asks his young protégé Ichiban to own up to the crime in his place.

Saeko meets Ichiban while working as a hostess, given the job of ‘mama’ in the club owned by Nonomiya, she is said to be ‘diligent and delicate’ in all matters. But when tragedy strikes her and the club, rumours swirl of Chinese Triad involvement and she turns to the only person she can trust – Ichiban Kasuga.

Lastly we have Kouichi, an ex-police detective who spent much of his time investigating links between Masumi Arakawa and bribes to police superintendent-general, Horinouchi. Still trying to compile evidence against the police corruption, Kouichi enlists the help of Ichiban for his past connections to Masumi and the pair strike up an unlikely alliance.