Like a Dragon: Yakuza (2024)

Like a Dragon: Yakuza is a 12 episode series based upon the games. However, its story is only loosely based on its inspiration, as there are a lot of changes made. The first episode jumps between 1995 and 2005, which can make for some issues with pacing when it’s not used as effectively as it could have. It starts off with the orphans Kiryu and Nishiki, who steal from one of the yakuza. Naturally, the yakuza come to take back what’s there and it sparks off the events of the show.

To pay back the yakuza (since there is interest and damage to the amounts that they stole), Kiryu and Nishiki end up joining the clan. We’re then shown that Kiryu for reasons not yet explained, has spent the last ten years in prison. When he is released, it’s a different, yet still familiar world, for the yakuza. The show takes place in the fictional district of Kamurocho, a red-light entertainment district of Tokyo.

There are a lot of characters introduced, which, coupled with the constant shift between the past and present, can make it hard to keep track of who’s who, and what is happening. Basically, in the present, two yakuza clans are locked in battle, with Kazuma caught in the middle. Kazuma meets up with his fellow orphans, but having been in prison for ten years, there is a rift between them. Given that the show basically time skipped, we don’t know what happened, and it’s using the flashbacks to slowly reveal it.

For fans of the game, or at least having played it, there are some nice easter eggs. From Majima’s appearance to the locations. A lot of liberties are taken but still cool to see this take on those characters, and some of the actors used really evoke the characters that they are playing as. While not overly violent, there are certain scenes where it evokes the same kind of stylized and over the top violence as the games.

The plot gets clearer as the season goes along. It’s a little bit more focused, being around the theft of the money that Kiryu managed to get himself entwined in. The way that Nishiki managed to live during the past ten years, as well as how Kiryu got into jail in the first place, is slowly unveiled piece by piece. It’s not the best method, and the plot is still too scattered and unfocused to keep your attention, but it shows that it has potential.

In the final two episodes, everything is effectively revealed. Was the payoff worth all the scatteredness and vagueness early on? It’s hard to say, since it’s not as if it was an amazing secret. The show does a poor job of introducing the characters apart from Kiryu and Nishiki, that it takes nearly the whole season before you realise who is who, and how they relate to each other.

That said, the show perfectly captures the rivalry between Kiryu and Nishiki. The two actors do a great job at playing those characters. The show also touches upon the game’s occasional cheesiness with its own, with characters acting just a bit more exaggerated than in real life in one scene, before becoming extremely serious in the next. The season finale is supposed to be a cliffhanger but is easily guessable by the viewer.

Overall, Like a Dragon: Yakuza is an average show. If you come in without any background from the games, it can be confusing. Even if you have played the games, it’s still confusing, but at least you can have fun recognizing various locations within the show. The plot had potential, but the way it was executed by constantly flipping between different time periods makes for a scattered approach that muddled too much of its storytelling.

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Toy Review: Transformers Masterpiece MP-56+ Riggorus

Review:  #867

Name:  Riggorus

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Masterpiece

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Masterpiece

Mold Status:  retool of Masterpiece MP-58 Hoist

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:

Hasbro versions of this figure comes with an extra outer sleeve, which is a simpler design.

Inside is basically the Japanese packaging and toy, and like with all Masterpiece releases, it is a nice package all round.

The stock photos chosen are good, and shows the various poses and gimmicks.

Riggorus comes with a few accessories, being an artwork card, a force field, and a pair beam emitter, as well as attachments for his shoulder cannons.

There are also optional stickers.

VEHICLE MODE:

Riggorus transforms into a Hilux camper truck, and it's one from the 1980s, so it's an older design.

It's a very detailed and faithful vehicle mode too, particularly since it is also licensed, so all the detailing is there.

He is bigger than a Voyager, but less then a Leader.

There is a chrome grill, although since the whole piece is chromed, it's a bit tacky.  While the back has sculpted Toyota lettering.

The details don't end there, as he features opening doors and an opening hood.

Open up the hood and it'll reveal some engine detailing, all this is very impressive.

The only negative is that the bright yellow used is not very realistic.

A fantastic vehicle mode, as you would expect of a Masterpiece figure.

TRANSFORMATION:

Compared to some previous toon-accurate Masterpiece figures, Riggorus isn't too difficult or tricky.  Thankfully, he doesn't include any convoluted designs and in theory, is a bit more on the simpler side for this price point.  He effectively folds inside out, as the legs as well as the arms are untucked from underneath the truck, leaving the vehicle shell that forms the torso.  It's a bit of a surprise, and the shoulder pieces are somewhat confusing in the instructions.  The transformation scheme is lacking a bit of elegance as the torso feels unfinished.

ROBOT MODE:

Given he's a retool of Hoist (which itself is a retool of Trailbreaker), he has elements of those designs, and this is not a back looking robot.

Unlike the original toy, his proportions isn't bad, and he doesn't look bloated or too fat.  He has a bit of kibble, the pieces behind his shoulders are part of the design though but they do get in the way.

The head sculpt is toy inspired and looks nice.

He becomes very tall in this more, towering over all Voyagers now.

However, that comes at a cost, and the reason he's so tall is that his torso is basically hollow and is gappy.  That's disappointing for a Masterpiece figure, given that they couldn't have found a way to cover up those unsightly gaps on the sides of his torso.

Moving on from that flaw, he's nice and chunky.  He's striving for toon accuracy but at the same time, doesn't feel too far on the toon side which is great.

Due to the hollowness of his torso and legs, he can feel light for his size though.

Articulation is naturally really good, with joints for his head, shoulders (including being able to flex in and out), elbows, wrists, fingers, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a few accessories, the first is the forcefield which attaches to his torso.

Next are the pair beam emitters. You need to actually remove his hands in order to attach these, which is disappointing.

The shoulder cannons can also point forwards.

Finally, the forearms can extend, which can look weird but still pretty cool.

Given how his torso is, his hip joints are differently jointed than normal.  They still have the range of motion you'd expect, but can look weird at times.

Thanks to his large feet, he is quite stable in most poses.

The robot mode can feel a bit unfinished in certain areas, given that they don't peg securely only anything, like his shoulder cannons.

The articulation in his fingers (two pieces that are jointed), provides a lot of posing fun.

Even without the stickers, he isn't too bland thanks to the silver and red on his lower body.  With the stickers, which are mostly on the pieces behind his shoulders, it can look more tacky.

Despite the flaws, this is a solid robot mode.

OVERALL:

Riggorus is a solid Masterpiece figure.  He's not the best though, or the best value.  There are flaws in robot mode that are hard to ignore, such as the hollow torso and general hollow feel.  However, he does display well and looks decent.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Wheeljack / Que (Deluxe)

Review:  #866

Name:  Wheeljack / Que

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 28)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Based upon his (only) appearance in the Dark of the Moon movie, Wheeljack (or known by his screenname Que), transforms into a blue Mercedes E550.

It's a decent vehicle mode, even if it looks just a tad bit chubby and simplified.

The size is okay, around average Deluxe size.

The robot weapon pegs onto the side of the vehicle.

He only has rolling wheels as a gimmick.  The detailing on both the front and back is nice, and he doesn't have any obviously exposed robot parts which is always nice.

A decent vehicle mode and probably the better mode of the two...

TRANSFORMATION:

Transformation into robot mode is not hard, nor is it inventive or amazing.  While he can't be called a shellformer, effectively, only the headlights don't form the backpack.  Everything else unfolds from underneath the shell of the car.  The back splits to form the legs, and the arms from the roof and sides.

ROBOT MODE:

Wheeljack's robot mode is okay.  There is a lot of unpainted grey plastic, which dulls all the intricate sculpting and makes him look really bland.

He features a massive amount of kibble.  Half the car is on his back, and the other half is behind his legs.  At least they all peg in solidly and doesn't flop around.

The head sculpt is ugly, but that's more due to the ugly movie head designs.  It's too human looking, and given Transformers are machines, having him look so aged (and like Einstein...) doesn't look right either.

He is shorter than your average Deluxe, and skinnier too.

As mentioned, he has a lot of intricate sculpting, just that the shade of grey used is the horrible "Hasbro grey".

Articulation is okay, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with two weapons, a staff-gun, and a smaller gun.

The staff can be held in his hand at the tip, which looks a bit too long and awkward for him.

While the gun can be held in his other hand, but it's a bit thin looking too.

Alternatively, the staff and gun can combine and held in his hand as another type of weapon.  To be honest, it's hard to tell what sort of weapon this is supposed to be exactly.

Both of the weapons can peg onto his back for storage.

You can tell that the engineering was sacrificed to be more simplistic, and this robot mode suffers as a result.  Wheeljack just feels cheap as a result, and not up to the standards the Studio Series line had set before.

An okay robot mode that might look passable, but is a disappointing effort in the end.

OVERALL:

Wheeljack is one of those figures you'd get, because it's one of the only accessible figure of the character.  The vehicle mode is find, it's the transformation and robot mode that just disappoints.  There aren't any game breaking flaws, it's just that he could have been so much better.  The simplicity led to a huge amount of kibble, and his robot mode isn't even fun to make up for it.

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