History Characters / YakuzaLikeADragon

CharacterSpecificPages: [[Characters/LikeADragonKazumaKiryu Kazuma Kiryu]] | [[Characters/LikeADragonGoroMajima Goro Majima]] | [[Characters/LikeADragonAkiraNishikiyama Akira Nishikiyama]] | [[Characters/LikeADragonIchibanKasuga Ichiban Kasuga]]\\

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S29ez-A7DvM "Triplet after Triplet"]]

* NotBad: Says this word for word after [[spoiler:the party beats him.]]

* OneHitKill: [[spoiler:God's Right Hand, under most circumstances]].

* BossWarningSiren: If his theme is [[ThisIsGonnaSuck any indication]]...

* EvilSoundsDeep: With Creator/ShowHayami (and Creator/RinoRomano in the English dub), an imposing baritone is a given.

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://youtu.be/nsNphVDxRrA?si=wv02xCIhMTKYSMhO "Monken's Beeper"]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:He gets brutally tortured and displayed by Ebina to Kiryu's party in the second game. While Nanba calls him a bastard for it, Ebina points out that Sawashiro has done the exact same thing to numerous others over the decades and that he really had it coming. An eye for an eye, so he says.]]

* ConsummateProfessional: As bookkeeper of the clan, he takes his duties quite seriously. Aside from the fact that he doesn't give days off, he treats Ichiban as incompetent due to his unwillingness to perform shakedowns (especially when he tried to make it up with money he got from Masato).

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:After serving as a major antagonistic force during ''Like a Dragon'', ''Infinite Wealth'' sees him act as TheMole in Ebina's Seiryu faction due to his desire to atone and ensure Masumi's dream is fulfilled.]]

** For his ''Ryu Ga Gotoku Online'' incarnation, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oxUoCpPHYk God Complex]] from VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarLostParadise is reused for the FinalBoss fight against him at the end of the main story.

* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler:''Infinite Wealth'' reveals that he didn't kill Hoshino. Instead, Aoki knew that Sawashiro was having second thoughts and so sent another assassin ahead of time to do the deed and pin it on him.]]

* VillainExitStageLeft: Attempted. [[spoiler:After telling Ichiban his true origins he tries to leave only for Joon-Gi Han and Zhao to bluntly tell him he can't just walk after killing someone like Hoshino. Then he essentially shrugs his shoulders and tells them to do what they want with him.]]

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Despite having put up a pretty hard fight against Ichiban and his crew in '''Like A Dragon'', when he's fought in ''Infinite Wealth'', while the other strongest fighters of the Seiryu Clan are being handled by Nanba, Saeko, Zhao, and Seonhee, Kiryu single-handedly defeats Sawashiro, something that shocks the other party members considering how hard they struggled against him before. Notably, in action sequences, while Ichiban made use of the right opportunity to break Sawashiro's weapons through raw strength instead of skill, which he makes clear Sawashiro is superior to him at, Kiryu is the better fighter by fending off all of Sawashiro's cane attacks without breaking a sweat before wrestling him down to submission. Even while his body had been ravaged by cancer, Kiryu is still a legend of Japan's underworld. Though it's left vague whether Sawashiro intentionally took a dive in the fight, or simply took advantage of the result to get out from under Ebina's eye.]]

** TheBusCameBack: But then in Chapters 10 through 12, Mitsuo returned and became more significant to the story as he worked again with Ichiban and his crew. [[spoiler:He's also seen paying his respects to both Arakawas during the funeral at the very end alongside Daigo, Watase, Majima, and Saejima, in addition to Nanba and Saeko being present.]]
* TheMole: He serves as one for Ichiban when they infiltrate the Omi Alliance HQ.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:He's so caught up in the ability to walk that he underestimates how long he's able to do so with the ephedrine. A thug accosts him eventually, and in his desperation to get away Masato shoots him dead, sparking a chain of events that lead to Ichiban taking the fall for him and Masumi.]]

* PosthumousCharacter: By the time Ichiban gets out of jail, Masato is apparently dead. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope If by dead]] [[ExactWords you mean on paper.]] He's taken up the identity of Ryo Aoki in the past eighteen years, having gotten surgery in America to finally walk of his own volition.]]

* WeakToFire: And Blunt damage.

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFMlo3OtH8s "War Maker"]]

* FlunkyBoss: He's fought three times in the story. All three times with someone in tow. [[spoiler:He's also fought alongside Mabuchi for the fourth and final time during Zhao's Drink Link.]]

* LaughingMad: He breaks out into a moment of hysterics when he recounts to Ichiban a meeting he had with Yumeno after assuming his new identity, noting the irony of the woman unknowingly calling the man she was previously repulsed by and betrayed a gentleman.

--> '''Masato''': (pointing a gun to his head) I started off in life with a weak, ugly body that embarrassed me. I worked hard to improve myself, but after all that, I still wasn't happy 'cause no one appreciated who I really was on the inside.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Has to be at least in his late 30's to early 40's, but doesn't much look it.

* KingMook: A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example. He's fought against during gameplay yet, despite his larger health bar, he doesn't behave any differently than the other Bleach Japan protesters you were fighting against. He's also just as easy to deal with, being easily dispatched within one or two [[LimitBreak Tag Team: Essence of Mayhem]] Kiwami skills.

* TheNapoleon: He's noticeably shorter than Ichiban and Nanba, yet is just as hot-blooded as the former.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Arguably to [[VideoGame/Yakuza6 Sugai]]. Both of them being antagonists who despite not being fought during gameplay, still ended up playing a key part in some of the events, particularly with the respective [[BigBad Big Bads]], as part of their own personal gain. While Sugai was a Yakuza who directly influenced Iwami for his own goals, Horionuchi is on the other side of the law as a policeman, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday and likely has no idea that]] [[spoiler:what he did to Masato would cause him to beome Ryo Aoki, who then uses him as ''his'' pawn instead]].

* AsHerself: As the ''grand winner'' of an open audition for the last party member of The Heroes of Tomorrow, she portrays a fictionalized version of herself in the game, with the extra bonus of being an OptionalPartyMember.

* AmbiguouslyBi: If you change her job to Night Queen, she has access to the same [[GroinAttack healing move]] as Saeko, and yes, she can also use it on the latter.
* BattleCouple: With Kasuga, if you complete her romance route.

* ReverseGrip: As a {{Ninja}} pastiche, Eri wields all of her main weapons this way.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She shares more than a few similarities with Hana from Yakuza 4, both being adorable {{Action Girl}}s who hold a torch for their boss while said boss is either oblivious or chooses not to notice. Both also affectionately refer to said bosses as chief.

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Is on the receiving end of this courtesy of Kume.

* TwinSwitch: Finishing Saeko's personal sidequest involves her pulling one of these off.

* TheLostLenore: When a patron asks for his bottle of "Legend Malt", the Bartender recounts how the bottle was meant for a woman he loved in the past that he waited for until he got news of how she died. [[spoiler:In reality, it's just a fancy bottle [[ExpensiveGlassOfCrap he filled with cheap rotgut]] to make his bar look better and the story is something he feeds to anyone who actually tries to buy it]].

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While certainly corrupt, he managed to unite the criminal factions of Ijincho via white-collar crime that results in little bloodshed and profit for everyone involved.

* {{Expy}}: He's a parody of the Professor characters from ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'', if they were dedicated to bumfights. [[spoiler:Being the TrueFinalBoss of ''Infinite Wealth'''s Sujimon League specifically brings to mind [[Videogame/PokemonSunAndMoon Professor Kukui]].]]

** By Infinite Wealth, in by passing a whopping 200 certification exams, he gets a job he's legitimately qualified for as a Vocational worker. Enough to be able to transfer from Yokohama to Hawaii.

* EccentricMillionaire: As eccentric as they come.

* GratuitousEnglish: Justified considering he's half American.

* BoomHeadshot: On the receiving end of this by [[spoiler:Masato Arakawa.]]

* ADeadlyAffair: She was openly cheating on her husband with a younger actor while leeching money off of him. [[spoiler:As it turns out, she was stealing ''counterfeit money'' created by the Seiryu[=/=]Liumang operation. This gets her and her lover murdered off-screen in retaliation.]]

* InconsistentSpelling: Her name was incorrectly romanized as "Seong-hui" in ''Like a Dragon'' and was only corrected to "Seonhee" in ''Infinite Wealth''.[[note]]The mistake comes from the fact that the Japanese pronunciation of her name, "Sonhi", could potentially be either, but according to the Chinese version, her name hanja is 善熙, which corresponds to the latter.[[/note]]

* InconsistentSpelling: In ''Like A Dragon'', her name is spelled "Seong-hui", but in ''Infinite Wealth'' it is spelled Seonhee.

* AbusiveParents: His mother was a cruel woman who constantly berated him, took any money he earned and was the one who gave him the giant scar on his face.

** A guy with a name like ''Arakawa the Assassin'' can't look his best without one...

** A flashback in the second game shows that he was about on par with the likes of Kiryu and Majima in his youth. And unlike them, he showed no qualms about graphically killing the goons who got in his way.

* CoolOldGuy: He's understanding enough toward Ichiban that he manages to relate Yakuza obligations to him in RPG terms, something which Ichiban has an easier time grasping.
* CrossCastRole: As a teenager he played these being an onnagata in his family's Kabuki shows.

* TheDon: At 2001, he's the head of a fairly small gang. In 2019, he's the Acting Captain of the Omi Alliance.

* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:He was completely caught off guard when Tendo killed him due to Tendo having seemingly been a steadfast ally up until that point.]]
* ForcedIntoEvil: [[spoiler:Masato forced him to leak the Tojo's secrets under the threat of ordering the arrest of his entire family and every family afterwards until someone agreed. And after he did, he was forced into the role of one of Masato's agents, the role of the greedy and cowardly traitor. It's pretty galling when you remember that Masato is Arakawa's ''son'' (albeit [[SwitchedAtBirth not by blood]]).]]

* TheLostLenore: He was in love with a woman named Akane. She disappeared and was later presumed to be killed when his boss at the time found out about their relationship, due to Arakawa being in an arranged marriage with a woman his boss had chosen. [[spoiler:''Infinite Wealth'' reveals that Akane was alive but Sawashiro kept it a secret for both his and Akane's (who had already started a new life in Hawaii) sake.]]

* ManlyTears: Arakawa sheds these when he realizes that, Ichiban who went through hell and back due to his machinations still saw him as a boss worthy of following, and still wanted to follow him as a subordinate [[spoiler:during their final meeting.]]

* OneManArmy: ''Infinite Wealth'' shows a flashback of him taking down an entire Yakuza family and killing their patriarch by himself.

* RedBaron: Arakawa the Assassin. While he mellowed out by the start of the story he is implied to have wiped out his whole family after they killed Akane and used a hobo camp to dispose of bodies ''monthly''. "Infinite Wealth" shows how he buried the Hikawa family in a bloody fashion.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: It's implied though never outright stated that he killed the entire Hikawa family in revenge for them killing Akane. Until a flashback in ''Infinite Wealth'' shows the act of him doing this, not the least of which included the ColdBloodedTorture of the Hikawa Patriarch himself.
* ScarsAreForever: He's had the scar ever since he was a child, thanks to his mother.

* ShootTheDog: As it turns out, him shooting Ichiban was more akin to this [[spoiler:as Ichiban was ultimately part of his plan to help topple Masato/Aoki. It's made very clear that he felt legitimately guilty about it and Ichiban's unwavering loyalty in spite of being his pawn [[ManlyTears moves him to tears]]]].
* SlasherSmile: Fittingly for a man who used to be known as "Arakawa the Assassin", promotional art for ''Infinite Wealth'' shows him in his younger days, splattered in blood and grinning evilly.

* CannotSpitItOut: [[spoiler:She's unable to tell Nanba that his brother is alive and safe, and resorts to trying to kill him instead. She's actually got a decent reason for it - said brother is working in the underground residential area that serves as both an emergency shelter for the Geomijul and a potentially fatal weakness in their defenses, which could result in an organisational collapse and a civilian massacre if the word gets out to their rivals - but that doesn't stop the whole thing from ending badly.]]

* FauxActionGirl: In ''Like a Dragon''. She holds authority and draws a gun out at one point, but she actually just leaves the fighting to her underlings. She ends up simply disarmed in a cutscene and doesn't put up a fight afterwards, instead just sending her men to do the fighting for her. That being said, she does give Ishioda [[GroinAttack a kick to the nads]] that takes him out of the fight. Fixed in ''Infinite Wealth'', where she becomes playable and gets her hands just as dirty as the rest of the party.

* InconsistentSpelling: In her first appearance, her name is spelled "Seong-hui", but in ''Infinite Wealth'' it is spelled Seonhee.

* PromotedToPlayable: She becomes a playable party member in ''Infinite Wealth''.
* TheQueenpin: She is the first female criminal organization leader in the series that isn't just an acting leader like Yayoi Dojima.

* SamusIsAGirl: Ichiban's party was actually shocked to find out she was the leader of the Geomijul.

** Seonhee spends quite a bit of chapter 7 flirting with Ichiban, to the rest of his party's annoyance. This of course ends up coming to a halt after the reveal that [[spoiler: she insists on having Nanba killed for his attempts to spy on the Geomijul]]. Seonhee is also not a romance option for Ichiban.
** She also is rather blatant about having fallen for Kiryu in ''Infinite Wealth.'' She accidentally lets slip in a Party Talk that she wouldn't at all mind if she and him were going steady, only to immediately backpedal when Kiryu asks her to clarify what she means.

* TheUnfought: Keeping the series tradition of not allowing female opponents, Seonhee is never fought despite Ichiban and his party coming into direct conflict with the Geomijul. She's armed but spends the actual battles standing on the sidelines while her men do the fighting.

* TheDragon: He's this to Ryo Aoki, being a frontline leader of many a protest in Bleach Japan's name.

* {{Irony}}: One of his attacks against Ichiban [[spoiler:when competing against him in an election]] is of course the fact that he was a criminal who served time in jail for murder (which he only claimed he commited), while attempting to present himself as a normal upstanding citizen. [[spoiler:By the end of the game, Ichiban has practically gained a public following as the role model they want instead, while Kume has pretty much become a criminal wanted for murder (which he ''did'' commit) who winds up in the slammer, as confirmed in ''Infinite Wealth''.]]

* KickTheDog: See SpeakIllOfTheDead below.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Spends the majority of the game as an incompetent DirtyCoward that nobody actually has any respect for, only being kept around as the main UnwittingPawn, and is constantly humilated in front of the public. The only thing he actually succeeds in is [[spoiler:tracking down kill Ryo Aoki after his EngineeredPublicConfession, though his actions do eventually catch up to him]].

* AdvertisedExtra: Dubbed a 'co-star', but really, she's more of a minor supporting character who happens to be playable. She doesn't even appear in the main story proper save for a cameo in Chapter 5 that introduces the Company Management minigame and the cutscene when she decides to join the party.

* FaintInShock: She practically short circuits when she mistakes Ichiban's compliments for a love confession.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: She's the {{Deuteragonist}} of the Company Management Sidequest.

* MartialArtsAndCrafts: Her Clerk class consists of her fighting like a ninja using office supplies. This includes using box cutters and rulers as knives, throwing out thumbtacks and tossing ink at enemies.

--> Hehe. Now go pack your shit, President Kasuga.

* PutOnABus: Due to her status as a Contest Winner Cameo, she doesn't show up in Infinite Wealth. Her grandmother states that Eri is now traveling the world promoting Ichiban Senbei.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Completely unaccounted for in ''Infinite Wealth'' and Ichiban never brings up working in Ichiban Confections/Holdings after he, Nanba, and Adachi are fired due to Tatara's MaliciousSlander. Justified by the fact that she was an AsHerself version of her actress and couldn't return for the sequel.

** Exemplified in the name of his boss theme 'Triplet After Triplet.' Triple champions are considered paragons of boxing. A triplet after triplet would make someone a sextuple champion, something completely unheard of in real life and exemplifying the level of ambition Tendo has.

* GoodParents: Zig-zagged somewhat. He's shown treating Masato, his [[spoiler:adoptive]] son, with compassion when he's lamenting his condition in a flashback [[spoiler:after Sawashiro's defeat.]] With TheReveal that [[spoiler:''Ichiban'' was his true son all along in hindsight]], he was also this to Ichiban, saving his life at the last minute from getting beaten to death by a vicious yakuza family as well as sparing him from {{Yubitsume}} at the last second despite his incompetence at bringing any money to the Arakawa Family. Though he ''did'' have to pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on Ichiban during the meeting with the Omi Alliance, he would ultimately have Ichiban be a major SpannerInTheWorks in his plan to [[spoiler:dissolve the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance]], throwing a major wrench in Aoki's plans. That being said, he still lied about the true reason as to why Ichiban had to serve eighteen years in prison, though he's clearly guilt-ridden about it when he refers back to it when talking with Ichiban.

The president of a small Japanese confectionery company called "Ichiban Confectionery". When she was stuck at a deadlock in management and thought about closing the company, Kasuga encourages her and they work together to rebuild the company. She assigns Kasuga the position of president and supports his management from behind as secretary. She is usually cool and collected, but can also be comical in that she faints when something unexpected happens...\\\

* InventionalWisdom: Making oversized roombas to clean the streets is one thing. Giving them features like coffee dispensers, pancake makers, flamethrowers and ''the ability to fly'' is another thing entirely. This man is the living embodiment of "just because you can doesn't mean you should".

* MadScientist: He likes to overengineer his Sojimarus, from giving them tank armor to making them ''fly.''

* MundaneMadeAwesome: [[spoiler:His Poundmate summon in ''Infinite Wealth'' is called "Crooked Cooking", which has him create cold ramen in the most over-the-top and crooked way as possible. From ingredients being sent to him in a silver metal briefcase, taking a few out of a safe, cutting it up with a tanto knife, and ''even having the beef slices going through a bill counter'']]. The way he cuts the ingredients is so intense he looks almost like he's trying to commit {{yubitsume}}.

* WhipOfDomination: As a playable character she has "Voltaic Whip" and "Stentorian Whip", in which she pulls out a power cable as a whip, befitting her authoritative personality. She also works well when respecced into Night Queen.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: [[spoiler:His Poundmate summon in ''Infinite Wealth'' is called "Crooked Cooking", which has him create cold ramen in the most over-the-top and crooked way as possible. From ingredients being sent to him in a silver metal briefcase, taking a few out of a safe, cutting it up with a tanto knife, and ''even having the beef slices going through a bill counter'']].

** [[spoiler: To a lesser extent, despite the heroes' initial suspicions of him being part of TheConspiracy with the Seiryu clan, he was willing to admit at the first opportunity that Ebina among others aren't giving him much of a choice, and would rather see their plans foiled to honor Arakawa's memory.]]

* MadScientist: He likes to overengineer his Sojimarus, from giving them tank armor to making them "fly."

[[folder:Iroha Yanagi]]
!!! '''Voiced by:''' Iroha Yanagi (Japanese), Creator/CassandraLeeMorris (English)
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iroha_pfp.jpg]]
A showgirl who works at the Survive Bar, which Kasuga and company use as a meeting spot. Popular among patrons as the “Good Listener Iroha,” she always enjoys listening to Kasuga’s stories. And while she is always a good listener, she can also be assertive at times.

* AsHerself: As one of the Top 5 finalists of an open audition for the last party member of The Heroes of Tomorrow, she portrays a fictionalized version of herself in the game.
* BatterUp: [[spoiler:For her part in the cheating substory, Iroha wields a nail bat to beat Ichiban to within an inch of his life.]]
* HasAType: AllGirlsWantBadBoys, and she's no different, as she basically said her type of guy is an AntiHero-type. Kasuga, however, advised against it.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The infidelity sub-story that occurs should the player romance all 6 potential options is kicked off by Saeko seemingly finding Iroha's earring next to Ichiban's bed. [[spoiler:The true hilarity is it wasn't even hers]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She does not appear whatsoever in ''Lost Judgment'' or ''Infinite Wealth.''

[[folder:Sumire Sawa]]
!!! '''Voiced by:''' Sawa Sumire (Japanese), Creator/StephanieSheh (English)
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sumire_sawa.jpg]]
The sole factory manager of the “Romance Factory” in Isezaki Ijincho. While her mending skills are unmatched, there is a worrisome lack of factory equipment for some reason. Perhaps because she is a reformed delinquent, she tends to get fired up whenever she is doing repairs.

* AbusiveParents: Her father sold off the workshop's equipment to pay off his debts, left it to rot, and came back just to sell the workshop after Ichiban gets new equipment for it. When Sumire protests against it, he ''punches'' her. Naturally, Ichiban doesn't let that slide.
* AlliterativeName: '''S'''umire '''S'''awa.

* BornInTheWrongCentury: She would have been just great in a time when repairing equipment like swords and armor was the norm compared to the 21st century when anytime something breaks down, people just buy a new version of it.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Kasuga's weapon is his bat he uses in his Hero job, whereas [[spoiler:Sumire uses the crossbow she was gonna show off in order to punish him for being a cheating bastard]].
* MoneySink: Twofold. In order to unlock her romance substory, the player as Ichiban must invest a considerable amount of money into upgrading her workshop to its highest level, which can run you tens of millions of yen to complete. Beyond that, Sumire also serves as the person you speak to to craft legendary gear post-game, spending mountains of rare materials and potentially billions of yen doing so. If you're going to attempt that [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon True Final Millenium Tower]] run, you're gonna need Sumire's help, and the giant piles of money required to facilitate it.
* PutOnABus: In ''Infinite Wealth'', she managed to get a job in Silicon Valley where she's honing her skills and Romance Workshop has been replaced by Julie's Gearworks.
* {{Squee}}: She goes into this upon seeing Ichiban's Hero Bat, even upgrading it for free the first time.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: All but a given since she's a female blacksmith... that happens to wear pink coveralls.
* TomboyishVoice: Has a very gruff-sounding voice.
* UltimateBlacksmith: After upgrading Romance Factory to Level 4, she can upgrade each class's weapon to the strongest level.
* WrenchWench: She's a female blacksmith.

[[folder:Manae Miyakoshi]]
!!! '''Voiced by:''' Manae Miyakoshi (Japanese), Creator/ErikaHarlacher (English)
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/manae_pfp.jpg]]
A woman who works reception at the Ounabara Vocational School. She sincerely wants to support those who come to grow through the acquisition of qualifications. She has good manners and has secretly won the hearts of many. There are even rumors that some people enroll in the school just to see her.

* AlliterativeName: '''M'''anae '''M'''iyakoshi.

* CovertPervert: She's a soft-spoken and well-mannered woman who becomes drawn to Ichiban due to his pursuit of knowledge, [[spoiler:but rewards him for collecting every certificate the vocational school has to offer by having sex with him in an empty classroom. On top of this, she's suggested to have engaged in some kinky TeacherStudentRomance roleplay while doing so.]]
* DudeMagnet: On top of the substory introducing the vocational school involving a guy named Ikari trying to impress her, she's won the hearts of many.
* NaginatasAreFeminine: [[spoiler:She whips one out from thin air during the Lone Survivor substory, when teaming up with the rest of Kasuga's lady friends in punishing him for being a cheating bastard]].
* ObliviousToLove: Ikari, the guy who introduces Ichiban to the Vocational School, is hopelessly in love with Manae and it's implied that part of the reason he's obsessively been getting so many new certifications to get an excuse to talk to her. For her part, Manae is completely oblivious to this. To add salt to the wound, she's a romance option for Ichiban.

[[folder:Ririka]]
!!! '''Voiced by:''' Ririka (Japanese), Creator/CheramiLeigh (English)
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ririka.jpg]]
A level-headed woman who works the counter at Hello Work. She introduces Kasuga and company to new jobs. A straightforward woman, she will state her opinion without fear, even if she is talking to her superior. However, Kasuga’s “do everything at my own pace” attitude drives her mad.

* CovertPervert: She's a stern, no-nonsense woman who takes the longest of the love interests to start showing affection toward Ichiban. Despite this, [[spoiler:her romance ends with her seemingly having sex with him in the parking lot behind Hello Work, by ''far'' the most open and unconventional of the locations Ichiban hooks up with his love interests in.]]
* DefrostingIceQueen: Ririka gives off the impression that she is cold due to the rather curt way she addresses prospective employees coming into Hello Work. [[DownplayedTrope It's more of a case]] of Ririka trying to work within the means of how she is supposed to do her job, though.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: [[spoiler:Her weapon for punishing Kasuga for being a cheating bastard is her bare fists]].
* JobSystem: Both in a gameplay and literal sense, as she handles job placement at Hello Work ''and'' class changes for Ichiban and his party.
* OnlyOneName: She is only ever referred to as just "Ririka", whether by other characters or the subtitles, due to her actress going by a pseudonym instead of her full name like the other contest runner-ups.
* ToughLove: She's incredibly blunt when discussing the career prospects of her clients, but does so in order to encourage them to work harder to improve themselves rather than out of any real malice. Ichiban understanding and appreciating this is what attracts her to him.

[[folder:Ikari]]
!!! '''Voiced by:''' Genki Muro (Japanese), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (English)
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yakuza_like_a_dragon_ikari.png]]
An enthusiastic aspiring salaryman who introduces Ichiban to Ounabara Vocational School. Boasts the highest number of certificates of any student of the school, a fact he is very proud of.

* TheUnreveal: The game never comes out and says that he's [[spoiler:Kashiwagi]], but maintains a rather tongue-in-cheek tone concerning him. For instance, the message concerning the Bartender's cooking service calls him a "talented and mysterious guy." In ''Infinite Wealth'', [[spoiler:when Kiryu finally meets him, he clearly recognizes him but also quickly understands that Kashiwagi prefers keeping his past a secret. However, a later substory has him telling Kiryu that once he reclaims his name, they'll talk with no secrets between them]].

* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler:''Infinite Wealth'' reveals that he didn't kill Hoshino. Instead, Aoki knew that Sawashiro was having second thoughts and so sent another assassin ahead of time to do the deed and pin it on him]].

** She has an obvious crush on Kiryu in Infinite Wealth, but never tells him out of respect and likely because of his cancer diagnosis making it a poor time to try and start anything.

* MsFanservice: Her skirt is short enough to show off a lot of her legs, and the neckline of her blouse is low enough to show some cleavage. The camera in the cutscenes at times also [[MaleGaze seems to deliberately angle itself downwards to emphasize her breasts]].

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She can't stand rats and cockroaches. Joon-Gi Han dreadfully claims that if she sees one, Yokohama will "drown in a sea of flames".

* SuicideMission: [[spoiler:As punishment for refusing to assassinate Arakawa, Sawashiro is forced to kill Hoshino by Aoki since Aoki assumed he'd end up dead no matter whether or not he succeeded. However, Aoki didn't plan on Sawashiro actually turning himself into the cops, causing him to get an assassin to take him out]].

* TermsOfEndangerment: He always refers to Ichiban by the nickname ‘Ichi’, like Masumi Arakawa does, but his tone is clearly condescending and with barely restrained contempt.
* TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:The events of ''Like a Dragon'' and his subsequent prison sentence mellow him out significantly, to the point that he treats Ichiban as an equal rather than a subordinate or an inferior. He still calls Ichi a dumbass, but it's more out of endearment than any sort of malice.]]

* ThouShaltNotKill: Pointedly averted. Apart from being known as "Arakawa the Assassin", the flashback of his assault on the Hikawa family in ''Infinite Wealth'' shows him clearly killing the mooks on his way to the patriarch, unlike when Kiryu and Majima did similar assaults. He also kills said patriarch by shooting each individual finger with a handgun. [[PayEvilUntoEvil Not that said patriarch didn't deserve it, of course.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:''Infinite Wealth'' reveals that him walking out of the arranged marriage the Hikawa family patriarch put him in and then dismantling the Hikawa family after they tried to kill Akane had much more disastrous consequences down the line. In one final desperate bid to convince him to stay with her, his fiancée Hikawa Yuriko ended up having sex with him, which ultimately did not sway him away from pursuing Akane. Unbeknownst to Arakawa, that session of sex would actually produce a child, but with the Hikawa family completely destroyed before the pregnancy truly became known, there was no one left to help Arakawa's fiancée raise their child, and she would die while raising him in squalor. That child would grow up to become Masataka Ebina, who nursed such an intense grudge against Arakawa and the yakuza as a whole for abandoning his mother that he would go on to undermine the yakuza's attempts to reform and plot their outright extermination.]]