History TearJerker / YakuzaLikeADragon

-->'''Ichiban:''' But you only did that because you knew i'd make it.\\
'''Masumi:''' No... Your strength is what kept you alive. That was all you. The truth of it is that i've never helped you. Not even once. You should hate me for how i've treated you.

* The Substory "Forget Me Not", which involves Ichiban bumping into an ill girl from his youth named Kaede. After reintroducing herself to Ichiban and explaining that she's recently been discharged from the hospital, Kaede asks him out on a date to which Ichiban accepts. The two walk around multiple different in Ijincho and have a great time, but it becomes clear almost immediately that something is amiss. As the date continues, strange comments made by onlookers make it clear that they can't see Kaede, and Ichiban appears to be talking to himself. Their date ends with Ichiban and Kaede looking out at the ocean skyline during the night, where she confesses her love for him. Ichiban is flustered by this statement but graciously accepts it, and is momentarily distracted by a policeman who approaches him to stop "babbling into the air". Sure enough, when Ichiban turns back, Kaede is gone. The kicker? Ichiban reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photo he and Kaede took together earlier on the date, with her now missing from it. The TwistEnding is now clear - Kaede actually passed away while Ichiban was imprisoned, and her ghost went on a last date with him before moving on to the afterlife. The Substory ends with Ichiban looking into the night sky, promising Kaede he'll see her again when it's "his time". While most Substories are sentimental, heartwarming or hilarious affairs, this is one of the few substories across all the games that qualifies as a definitive {{Tearjerker}}.

* The "One Man's Trash" substory involves a pawn shop that's overflowing with so much junk, it's blocking the street. The owner insists it's all merchandise and refuses to allow anybody to move it. A Public Office employee at his wit's end asks Ichiban to reason with him; this being Yakuza, this naturally leads to Ichiban reasoning with the man with his fists. After the fight is over, the pawn shop owner admits that he can't throw anything away because he feels it's all he has left of his wife, who died because he wasn't there to help her when she needed it. The poor guy then breaks down sobbing. Circles back around to being heartwarming when Ichiban convinces him that she wouldn't have wanted the store they built together to rot under a pile of trash, opening the pawn shop for future business.

!! Meta/Other
* In a broader series sense, the fact that, after more than 30 years' worth of effort in preventing the Tojo Clan from collapsing or breaking apart, both it and the Omi Alliance are disbanded by the end of the game. Meaning that any and all effort spent on protecting it was AllForNothing.
** Before then, the Tojo Clan had lost any influence that they had left on Kamurocho to the Omi Alliance sometime between the events of this game and ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'', likely due to Kiryu FakingTheDead during that time. This even harder to take in after the Omi's actions in [[VideoGame/Yakuza0 previous entries]] [[VideoGame/Yakuza2 in the]] [[VideoGame/Yakuza5 series]].
* The difference between how fate treats Kiryu and Ichiban is staggering. Where Kiryu got drowned in praise and walked through life with supernatural grace, Ichiban struggles for something as minor as a thank you for risking his life.

* The final fight against Masato in its entirety, also doubling as a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments Moment of Awesome]] on Masato's part. While he's completely wrong in him asking Ichiban if he has any chances at beating him in a fistfight (as he's significantly easier to beat than [[ThatOneBoss Tendo]], both in his first and second phases), he still deserves some props for trying to put up a last stand as opposed to Iwami or Sugai, who are slippery and cowardly by comparison. Even his theme, [[https://youtu.be/xIkQ6yAfVgg Light and Darkness]] drives the point home in that this is one fight that not even Ichiban wants to take on, but still has to in order to get Masato to see the error of his ways. The kicker? Ichiban reverts to his freelancer class no matter what class you've changed him to. This fight isn't colored by Ichiban's love of ''Dragon Quest'' like the other fights, it's simply Ichiban doing what he has to to save his brother. The game even acknowledges it by calling him Masato as the boss battle, not Aoki.

* The final fight against Masato in its entirety, also doubling as a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments Moment of Awesome]] on Masato's part. While he's completely wrong in him asking Ichiban if he has any chances at beating him in a fistfight (as he's significantly easier to beat than [[ThatOneBoss Tendo]], both in his first and second phases), he still deserves some props for trying to put up a last stand as opposed to Iwami or Sugai, who are slippery and cowardly by comparison. Even his theme, [[https://youtu.be/xIkQ6yAfVgg Light and Darkness]] drives the point home in that this is one fight that not even Ichiban wants to take on, but still has to in order to get Masato to see the error of his ways. The kicker? Ichiban reverts to his freelancer class no matter what class you've changed him to. This fight isn't colored by Ichiban's love of ''Dragon Quest'' like the other fights, it's simply Ichiban doing what he has to to save his brother.

* The Substory "Forget Me Not", which involves Ichiban bumping into an IllGirl from his youth named Kaede. After reintroducing herself to Ichiban and explaining that she's recently been discharged from the hospital, Kaede asks him out on a date to which Ichiban accepts. The two walk around multiple different in Ijincho and have a great time, but it becomes clear almost immediately that something is amiss. As the date continues, strange comments made by onlookers make it clear that they can't see Kaede, and Ichiban appears to be talking to himself. Their date ends with Ichiban and Kaede looking out at the ocean skyline during the night, where she confesses her love for him. Ichiban is flustered by this statement but graciously accepts it, and is momentarily distracted by a policeman who approaches him to stop "babbling into the air". Sure enough, when Ichiban turns back, Kaede is gone. The kicker? Ichiban reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photo he and Kaede took together earlier on the date, with her now missing from it. The TwistEnding is now clear - Kaede actually passed away while Ichiban was imprisoned, and her ghost went on a last date with him before moving on to the afterlife. The Substory ends with Ichiban looking into the night sky, promising Kaede he'll see her again when it's "his time". While most Substories are sentimental, heartwarming or hilarious affairs, this is one of the few substories across all the games that qualifies as a definitive {{Tearjerker}}.

* The Substory "Forget Me Not", which involves Ichiban bumping into an IllGirl from his youth named Kaede. After reintroducing herself to Ichiban and explaining that she's recently been discharged from the hospital, Kaede asks him out on a date to which Ichiban accepts. The two walk around multiple different in Ijincho and have a great time, but it becomes clear almost immediately that something is amiss. As the date continues, strange comments made by onlookers make it clear that they can't see Kaede, and Ichiban appears to be talking to himself. Their date ends with Ichiban and Kaede looking out at the ocean skyline during the night, where she confesses her love for him. Ichiban is flustered by this statement but graciously accepts it, and is momentarily distracted by a policeman who approaches him to stop "babbling into the air". Sure enough, when Ichiban turns back, Kaede is gone. The kicker? Ichiban reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photo him and Kaede took together earlier on the date, with her now missing from it. The TwistEnding is now clear - Kaede actually passed away while Ichiban was imprisoned, and her ghost went on a last date with him before moving on to the afterlife. The Substory ends with Ichiban looking into the night sky, promising Kaede he'll see her again when it's "his time". While most Substories are sentimental, heartwarming or hilarious affairs, this is one of the few substories across all the games that qualifies as a definitive {{Tearjerker}}.

* The "One Man's Trash" substory involves a pawn shop that's overflowing with so much junk, it's blocking the street. The owner insists it's all merchandise and refuses to allow anybody to move it. A Public Office employee at his wit's end asks Ichiban to reason with him; this being Yakuza, this naturally leads to Ichiban reasoning with the man with his fists. After the fight is over, the pawn shop owner admits that he can't throw anything away because he feels [[AdultFear it's all he has left of his wife, who died because he wasn't there to help her when she needed it]]. The poor guy then breaks down sobbing. Circles back around to being heartwarming when Ichiban convinces him that she wouldn't have wanted the store they built together to rot under a pile of trash, opening the pawn shop for future business.