History YMMV / LikeADragon

* FanPreferredCouple: While both Kiryu and Majima have canonical love interests throughout the games in the form of [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 Yumi]] and [[VideoGame/Yakuza2 Kaoru]] for the former and [[VideoGame/Yakuza0 Makoto]] and [[VideoGame/Yakuza5 Mirei]] for the latter, Majima/Kiryu by far dominates most shipping related works thanks to their long lasting relationship filled with comedic and HoYay moments.

** Each of the new protagonists introduced in the [[VideoGame/Yakuza4 fourth]] and [[VideoGame/Yakuza5 fifth]] games.

*** For that matter, Kiryu's continued presence in the series post-''Yakuza 6''. While it was generally well received when he [[spoiler: showed up in ''Like A Dragon'' to pass the torch to the next generation and serve as a DuelingPlayerCharacters SuperBoss]], the announcement that he would not only become a party member in ''Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth'' but receive his own {{Interquel}} spinoff title in ''Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name'' introduced a schism in the fanbase between those who were happy to have more of [[Creator/TakayaKuroda Takaya Kuroda's]] iconic performance and those who bemoaned the series seeming inability to let go of the past after what seemed like a natural endpoint to his story, and worried about him serving as a one-man SpotlightStealingSquad from new series protagonist Ichiban. The release of ''Infinite Wealth'' would continue this debate, with a section of fans feeling that, despite promises that he would be a supporting protagonist in Ichiban's story, the game instead gives Kiryu the more involved plotline and character study between the two.

** Kiryu's role as the protagonist of the series. Does he work great alongside other playable characters, should he be the sole playable character once more, or should the torch be passed to another so our aging dragon can get the peaceful retirement he deserves? It seemed the developers felt the same way, and even taking Creator/TakayaKuroda's age into consideration, they designed ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'' as Kiryu's final chapter. [[spoiler: However, many fans don't seem to be pleased that Kiryu and Haruka didn't receive the peaceful sendoff they felt they both characters deserved.]]

** Seonhee, the leader of the Geomijul in ''Like a Dragon'', is possibly the biggest one in the latter game thus far. This is owing to the fact that she's the first [[TheQueenpin proper female acting leader]] of her own faction (as Yayoi was only an interim chairwoman in the wake of Terada's [[spoiler:supposed]] death), and her voice being quite easy on the ears. When [[https://twitter.com/bk2128/status/1268433687621689344?s=09 Famitsu held a poll]] for which character fans wished were playable in ''Like A Dragon'', she scored first. Sure enough, she'd get PromotedToPlayable by the time of ''Infinite Wealth''.

*** For that matter, Kiryu's continued presence in the series post-''Yakuza 6''. While it was generally well received when he [[spoiler: showed up in ''Like A Dragon'' to pass the torch to the next generation and serve as a DuelingPlayerCharacters SuperBoss]], the announcement that he would not only become a party member in ''Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth'' but receive his own {{Interquel}} spinoff title in ''Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name'' introduced a schism in the fanbase between those who were happy to have more of [[Creator/TakayaKuroda Takaya Kuroda's]] iconic performance and those who bemoaned the series seeming inability to let go of the past after what seemed like a natural endpoint to his story, and worried about him serving as a one-man SpotlightStealingSquad from new series protagonist Ichiban.

* EscapistCharacter: While most of the protagonists have a lot of baggage that may offset some of the good stuff, Shun Akiyama is the best qualifier for this trope. He's super-rich [[spoiler:(with 100 billion yen in his pocket in ''Yakuza 4'', and is shown to have quickly recouped the loss of his money by the time the sequel arrives)]], badass enough to take down dozens of {{Mook}}s and [[EliteMooks high-ranking yakuza]] on his own, and in the finale of ''5'' [[spoiler: becomes a legend in the criminal underworld that yakuza families from all four regions bow to him in respect.]] The only other character in the franchise who comes close to Akiyama in this aspect is none other than [[Characters/{{Judgment}} Takayuki]] [[HardBoiledDetective Yagami]].

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The series has a very strong fanbase in the West. When the series became in danger of being restricted to Japan following an apparent lack of interest following the commercial failure of ''[[VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls Dead Souls]]'', massive amounts of fan demand convinced Sony to publish ''Yakuza 5'' in the west as a digital title to gauge interest. As a result of the success of ''5'', Sega greenlit the localization of ''0'', followed shortly by ''Kiwami'' and ''6''. WordOfGod says that due to the overseas success of ''0'' and ''Kiwami'', ''Kiwami 2'' was greenlit out of a desire to re-introduce the second story of Kiryu's saga to new fans outside Japan, and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 ports of the third, fourth and fifth games were greenlit for the same reason.

** Kiryu's physical appearance in the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 PS3]] games has been criticized by fans of the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 PS2]] games who found him [[YouDontLookLikeYou nearly unrecognizable from before]], and weren't pleased that Sega continued to use it throughout the [=PS3=] games. But with the jump to the [=PS4=] hardware, the same fans are praising his appearance in ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'', believing he looks like a modern version of how he looked in the [=PS2=] games, although many have also complained that he looks much younger than he does in ''Yakuza 5''.

** The sound of your victim's entrails being utterly decimated by the iconic Komaki Tiger Drop followed by the ensuing knockdown. There's a very good reason why it's one of the single-biggest {{Game Breaker}}s in the entire ''franchise'' (and ThatOneAttack if you're on the receiving end).

** In ''Yakuza 3'' and ''4'', enemies struck by heat actions suffer from some truly warped, twisted, stretched-out faces (even from HEAT moves that ''only'' involve breaking their arms). The similarity to Creator/EdvardMunch's "Art/TheScream" was probably [[TheScreamParody not intentional]]. So much that the modern remasters nixed it entirely.

** [[AsHerself Eri Kamataki]], the OptionalPartyMember that is mostly relegated to the Business Management side story in ''Like a Dragon''. Her [[SilkHidingSteel demure, soft-spoken personality]] coupled with her being TheBigGirl of the group in terms of damage output has earned her many fans.
** Seonhee, the leader of the Geomijul in ''Like a Dragon'', is possibly the biggest one in the latter game thus far. This is owing to her very unique, cool, and beautiful design, the fact that she's the first [[TheQueenpin proper female acting leader]] of her own faction (as Yayoi was only an interim chairwoman in the wake of Terada's [[spoiler:supposed]] death), and her voice being quite easy on the ears. When [[https://twitter.com/bk2128/status/1268433687621689344?s=09 Famitsu held a poll]] for which character fans wished were playable in ''Like A Dragon'', she scored first. Sure enough, she'd get PromotedToPlayable by the time of ''Infinite Wealth''.

*** For that matter, Kiryu's continued presence in the series post-''Yakuza 6''. While it was generally well received when he [[spoiler: showed up in ''Like A Dragon'' to pass the torch to the next generation and serve as a DuelingPlayerCharacters SuperBoss]], the announcement that he would not only become a party member in ''Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth'' but receive his own {{Interquel}} spinoff title in ''Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Forgot His Name'' introduced a schism in the fanbase between those who were happy to have more of [[Creator/TakayaKuroda Takaya Kuroda's]] iconic performance and those who bemoaned the series seeming inability to let go of the past after what seemed like a natural endpoint to his story, and worried about him serving as a one-man SpotlightStealingSquad from new series protagonist Ichiban.

** Seong-hui, the leader of the Geomijul in ''Like a Dragon'', is possibly the biggest one in the latter game thus far. This is owing to her very unique, cool, and beautiful design, the fact that she's the first [[TheQueenpin proper female acting leader]] of her own faction (as Yayoi was only an interim chairwoman in the wake of Terada's [[spoiler:supposed]] death), and her voice being quite easy on the ears. When [[https://twitter.com/bk2128/status/1268433687621689344?s=09 Famitsu held a poll]] for which character fans wished were playable in ''Like A Dragon'', she scored first.

** Kaoru Sayama, Kiryu's love interest and the {{deuteragonist}} of the second game, only appears briefly in the prologue for ''3'', leaves for America and hasn't been seen in the series since. She's adored by many fans in the west for being a well-rounded ActionGirl and the only one to fight at Kiryu's side, and many are upset that she was effectively written out of the series, with some accusing the creators of doing it [[StatusQuoIsGod to keep Kiryu single]] so he could keep going out with hostesses without moral backlash. She hasn't even appeared in ''Kenzan!'' or ''Ishin!'', although many keep their hopes up that she'll return some day.

* RescuedFromScrappyHeap: While not hated to an extreme degree, the orphans that are part of Kiryu’s family received mixed reception as some felt that they got in the way of some of the more interesting plot and characters. As later installments have shown, Kiryu would only get more miserable and most of the people he bonded with end up dead. His connections to the orphans are some of the most positive parts of his life. As an added bonus, not only were they able to grow as functional individuals, all of them still love Kiryu unconditionally. All of this helped in hoping Kiryu can get his happy ending and reunite with them all as well as Haruka and her family.

** In ''Yakuza 3'' and ''4'', enemies struck by heat actions suffer from some truly warped, twisted, stretched-out faces. The similarity to Creator/EdvardMunch's "Art/TheScream" was probably [[TheScreamParody not intentional]]. So much that the modern remasters nixed it entirely.

* LGBTFanbase: It's arguably not as prominent as some other fanbases, but the franchise has garnered a bit of attention from gay and bisexual men (and fans of the [[YaoiGenre Yaoi and]] [[BaraGenre Bara genres]] in general) due to the games featuring plenty of [[HoYay ripped, shirtless men]] fighting each other and having strong emotional connections.

* PolishedPort: Say what you will about the individual games being ported to various systems, especially some of the [[PortingDisaster early PC ports]], a big appeal of the series in later entries are some of the emulated arcade games you can find at Club Sega and other assorted locations, including ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters'', ''VideoGame/FightingVipers'', ''[[VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Virtua Fighter 2 and 5: Final Showdown]]'', ''VideoGame/FantasyZone'', ''VideoGame/OutRun'', ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' and more, rarely with any notable issues and always as their less-distributed arcade versions rather than the home console ports. For many people, simply owning installments in the franchise for the extra arcade titles they bring to the table is a selling point.

* PeripheryDemographic: [[http://www.siliconera.com/2016/05/25/yakuza-director-says-20-players-female-theyll-still-keep-manly-series/ The director of the series Toshihiro Nagoshi noted]] that while the series is aimed primarily at adult males, a significant and growing portion of the fanbase is comprised of women, and that it's become very popular in overseas Asian countries despite its heavily Japanocentric bent.

*** For that matter, Kiryu's continued presence in the series post-''Yakuza 6''. While it was generally well received when he [[spoiler: showed up in ''Like A Dragon'' to pass the torch to the next generation and serve as a DuelingPlayerCharacters SuperBoss]], the announcement that he would not only become a party member in ''Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth'' but receive his own Interquel spinoff title in ''Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Forgot His Name'' introduced a schism in the fanbase between those who were happy to have the popular character as a continued presence in the series and those who bemoaned the series seeming inability to let go of the past after what seemed like a natural endpoint to the man's story, and worry about him serving as a one-man SpotlightStealingSquad from new series protagonist Ichiban.

** For that matter, Kiryu's continued presence in the series post-''Yakuza 6''. While it was generally well received when he [[spoilers: showed up in ''Like A Dragon'' to pass the torch to the next generation and serve as a DuelingPlayerCharacters SuperBoss]], the announcement that he would not only become a party member in ''Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth'' but receive his own Interquel spinoff title in ''Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Forgot His Name'' introduced a schism in the fanbase between those who were happy to have the popular character as a continued presence in the series and those who bemoaned the series seeming inability to let go of the past after what seemed like a natural endpoint to the man's story, and worry about him serving as a one-man SpotlightStealingSquad from new series protagonist Ichiban.

* {{Narm}}: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XdkgGLn1lo unreleased track]] that has [[FanNickname come to be known colloquially]] as "sad substory music", which has been a mainstay of the series since ''Yakuza 0'' (even finding its way over to the ''Judgment'' spinoff). Such a mainstay, in fact, that its become a point of ridicule how often its played during moments that are often cliché and overly sentimental. Any long-term fan of the series will more likely be laughing or rolling their eyes when the track starts to play, as opposed to the intended feeling of sadness.