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[[quoteright:216:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ryu_Ga_Gotoku_02929_5884.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:216:The legend of the Dragon of Dojima comes to the big screen.]]

A LiveActionAdaptation of the first game in the video game brawler series for the [=PS2=] and [=PS3=], ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' (or ''Yakuza'' as it's formerly known in the West. The movie is sometimes referred to as ''Yakuza: Like A Dragon'' in western markets[[note]]Not to be confused with the seventh main-series game, which is titled ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' in western markets[[/note]]). It is an adaptation of the latter half of the first game in the series, featuring Kazuma Kiryu (桐生 一馬, Kiryū Kazuma), the "Dragon of Dojima," on his quest to find [[MoralityPet Haruka's]] mother, find out what happened to [[RivalTurnedEvil his childhood friend Nishiki]] and his girlfriend, Yumi while he was in prison for ten years ([[AllThereInTheManual though you won't necessarily realize any of these things if you just watch the movie]]). There are several B-plots set in the city of Kamurocho, including the police dealing with a pair of idiotic bank robbers, a boyfriend and girlfriend going on a crime spree, and a [[UsefulNotes/KoreansInJapan Korean hitman]] arriving in the city.

Directed by Creator/TakashiMiike, written by Creator/MasashiSogo and starring Creator/KazukiKitamura, the movie manages to capture the mildly surrealistic humor of the games, including the severe MoodWhiplash. It's stylized very much like a live action version of a video game, complete with rather cartoonish effects and ridiculous action sequences.

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!!This film adaptation includes examples of:

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Most of the characters, their motivations, and backstories. Even Kazuma's is barely touched upon, as the movie begins well into the plot of the first game. ''Like A Dragon: Prologue'' also covers these things, as well as going into more detail to the backstories of the characters than even the games. You would be forgiven for not having any idea who Nishiki was even after the conclusion of the film.
* AffablyEvil: The Beam video store owner, who is friendly and soft spoken despite being an arms dealer and information broker willing to endanger his customers' lives if the circumstances call for it. The robbers eventually turn out to be this, as well, with their captives even thanking them for demanding expensive dinners for everyone.
* AscendedExtra: Not an extra, but Majima's role is much larger than his role in the game.
* BadBoss: Majima, true to the game. Yet more true to the games is his men's loyalty and admiration despite his abuse.
* BatterUp: Majima uses a bat early in the movie, though he prefers his [[PsychoKnifeNut knife]] against Kazuma and [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter a shotgun]] later on. [[BadBoss Against his own men, however...]]. Interesting in that he actually uses the bat to hit balls to take out enemies, rather than always directly hitting the enemy.
* BattleAura: A firey blue one flares up around Kazuma in a couple of scenes, much like does in the games.
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Mister N is the one who stole the 10 billion yen.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Shintaro Kazama saving his adopted son.]]
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: The bank robbers.
* CanonImmigrant: Majima's use of the shotgun as a weapon of choice and one of his BatterUp moments show up in ''VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls''.
* ChekhovsGun: The camera lingers on a rack of energy drinks - the game's most potent healing items - towards the end of the scene in which Kazuma is being treating by a back alley doctor who thinks his wounds need stitches to keep from re-opening. [[spoiler: One such drink, a Staminan Spark, the strongest healing item in the game, is what gives him the second wind he needs to defeat Nishikiyama and his goons.]]
* CityOfAdventure: Kamurocho, so much.
* CoatCape: Kazuma wears his jacket like this at the end of the movie. This is largely so that it can be blown off by a helicopter so he would be shirtless for the final fight.
* CreatorCameo: Mister N is played by Toshihiro Nagoshi, the director of the games.
* CrossCounter: The conclusion of Kiryu and Majima's second battle.
* CurbStompBattle: A hale and hearty Kazuma doles these out throughout the film. [[spoiler: Things are a little rougher for him once he's shot, but it's nothing an energy drink can't fix.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: Played with. [[spoiler: Majima, after the Millenium Tower blows up, staggers back to the baseball centre, flipping the welcome sign to say he's home, and falling limp with blood dripping from his mouth. The shot stays still on him for a few seconds, as though he were dead, before he sneezes, lamenting that he feels tired because he caught a cold.]]
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: [[spoiler: The bank robbers, and the robbing couple. Subverted by Park, who is more of a ChekhovsGunman, killing the BigBad.]]
* DramaticGunCock: Majima and Kiryu do this to each other with pump-action shotguns. About 20 times in succession. At point-blank. You'd think by that point the two would realize they're out of shells. It won't even be halfway through the sequence before you realize it's being played as a gag.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Kazuma tells Haruka to come to him, even when Majima and his goons are firing at him, knowing that Majima, while he would beat his own men to death over nothing, wouldn't hurt Haruka.
* FearfulSymmetry: Kazuma and Majima's fights have elements of this. Most prevalent in their fight with shotguns, with their actions perfectly mirroring each other.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: Majima's aforementioned BatterUp moments.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Majima's goons in the bar, once Kiryu breaks his cover and goes on the offensive.
* MadeOfIron: Majima absolutely refuses to go down without a fight. [[spoiler: Even a bullet through his chest isn't enough to do much worse than make his trip back to his office difficult, and apparently give him a cold.]]
* MookChivalry: [[spoiler: The guys holding a seemingly unconscious Kazuma stand by and let him finish downing his Staminan for a good 30 seconds, doing nothing to stop him besides wailing in anticipatory agony.]]
* MundaneMadeAwesome: Nishiki's henchmen begin lifting a half-dead Kazuma to execute him [[spoiler:and react with ''horror'' as they find him gulping down an energy drink, whose ad flashes triumphantly on the screen. Reinvigorated, Kazuma proceeds to beat down everyone without breaking a sweat]].
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Majima is shot down after his third fight against Kazuma and is left for dead, but he wakes up later and saunters off to his batting cage. Once there he sits down and appears to die for real, only to sneeze from the cold.]]
* OhCrap: When the gangsters realize that Kazuma has [[spoiler: taken a swig of a healing item in the final battle.]]
* OutlawCouple: The pair of kids who decide to start robbing after they get the opportunity when a fight breaks out in a "Don Quixote" store.
* PetTheDog: Kazuma begins the movie with an almost literal version, his first appearance is buying dog food for a dog for Haruka (... and getting into a fight in the process, of course).
* ShoutOut: Many to the games, including the use of the same fire effects denoting HEAT, sound effects from the games popping up, and healing items from the games being shown in a fridge in the foreground at one point. [[spoiler: The latter being a ChekhovsGun, as, true to video game form, it fully heals Kazuma right when he's on the brink of defeat.]]
* SoundtrackDissonance: Played with... Crazy Ken Band's very upbeat "Hama no Ambassador" playing over Majima's wandering the streets, hitting random people with a bat and starting brawls seems to conflict with the action, but at the same time fits Majima's [[AxCrazy crazier]] [[BloodKnight tendencies]].
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Fuma/Kazama apparently survives.]]
* YouDidntAsk: When Kazuma asks why Haruka didn't mention Yumi earlier, this is her response.
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Averted by Kazuma and Majima, who look very similar to their in-game counterparts (Kazuma looks a bit young, though his model in the first game didn't exactly look aged). Played straight by Haruka and Yumi, who don't resemble their in-game counterparts at all (but fortunately don't lose any of their important qualities).
** The only noticeable difference between Game Majima and Movie Majima is that, in the film, Majima's eye patch is on the wrong eye. This is because his actor, Goro Kishitani, is actually blind in one eye, so it was just easier to swap which side the patch was on.
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