Sandbox / Yakuza: Taiga Saejima

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Character-Specific Pages: Kazuma Kiryu | Goro Majima | Akira Nishikiyama | Taiga Saejima | Ichiban Kasuga
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Judgment (Takayuki Yagami) | Lost Judgment

Taiga Saejima

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Ron Yuan (English)

"Which one of you lunatics said killing a guy's no big deal?! Was it you? Or you? Ya sit up there chantin' "kill, kill, kill." But how many of ya have taken a life with your own two hands!?"

Saejima as he appears in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

^{Click here} to see Saejima as he appears in Yakuza 4.

A new playable character number two debuting in Yakuza 4. An ex-yakuza who infamously gunned down 18 yakuza in a noodle shop, and has spent 25 years in death row. After he learns he was set up, he breaks out of prison and returns to Kamurocho to find out what happened to his old family and why he was abandoned on that fateful night before the police catch up to him again. He was set up to take the fall by Katsuragi of the Ueno Seiwa clan, who was the real killer. He is the oldest and strongest of the four protagonists, and by the game's end, he's brought back into the Tojo Clan and made the boss of the Saejima Family.

He also returns in Yakuza 5, turning himself in for the events of the previous game, but near the end of his sentence, learns that there are forces out there trying to prolong it, and escapes once again. In Yakuza 6, he returns to jail again to fulfill his previous sentence.

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A-I

• All for Nothing: Downplayed, in that learning that the Ueno Seiwa hit didn't truly kill the intended target and his Sasai boss ended up losing the family in the aftermath due to the whole thing being a setup utterly eats at Saejima after realizing his twenty-five years of prison time were one giant waste of agony. However, he doesn't actually regret following the order itself, solely because orders were orders and he'd have it no other way on his honor as a yakuza.
• Animal Motifs: The tiger. Naturally, he and Kiryu end up fighting after they've barely spoken.
• Anti-Hero: Established as one of the darkest in the series from his massacre of an introduction to the rest of his character arc consisting of trying to have his revenge on his old Oath Brother Majima, believing that he had betrayed him all those years ago. Still, he proves to have a surprisingly strong moral core underneath it all particularly during his Shaming the Mob scene.
• Badass Longcoat: He's always wearing some sort of beaten old coat that reaches down to his knees. Starting in Yakuza 6 and all future Dragon Engine games, he switches to a shorter though no less badass Alpha Industries N3B parka.
• Badass in Distress: He's captured in the climax of Yakuza 4 along with his step-sister Yasuko. They catch up while Kiryu comes to their rescue.
• Baritone of Strength: Not the deepest in the cast but he does speak with a low and intimidating tone that lends itself to his impressive strength when he really gets going, courtesy of Rikiya Koyama. Also applies to the English dub of Like a Dragon, provided by Ron Yuan.
• Bald Head of Toughness: He's shaved from 5 onward ever since his internment in Abashiri Penitentiary where all the inmates have been given a close shave. Out of all of the protagonists in the series, he is the strongest in terms of raw physical strength, having developed his Charles Atlas Superpower of immense strength and durability in jail. Notably, he is the only protagonist besides Kiryu able to pick up motorcycles and in one cut scene, stops a moving car with his bare hands before moving out of the way.
  • Barbarian Longhair: In 4 and his prologue in 5 as well as said game's imagination segments with Himura.
• Better the Devil You Know: In 5, he States this almost word-for-word with regards to the relationship between the Police and the Tojo Clan. The Tojo Clan may be a powerful criminal syndicate but at least the Police know how to easily communicate with them and keep them on a leash. All bets are off if the Tojo Clan allows the Omi Alliance from the west to roll in and take control of Kamurocho.
• The Big Guy: He's the strongest guy of the bunch and one of the tallest.
• Big "SHUT UP!": When the crowd boos at him for not killing his first defeated opponent at a tournament deathmatch, then he gives them a touching speech about how murdering people traumatized him after the 1985 incident, and he sees his victims' dying faces every night in his dreams.
• Blood Knight: Downplayed. Unlike Majima, he doesn't immediately try to twist situations into a fight when there's no reason to but he does seem to enjoy butting heads with strong enemies like Kiryu or Majima. When Jo Amon once again tries to challenge Kiryu to a fight to the death in 4, Saejima's eager to tag along to see a guy tough and scary enough to make Kiryu take the situation seriously. Otherwise Subverted in terms of the many life-or-death conflicts he keeps getting in, even apologising to enemies like Saito who most certainly doesn't deserve that kindness. In particular, he remembers his massacre of the 18 Ueno Seiwa men as in his own words "a fucking nightmare", taking absolutely no joy in ending the lives of others and even brought to tears when openly talks about how awful of an experience it was and how he's been having nightmares about it to this day.
• Boots of Toughness: When in civilian clothing he always has one. Gotta make sure those stomps to the face hurt.
• Car Fu: Saejima’s the only one strong enough to lift and swing motorcycles and scooters as if they were bats.
• Celibate Hero: To a degree. Saejima probably would if he could, but he has far more important things to do with what little time he has.
  • He has a bit of a freak out when he sees Haruka. This is what tipped Kiryu off that he spent time in prison as, "you had the look of a guy who hadn't seen a woman in a long time".
  • If you try to enter a hostess club while playing as him in Yakuza 4, he'll straight-up refuse, saying that he's not interested. Of course, given that he's currently on the run from the police, going to a hostess club wouldn't be a bright idea. On the other hand, take him to a massage parlor and he'll end up making lewd fantasies about his masseuse in a swimsuit.
  • In Yakuza 5, while he can win over the voluptuous Kaguya, he finds her to be more of a pain and doesn't express much affection for her. It's pretty much stated that their "private time" wasn't intimate, but rather spent talking about what his dreams and aspirations were. Not that it stops him from fantasizing about her in the hot springs and checking her out in air hockey.
• Charged Attack: He can charge up his Finishing Moves to hit even harder. He also has to charge them in order to access his powerful Double Finishing Blows.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: He's had a very long time to work on his natural strength in prison. Most of his fighting style revolves around his sheer muscle, and he's the only playable character outside of Kiryu in 0 and Kiwami, and Kaito in Lost Judgment, to be able to pick up motorcycles and smash people with them.
  • It gets even more absurd in Yakuza 5 where one of his HEAT actions has him punch the ground so hard it knocks opponents off their feet by causing a MINI-TREMOR. Goro Daimon would be proud.
  • There's also a scene where he nearly gets run over and briefly stops a moving car with his bare hands before rolling out of the way.
  • And who could forget the time he ripped a huge metal exhaust pipe as thick as a tree off of a wall with his bare hands and swung it around at the goons surrounding him before dropping it on the one poor schmuck he missed.
  • He can also unlock the ability to rip signposts and electrical transformers out of the ground.
• Combat Pragmatist: Weapons, walls, enemies in any conceivable position... if it exists, Saejima has a finisher for it.
• The Comically Serious: Maintains his gruff demeanor even when he's trying to tame a pair of stray cats by meowing in 4. 5 also has him lay the smackdown on some punks while dressed as Santa in a substory.
• Cool Old Guy: Despite being in his 50s he's still a force to be reckoned with.
• Cruel Mercy: Makes a promise to Kosaka not to kill anyone that's part of the conspiracy that seems be targetting Saejima and his allies so that they can receive proper justice in prison. He still plans to make them wish he had with Kugihara in particular receiving the most brutal beatdown.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Black shirt, pale green tailcoat, snowfield camouflage trousers, black military boots and he is on the light side of the characters in the entire series.
• Desperation Attack: 4 grants him access to quite a few Heat Actions that he can only use at low health.
• Dueling Player Characters:
  • He faces off against Kiryu after he broke out of Okinawa Penitentiary No.1. They fight each other again in the fifth game to lure out the game's mastermind. Notably, for their rematch, the player has control of which character they want to use, although it has no effect story-wise.
  • In Like a Dragon, he takes on Ichiban and his team alongside Majima after catching them infiltrating the Omi HQ.
• Dual Boss: In Like a Dragon, he fights alongside Majima. More specifically, he steps in after you reduce Majima's health to 50%.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: During the events of 4, he had long hair that reached his shoulders. After going back to prison in 5 to make amends for the past, he has his head shaved.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: A lot has changed in the 25 years since Saejima was put away. He's even more Hopeless with Tech than Kiryu, as he doesn't know what a CD-ROM is, nor does he even know how to use a cell phone. While Kiryu and Akiyama both use their phones to capture Revelations, Saejima pulls a massive log out of Hammerspace and chisels a wood sculpture instead. At least he improves enough to be able to use a cell phone by the time 5 rolls around, even engaging in some blogging for his Revelation.
• Five Temperament Ensemble: Choleric
• Friend to All Children: For a self-admitted bad guy and convicted mass murderer, Saejima sure has a soft spot for kids (Yasuko mentions he was planning to become a schoolteacher before he became a gangster to support her kidney operation). One substory chain in 4 has him help an orphan repay his debt to a loan shark who kidnapped his older sister.
• Gentle Giant: He gives this vibe, especially in Yakuza 5, since he softened up quite a bit.
• The Ghost: Aside from a few brief flashbacks, he doesn't make any sort of physical appearance in 0 despite being Majima's primary motivation for still trying to get back into the Tojo Clan's good graces. Justified since he's in prison and in order for Saejima's plot in 4 to make sense, Majima cannot visit Saejima and explain his actions.
• Good Is Not Soft: He's civil and pleasant to friends, allies, and the average civilian but wreaks brutal destruction on anyone who brings unnecessary harm to him or any of the previously stated categories of people.
• Good Old Ways: Saejima's general reaction to just about everything, especially the state of the yakuza. That said he does wonder during at the end of one of the substories in 4 if he was simply ignorant to how ruthless yakuza always have been.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: The man has no issues with picking enemies up and using them to hit other punks. He gets even more techniques for this in 5 with his Tiger Puppetry ability.
• Heroic Build: The guy’s absolutely shredded, giving even Kiryu a run for his money. 25 years in prison didn’t dampen his brick house physique any either.
• Hidden Depths: He's a pretty good singer.
  • When he was a young boy, he wanted to become a schoolteacher. Needless to say, that didn't end up happening.
  • His conversations with Fukushi from the Dojo can have him admit that he used to love watching a certain robot anime back in the day. It helped him see how even bad guys can have their own purpose and sense of justice.
• Homeless Pigeon Person: Saejima himself as well as most of his friendly contacts as a consequence of only being playable in games where has to escape from prison and become a fugitive of the law.
• Honor Before Reason: His duty to his family and allies takes priority over his own safety and happiness, and he'll fully admit this. Even if he has nightmares and agonizes over the lives he was put into prison for, it was still the order laid on his lap and that's that.
• Iconic Sequel Character: To a lesser extent than Akiyama but he's still become an important character in the series and making several appearances in games after his debut.
• If I Do Not Return: In 5 during the Hunting arc, when he goes after Yama-oroshi, he tells the villagers that if he dies fighting against the bear, to tell Deputy Warden Kosaka that he's sorry he didn't keep his promise.
• Immune to Flinching: He gets two abilities in "5" that make him this in Heat mode: "Stability" from the Soul tree and "Herculean Spirit" from Tendo's training.
• Informed Attribute: He's inaugurated as the Patriarch of the Saejima Family in The Stinger of 4 but we're never shown a single member of this Yakuza family aside from Saejima himself and no one ever talks about what they do either so it practically doesn't exist at all. An argument can be made for Shigeki Baba from 5 being a member since Saejima unofficially considers him a brother, but the game ends with him planning on turning himself in to the police, so he's in no position to be contributing to any Yakuza families.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Most of his students at the Sodachi Dojo are much younger than him, but they come to trust his egalitarian faith in their potential and enjoy conversing with him over drinks.

J-Z

• Large Ham: He holds nothing back when he sings, but have him do "Lively Interjections" on Rouge Of Love and he goes even further.
  Saejima: EVERYBODY SAY ROUGE OF LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
• Laughing Mad: Uncharacteristically starts laughing wildly in 4 when Kiryu tells him to return to prison peacefully since that might make the courts go easier on him. The reason is because he absolutely cannot return to prison since he's been on death row for 25 years and all that awaits him is a swift execution.
• Leitmotif:
  • "Massive Fire" in 4. It returns in Like a Dragon whenever Ichiban Summons him.
  • "Hailstorm" in 5. As a potential boss fight in the same game's story "The maximum ill luck" will play either while fighting him as Kiryu or fighting Kiryu as him, meaning they share this leitmotif.
  • In Like A Dragon, he shares "Recieve You The Hyperactive" with Majima when assisting him in their shared boss fight.
• Limit Break: His Tiger Essence Climax HEAT attacks in 5:
  • Tiger Essence of Bashing: Saejima leaps into the air while taking hold of his opponent and plants them with a modified flying Tombstone Piledriver.
  • Tiger Essence of Blitzing: Saejima charges his way through a group of enemies ala a football player before grabbing the last man, tossing him upwards and slamming him down.
  • Tiger Essence of Shockwave: A massive Ground Pound which knocks all nearby enemies off their feet.
  • Raging Tiger Cyclone: His Poundmate Special in ''Like a Dragon; Saejima bursts out from a manhole, catches the cover, starts spinnning hard enough to create a tornado that picks up surrounding debris and cars before tossing the the cover at the enemies (and sending the tornado at them along with it).
  • Blade Kill: His Combination Attack with Majima in their boss fight in Like a Dragon. Saejima swings Majima around while the latter has his knife extended to attack all party members before tossing him at Ichiban. Majima then proceeds to fly right by and bounce off a wall to knee Ichiban in the back of the head while Saejima gut punches him.
• Living Legend: Convicted of killing 18 yakuza in a noodle shop has made him one in the eyes of the underworld. Unfortunately, it also paints a huge target on his back.
• Magikarp Power: His Mighty Glacier fighting style alongside his very slow attack speed makes him really weak in the early game, especially in his prison break segment of 4. But once you upgrade his attack speed, Charged Attack, and Immune to Flinching abilities, he becomes a walking bulldozer who can overpower even bosses in a battle of attrition.
• Magnetic Hero: Has a tendency to turn prospective antagonists trying to take advantage of him into strong allies because he treats them with like they're his own flesh and blood. Hamazaki in Yakuza 4 and Baba in Yakuza 5 end up on the side of the heroes' because of this.
  • In 5 he also becomes pretty close friends with all of his cellmates at Abashiri Penitentiary. It probably helps that all of them are surprisingly decent people for convicted felons. Even the cold, no-nonsense, yakuza-hating Deputy Warden Kosaka comes to respect and trust Saejima a rather great deal to the point where he arranges for Saejima to break out of prison with Baba in order to uncover the deadly conspiracy that's causing trouble for the prison.
• Manly Men Can Hunt: His unique sidequest in 5 has him take up hunting, with his ultimate goal being to hunt an extremely dangerous bear.
• Manly Tears: During his speech to the crowd chanting for blood in the Underground Coliseum.
  • He cries more of these when his old boss, Hideki Sasai, is able to recognize Saejima and barely manages to utter his name despite having gone completely senile in the 25 years since Saejima last saw him.
• Metronomic Man Mashing: Just like Kiryu, he can unlock the ability to grab downed enemies by the legs and then swing them over his shoulder which he can do multiple times until the enemy runs out of health. Just like Kiryu however, it's ineffective on minibosses and bosses who tend to immediately break free from attempts to grab them by the legs while downed. One of his Heat Actions in 5 also amounts to grabbing an enemy by the face and swinging them over his shoulder repeatedly in order to knock away all the other enemies surrounding him.
• Mighty Glacier: He's the slowest of the main playable characters, but can deal a ton of damage. While attack speed upgrades mitigate his slowness, his inability to perform a basic Quickstep or quickly roll back to his feet when getting knocked down combined with having upgrades that give him more Super Armor and defense in Heat mode means he's best played as a tank. Notably, when Kiryu tries to grab a heavyset sumo-type enemy he gets pushed away instantly, but Saejima can actually grab these guys like any other mook (with a certain upgrade) which is a testament to his monstrous strength.
• Mildly Military: He's never actually been in the military but there's a definite military aesthetic to the way he dresses with his camouflage-pattern pants and tendency towards combat boots and olive-green jackets. He's also big on duty, honor, and following orders so he's got a definite militant attitude. Then there's the way he's got issues dealing with his traumatic past experiences as well as adjusting to modern day society which give him several parallels with what you'd expect from a Shell-Shocked Veteran.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He gives Kido advice that if he wants to climb the ranks, he must seize an opportunity when he sees it. This ends up causing Kido to pull a Face–Heel Turn, resulting in Saejima and Yasuko getting captured by the villains, and Yasuko getting fatally wounded by Katsuragi.
• Noble Demon: He may be more of a Yakuza than the other protagonists to the point of performing a hit when ordered to but he tries his best to live as a dutiful, honorable man and genuinely seems to be a good person at heart.
  I'm just livin' the life me and my bro chose to lead. That's what bein' a yakuza's really about. People think we're criminals or whatever. But I'm proud to be part of somethin' bigger. Honor and duty. That's what it all means.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: At least two of the major villains he's faced in his two playable experiences have been significantly younger than him: Takeshi Kido in 4 and Shigeki Baba in 5.
• Older Than They Look: Like Majima and Kiryu before him, by the time he shows again in Like A Dragon his features are far less harsh and he loses a lot of his more noticeable wrinkles, either due to graphical changes or finally not being forced into prison again. This despite him being 53 at that point.
• Perpetual Frowner: His default expression is a frown or a slight scowl and it’s pretty rare for him to ever smile. Justified considering his circumstances in both Yakuza 4 and 5. He looks much more cheerful in Like A Dragon.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Usually averted but his age combined with the 25 years spent in prison does contribute to certain antiquated views on proper male behavior. At one point in 4 during the Dojo sidestory, he has the opportunity to give student Hideo Sugiyama advice on how to ask a woman out. Apparently, the ideal answer is to tell him to say to her "Make me breakfast every mornin, woman!" with Saejima's justification being that it's the sort of line that men have used for generations and invoked will surely still work now. Sugiyama gets motivated at the thought of having a nice breakfast every morning with his crush and even learns a new ability.
• Promotion to Parent: After his mother died, Saejima had to be responsible for both his own and his stepsister Yasuko's welfare, as his father had left the family early on.
• Punny Name: His first name "Taiga" sounds like Tiger.
• Put on a Bus: He appears very briefly at the beginning of Yakuza 6, and isn't seen again until the end of the game, discussing with Majima and Daigo how to handle Kiryu's apparent death and the Yomei Alliance.
  • At one point early on in Like a Dragon, Adachi tells Ichiban that after the Omi Alliance took over Kamurocho in the wake of the diminishing Tojo Clan, the heads of the Tojo took their leave from the city while a still image shows the backs of Majima, Daigo, and Saejima as they leave through the gates of Kamurocho. They don't make a reappearance until much later in the game while Ichiban's crew is trying to sneak into the Omi Alliance HQ.
• Red Baron: 18-Count Saejima, after being convicted of 18 counts of murder during the Ueno Seiwa hit. He is still occasionally referred to this way even after it's revealed he wasn't the actual killer, since regardless of his gun being loaded with rubber bullets without his knowledge, the determination and badassery it takes to pick a fight with 18 high-ranking yakuza by yourself and win is still the real deal.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Goh Hamazaki, Kiryu, Yasuko, Shun, Majima and Masayoshi's blue. He changes to blue in 5.
• Remember the New Guy?: He's actually Majima's best friend and they were a huge influence on each other in their early yakuza days. Funny that Majima never mentioned him. Probably due to Maijima's unwilling role in Saejima's frame up. He is mentioned more often in the prequel Yakuza 0 to make up for this.
• Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?: The Ueno Seiwa hit is often brought up as an example of his badassery. Also, in 6 you can bring up that time Saejima fought a bear as a topic of casual conversation in Cabaret Clubs.
• The Scapegoat: He didn't actually kill anyone during the hit of 1985. All of the revolvers he was given were loaded with experimental rubber bullets. Isao Katsuragi shot everyone at the shop to pave the way for his own promotion, and had his own blood-brother shoot him to make him look like a survivor. Although unlike most examples he really was planning to kill everyone there.
• Secret A.I. Moves: The data based on him in the IF7-R in 4 has access to a regular quickstep and will even make heavy usage of quickstep attacks unlike the real Saejima who has only has a roll as an evasive ability and is more focused around Charged Attacks and strong grappling techniques. This makes for a noticeably more agile take on the normally rather sluggish Saejima.
• Shaming the Mob: The mob in this case being rich and bloodthirsty spectators of a deathmatch tournament he's forced to participate in. He lectures them on what it's really like to kill someone. This is combined with What Measure Is a Mook? and "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Technically not a "military" veteran but still. Even after 25 years have passed since the 18-death hit, Saejima was left traumatized by memories of the event which continued to haunt his nightmares throughout his time in prison.
• Shoryuken: Has one called the "Great Bomber" in 4 and renamed to "Super Uppercut" in 5. They're basically identical and tied to his charged heavy attack though in 4, he has to charge it twice as long as it takes to perform his Spin Attack whereas in 5 their charge time order has been reversed with the Super Uppercut being his first Charged Attack
• Stay in the Kitchen: Spending 25 years of his life in prison on top of being one of the older protagonists makes it unsurprising that he shows this attitude at times. In 5 when visiting Kaguya at a hostess club, he'll state that he expects men to fight their own battles but not women.
  • The above becomes ironic during Like a Dragon where he averts this trope by having no problem fighting against female party members with his bare fists. Guess he learned a thing or two after finally being free.
• Tattooed Crook: A tiger, contrasting with Kiryu's dragon. Incidentally, the tiger in the tattoo is seen surrounded by Japanese Sasa leaves, which is likely a nod to the Sasai Family that Saejima once swore allegiance to.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Averted in the past, which is a pretty big deal considering other main characters. He’s introduced gunning down a restaurant full of Yakuza thugs and personally executes their patriarch. Even the reveal that it was all rubber bullets doesn’t change that he was willing to murder all those people. Played straight in the present day where the trauma from said shooting means he finds it difficult to take another life. He even gives a speech telling the audience of Purgatory how much they suck for goading him to kill a contestant.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: As stated before, his childhood aspirations to become a schoolteacher obviously didn't pan out that way, not to mention all the traumatic experiences he's faced ever since he joined the Tojo Clan. Still, it's apparently canon that Saejima really did engage in the side-content in 4, helping Sodachi instruct his students in self-defense and turn his dojo from a failing endeavor into a successful and reputable place to learn martial arts. Saejima himself seems to cherish his memories coaching the students as implied by 5 in both substories and during his Imagine Spot while singing Baka Mitai in which he'll gaze sentimentally at a photo of himself and Sodachi smiling in his dojo. In a way, he did become some sort of teacher after all if only temporarily.
• Tiger Versus Dragon: He's not quite the first "Tiger" to Kiryu's "Dragon" (that'd be Shimano), but he's certainly the most prominent and recurring one, being one of the only characters in the series who can actually fight Kiryu to a stalemate. Going with this theme, he also has an equivalent to Kiryu's famous "Tiger Drop" called "Dragon Fall".
• Took a Level in Kindness: Compared to his initial personality, he's far more mellow in 5.
• Tranquil Fury: Gives Kugihara a nasty and terrifying lesson in torment in 5 that stains the snow red with blood and leaves his left hand crippled. After everything Kugihara's done to Saejima for the past six months, he'd be justified in this form of revenge and yet Saejima's facial expression barely changes as he stomps Kugihara's wrist to a bloody mess. He also doesn't raise his voice at all as he lectures him on the dangers of picking fights with a yakuza.
• Unnecessary Combat Roll: Lacks a quickstep for evasion unlike the other characters. Instead, he can only roll around or hop backwards which is significantly slower. He also means doesn't have any sort of evasive attack equivalent to the Quickstep Attacks every other playable character in 4 has.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Saejima's fighting style is based around brute force more than finesse. Even his sword style is unrefined, but considering how absurdly strong he is he doesn't NEED to be fancy.
  • Tellingly, neither of the two training masters he's had in his playable appearances actually try to teach him the skills he learns. One of them mostly has him mining a cave out or shattering rocks with his bare hands before conveniently finding notes on martial arts while the other gets possessed by mountain gods, granting him incredible powers and durability before attacking Saejima. In other words, they primarily just give him opportunities to put his insane strength to use, occasionally inspiring him to utilize those experiences to improvise his own techniques. As opposed to any sort of formal teachings or sparring sessions conducted by a well-trained martial artist.
  • Strong and Skilled: However, this is very obviously an inversion and it's indicated Saejima's fighting style is that way in gameplay because he simply didn't need to display his skills and besides he was meant to be a Mighty Glacier. Overall, this seems to be merely a case of Gameplay and Story Integration and Gameplay and Story Segregation: Saejima is primarily a Mighty Glacier and fights with far less finesse in gameplay but whenever he gets to fight someone really skilled, he can and will display a real amount of exceptional skill and he is also clearly a real Lightning Bruiser and much more acrobatic than gameplay shows him, as action sequences shows he is more than capable of keeping up with Kiryu and even Majima in speed and agility, his fighting data in the IF 7-4 proves he is actually fully capable of quickstep attacks, and the game even shows him shamelessly and effectively using acrobatic moves to neutralize Majima's wild and acrobatic attacks. Not only that, his moves, especially his Heat, while simplistic, are still based on wrestling, boxing, and muay thai, he is even able to use a pressure-point move with his head, his usage of pragmatic weapons is just as competent as Kiryu and while his sword style is unrefined, he displays an Iaijutsu technique that no one else ever showed, which certainly displays a good deal of expertise with real martial arts, and he is certainly competent in the technical aspect as he is canonically able to teach students of a Dojo to become masters of fighting which naturally requires extensive experience.
  • The best way to sum it up is that Saejima's fighting style may not be as polished as many other fighters, his moves are simplistic, he primarily relies on his strength and durability, and his martial arts isn't outwardly as impressive as others, but while he has a straight-up brutish approach to combat, he makes excellent usage of the skills he has in his disposal, he certainly can make good use of his strength and durability for moves that most others but Kiryu can't really do, and he is pragmatic and seasoned enough to make use of the environment just as well as the others. As such, the combination of the excellent skills he has, his insane physical abilities, and his determination overall can still make him a powerful fighter even in gameplay and storywise, all those fighting traits accumulated is enough to put him on a similar fighting level to Kiryu, as displayed by their repeated stalemates where Saejima is capable of matching him in fisticuffs just fine, and as displayed with his scuffles with Majima, he is more than able to beat Majima while clearly displaying some impressive prowess in pitched exchanges and thinking quick and using his superior strength to beat down his sworn brother the right way.
• Use Your Head: In 5, he gets access to the Tiger Dragon Drop, which, unlike Kiryu's ducking punch, is a massive, stun-inducing headbutt.
• Villain Protagonist: Skirts closer to this trope than any other protagonist since he proves to be far more dedicated to the Yakuza lifestyle and mindset than the likes of Kiryu. He's introduced in 4 willingly gunning down nearly 20 rival Yakuza on the orders of his boss putting him on deathrow for 25 years until he breaks out of prison aided by the nefarious Hamazaki. He then tells Kiryu that he has no plans of reforming and instead is focused on uncovering the truth behind what went wrong during his 18-person hit and even get some revenge on whoever's responsible. Tellingly, Kiryu initially declines to help him unless he gives him a better reason than just vengeance. Ultimately averted since he doesn't go through with killing any of those who were supposedly responsible for his 25 years like Majima who turns out to be rather innocent or Katsuragi who carries much of the blame but Saejima attempts to spare him anyway considering him Not Worth Killing. When it becomes clear how dangerous the bad guys are, he doesn't hesitate to join in on delivering righteous justice to them.
  • Averted in 5. He doesn't spend much time as a fugitive-of-the law Yakuza before going back to prison both to atone for past crimes as well as to find greater strength worthy of a man trying to be a leading Patriarch in the Tojo Clan. When he's expelled from the Yakuza for unknown reasons, he opts to continue trying to live a good life with people he cares about like his new friends in his cell block at Abashiri Penitentiary. The rest of his story is spent trying to uncover the conspiracy behind the mysterious death of the Warden as well as whoever's sent Kugihara and his cronies to torment and try to kill Saejima.
• Warrior Therapist: With all the time he's spent in prison, he's had a lot of time to reflect upon his actions the thought process leading up to them allowing him to offer his own brand of advice to those who have had similar experiences, especially fellow yakuza. He even manages to give words of encouragement to fellow Warrior Therapist Kiryu who's in a particularly low point in his life by the time of 5.
• When He Smiles: Much like Kiryu, he's a Perpetual Frowner. But when he gives a genuine smile, he means it.
• Worthy Opponent: In Like a Dragon, while Ichiban and his friends ultimately didn't come close to beating him and Majima, the fact that they made the two work up a decent sweat is enough to earn Saejima's respect. As he leaves, he tells Ichiban that he's looking forward to the next round.
• Would Hit a Girl: Surprisingly, Like a Dragon shows that like Majima he's perfectly fine with getting into fisticuffs with the women in Ichiban's party.
• World's Strongest Man: Saejima's performance all but confirms he is a very strong contender for both the title of the strongest man and the best fighter, being the only one who has the skill and strength needed to match Kiryu enough to end in a stalemate, being stronger than Majima in this regard as Majima always ends up losing in the end despite putting up a good fight, but Saejima has only ever lost to Kiryu once, not to mention he's also defeated Majima twice. Their physical strength and durability are potrayed to be on a similar level in gameplay, Saejima relying on sheer brute strength and ignoring enemy attacks to take down very similarly enormous numbers to what Kiryu goes through and able to wield huge heavy objects as weapons such as motorcycles, electrical transformers, and tall metal signposts, feats that match Kiryu's own strength. Notably, against Ichiban's crew while Majima is actually bleeding and somewhat sweating, Saejima is shown to be uninjured and unfazed he even stated he was ready to stop holding back, indicating he was confident he could beat them by himself.
• Written-In Absence: In Dead Souls, his absence is explained as being on business for the Tojo Clan in China.
• Wrestler in All of Us: His large size, great strength, and reliance on brute force lends itself well to certain wrestling techniques from lariats to giant swings and hammer throws. He seems to especially have an affinity for clotheslines as it's how he ends his grapple combos. He even learns the unique "Essence of Clotheslining" heat action which lets him toss a floor-bouncing enemy bodily into the air like a ragdoll before slamming them with an absolutely brutal clothesline to the back of the neck, causing them to spew a concerning amount of blood from their mouth.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: He has this reaction in the "A Special Place" substory in "5" when it looks like Sodachi is about to die after succumbing to his injuries after fending off a realtor's goons, but then he ends up passing out and talking in his sleep.
• Younger Than They Look: Like Kiryu and Majima before him, his flashback appearance to when he was 20 has him look way older due to his harsh features and wrinkles. He could easily pass for someone in his 30’s or 40’s.