This article appeared in Tokyo Weekender Vol. 3.
To read the entire issue, click here.
Playing an iconic character from a game series can be a daunting task. Fans have high expectations and can be very specific about the kind of person they want to see. Ryoma Takeuchi was aware of this when he was offered the role of Kazuma Kiryu in the upcoming Prime Video series Like a Dragon: Yakuza, which is loosely based on the legendary Sega game franchise Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku in Japanese).
Since the first game in the series was released 19 years ago, the Yakuza franchise has become a cult classic; it’s particularly renowned for its authentic portrayal of Japanese urban life and yakuza lore. Most games in the series follow Kiryu, an incredibly violent yet surprisingly endearing yakuza member, as he navigates the criminal underworld of Tokyo and other cities in Japan. Like a Dragon: Yakuza is set in two different time periods — 1995 and 2005 — and will explore the character’s complicated life and childhood in depth.
Takeuchi was initially surprised by the offer. Though he’s no stranger to portraying pop culture icons, having made a name for himself playing the titular character in Kamen Rider Drive, he questioned why he had been chosen for the role of Kazuma Kiryu; he was also aware that taking on this project would come with an immense amount of responsibility. “You are talking about a character who is loved around the world,” he tells TW.
Kazuma Kiryu’s World
Known as the “Dragon of Dojima” due to the giant tattoo on his back, Kiryu was voted the 18th most iconic video game character of all time in a recent poll by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). A powerful anti-hero, he immediately proved popular with fans and critics, who saw him as a personable and deeply honorable character despite his violent traits.
“When you play a popular character like Kazuma, you know there will be praise and criticism for your performance,” Takeuchi notes. “It’s a role that comes with pressure, but the most important thing when starting was that I had the resolve to play him my way. That meant going at it full throttle, with the meter on maximum. I needed to become Kiryu. Not just from a physical perspective, which was a challenge in itself, but from an emotional one. I told myself I was the only person in Japan who could play the part.”
A Challenging Role
“I knew I would have to absorb myself into Kazuma Kiryu’s world,” contines Takeuchi. “There could be no half-measures. I would have to put my life and soul into it, and that’s what I did.”
The actor only had a short time to prepare for what was always going to be a demanding role. Kiryu is known for his muscular frame and his street-fighting skills. Takeuchi, therefore, had to work incredibly hard building up his strength while also learning how to fight properly. He called up mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura for some help and also did some training with members of Tri-Force, a Brazilian jiujitsu academy.
Despite not even being able to do a boxing one-two combo at first, Takeuchi went to the gym day by day and soon developed what he describes as “the perfect fighting style for Kazuma.” It was through this fighting style that he truly connected with the character. “The first time I felt I was Kazuma was during a fight scene. I was in the zone, and didn’t even realize I was on set.”
Different Time Periods
Another challenge the Tokyo-born actor faced was having to prepare to play Kiryu during different time periods, as the drama involves a 10-year time jump. “In 1995, he was more assertive with how he expressed himself,” says Takeuchi. “The decade he spent away, though, seemed to take away any affection he had for others, and as a result, he struggles to communicate. He feels that he’s basically lost everything and is attempting to get it back.”
He continues, “From an emotional perspective, he’s not an easy character to play. In fact, even though the action scenes were hard, I would say that this role was more difficult emotionally than it was physically. As Japanese people, we tend to engage in tacit communication and are generally not very vocal when it comes to expressing how we feel. That’s certainly the case with Kazuma. He and his friends grew up without parents, so they didn’t get the love and compassion they deserved.”
In order to prepare for the role, he says, he visited an orphanage in Tokyo to “get a feel for what it was like for [Kiryu] growing up.”
Solène Ballesta
From Soccer Pitches to the Silver Screen
Though Takeuchi was shocked to be offered the role of Kiryu, Masaharu Take, the series’ director, thought he was a natural fit. In a press conference announcing the project, the director said he immediately thought of Takeuchi when he started to consider who could take on the part — the 185-centimeter actor had the “size and presence” necessary. The two had only worked together just once previously: on Take’s action-comedy In the Hero in 2014. That was Takeuchi’s first time on a movie set, though he only appeared on screen for a few seconds, as an extra who handed a letter to the film’s lead.
A few years before that, it looked like Takeuchi was destined for a different career. He played for the youth academy of the professional soccer club Tokyo Verdy and had ambitions of one day playing in the J-League. Eventually, injuries and other setbacks took their toll.
“My team had won the national championships twice, but I remember at the age of 18, something just wasn’t clicking, and my heart wasn’t in it as much,” recalls Takeuchi. “Soccer helped me get into college, but while I was there, I spent about a year thinking about what I really wanted to do in life. And then the idea of becoming an actor just came to me from nowhere.”
Kamen Rider
It proved a wise career choice. Takeuchi was just 21 and still a newbie in the industry when he was handed his breakthrough role in the Kamen Rider Drive television and movie series from 2014 to 2015.
“Kamen Rider got me to the starting line as an actor,” he says. “Of course, luck played a big part in it. Overseas, you learn to act and build your reputation before getting the big roles, but in Japan it can be different. I was thrust into this lead part at the beginning without any real experience … I was a different person then, though, so I’m too embarrassed to watch it back now.”
After Kamen Rider Drive, Takeuchi was an actor in demand. In 2017, he won a Newcomer of the Year award at the 41st Japan Academy Film Prize for his performance as Dan Otaka in Akira Nagai’s comedy Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High. That same year, he continued to enhance his reputation in television dramas like Overprotected Kahoko and Hiyokko.
In 2019, he featured in a Hollywood film for the first time, making a cameo appearance in Detective Pikachu. He also provided the dubbed voice of protagonist Tim Goodman in the Japanese version of the film. His ultimate goal, though, is to work overseas as a superhero.
Solène Ballesta
A Boy at Heart
“I’m still a boy at heart, so I’ll always want to be a hero,” he says, smiling. “For the last decade, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that a Marvel film would be the ultimate for me. So, if the studio is thinking of making a movie with a Japanese lead, I would definitely throw my hat in the ring.”
He’s open to non-mega-blockbuster work as well, of course. “I would love to do something artistic with actors from overseas,” he says. “I just need to learn English first.”
With his latest drama set to be screened in more than 240 countries and territories around the globe, Takeuchi is certainly putting himself in the shop window.
More Info
Like a Dragon: Yakuza premieres on Prime Video with three episodes on October 25. The final three episodes will be screened on November 1.
