Prime Video already had a hit video game series earlier this year with Fallout, and the streamer is hoping that lightning will strike again this fall with Like a Dragon: Yakuza, a new live-action adaptation of the Yakuza: Like a Dragon game. While it might seem counterintuitive for series stars Ryoma Takeuchi and Kento Kaku to avoid playing the game that inspired the show, the actors have shared their reasons why they didn’t.
“I know these games–everybody in the world knows these games,” Takeuchi told GamesRadar. “But I haven’t played them. I’d like to try them, but [the show’s creative team] had to stop me because they wanted to–for the character in the script–explore from scratch. That’s why I decided not to play.”
“I definitely knew the property very well, but I didn’t realize the franchise was this globally big. We decided we would make sure we would do our own version, relive the characters, take their spiritual elements, and embody them on our own. There was a clear line we wanted to draw, but everything on the bottom was respect.”
Takeuchi will play the game series’ primary character, Kazuma Kiryu, while Kaku will portray his childhood friend, Akira Nishikiyama. The series will explore how Kazuma’s past affects his criminal actions and underworld relationships in the present.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premiere on Prime Video on October 24.
