RGG have always obviously regretted killing off some characters, with Ryuji being the most obvious one. I think they also regret killing Mine given Richardson’s inexplicable survival and Mine having a major role in Ishin’s story along with him being one of the only characters in original Ishin not to be from Yakuza 5.
I find it interesting how Ishin made Mine a trio with Majima and Saejima. Which kinda gives us a glimpse that had Mine survive, he would have stand along side Majima and Saejima as the Tojo's top captains and Daigo's most loyal men.
I think it's also worth noting how before Mine jumps in 3, he tells Kiryu that he hopes to earn his respects in another life- which is exactly what happens between Ryoma and Hijikata in Ishin
The problem with Ryuji is that Kaoru is clearly bringing flowers to his grave in the game's ending (either that or her dad's, but considering the timing I assume the intend is for Ryuji). Plus I'm sure Kiryu and Kaoru didn't just leave his body there. It's the same reason why him being alive in Dead Souls makes no sense. Kiryu, Kaoru, Haruka, Date and the other police guy (forgot his name) were all there to witness his death and to recover the body. Even if they for some reason left it at the top of Kamurocho Hills, he would bleed out and actually die.
@@DarkkirbyKRPG Ryuji and Kiryu are both taken to the hospital due to their wounds, them being literally the same wounds. Kiryu gets better, Ryuji stays in comatose state for the time being, Omi alliance makes up a story about him disappearing because declaring the Golden Dragon in coma would be humilliating for him. Hell, perhaps even he's translated to a hospital in America and that's the real reason why Kaoru leaved, to take care of his brother away from the yakuza life.
Nobody in RGG really dies... They just end up running a karaoke bar somewhere. Also, as of 8, I believe that Dead Souls (as well as Ishin and Kenzan) are just weird dreams that Kiryu had.
The end of IW still kinda open with Kiryu probably take serious treatment, so there still some possible that IW may not be Kiryu's last game like Y6. Also, there was someone very close connected both Kiryu & Ryuji also come back in IW as well. I guess this shouldn't be written like some kind of puzzle if we already familiar with Y2, so yeah I want to mention Kaoru. While there still no conclude for their relationship in IW (her Lifelink end kinda abruptly) but we know she still faithful with Kiryu after more 17 years at this point, even to the point after his "death" in Y6 and after Dissolution in Y:LaD she transfer to Juvenile division because of Kiryu (it's a unfamiliar division with Kaoru's speciality from what we known in Y2, just show how much her devotion for Kiryu). So in a way, if Yokoyama-san really serious to fulfil his intent about Kiryu & Kaoru in his concept about their road trip through 3 cities for Y3 (I guess we know which original idea for Ryuji's storyline in LaD:Online came from) before got cut due to Nagoshi wanted Y3 would be about orphanage; Ryuji can be involved in some way of "the brother-in-law and his sister's lover" dynamic and maybe will have friendly "talk" with Kiryu instead "only one dragon" like before (if there was ninth main entry or spin-off like gaiden with idea plot actual serious about Kiryu & Kaoru with Ryuji's involvement as well). Also, there was very special information in Ryuji's memoir aside about Kiryu question he may be reappear right before his eyes. Kiryu actually confirm Ryuji was his most powerful opponent ( this was in original Japanese context as well and not mistranslation or implied before Y2 event, so Ryuji canonically stronger Mine & Shishido or even Saejima & Majima) which kinda controversial in debate about characters strength discussion. So Ryuji return will be kind of chances to show his strength (maybe even more greater now if he still actually alive after more 17 years from Y2 event in 2006) which was missed with somebody when Y2 for them didn't show Ryuji as Kiryu toughest opponent in cutscenes.
New RGG has the opposite problem of Old RGG. Instead of killing off so many characters without the buildup to make it feel like it matters (Yakuza 1 in particular), they keep bringing characters back to life when it's not justified.
Fr fr, there was no reason to bring back Andre, Lau ou Kashiwagi. It just makes older games seem pointless and/or bad. I could maybe understand Kashiwagi but the others is insane
@@redbaronmars4176Lau is substory so doesn’t matter Kashiwagi makes sense since there were literally first responders running to him seconds after he passed out Richardson is a Daidoji link, and people have been known to easily survive 40 story drops when they had the intent of ending their own lives. I think someone who has training and a team behind his recovery makes sense too
@@redbaronmars4176 I disagree on Kashiwagi, he was unceremoniously killed off in 3 to raise the stakes I guess and nothing else, and the payoff in 8 was totally worth it if you ask me. I still hope Mine is dead though. Lau is whatever to me, it's more of a dumb in-game meme tbh
@@redbaronmars4176 Andre, Lau and Kashiwagi are unrelevant characters in the modern story and could never bring anything to the table. Them being alive is not big deal and changes not too much of their story, just gives them an odd, kinda happy ending, despite Andre and Lau being pretty scummy villians.
My best guess is RGG studios wants to bring in a character that is iconic and presumed dead, was relatively young and now in the present day more experienced, and a good enough story for how they came back into the fold. Ryuji fits the bill since he also has a dragon tattoo and Sega has no plans to rerelease Yakuza Dead Souls any time soon. They could easily make a game work since they were testing the waters with Ryuji and Joon Gi Han for the mobile game. The hard part will be selling it to the western audience.
RGG killed him off in Yakuza 2 and regretted it. And as such, lead to his inclusion in Yakuza Dead Souls. As that game was already non canon and making it be a timeline where Ryuji survived makes sense. Of course, this does bring in the chances of more What If Games being made. Such as a game that has the premise of What if Nishiki never died? Personally I see this being him having been in a coma for a few years. And when he wakes up, Kiryu is already in Okinawa. So sometime just before or during Yakuza 3.
A bomb went off right in his freaking face. There's 0% chance of him "just being in a coma" out of that and if they did do that, they'd be jumping the shark quite hard.
Or simply make it so Nishiki doesn’t decide to off himself by making a bomb go off, and actually do his best to move Kiryu, Yumi and Haruka to safety, so he still takes damage but actually have a chance of survival, making it so a coma is more plausible. (As you can tell I think his death was stupid and pretty avoidable)
With Kiryu likely not being able to fight anymore in the next mainline game, I feel like they're gonna truly revive Ryuji now so he can take on Kiryu's dragon role and be Ichiban's new party member.
The way Ryuji gets mentioned a lot throughout Gaiden and a bit in 8 makes me believe he’s still out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s under the Daidouji umbrella for whatever reason too.
I’ll never understand RGG they bring back people like lau ka long and Andre Richardson but not people like mine or ryuji goda? Them bringing back Richardson annoyed me because it completely invalidates Mine’s sacrifice at the end of 3. RGG are smoking something very heavy.
I like to believe that they are both alive running their Bars Flying Kirin and Golden Dragon. Either that or they became Agent Joshitaka Jine and Agent Jyuji Joda
Because Andre and Lau being alive is pretty meaningless in the great scheme of things. They just work on a little shop in the corner of the map, nothing big going on with them. If the Golden Dragon or the Kirin were to be alive, the yakuza main plot would need to aknolage that. How's Ichiban gonna compete against Ryuji if the two are bring on a story? Just see what happen in Infinite Wealth with a dying Kiryu stealing the show.
i dont think that rggs even thought about killing Ryuji in the first place we never see the body, no one is talking about it, Kaoru never mentions it either after the fact that ruff man is alive we can expect both Shimano and Kazama to come back lmao
Honestly when I first played yakuza 2 I didn’t even realize he died, I thought he past out, whats even more confusing is how Kiryu suffered the same bullet wounds in the exact same areas yet was totally fine, they even acknowledge it. For some reason rgg keeps bringing back characters that were obviously dead yet the character with the most ambiguous death remains supposedly dead
i think he wants to be dead, dead souls is probably a very iffy thing to cite as a source but i think that protrayal of the character could hold some hints as to where he mightve gone too after surviving 2 if he really did survive i think he just wants to be somewhere left alone and outside of yakuza affairs kind of like kiryu but with the exception that hes better at hiding lole
Ryuji probably relocated with Kaoru to America. Evading both the Omi, Jingweon and even Tojo clan revanchism. Hes Jingweon connection makes it too difficult for him to stay in Asia.
I think it's quite definitely plausible Ryuji could have survived, however were that the case (with the current timeline) Ryuji likely went into hiding or left Japan, as if he stuck around, the Omi alliance likely would have wanted him dead for failing in 2, or wanted him to be their leader after his father passed. Either way Ryuji likely has good reasons for not resurfacing.
The Jingweon were also looking for him as he mentioned during the cutscene before the final fight. So he definitely need to go to hiding somewhere else, probably went together with Kaoru to America.
Great video, but you spoke on how Kiryu didn't recognize Richardson. When Kiryu introduces Richardson to Ichiban, Kiryu calls Revolve his "usual haunt," implying that Kiryu has been here multiple times before. So their reunion (and Kiryu recognizing Richardson) most likely happened off screen, and probably went similarly to how he reacted when he met Kashiwagi.
Ryuji's one of my favorite characters in the series and I really hope he doesn't get brought back to life, but I'd be down for a spin that takes place before 2 where we get to play as him. Mine sucked though so it'd be hilarious to have him as a bartender in Yakuza 9
I just remember something's funny In after credit scene, Kaoru just bought 2 bucket flowers, and i assume that is for her father, and ryuji's father (or maybe Terada) Sorry if my English is bad
The guy running revolve bar could just be somone who looks like Richardson, or Richardson survived. Personally i think he survived. How? 2 words: rubber concrete.
Dead Souls is kinda canon in the series, if you find the Dead Souls poster in Infinite Wealth Kiryu says it was a weird dream he had that stuck with him for the rest of his life lol
Ultimately, I am a Ryuji Goda truther because he is my absolute favorite character in the series. I think he's more complex than what most people give him credit for and is an interesting character to explore. Plus, I find the narrative of 2 does him a bit dirty... The plot of that game is insanely xenophobic towards Korean people, and I'll never forget how one of his justifications for him finding an early death is he had "too much Jingweon blood" in him. Yikes. Not to mention how Kaoru and Kiryu makeout while his supposed corpse is 2 feet away (conveniently offscreen HOWEVER). He doesn't even get a name drop from Kaoru when she Kiryu, and Haruka visit the cemetery at the end. Or in the intro to 3. Or in the Life Link in Infinite Wealth either. However, I have mixed feelings on him coming back because it is something that RGG studios can fumble really easily. I feel like them resurrecting Kashiwagi worked because his death in 3 was complete bull. Richardson and Lau Ka Long being resurrected... feels kinda cheeky on their part. Especially Richardson since Infinite Wealth takes place in Hawaii and he's the like only notable American character in the series lmao - kinda like they were like "ugh we need to create an American character - wait a second!" Ryuji however.... Explaining how he survived the events of 2 will be super easy (the fans have already done it lol) but, he's been gone for so long and especially with everything that has happened with the Tojo and Omi in recent games, they would need to have a VERY good explanation for why he is just now getting involved. I am extremely interested in what a turn-based boss battle with him would be like though...
Personally, I think Ryuji is alive, kinnnddaaa. I think he's more likely he's alive then dead at this point with all of the different evidence, and now that Kiryu is most likely going to be a mentor figure for Ichiban now and not in the spotlight as much anymore and while Infinite Wealth would also have been an almost perfect fit for Ryuji to make his at long last reappearance, why would he want to? I mean, think about it. In Dead Souls, Ryuji barely even cares, if at all at the fact he lost to Kiryu, I almost felt like he was satisfised working a normal life rather than a massive, thought of, and most importantly feared Yakuza. I also think it's just possible that Yakuza 9 could somehow have a major part of the plot where Kiryu is getting multiple hits on him from former Go-ryu clan members after finding out their former patriarch is still alive, even ignoring Ryuji's own respect towards Kiryu. I think that would be a good way to not only bring Ryuji back without having to explain why he never showed up in any pervious games after Yakuza 2, but also a good way to reuse the plot of Dead Souls in a mainline entry but, you know, without the zombies, and keep Kiryu in the backseat, not putting him into the hospital but due to his age, he can't fight people with as vast of an arsenal anymore in his age, as this new and deadlier Go-ryu clan, without having the restrictions of Ryuji's code of honor behind them, they can be as brutal and cruel as they want now, like the groups in Infinite Wealth. Put it shortly, I think with the evidence, Ryuji's chances are about a rough 60/100.
I wish we could've gotten the LAD mobile game localised but on PC with PC graphics. I don't need Ryuji or Mine to be alive but I'd like more stories with these characters. I also think later Yakuza games would've extremely benefitted from having an arsenal of legacy villains to soup up the narrative because Yakuza 4-6 can get very stale and repetitive at times. I also don't see why they picked Wagi (this one is justified) and Richardson of all people to revive but not someone actually important. But honestly we're probably only a few years out from Gaiden Ryuji: Rubber Bullets
My hopeful theory is that the old rumors of the Ryuji game are true and could lead to a game where Shishido is forced to hunt him down by the Daidoji given the rumors of his survival throughout Kansai, only for the pair to team up and destroy them, it being the brawler counterpart to the main series release of its time since Judgement is kinda in a weird spot. A man could dream. EDIT; There's also the fact that his ghost never showed up in 6 like Nishiki's, Reina's, and the others. The RGG devs actually got into an argument over weather he was dead or not once. I personally think he's alive, there's been so much foreshadowing and he's a character who's arc wouldn't be ruined if he came back unlike Nishiki or Mine. That's just me though.
didnt the latest like a dragon game actually canonize the spinoff games like dead souls as one of kiryus weird dreams? like, not as a paralel timeline whatever
I think Ryuji is dead but its the current year ans they can't keep any one character dead, they gotta dig their grave and make their death meaningless for 'infinite wealth'
RGG have always obviously regretted killing off some characters, with Ryuji being the most obvious one. I think they also regret killing Mine given Richardson’s inexplicable survival and Mine having a major role in Ishin’s story along with him being one of the only characters in original Ishin not to be from Yakuza 5.
I find it interesting how Ishin made Mine a trio with Majima and Saejima. Which kinda gives us a glimpse that had Mine survive, he would have stand along side Majima and Saejima as the Tojo's top captains and Daigo's most loyal men.
I think it's also worth noting how before Mine jumps in 3, he tells Kiryu that he hopes to earn his respects in another life- which is exactly what happens between Ryoma and Hijikata in Ishin
Ryuji basically died the same way Kiryu “died” so I wouldn’t be surprised if a dragon comes back to life
The problem with Ryuji is that Kaoru is clearly bringing flowers to his grave in the game's ending (either that or her dad's, but considering the timing I assume the intend is for Ryuji). Plus I'm sure Kiryu and Kaoru didn't just leave his body there.
It's the same reason why him being alive in Dead Souls makes no sense. Kiryu, Kaoru, Haruka, Date and the other police guy (forgot his name) were all there to witness his death and to recover the body. Even if they for some reason left it at the top of Kamurocho Hills, he would bleed out and actually die.
@@DarkkirbyKRPG same with Kiryu
@@DarkkirbyKRPG Ryuji and Kiryu are both taken to the hospital due to their wounds, them being literally the same wounds. Kiryu gets better, Ryuji stays in comatose state for the time being, Omi alliance makes up a story about him disappearing because declaring the Golden Dragon in coma would be humilliating for him.
Hell, perhaps even he's translated to a hospital in America and that's the real reason why Kaoru leaved, to take care of his brother away from the yakuza life.
Nobody in RGG really dies... They just end up running a karaoke bar somewhere.
Also, as of 8, I believe that Dead Souls (as well as Ishin and Kenzan) are just weird dreams that Kiryu had.
The end of IW still kinda open with Kiryu probably take serious treatment, so there still some possible that IW may not be Kiryu's last game like Y6.
Also, there was someone very close connected both Kiryu & Ryuji also come back in IW as well. I guess this shouldn't be written like some kind of puzzle if we already familiar with Y2, so yeah I want to mention Kaoru. While there still no conclude for their relationship in IW (her Lifelink end kinda abruptly) but we know she still faithful with Kiryu after more 17 years at this point, even to the point after his "death" in Y6 and after Dissolution in Y:LaD she transfer to Juvenile division because of Kiryu (it's a unfamiliar division with Kaoru's speciality from what we known in Y2, just show how much her devotion for Kiryu). So in a way, if Yokoyama-san really serious to fulfil his intent about Kiryu & Kaoru in his concept about their road trip through 3 cities for Y3 (I guess we know which original idea for Ryuji's storyline in LaD:Online came from) before got cut due to Nagoshi wanted Y3 would be about orphanage; Ryuji can be involved in some way of "the brother-in-law and his sister's lover" dynamic and maybe will have friendly "talk" with Kiryu instead "only one dragon" like before (if there was ninth main entry or spin-off like gaiden with idea plot actual serious about Kiryu & Kaoru with Ryuji's involvement as well).
Also, there was very special information in Ryuji's memoir aside about Kiryu question he may be reappear right before his eyes. Kiryu actually confirm Ryuji was his most powerful opponent ( this was in original Japanese context as well and not mistranslation or implied before Y2 event, so Ryuji canonically stronger Mine & Shishido or even Saejima & Majima) which kinda controversial in debate about characters strength discussion. So Ryuji return will be kind of chances to show his strength (maybe even more greater now if he still actually alive after more 17 years from Y2 event in 2006) which was missed with somebody when Y2 for them didn't show Ryuji as Kiryu toughest opponent in cutscenes.
New RGG has the opposite problem of Old RGG.
Instead of killing off so many characters without the buildup to make it feel like it matters (Yakuza 1 in particular), they keep bringing characters back to life when it's not justified.
Fr fr, there was no reason to bring back Andre, Lau ou Kashiwagi. It just makes older games seem pointless and/or bad. I could maybe understand Kashiwagi but the others is insane
@@redbaronmars4176Lau is substory so doesn’t matter
Kashiwagi makes sense since there were literally first responders running to him seconds after he passed out
Richardson is a Daidoji link, and people have been known to easily survive 40 story drops when they had the intent of ending their own lives. I think someone who has training and a team behind his recovery makes sense too
@@redbaronmars4176 I disagree on Kashiwagi, he was unceremoniously killed off in 3 to raise the stakes I guess and nothing else, and the payoff in 8 was totally worth it if you ask me. I still hope Mine is dead though.
Lau is whatever to me, it's more of a dumb in-game meme tbh
@@redbaronmars4176 Andre, Lau and Kashiwagi are unrelevant characters in the modern story and could never bring anything to the table. Them being alive is not big deal and changes not too much of their story, just gives them an odd, kinda happy ending, despite Andre and Lau being pretty scummy villians.
I think Ryuji is dead but his corpse is still being paraded around by the ghost of Koji Shindo
My best guess is RGG studios wants to bring in a character that is iconic and presumed dead, was relatively young and now in the present day more experienced, and a good enough story for how they came back into the fold.
Ryuji fits the bill since he also has a dragon tattoo and Sega has no plans to rerelease Yakuza Dead Souls any time soon. They could easily make a game work since they were testing the waters with Ryuji and Joon Gi Han for the mobile game. The hard part will be selling it to the western audience.
RGG killed him off in Yakuza 2 and regretted it. And as such, lead to his inclusion in Yakuza Dead Souls. As that game was already non canon and making it be a timeline where Ryuji survived makes sense. Of course, this does bring in the chances of more What If Games being made.
Such as a game that has the premise of What if Nishiki never died? Personally I see this being him having been in a coma for a few years. And when he wakes up, Kiryu is already in Okinawa. So sometime just before or during Yakuza 3.
A bomb went off right in his freaking face. There's 0% chance of him "just being in a coma" out of that and if they did do that, they'd be jumping the shark quite hard.
Or simply make it so Nishiki doesn’t decide to off himself by making a bomb go off, and actually do his best to move Kiryu, Yumi and Haruka to safety, so he still takes damage but actually have a chance of survival, making it so a coma is more plausible. (As you can tell I think his death was stupid and pretty avoidable)
With Kiryu likely not being able to fight anymore in the next mainline game, I feel like they're gonna truly revive Ryuji now so he can take on Kiryu's dragon role and be Ichiban's new party member.
The way Ryuji gets mentioned a lot throughout Gaiden and a bit in 8 makes me believe he’s still out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s under the Daidouji umbrella for whatever reason too.
If lau can survive a bullet to the head and kashiwagi can survive an attack helicopter, goda survived three non-vital bullet hits. 'nuff said.
I’ll never understand RGG they bring back people like lau ka long and Andre Richardson but not people like mine or ryuji goda? Them bringing back Richardson annoyed me because it completely invalidates Mine’s sacrifice at the end of 3. RGG are smoking something very heavy.
I like to believe that they are both alive running their Bars Flying Kirin and Golden Dragon. Either that or they became Agent Joshitaka Jine and Agent Jyuji Joda
Because Andre and Lau being alive is pretty meaningless in the great scheme of things. They just work on a little shop in the corner of the map, nothing big going on with them.
If the Golden Dragon or the Kirin were to be alive, the yakuza main plot would need to aknolage that. How's Ichiban gonna compete against Ryuji if the two are bring on a story? Just see what happen in Infinite Wealth with a dying Kiryu stealing the show.
i dont think that rggs even thought about killing Ryuji in the first place
we never see the body, no one is talking about it, Kaoru never mentions it either
after the fact that ruff man is alive we can expect both Shimano and Kazama to come back lmao
Honestly when I first played yakuza 2 I didn’t even realize he died, I thought he past out, whats even more confusing is how Kiryu suffered the same bullet wounds in the exact same areas yet was totally fine, they even acknowledge it. For some reason rgg keeps bringing back characters that were obviously dead yet the character with the most ambiguous death remains supposedly dead
Me too lol at first I thought he just lived but I guess not?
i think he wants to be dead, dead souls is probably a very iffy thing to cite as a source but i think that protrayal of the character could hold some hints as to where he mightve gone too after surviving 2 if he really did survive i think he just wants to be somewhere left alone and outside of yakuza affairs kind of like kiryu but with the exception that hes better at hiding lole
Ryuji probably relocated with Kaoru to America. Evading both the Omi, Jingweon and even Tojo clan revanchism. Hes Jingweon connection makes it too difficult for him to stay in Asia.
I think it's quite definitely plausible Ryuji could have survived, however were that the case (with the current timeline) Ryuji likely went into hiding or left Japan, as if he stuck around, the Omi alliance likely would have wanted him dead for failing in 2, or wanted him to be their leader after his father passed. Either way Ryuji likely has good reasons for not resurfacing.
The Jingweon were also looking for him as he mentioned during the cutscene before the final fight. So he definitely need to go to hiding somewhere else, probably went together with Kaoru to America.
It’s funny seeing people talk about Ryuji the way characters talk about Kiryu. “A couple of bullets wouldn’t have killed him.”
But nah, he’s dead
He literally isn’t
@@CPhelps1247 literally? Haven’t seen him yet lol
Great video, but you spoke on how Kiryu didn't recognize Richardson. When Kiryu introduces Richardson to Ichiban, Kiryu calls Revolve his "usual haunt," implying that Kiryu has been here multiple times before. So their reunion (and Kiryu recognizing Richardson) most likely happened off screen, and probably went similarly to how he reacted when he met Kashiwagi.
Ryuji's one of my favorite characters in the series and I really hope he doesn't get brought back to life, but I'd be down for a spin that takes place before 2 where we get to play as him. Mine sucked though so it'd be hilarious to have him as a bartender in Yakuza 9
I'm down for a Ryuji Gaiden game.
imagine ryuji takes kiryus brawler gameplay
I think there was a line in infinite wealth that said something about dragons never really dying
Kiryu said something about Ryuji in RGG IW, that "he wouldn't be surprised" if the man comes out from the dead anytime. I think he will.
Literally every other character that's died has come back to life so I won't be surprised when Ryuji comes back in Like a Dragon 9 or 10
nishiki is the only one they can’t bring back. but who knows
I just remember something's funny
In after credit scene, Kaoru just bought 2 bucket flowers, and i assume that is for her father, and ryuji's father (or maybe Terada)
Sorry if my English is bad
The guy running revolve bar could just be somone who looks like Richardson, or Richardson survived. Personally i think he survived. How? 2 words: rubber concrete.
Waiting for the return of Ryuji... IM SURE HE'S OUT THERE (Great video btw!!)
Dead Souls is kinda canon in the series, if you find the Dead Souls poster in Infinite Wealth Kiryu says it was a weird dream he had that stuck with him for the rest of his life lol
Ultimately, I am a Ryuji Goda truther because he is my absolute favorite character in the series. I think he's more complex than what most people give him credit for and is an interesting character to explore. Plus, I find the narrative of 2 does him a bit dirty... The plot of that game is insanely xenophobic towards Korean people, and I'll never forget how one of his justifications for him finding an early death is he had "too much Jingweon blood" in him. Yikes. Not to mention how Kaoru and Kiryu makeout while his supposed corpse is 2 feet away (conveniently offscreen HOWEVER). He doesn't even get a name drop from Kaoru when she Kiryu, and Haruka visit the cemetery at the end. Or in the intro to 3. Or in the Life Link in Infinite Wealth either.
However, I have mixed feelings on him coming back because it is something that RGG studios can fumble really easily. I feel like them resurrecting Kashiwagi worked because his death in 3 was complete bull. Richardson and Lau Ka Long being resurrected... feels kinda cheeky on their part. Especially Richardson since Infinite Wealth takes place in Hawaii and he's the like only notable American character in the series lmao - kinda like they were like "ugh we need to create an American character - wait a second!" Ryuji however.... Explaining how he survived the events of 2 will be super easy (the fans have already done it lol) but, he's been gone for so long and especially with everything that has happened with the Tojo and Omi in recent games, they would need to have a VERY good explanation for why he is just now getting involved.
I am extremely interested in what a turn-based boss battle with him would be like though...
As said I’m 0, there can only be one dragon, but with kiryu being out of commission it is very likely that a new one could come
*_HONMANA-KA?_*
Talking about the end of yakuza 3
(Spoiled food)
Rubber floor.
Well, Richardson musta used some CIA shit to survive.
If he shows up in 9 he might end up being a foil for Ichiban since he’s also a dragon
Personally, I think Ryuji is alive, kinnnddaaa.
I think he's more likely he's alive then dead at this point with all of the different evidence, and now that Kiryu is most likely going to be a mentor figure for Ichiban now and not in the spotlight as much anymore and while Infinite Wealth would also have been an almost perfect fit for Ryuji to make his at long last reappearance, why would he want to? I mean, think about it. In Dead Souls, Ryuji barely even cares, if at all at the fact he lost to Kiryu, I almost felt like he was satisfised working a normal life rather than a massive, thought of, and most importantly feared Yakuza.
I also think it's just possible that Yakuza 9 could somehow have a major part of the plot where Kiryu is getting multiple hits on him from former Go-ryu clan members after finding out their former patriarch is still alive, even ignoring Ryuji's own respect towards Kiryu. I think that would be a good way to not only bring Ryuji back without having to explain why he never showed up in any pervious games after Yakuza 2, but also a good way to reuse the plot of Dead Souls in a mainline entry but, you know, without the zombies, and keep Kiryu in the backseat, not putting him into the hospital but due to his age, he can't fight people with as vast of an arsenal anymore in his age, as this new and deadlier Go-ryu clan, without having the restrictions of Ryuji's code of honor behind them, they can be as brutal and cruel as they want now, like the groups in Infinite Wealth.
Put it shortly, I think with the evidence, Ryuji's chances are about a rough 60/100.
I wish we could've gotten the LAD mobile game localised but on PC with PC graphics. I don't need Ryuji or Mine to be alive but I'd like more stories with these characters. I also think later Yakuza games would've extremely benefitted from having an arsenal of legacy villains to soup up the narrative because Yakuza 4-6 can get very stale and repetitive at times. I also don't see why they picked Wagi (this one is justified) and Richardson of all people to revive but not someone actually important. But honestly we're probably only a few years out from Gaiden Ryuji: Rubber Bullets
My hopeful theory is that the old rumors of the Ryuji game are true and could lead to a game where Shishido is forced to hunt him down by the Daidoji given the rumors of his survival throughout Kansai, only for the pair to team up and destroy them, it being the brawler counterpart to the main series release of its time since Judgement is kinda in a weird spot. A man could dream.
EDIT; There's also the fact that his ghost never showed up in 6 like Nishiki's, Reina's, and the others. The RGG devs actually got into an argument over weather he was dead or not once. I personally think he's alive, there's been so much foreshadowing and he's a character who's arc wouldn't be ruined if he came back unlike Nishiki or Mine. That's just me though.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he shows in 9
Its more so they are retconning 3 hard and my take away is kiwami 3 might be in the pipeline
i'm pretty sure they'll find a way to return him and even yoshitaka mine, there's no doubt in my mind.
I miss my babygirl (Ryuji)
DEAD SOULS MENTIONED 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Super Mario...
I want to believe…
Yeah gaiden and lad8 might be showing up cuz of the build up theyre making
Comment for engagement!
he's gonna get a gaiden and be in the next game. same shit.
This is the one with Kiryu, correct?
didnt the latest like a dragon game actually canonize the spinoff games like dead souls as one of kiryus weird dreams?
like, not as a paralel timeline whatever
they in fact did canonise it. as a dream tho lmao
@@darthsreepa2820 yeah thats what i asked
@@blatant5914 ohh nvm ig i read the original comment wrong then sry!!
I think Ryuji is dead but its the current year ans they can't keep any one character dead, they gotta dig their grave and make their death meaningless for 'infinite wealth'
9:42 sus🤨🤨