#BUT ALSO KIRYU FLIPPING HIM!!!!!!!1 PLEASE!!!!

[justiisms]

"Noooo! I have to have a sip of bourbon today for National Bourbon Day!! I wanna try it!!" *kaito then makes the mistake of trying to grab the glass only to suddenly find himself staring up at the ceiling! kiryu had flipped him so quickly that the astronaut is completely stunned silent!!*

Enjoying a glass of bourbon with Kiryu sounded like a nice way to spend the evening; partially because to celebrate today, but in general, just always being more than happy to relax with the other.... At Kaito's tantrum, P can't help but chuckle, as he was about to say: "Now, now, Kaito... you know you can't have-" But trails off when he blinks in shock at Kaito being flipped over like that!! "Ah...! Kaito, are you okay-?!"

He puts his glass down, so he can quickly kneel down to Kaito to make sure he's okay!! "That was....quite the flip....K..Kazuma, I know you most likely did that out of instinct, but try to be a little more....gentle when trying to stop him. And Kaito, you should....probably not try doing that again...."

[kenzan-kiwami]

Can I get uhhh Wagi + 1, 2, 25

ABSOLUTELY

(this got quite long so i'm gonna shove it under a read more)

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

it's so hard for me to quantify what i like about him in broad and general terms, but it had to happen someday i guess so thank you for that LOL

at the most basic and superficial level i just find him pleasing to look at and listen to. absolutely helps that my first exposure this year was ishin kiwami and not yakuza kiwami because he slays the haori look and the little extra sideburn scruff he gets looks great on him. i can't remember what my reaction was to him when i played 0 (we'll expand on that later) but i was clinging hard to inoue well before things happened, and every game i played after the fact only solidified kashiwagi as a fave.

but every little extra thing the games say about him just makes him all the more interesting to me. i still haven't done my Y0 replay but i've gone back and watched most of the scenes he's in, and the way he 1) already tends kamuro castle in '88 2) brings up the way yakuza (don't) cope with expulsion to kiryu and nishiki is interesting to think about after Y3 tells us he's been operating the HLA for some time. how long? was it already on the books during the bubble?

also from 0, the conversation between kiryu and nishiki at the apartment where they mention how tense he was while kiryu was at dojima's office. the last time you see him do anything before this point is when he flips his lid at kiryu and knocks him into the shelf. he has this big intimidating front on as current acting patriarch of the kazama family - rightly so, considering the respect he commands even from awano - but everything about his situation, and kiryu's situation, and kazama's situation, on top of the empty lot fiasco, is stressing him to the bone. he cares so much about kiryu not dying to the point he doesn't eat until he comes back alive, which just makes me worry about how little he ate over the game's runtime. he gets relatively little screentime and development compared to certain other characters in this series (especially playable protags), but in spite of it they manage to make him feel like a person. which i guess is one of the strengths of RGG's writing

there's a lot i've left unsaid, but i don't know if i can put much of it into words without somehow being asked the right question to prompt it lmao. i guess to conclude this segment, i see a bit of myself in him as well. he's the type of man i would like to be, if a bit less temperamental

2. Favourite canon thing about this character?

i cannot for the life of me think of a better way to put this, but i guess how gap moe he is? characters like tsuruno are out here calling him scary, and there's that one story from RGGO where they call him oni kashiwa, and y'know just his whole usual demeanour and presentation. and that gnarly scar across his face. but in spite of appearances, he's... kind of a nerd. dare i say he's just a little bit goofy (especially in 7 when he allows his filter to drop a little).

we've got a man who runs an empty karaoke bar as a hobby, and hires younger women to talk to what few patrons he has for him. he taught himself ikebana and how to make chinese herbal remedies. he's got it down bad enough for his own boss that he allows himself to get beaten to a pulp for as long as it takes for the emergency services to show up after kazama gets shot at sera's funeral (RGGO). i'm not even gonna uncork the fuckin "legend malt" bottle, and i've posted about his posture and ill-fitting suits on ps2/ps3 here before.

i think one of my favourite moments from 7 is still the end of nanba's 4th drink link, where he's like HUH after ichiban says they're organising a birthday party. all of the little breaks in his composure in that game make me feel completely normal ways i promise

also, not sure if i count it as such, but inoue's reimen lines from ishin. the way he starts talking about his favourite dish from his favourite restaurant then cuts himself off because he's gushing too much and ryoma isn't interested like, noooo, keep going please i want to hear it... tell me how you got your hands on reimen 100 years early

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

like i say, it's been so long since i played Y0 that i genuinely don't remember if i had any actual thoughts on him or not beyond this relic i just dug up:

so i'll go from ishin kiwami instead i guess LOL

i'm still not sure what my first first impressions were but i was definitely latching on during chapter 5 at the latest. those cutscenes are soooo juicy, but we all knew that. every time i saw him i was like :) yay inoue is here :) until the start of chapter 10 when i was in straight up denial until they dumped his pale crusty-ass body in the middle of the sparring pit. ishin the only fucking thing delivering both his forbidden tatas and a scar backstory and we stan her for that.. the tibbies less so though because honestly it feels too lewd. seeing fanart of him with his shirt open helps me to understand what sawashiro fans felt when the infinite wealth trailer dropped

and it's all been uphill (or down, depending on how you look at it) from there. seeing him sopping wet, bleeding and pleading in the mud awoke something in me for sure. i understand why tsuruno calls him scary but i legitimately cannot see the dragon engine model that way, especially with those stupid tortoiseshell glasses. he looks like a sad dog & my male high school chemistry teachers at once. he's abashedly goofy and barely speaks above a whisper half the time.

i just know that whatever happens between him and kiryu in 8 is going to very painfully exorcise my own soul from my body.

[seisoukan]

Moonrise - Chapter 1

Translated by: @seisoukan

With thanks to my proofers: Vulpes

Season: Autumn

Time: A few days later

Location: ES Hallway

KEITO: Fuu… today’s practice also concluded smoothly.

KURO: Right. After the Imperial Match, the state of AKATSUKI has been gettin’ better and better.

… Speakin’ of, ya alright, Hasumi? Ya look a little tired.

KEITO: Me? No, I didn’t actually mean for my fatigue to be so apparent…

However, I’ve recently been occupied with the Imperial Match and Unification by Force lives, so I may be experiencing some burnout now.

KURO: Burnout…?

Ah, I remember now. That’s the same thing ya mentioned while you were feelin’ unwell, right?

At the time, I remember ya sayin’ we’ve received very little jobs ever since comin’ to RhythLink, so as soon as we’d come by work, you’d want to do yer very best, resultin’ in exhaustion when it ends— Is that what’s happenin’ this time too?

KEITO: Mm. I can think of no other possibility; I’m afraid this is the exact reason.

During the Imperial Match, we were chasing after the long-held wish in Sakuma and I’s heart. During Unification by Force, we were struggling not to be buried by the strength and power of the veteran idols of RhythLink.

Perhaps it’s precisely because we’ve been waiting on the sidelines for such a long time that after going through all this, a sense of exhaustion similar to running at full strength is produced.

KURO: Haha. Now ya mention it, we did take part in lots of large-scale events one after the other.

Especially you, Hasumi. As our unit leader, ya work harder than any of us.

You can make proposals and stuff like that with ease, but you're not that great at adjusting to a fair bit of the intense choreography of our performances— of course you’d accumulate fatigue like this.

SOUMA: Please do not push yourself too hard, Hasumi-dono. On the off chance you collapse, what would AKATSUKI do in the future?

KEITO: You both worry too much. I consider myself far more capable at managing my health than the vast majority. After all, I have a childhood playmate who often damages his body.

Let’s forget it for now. Seeing as today’s practice is finished, we should find somewhere to hold a meeting.

As I said before practice. Kiryu and Kanzaki, I’d like to first consult you two about AKATSUKI’s participation in this year’s Halloween event.

KURO: Sounds good, I wanted to ask about that as well.

I heard someone say earlier that AKATSUKI won’t be participatin’ in ES’ Halloween event this time. Is that true?

When I met Nito at the agency by chance, that’s what he said. He told me that if AKATSUKI needed to take part in the agency’s joint live, the Halloween event at ES could reliably be left to him.

KEITO: Mm…? When I previously discussed this with our agency’s senior, it should have still been in the internal consideration stage.

In short, this is a problem. There are many idols entering and exiting the agency, so there is a possibility someone witnessed me talking to the senior in a kowtow manner, and mistakenly believed I accepted the offer.

KURO: But, a joint live by RhythLink, huh. As a newbie to the agency, I don’t really know much about it. Is this live really more important than a Halloween event?

My little sis looks forward to Halloween every year. In my opinion, Halloween as a public holiday is more acceptable to the younger generation.

KEITO: Of course. If you consider the majority’s opinion on Halloween, Kiryu’s deduction is, in fact, correct.

However, I believe taking absence from this year’s Halloween event just this once will reap greater benefits than we could possibly imagine.

At the end of the day, our country does not possess an extensive history of celebrating Halloween. Therefore, RhythLink’s senior idols— that is to say, the middle-aged generation— are certainly not familiar with it.

On the flip side, this could be our chance to cut in.

Indeed, I was also tormented miserably by the actions of the higher-ups. However, if we want to take the opportunity to seize resources from them, it’s best to first become a part of them to gain their trust.

… The reason I’d think of this type of strategy is due to the fact I was involved year-round in the political activities of the student council, I suppose. However, Kiryu, if you want to participate in the Halloween event, I will immediately withdraw my response to the senior.

KURO: No need. After all, you’ve helped me out a ton of times before, Hasumi. If you decide to do it, I’ll listen to you.

SOUMA: I share Kiryu-dono’s sentiments— Hasumi-dono is the head of AKATSUKI, so the path we take in the future is to be decided by you.

KEITO: I understand. Then, let me say what I think.

RhythLink possesses numerous still-slumbering resources within the agency. In other words, you could liken them to treasures that are largely overlooked, but still contain value.

Vampire Shogun is essentially in the same situation. Put simply, RhythLink does own the copyright to a number of popular works from yesteryear.

If we are able to flexibly use the popularity of these works, and create a batch of covers, or reproductions of these works, I’m sure it would benefit AKATSUKI greatly.

Thus, I have already organized the properties that RhythLink has the copyright to into documents.

SOUMA: Oh! I have been wondering what exactly was stored in that portfolio— this is a truly immense amount of information.

KURO: Good work, Hasumi. I’m startin’ to think choosin’ between RhythLink and the Halloween event has some worth to it, after all. ♪

This also ain’t the place for talkin’ in detail. Better to chat while havin’ lunch.

KEITO: That sounds good. So far at RhythLink, we’ve always been treated as the newcomers; at least now, we’re being seen as ‘hot-blooded teenagers’. Therefore, this is the ideal time to accumulate even more eye-catching achievements.

Tradition and innovation is AKATSUKI’s strategy. We must seize the opportunity this job has given us, and expand our influence within the agency to its fullest extent.

Scarlet Halloween - Masterlist

[nyxqueenofshadows]

was busy and kinda forgot to make a post about it but i finished judgment last week!

had a slow start but by the halfway point i was fully invested and by the end i was like why is it over :((((( let me do it again :(((( great game, if you haven't played judgment, go do it

my notes, written in mostly chronological order. they're a bit of a mess but clearing them up would be a nightmare

most random thing to start off with but i really, really like the character intro cards and chapter title cards. sleek af, big fan

yagami combat’s fun. just like flipping over people’s heads and shit

kaito omg i see why everyone got so attached to him. also saori??? very pretty, she’s great, more of her please

i haven’t got used to the controls and combat yet :((( like i keep forgetting shortcuts are a thing and that i don’t have to hold the sprint button

okay i’m gonna admit it took me a while to get into it and occasionally it’ll still throw smth at me that i don’t enjoy at all but i’m here now! i’m having fun! i think it kind of has the kiwami problem where it has a bunch of stuff it has to establish so all the side content gets pushed later than some of the other games

the scene where sugiura steals yagami’s phone is so fucking funny to me he looks so offended asdfghj;kl

everyone’s kind of a dick? like the journalist is sleazy as all hell, then there’s hamura (hoo boy) and the detective guy don’t like him at all, bad vibes

yagami choke count +1

hamura oh my god i hope i get to punch this guy at some point like ‘here’s where you lose your eyes’ なーんてな that’s so fucked up

yagami choke count +3 jesus christ are the rgg team okay

higashi???? he’s the character i’m gonna get most attached to i can see it coming already. sugiura continues to be fun too, very funny to me that yagami’s reaction to bumping into him (the guy who stole his phone and was trying to throw him to the cops) is to offer him a job

it’s new playing an rgg protag who’s actually clever and quick. there’s akiyama, he’s kinda similar, but it’s kinda nice to have a character play the room in the same way yagami can, like when he gets kaito out of losing his finger. kiryu’s great don’t get me wrong but he tends to blunder his way through the plots of his games and he’s never a step ahead of anyone even when he’s acting as a guiding figure (a la 6). yagami’s refreshing

oh no one of the girls you can date is underage (or is she 18? she’s one year too young to drink) you’re kidding me yagami whyyyyy

chase sequence after the wig was hilarious 10/10 would do again << oh hey we did it again but this time with a young child, okay

sorry ayabe i think i misjudged you, keep doing what you’re doing

why is ryan fucking everywhere, i swear i’ve not had a street fight without him ever since finishing his friendship route. help it’s tanoshikatta de gozaru all the way down

intrigued by the crow and ‘jester’ plotline << why did this not get picked up again? did i miss smth?

VR minigame is okay, lots of flashy visual effects tho, it occasionally makes the game go all janky

kaito :(((( deciding not to fight red nose cos higashi was there and he didn’t want him to get hurt :(((

hamura during that flashback scene in the sewers....yikes. like that he essentially would’ve done the same thing twice (to the guy in the pink shirt before suigura comes to the rescue), he’s got an MO

also is the only requirement to be a yakuza protagonist to have a tragic af backstory and no parents, yagami’s is brutal! the most in the series, i’d argue (unless 7 is gonna hit me with the steel chair)

the side case with the cake and the ace attorney parody is cracking me up asdfghjkl i need to write that crossover or au or whatever i NEED

i love how surprised/offended yagami is when kaito not only throws him under the bus when shioya has them at gunpoint but then when kaito breaks free and shioya says to shoot him he’s just like eh? eh?????? asdfghjkl bro you’re about to get shot, get kicking

deus ex sugiura << he does this like 4 times, he’s the real mvp

ohhh skeletons in the closet. ha ha very funny guys (well, onto chapter 5)

nobody liked shintani at all did they, they’re saying mean shit about him even after he’s dead. guys it’s been a couple of hours at most! he even gets the sad/uplifting substory music during his scene asdfghjkl

sugiura really needled yagami about the okubo case, wonder why

the ghost/memory shintani when you arrive at ADDC was creepy, ngl. yagami are you okay

ohhh full flashback sequence, nice. slicked back hair yagami is really disconcerting at first (he goes from yagami to full on kimtak) but i’m used to him now i think

i forgot that emi’s last name was terasawa so when she turned up i was like oh is it? and then it was and now i’m sad. why, why did that happen i need to knowwwww

there’s a lot of names and different factions of people involved in this one, i think i might have to check the case file notes regularly on this one.

like, what does kuroiwa want, why is the director so adamant on the flow of information out of his company being under his control, how are the ministry of health connected to the kansai yakuza wanting to make inroads into kamurocho? what does it meannnnnn

keihin gang annoying. that’s it

the side/main story thing you do with kaito while waiting for sugiura to call and tell you what he knows about the addc, where kaito meets up with a guy he knew when he was younger, that was great. 10/10 character and relationship establishing content. do the fist bump guys

you briefly play as saori??????? okay! (positive) interesting to do what is essentially a very toned down version of the hostess minigame but from the other side. also the option to dress up saori in outfits that characters wore in kiwami 2 is really weird. OH and that saori can’t be pretty without a makeover, like no, she’s very pretty. glad there’s no penalty for keeping her natural hair cos i DID

all these K names are killing me, so there’s kejihara (run by the man himself) who have sway over the kyorei clan who are trying to get in with minister kazami. plus the ceo of the addc is called kido, and there’s kuroiwa in the mix too, never mind kaito (tho he’s special, he’s okay). i know in jp these are all written very differently but did rgg my guys did you have no other syllables to go for?? there’s a good few ‘ha-’ names too, hattori, hamura, hashiki...

i don’t think matsugane oyassan is earning any of dad of the year awards. he’s trying tho, i’ll give him that. genda tho, now there’s a man i can get behind

higashi really levelled up for his second boss fight god damn

someone explain to me how they did the hair for the tashiro-kun disguise, with all the gold and shit. like, that’s clearly not a wig, right? i know it’s just there for convenience and the laughs but come on! (also kimtaku basically has that haircut now so it was really jarring asdfghjkl)

every time i see hoshino with his enormous backpack i can’t help but think he’s a kid going to school for the first time, i think it’s the suit looking like a uniform (plus how he looks generally). same for the boy twin (yosuke? what was it again) cos he’s so short compared to yagami and most of the people around him. (saying this as someone who is basically yosuke’s height)

plot mandated poker nooooooo (oh you don’t have to win PHEW)

i neglected the side content and now i’m drowning in it oh no asdfghjkl i haven’t even touched the drone racing yet

that meeting with okubo is rough. (positive)

oh we’re really in it now folks, people are throwing around theories like it’s nothing! i sort of get how they arrive at the conclusion it was shono but it also kind of feels like they pulled it out of nowhere? the bit with kaito where he happens upon an answer mid-argument was fun but everything before that just felt kinda like vague spitballing.

wait who’s this dick with the sword cane??? hamura must be really upset if this is the guy he’s bringing out (also why is hoshino-kun there, genda’s office is on literally the other side of town)

we’re just waltzing in the front door of the addc??? okay! oh wait no that didn’t work did it asdfghjkl for someone who says it’s his hobby he sure keeps that special electric baton (kamiyama special?) on him during his work hours

shono interrogation was good, even if the mechanics of the chase sequence thingy before it weren’t so much (this is like that one bit from 0 all over again, but making even less sense)

alright chapter 10 let’s GO

chapters 10 and 11 go so hard AHHHHHH after him playfully ribbing you while you’re going around trying to attract attention, kaito getting shot physically hurt me and then yagami’s face when he has to leave him is even worse, then there’s the very very long boss fight sequence where you fight cane man (who is fruity af for no reason, good for him) a bunch and those are all fun fights except the one in the dark and then the hamura fight!!! the QTE for that fight is so cool, i’ve seen it a few times even before playing it and it never gets old and is a completely different feeling when it’s you at the controller.

pacing falters a bit when you get the long exposition bit of how hamura got involved in the mole shit but it was all interesting so i didn’t mind too much. plus seeing hamura in the flashback and how he interacts with people outside of the main cast was fun

ALSO yagami was totally ready to let shioya physically torture hamura for info (i assume, maybe he was bluffing) and my guy that’s a crime you can’t be doing this shit and then standing in court

and the mole’s kuroiwa!!! i kinda knew that going in but part of me was still convinced it was gonna be hattori the whole time. his entrance and fight scene is so cool tho, i can’t wait to fight him for real!

AND matsugane-san... the line about him failing as oyaji and then trying to make it right as oya was really good, and it being the catalyst for hamura to come clean even in the face of his own death (he’s not suriving this game, no way) was nice. who’s gonna tell kaito :(((

my one gripe is murase’s death scene it’s so out of nowhere that it kind of comes across as funny which is unfortunate asdfghjkl OH and why’s mafuyu there when kuroiwa shows up to take yagami in for questioning, did yagami call her or smth off-screen

also when you get back to kamurocho after all that and yagami’s like ‘i’m exhausted, i just wanna crash’ (fair, he’s had one hell of a rough night) guess who fucking texts me. KIM PLEASE FIX THE KEIHIN ON YOUR OWN MAN yagami’s solving government corruption i think he deserves a break from being harrassed inthe street constantly asdfghjkl

cane man has an identical twin??? why are there so many twins in this game, did you have so few character models at your disposal

idk if yagami telling all these people who the mole is is a great idea, like, even just the suggestion of who it might be got shintani killed in a heartbeat. does he really think mafuyu or ayabe are gonna be okay after this?

oh we’re playing as saori again, neat. tho there’s some uh questionable choices in this section... ig they’re going for a ‘this is what it’s like to be a woman seen as a sexual object all the time’ but by sexualising her during those sections it falls completely flat. ah well. not sure what i expected tbh. ganbatte hoshino-kun

ALSO during that bit saori is like ‘flirt for me i’ve never had experience seducing men’ (specifically men, in both the subtitles and original jp dialogue) and yagami AT NO POINT is like ‘neither have i’. bi and lesbian solidarity!

torture pt 2 asdfghjkl love that the actual no criminal background yagami is more morally grey than actual criminal kiryu (or, well, he acts on it more? idk they feel different about it)

sugiura being that pissed off at kido tho, what did he do to you man? spill your secrets

tailing mission for ishimatsu ughhhhh the only one i’ve had problems with, mostly cos we’re going in circles

experience inside of the love hotel: this place is super creepy, they did not need to make it this creepy- ooh vibrator weapon i’ll be taking that asdfghjkl

ohh that’s why sugiura was being so hard on yagami. all those comments about the death penalty and the anger towards kido make sense now. could’ve done with a bit more foreshadowing for him imho (it’s not like it comes out of nowhere but it needed a bit more for it to be impactful maybe? or maybe it needed a proper cutscene, not the in-engine ones). his little ‘chigau?’ to yagami after his rant about how the chief prosecutor covered up the murders for the sake of a maybe future right in front of him is sooo good, excellent bit of character performance.

wanna know where he pulled the name sugiura from tho ngl

higashi reaching for kaito after kuroiwa has just beat the shit out of them :(((

i’m in the finale??? oh shit. i’ve still not touched the drone minigame oops

the substory where the guy is gonna kill himself cos he thinks girlfriend is cheating on him is a kind of a mess in the way these substories always are in rgg games but the bit where he jumps off the roof and it says fall in love on the back of his jacket and yagami’s like :o really got me ngl reminded me of the old school revelations a bit

the guy from the opening came back! good for him (twice!)

i love this cast, i love how they bounce off each other, it feels like it’s hitting all the beats 6 missed in its banter and far far surpassing them.

i got the glitch where the heat action happens and the camera doesn’t do what it’s supposed to! asdfghjkl very funny seeing yagami slam a guy into the ground twice with a teleport in between

I FINISHED IT holy shit that last section is so fun to play through. all the boss fights (aka kuroiwa x3 asdfghjkl) are great, the QTEs are creative and just really fucking cool, and the pay off for the trial was absolutely worth it. and bits of it made me laugh! sugiura being like ‘bengoshi yoroshiku!’ right as he kicks a cop in the face is GOLD and there’s so many moments like that.

it’s occurred to me before but it really struck me in the finale just how many people supporting him yagami has and how he’s so comfortable relying on them, mainly compared to kiryu. like, 6 (which has a similar friend structure tho less based around it) never felt like a lonely game when i was playing it but compared to judgment? night and day. fuck, i wanna play it again just to hang out with the characters again and i’ve only just finished it

also random thing but the ending credits are really good? like the slice of life stuff of kaito and yagami trying to find the cat and it evading them a few times, like even with no dialogue they conveyed so much in that one bit. need more end credits like this

actually thinking about it yagami leaving shono to look after sugiura after he got shot was kind of fucked up? i know it was a ride or die kind of situation but bro! he killed sugiura’s sister! how do you think sugiura feels about this!

drone minigame was okay, feels like a mix of pocket circuit and the taxi minigame. did i do well? no. am i gonna invest many hours into this? also no, but i see how i could.

mad that i need to do both mahjong and poker to access bits of the side content so i’m just not gonna!