Behind the Yakuza: documenting the women of Japan’s mafia

After Woolie mis-remembered the first Dante vs Vergil fight with them being shirtless, I actually started to wonder what the fight would look like if it had a Yakuza style dynamic intro and everything! And then I started thinking about back tattoos they would reveal as they stylishly take off their coats, only to draw a blank at what those would be...
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Oh and the sword tattoos DmC Donte and Vorgel have don't count, I'm talking intricate full back tattoos here!

I remember watching these in the 90's when you could catch heavily censored anime movies on cable TV on Friday nights. It was part of a series of short films (I think the technical term is OVA's). I recall one of the films was about the super stoic assassin man being held hostage in his home? (a Japanese castle) for the sole reason that a blonde lady desperately wants to have sex with the stoic assassin man. Unfortunately for blonde lady, stoic assassin man's wife (a bubbly, energetic girl who runs around naked killing all the ninjas with a smile on her face) and his sister (a grotesquely obese woman who wrestles and crushes ninjas while rolling around the castle) are taking out all her ninja guards and eventually help stoic assassin man escape his bonds.
I think he has some personal rule about killing women, that's why he couldn't take out blonde woman by himself. His wife is totally cool with him banging other broads though for some reason, I guess as long as he doesn't hit them or whatever.
So if any one could have a guess as to what this crazy characters name was I'd greatly appreciate it.

Platform(s): PS2
Genre: Third-Person hack and slash feudal Japan gangster game
Estimated year of release: Around mid-2000s, probably 2005 or 2006 or 2007
Graphics/art style: Almost like any Samurai games but with gangsters and tattoos
Notable characters: Main player is a head gangster, with his bros, a bulky, chubby tank character and a rather effeminate, fey swordsman. Also some feudal Japanese prostitutes and concubines.
Notable gameplay mechanics: When the player character revealing his back tattoos of various design, it means shits about to go down.
Other details: Seriously, it's not Yakuza Kenzan or any other later Yakuza games from PS2 and PS3. And no, it's not Mark of the Ninja, either

Anyone here have any Yakuza related tattoos? I'm looking to get my first tattoo, and I want it to be related to Yakuza, but I don't know what to get or where. Does anyone have any ideas?

Just letting you all know that this is gonna be a pretty long post, we're looking at just about all of Shibusawa's role in 0. There's also gonna be spoilers for Yakuza 1 and 2's main antagonists. With that out of the way, let's get things going.
From my experience viewing the community, Shibusawa is easily the least popular of the three lieutenants in Yakuza 0. And that doesn't exactly surprise me, but at the same time it sorta does. The final bosses in these games are supposed to be the most memorable, most badass, one of your favorite characters. But if I asked you to name the first Yakuza 0 villain that comes to your head, Shibusawa isn't gonna be it. Even among the lieutenants, he falls short. Kuze is the gold standard when it comes to rival characters in gaming, not just Yakuza. 5 fights with him, each of them shows just how much you/Kiryu are growing in experience, and by the end most end up respecting him. Awano is pretty intimidating throughout, and especially has a great showdown with Majima, so much so that he sacrifices himself for him. Plus, dudes got meme potential. But Shibusawa hides in the sidelines for 90% of the game, barely in the story until Kiryu and Oda get Makoto to Kamurocho. But how much of that is intentional? As usual with these character study's, lets look at Shibusawa's actions in the story first.
His first appearance, like the other lieutenants, is in Dojima Family HQ. And already there's a lot to think about. Whereas Kuze and especially Awano are deadset on the idea that Kiryu killed the man in the empty lot, Shibusawa is much more subdued. He doesn't actively defend Kiryu, but he doesn't really accuse him either. He genuinely seems to believe that Kiryu was set up. As he leaves the building, he even puts his hand on Kiryu's shoulder, possibly as a way of comforting him. Especially with how the later scenes paint him, this scene is interesting to think about. We'll come back to it later.
His shows up when Dojima expels Kiryu, but doesn't really have a speaking role, only reinforcing that Kuze made Kiryu a civilian. Shibusawa doesn't really care about the other lieutenants, as we'll see later. He's also in the scene where Awano tells Kuze to take care of Kiryu (before Kuze's 2nd fight), but again doesn't do anything of note. And he's there during Kuze's 3rd fight, but does nothing. You noticing a pattern? This right here is the main problem with Shibusawa, but it's also his greatest strength. He's lurking in the shadows of the scenes he's in, waiting for the right moment, HIS moment, to take center stage. But that also means he's not a character until the last 10% of the game. It's all leading to the main themes of the 3 lieutenants, but that means that he can't have time to spend talking to Kiryu, or really anybody.
Chapter 13 is where Shibusawa really comes into play, as we see him and his crew hunt down Kiryu/Makoto. Additionally, he had Oda as a mole, seemingly giving him information, though clearly not everything. It's in these last few chapters where we see Shibusawa's true nature. After shooting Oda for not giving Makoto's location, and after Makoto ran off from both Kiryu and Majima, he makes it a point to give Dojima Makoto, presumably so he can establish himself as the best of the lieutenants, to earn the captains position, as well as leaving with everyone via chopper after Lao Gui shoots Makoto.
His next scene is where we learn quite a bit about Shibusawa's motivations. When Awano suggests to wait for Kazama to end up dead in prison, he scolds him pretty harshly, and reveals that only by getting rid of the entire Kazama family can Tojo rise again. This is how Shibusawa wants to get to the top. Funny how I previously talked about Jingu, whose motivations were also to rise to the top until you physically couldn't go any higher. And Nishiki as well has that very same motive, although he is much different then Jingu overall. Shibusawa's reasonings for it are somehow both more and less basic then those two, though. After that scene, we learn that Shibusawa is leading a raid on Shibaura, the ship Makoto is on. Obviously, Kiryu and Nishiki go to shut it down. During the raid we see Shibusawa intrigued with Kiryu. Almost like he's ready to fight him. Turns out he is, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Kiryu eventually makes it past everything on the ship, and confronts Shibusawa. Shibusawa seems to have only brought Makoto where he is to lure Kiryu in. He wants Kiryu to be the first kill. We'll skip a lot of Shibusawa's motivations for now, and just say that at it's most basic level, Shibusawa wants to kill Kiryu so that Kazama's heir dies, as he wants to surpass Kazama. Of course, Kiryu beats Shibusawa, who then encourages Kiryu to finish him off for good. Kiryu almost does, but Nishiki comes at the last second to talk him out of it. And Shibusawa is sent to prison. Not dead, but certainly won't come back.
So why did I skip a lot at the end there? Mostly to discuss Shibusawa and some of the 3 lieutenants here. We'll start with the lieutenants. Kuze, Awano, and Shibusawa represent the different kind of Yakuza in this series overall. Kuze represents the Yakuza of old, mainly in the clan for the simple reason of beating others up, and showing themselves as tough bastards. Shimano, plenty of villains in 1, and lots of people in the series show this attitude. Awano represents the Yakuza of the present, too deep in to it to quit, but it's clear they've lost their touch to how they were so many years ago. It's most likely that Awano wants out, which is why he's the only one of the lieutenants to die. Reinforces that once you're in the Yakuza, there's no getting out in one piece. Shibusawa represents Yakuza of the future, who don't just want to thrive, but want to rise to the top, want to make a name for themselves. Nishiki and to a lesser extent Ryuji follow this as well. Shibusawa gets the closest to achieving his goals compared to the other two most likely for this reason; It's how antagonists from future games operate as well.
What Shibusawa wants is simple. A legacy. A title to have. It's not just about rising to the top. Shibusawa tells of his father, who was a politician that rose pretty high in the business, but his boss got all of his credit. Eventually his father had to take the fall for his bosses corrupt deals, and it drove him to suicide. It's possible he thinks history will repeat itself with Dojima and him. So he wants insurance. Talent alone isn't enough for him. Shibusawa clearly shows a lot of respect for Kazama. He considers him a legend. So much so that he intends to surpass him. He wants Kazama's title. That's probably his main motivation for wanting to more or less eradicate the Kazama family. By doing that, he can become the true "Dragon of Dojima". With his title, Shibusawa will finally have a legacy, will be remembered as a legend. Kiryu rightfully says to him that Kazama is more then just his title and legend, but Shibusawa brings up some valid points about how Kazama isn't the perfect paragon (his own words) Kiryu thinks, how he arguably caused the events of Yakuza 0. Kazama in general has a lot to his character to talk about, but this isn't about him. Anyway, Shibusawa's first step in surpassing Kazama is to kill his heir, that being Kiryu. There's also the matter of Shibusawa's tattoo. The dragon tattoo. Tattoo's in this series are symbolic to the person who has them. Obviously, Shibusawa's tattoo is the same as Kiryu's. The dragon itself is a legend, and in some Japanese culture dragons are often respected and put on the same pedestal as gods. Shibusawa is not seen as such, but it's important to note that he eventually thinks he will. That's why he got the tattoo in the first place. That's also why Kiryu's tattoo isn't filled in yet. He hasn't reached that status yet, but he's on the path to achieving it.
So why does Shibusawa tell Kiryu to kill him? He wants Kiryu to see Kazama for who he is. Kazama could only achieve the legacy he has now because of his massive body count. Shibusawa thought the same, as he attempted to write his legacy with others blood. Nishiki too, would follow this example. It's important to note about Kiryu's character that he 100% would have killed Shibusawa had Nishiki not intervened, which is interesting. And why is Shibusawa more lenient on Kiryu then the other's in the lieutenant's introduction scene? Straight up, no idea. Maybe I missed something, but I'd go so far as to say that's out of character for him, since we can assume he had this plan to surpass Kazama by doing something about Kiryu long before this.
All in all, Shibusawa works as the final boss of Yakuza 0. He fits well with the themes of 0, and it's intriguing to watch him rise from the shadows, to reveal his blood lust for the Kazama family. However, I believe the fact that he stayed silent for so long significantly hurt his character. I'm confident that if he had more scenes, he would have won fans over as a top tier main antagonist (though it can be argued Dojima is the main antagonist of 0, but you never fight him, so I tend to ignore that). I enjoyed him for what he was, but he could have been something more. Sorry again for the long post, but hope you enjoyed me overanalyzing a single Yakuza character. Have a good day/night folks.

So just finished Kiwami 2. That sure was a trip.
Start of the game Started pretty badly. The first game ended with Kiryu leaving Yazuka to raise Haruka. And instantly Haruka excuses herself so Kiryu can go back to Yakuza stuff. Which seemed like a regression.
Then the first villain is just the mirror version of Kiryu. Which was super uninteresting when compared to Nishiki.
Almost gave up shortly after when they cut to the police saying they had to bring in Kiryu. Who will they send? Old cop? Fat cop? Ugly cop? Or stunningly attractive beautiful female cop? Gee I wonder.
Then of course they reveal that stunningly beautiful cop is an orphan! What a mystery!
So... shes the baby at the start of the game right?
Instantly knew the game would descend into a love story and Kiryu proving himself the one true dragon.
Which was... mostly right.
Middle of the game
Loved it. As soon as Jingweon is mentioned the game picked up massively. Ryuji mentions hes an orphan which put a spanner in the works.
You're battling Korean and Japanese mafia, everyone wanting something else, tracking down the three survivors as you try to put it together yourself. Trying to figure out which orphan was the baby. Trying to figure out what's going on with the police. Absolutely amazing stuff.
Although, kind of odd that the Florists son and the Tattoo apprentice was part of the main story. Unsure why they weren't side stories.
And everything with Majima- I hate.
Also, seemed somewhat contrived that Kiryu was also at the massacre. That seemed forced.
But yeah, throughly loved the middle.
Endgame
It's all set. Ryujis clan is riding in, you see them in the motorway with like 300 cars. AND theres 31 bombs. AND theres another survivor. Tense stuff, all set for a (literal) explosive finale. Many mysteries left unsolved.
And then it begins- you have to deal with the Yakuza, Diago and Date will get the bombs. And three of your friends are being roughed up!
So you save your friends in those three locations and you get set for the next wave of troops- and that's it. Thats the Ryu Ga invasion dealt with. About 10 people attacked 2 pubs and a clinic. Apparently that fleet of cars only had 10 people in them. Japanese self driving cars, apparently.
Maybe I'll have to deal with the bombs- nope. Done. Date, Diago and Majima have it. I'm all for NPCs doing stuff, but seemed anticlimactic.
A large part of the game was how the Tojo had no footsoldiers. It must have been bad because presumably it's less than 10?
So that plot was wrapped up kind of anticlimatically. And now I have to fight Ryuji, even though Kiryu has no reason to, and neither him, Sayama or Date seem to care about the final Jingweon survivor.
Whatever, you fight him, then the final survivor turns up. I was wracking my head. Who could it be? All the old people were accounted for or dead. And it turned out to be someone who faked their death. So it's a mystery you can't solve. Great.
Whatever, beat him, another betrayal. And a bomb.
And rather than evacuate and settle this later, Kiryu and Ryuji decide to settle the battle now.
Why? Do it tomorrow. Do it at the base. Why here and now? I can kind of get hot headed Ryuji, but Kiryu is logical, and he has a surrogate daughter to raise. And Sayama, why are you here? I understand your sad your family and guy you have a crush on are here. But to become suicidal?
I'm guessing the ending was meant to be a super sad affair where two tragic lovers accept death willingly. But I was just thinking they were fucking stupid (and also selfish) to die that way.
And the bomb wasn't real anyway so why even bother?
Other thoughts
So... Date is still wanted for murder right? The only CCTV was him pulling the trigger, and the only witnesses are either dead or suspects.
Bomb was fake and Sayama had flowers... so Kiryu killed Ryuji? So hes back off to jail.
Did Sayama hand herself in as she said she would? I'm assuming not.
Conclusion
Loved it, but my god the ending was rushed. Not like Xenogears or FFXV where you can see the missing pieces, but being released a year later I'm surprised it's as complete as it is. But yeah... ending left a sour taste in my mouth.
Off to 3. I've heard it's the worst of the mainline series...

TL;DR: I imagined a hypothetical Yakuza-style and mood game set in Russia that will never happen, but I think the idea fits too well and wanted to share with the sub. Source: Russian/Post-USSR-Territory immigrant.
So I was supposed to sleep yesterday to get ready for work, but instead I was up until 1 am, frantically writing down ideas, that felt like Bloodborne notes when seen in the morning. But I genuinely like this "pitch", plus it's more original then the monotony of "Your favorite X" posts for you, dear reader. So here is what I have:
Name: Without going much into the "lore", I'm not great with naming. "Thief in Law" is a legit russian term for a very specific type of criminal, not exactly Yakuza-Samurai, but something closer to the representation of the Mafia families. I wish it had a better english "ring" to it. Brotherhood is a slight play on the "Brother" naming convention (yes, russian gangsters call each other "aniki" too). I'm not too versed in the criminal overworld to come up with a better name. Other options I had were "Vor" ("вор") - "Thief" directly translated, but taking the page from "Yakuza" playbook, or "Pahan" ("Пахан") - apparently a mafia slang for the head of the gang, that I found on the wiki.
Mood/Lore/Story: So, here is another part I'm not so strong at, since "crime" was not really my thing before I moved away, I was a good boy! BUT-BUT-BUT, even the things that are known to me on the surface level are already perfect for the type of serious, straight-faced, convoluted and nationalist storytelling the Yakuza games are known for. Back home, we used to have a period called "Rakish 90s" ("Лихие девяностые"). In short - when USSR fell apart, and we still haven't figured out the whole "capitalist" thing, the Yakuza-style crime of rackets, schemes, financial pyramids, weapon trafficking and all that good stuff ran rampant, because a lot of shit in the government had to be rebuild from scratch, leaving too much wiggle room for criminals and people willing to do anything for a buck. Capitalism is cool, but if there are no rules in place, people will and were exploiting everything and everyone. 20 years later, that time created a climate of romanticized crime. Not to the extent of "Yakuza" with pinkie cutting old-time traditions, obviously, but very similar in spirit and the same amount of reach into politics (our president was a KGB agent, if you didn't know! and KGB is like the CIA of 'Merica, being the shittiest internal secret service!). "Eye for an eye", "sitting in prison means respect", "honor among thieves" etc etc. Probably the most classic representation of it can be found in a movie "Brother" as well as "Bimmer" ("Бумер") - they are not "Yakuza-style" comedies with serious plots, but they have the potential to be, since they can be interpreted as a kind of a romanticized version of that kind of life. There can be also a fuck ton of colorful characters - Your political criminals in suits; Your slimy dudes covered in tatoos that will shank you; militaristic old-guard pining for the old days; you skinheads and anti-fa; the younger kids, that are too influenced by the west and "don't get it, MAN"; I also heard you guys like back tattos?!
In short, I don't have a "plot" in mind. But the setting is there to allow all sort of Yakuza-like shenanigans. Long rackets, paperwork and bribes, politics involved, prison drama, and even unveiling of old WW2 weapon caches. All that covered in the thickest level of patriotism and national pride. You can go nuts! Personally, I had this fun idea to level up, so I think the first game needs to start with a crime that the MC commits and will end with him going to jail for the first time.
Setting: Just like in Yakuza, we have 2 major cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg to choose from that can be modeled with unique places all over, plus a fuck ton of beautiful iconic minor locations.
Gameplay: So guns are a thing, but not as much as in the US. And "one single person is the best" narratives are generally not a thing. It's mostly about brothers and a team of dudes. So I'm thinking something closer to Y7's RPG system would fit better. Either way, fist-fights are still a major thing and the base Yakuza gameplay formula would also fit. It will have two major currencies - bottles vodka (CP equivalent for quests and achievements) and money (for fights and activities).
Level Up System: It will not be "money", because we don't care about investing in yourself. I was playing with the idea of it being Liters of Vodka you drank, or prison tattoos FarCry 4 style, but I think I found something better. Your EXP is your time spend in prison, since prison makes you tough! And prison guards or ex-prison guards are the most vicious horrible enemies because the work in prison. At some point in early game you meet a "trainer" who tells you to behave like your appropriate prison sentence, since you will get caught and serve it anyway! You might as well start behaving like you already did right now (very Pat-like), which will lead you to commit more crime and act even tougher. Yeah I know it doesn't really make sense, shut up.
NOW! Here is what you are actually here for. THE WACKY SHIT. THE GOOD STUFF. THE SIDE QUESTS.
Imagine playing through the contents of "/ANormalDayInRussia/" - there is so much crazy shit you can go over. There is a goldmine of wacky cultural shit, especially if you're a westerner and have no context for it. There is a high president for "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" material, since most people will be either way below you and have nothing to lose, or too above and will not care if you die. Here are some examples I could come up with:

• You learn about side quests by giving bags of sunflower seeds to gossiping old ladies sitting on a bench (it's a thing, trust me).
  
• Collecting parts of a home made vodka brewing machine.
  
• Helping that one guy to sell a meteor that fell into his yard for vodka while secret agents are trying to stop you. (I couldn't find an articles but Woolie always talks about it and I believe him)
  
• THE ONLY FOREGNER IN THE ENTIRE CITY - "Look at this strange and wacky black guy!! He can't speak the language good and has a very HOT Russian Girlfriend for no reason! What's up with that?!"
  
• Take Tigers from Yakuza and replace them with Bears and/or Wolves for the same purpose.
  
• "There is no Sex in USSR" is a classic aspect that still holds kinda true in a lot of circles. I'm not smart enough, but something good can be done with that.
  
• Street racing, but everyone has the same shitty busted car.
  
• Climbing on very tall building with no safety, you can make fun of Ubisoft towers!
  
• Something needs to be done with the Corpse of Lenin. My suggestion - it either gets lost and/or YOU need to pretend to be him for a day and lay there.
  
• Cameos by Russian celebrities that none here knows about but are forever iconic and even cult-like back there.
  
• Collecting and/or dealing with post-WW2 relics, guided by a guy wearing the Kozak uniform.
  
• Very tired and old hookers, that are sick of everyone's shit, but are also very wise. Potentially tied to romanticized domestic abuse and/or homophobia.
  
• Quests based on old soviet movies - a boy and his robot double; diamonds hidden in a broken arm cast and/or chairs; a guy with a heart of a dog;
  
• Vostok 1 mission about going into space or at least a space station.
  
• The one cop that never takes bribes. Because all of them always take all the bribes all the time. And there has to be one that is a pure angel.
  
• Super boss - a guy spent 40 years laying on his couch amassing POWER and is now out to bust some heads. Mr. Shakedown equivalent maybe.
  
• And most importantly! Never forget - Japan... I mean Russia is the best and the brightest country in the world!!!
  
• Now there is one thing I couldn't find an equivalent for, and that is the diaper wearing adults. The best I could come up with is public bath houses. A deep russian tradition to go and take the hottest bath ever with a bunch of naked dudes while being whipped by branches. I went in a couple of times when I was a kid and it's 300% super real! Sometimes followed by jumping into the cold water.
  

Mini-games/Activities:

• Holiday feast! There is always more food then anyone ever needs. I'm thinking of something close to the Jack's 55th Birthday. Make sure not to fall asleep with your face in the salad (it's a national thing)!
  
• Drinking Games - OBVIOUSLY. Timing mini-games maybe? Something close to the sleeping mini-game in Y7 maybe.
  
• And yeah we also have karaoke of national songs! A community theater performance mini-game maybe?
  

Post TL;DR - woof, I think this covers all the ideas I had and hopefully showed you something interesting to read, and maybe even talk about! I know this will never happen ever, but I really liked this idea and it felt like a post well done enough to share.