Yakuza: Like a Dragon is Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s latest entry into the Yakuza franchise, but this new title shakes up the usual formula by stepping into the RPG genre. It’s the first title to feature a new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga, after the Kazuma Kiryu saga came to a close in the last game.

That’s not to say there aren’t a few familiar faces that cameo in Like a Dragon, but you’ll be spending most of your time with a host of new and interesting characters. Here are a few facts that you might not know about the new Yakuza team.

10 Ichiban’s Glow-up

It’s hard not to fall in love with the new protagonist of Yakuza, though Ichiban is loud, dorky, he is incredibly endearing. Despite Ichiban’s rather awful bad hair day perm, he still has a roguish look about him that fans absolutely adore.

However, this wasn’t Ichiban’s first look by a long shot. In an earlier trailer that Sega showed over a year before release, Ichiban looked a lot older and rather different from the character we received on release. We’re pleased that Ichiban received a glow-up, as his new look is definitely better!

9 Breaking Kabuki Tradition

At the very beginning of Like a Dragon, players witness a young Masumi Arakawa in the prologue scenes. We see that Arakawa works with his mother and father in a traditional Kabuki play.

Arakawa has an onnagata role, a male playing a female, but this breaks from Kabuki tradition, where sons of kabuki actors are expected to follow the same role as their father. Arakawa’s father is also in the play, but he is seen playing a male role, so if tradition was being followed, young Arakawa would do the same.

8 Dragon Fish

Ichiban is also the protagonist of Ryu ga Gotoku Online, and several other characters from Like a Dragon also appear in the card-collecting mobile title. It’s in this spin-off game that we learn that Ichiban’s back tattoo of a dragonfish is similar to that of Jo Sawashiro, captain of the Arakawa family.

The dragonfish is the form between koi and dragon from the legendary tale of a koi swimming upstream and becoming a dragon. According to the Fandom Yakuza Wiki, both men have it to symbolize their aspiration towards their patriarch Masumi Arakawa, who they see as the dragon they wish to be.

7 Eri Kamataki

You first meet Eri Kamataki as part of the business management game, but if players successfully reach the top 100 in this mini-game, then they can unlock Eri Kamataki as a party member. She is an entirely optional member that can be easily missed.

Interestingly, Eri Kamataki is not a fictional character but is actually a Japanese model and actress who lends her voice and appearance to Like a Dragon. Her default job role has her using office supplies as weapons.

6 Persona Connection

One of Like a Dragon’s main characters is Saeko Mukoda, a mama at a hostess bar who joins Ichiban’s party. We also get to see her twin sister Nanoha Mukoda in a smaller role during the main plotline. Interestingly, in the English dub, Saeko is voiced by Elizabeth Maxwell, and Nanoha is voiced by Cherami Leigh.

This might not be a coincidence, as these two women have voiced two sister characters before in Persona 5, with Cherami Leigh voicing Makoto Niijima and Elizabeth Maxwell voicing Sae Niijima.

5 Ichiban’s Cameo

Sega recently released a promotional game titled Streets of Kamurocho, a beat ’em up title modeled on Streets of Rage II, but which utilizes Yakuza’s characters, music, and plotline.

Despite the story and characters being based on the first Yakuza title, Like a Dragon’s Ichiban features as a hidden unlockable character that players can obtain once the single stage is completed. Just like the characters of Kiryu and Goro, Ichiban is a reskin of Axel Stone, and as such, uses the same moveset.

4 Familiar Katana

Interestingly, the katana that Jo Sawashiro wields in battle in Like a Dragon is not unique to him, and it is not the first time it has been seen in the Yakuza franchise. It appears in the spin-off title, Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!, which regrettably never made it to western shores.

The game is set in historical Japan where familiar Yakuza characters take on the roles of well-known historical figures. For instance, the owner of the katana is Okita Souji, who shares his appearance with Majima Goro from the mainline series.

3 Ichiban’s Tattoo

In RGG Online, players learn that Ichiban’s tattoo was designed and inked by the famous tattoo artist Utabori who resides in Kamurocho. This isn’t a new character to the franchise, as he is the same tattooist that did Kiryu’s and Nishiki’s back pieces.

Though RGG Online was a Japanese-only release, the Fandom Yakuza Wiki explains that in this game, Utabori tells Ichiban that he once tattooed two men at the same time, one with a dragon (Kiryu) and one with a koi (Nishiki) and that the dragonfish that Ichiban has falls between the two. Utabori further explains that it’s up to Ichiban to decide whether he becomes a true dragon, or whether he falls back into the depths.

2 I Know That Voice

Many of the characters in Like a Dragon share voice actors with other notable characters from the Yakuza franchise. For example, Ichiban’s Japanese voice actor is Kazuhiro Nakaya, the same actor who voices Akira Nishikiyama in Yakuza and Okada Izo in Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!.

Another example is that Koichi Adachi’s voice actor is Akio Ōtsuka, the same actor who voiced Ryuzo Tamiya in Yakuza 3 for the Japanese version. When it comes to English voice actors, Greg Chun voices both Yu Nanba in Like a Dragon and the protagonist Takayuki Yagami in the spin-off title Judgment.

1 Celebrity Voice Actor

Though there are plenty of experienced voice actors who lend their voices to the game, with them being well-known for voicing other gaming characters, there’s a true celebrity hidden in the cast too.

Interestingly, the English dub of Yakuza: Like a Dragon features George Takei, who is best known for his role of Sulu in the original Star Trek series. Takei voices the character of Masumi Arakawa, the patriarch of the Arakawa family and Ichiban’s beloved boss that he greatly looks up to.

NEXT: 10 Things That Make No Sense In Yakuza: Like A Dragon