Latest / Replay Reviews / New Hair Nishiki 🩸 - Yakuza Kiwami - Part 5

Transcript

New Hair Nishiki 🩸 - Yakuza Kiwami - Part 5 · Replay Reviews

0:00
Thank you for coming back from our replay reviews.
0:04
My name is Leah.
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And my name is Cathy.
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We are two friends who are here to replay, review, and analyze your favorite video games.
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And since Cathy has never seen the games before, it helps me view them through her fresh eyes,
0:15
almost like I'm discovering them again for the first time.
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We hope it'll be a similar experience for you.
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What a chaotic episode.
0:25
We're just looking at each other, unsure how to start.
0:32
There's not a lot to talk about, not a whole lot.
0:36
Time-wise, it happens.
0:37
It's mostly fighting in these two chapters.
0:39
But the things that do happen are pretty heavy.
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They're significant.
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Yeah.
0:44
So, I don't know if this is going to be a short episode or a long episode.
0:49
It could go either way.
0:50
Should we just start on scene one?
0:53
Scene of chapter nine?
0:56
So we're in the car, Kiryu and Date, on their way to Chinatown, Yokohama.
1:01
And Kiryu reflects on his decision to take the fall for Nishiki.
1:05
He says that he thought he was doing it to protect his friends, and I quote,
1:09
"...but now that I think about it, maybe I was just running away."
1:14
Basically from witnessing what fate would hand out to Nishiki.
1:17
I want to say that there's nothing better than a car ride on a bridge in the middle
1:23
of the night on a rescue op for some reflection.
1:27
That and in the shower.
1:29
That is where the best thinking is done.
1:31
Also sitting on the toilet.
1:32
I wasn't going to say it, but you did.
1:36
So if you really need to sort something out, you do those three things and you will have
1:41
the answer.
1:42
Better yet, do all three at the same time.
1:45
What a feat.
1:46
I wish I could be in an RV.
1:47
You could do it though.
1:48
You could do it.
1:49
It can be done.
1:52
Okay, changing the subject.
1:54
Kiryu continues to say, I thought I'd won by changing his fate by force.
2:00
I should have fought back against fate.
2:03
So I guess what he's saying is he meddled with fate.
2:07
He changed fate instead of trying to fight it.
2:11
And I guess they're different.
2:13
I don't know what you're thinking of this statement.
2:16
In this statement, I think we first have to establish what exactly is fate and what is
2:23
the result of fate had you not meddled or touched it or anything like that.
2:31
Was fate to stay with the Yakuza or was it to not stay with them and to leave?
2:38
So even going back further or is he talking about in terms of fate being taking the blame
2:44
for Nishiki?
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Or is it fate supposed to be just let Nishiki take the burden of it?
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You know what I'm meaning?
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Is that depending on how you interpret fate, the actions of forcing or meddling with it
2:59
is going to be different.
3:00
Yes.
3:01
Okay.
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So here is what I see in my mind.
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Fate would be Nishiki takes the fall for his actions, killing Dojima.
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And so Kiri is saying that he changed the fate by taking the fall for Nishiki, but he
3:16
should have fought back against fate, which would be more along the lines of what we saw
3:20
in Yakuza 0 where he and Nishiki say whatever to the Yakuza, let's do what's right.
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I think that would have been fighting fate instead of just panic decision in a panicked
3:31
moment.
3:32
I take the fall because in Yakuza 0 I said I owe you my life.
3:35
So now I'm doing that.
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So I think that's the difference is switching places like swapping fate instead of working
3:43
together to challenge fate.
3:46
Which I like that better than any of the examples that I've given because I do.
3:53
If he had challenged or forced it, Nishiki wouldn't be where he currently is with just
4:00
being so bloodthirsty.
4:03
And I think that's the main thing is that he doesn't want to see Nishiki like this.
4:07
Nishiki could have had a different outcome where he goes to jail and that pretty much
4:12
somewhat neutralizes him and his vicious bloodthirsty streak.
4:17
Or it's that they continue to be the good guys, but also the odd ones out and fighting
4:24
all the inequity within the Yakuza.
4:28
Exactly.
4:29
And that's my next question.
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Is Kiryu responsible in a way for what Nishiki has become?
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You know, was it sort of a domino effect?
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If he took away Nishiki's choices and so it sort of forced him more down this path?
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He didn't have to do what he did.
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He could have made different choices.
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Those choices were still there even after Kiryu went to jail.
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It's one thing to say that if Kiryu went to jail and there's no opportunity for Nishiki
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to choose any other options, then I think, yeah, kind of it is on Kiryu.
5:01
But since even though he went to jail and there's still so many different opportunities
5:05
for Nishiki to choose different actions, yet he still chose the ones he did, then I don't
5:10
think it's Kiryu's fault.
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Yeah, I agree with you mostly.
5:14
I do think Kiryu took some choices away from Nishiki, which I think we also talked about
5:18
last time as the Yakuza Zero as well.
5:22
But let me just attack Kazuma again.
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Because I think ultimately this is his fault.
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Well, as we've discussed, he sort of meddles.
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But also, like Shimano said, even if he was just stirring the pot, he's kind of right.
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Why would Kazuma give Nishiki men that he can't control?
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And so in a way that forced him into a desperate situation to do whatever he could with what
5:46
he had to save his sister.
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So I don't know, I think Kazuma is ultimately the one who takes more of the choices away.
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Because Nishiki really didn't have much of a choice.
6:01
I guess we'll never know what would have happened if Nishiki went to Kazuma and said that, hey,
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I really need this money.
6:08
And I don't think but the part that agrees with you is that Kazuma is really trying to
6:14
influence everyone around them to keep saying that Nishiki is useless and I should have
6:19
chose Kiryu.
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I don't know if he actually said that and I don't know if that's Shimano and everyone
6:23
else just manipulating Nishiki knowing that that's a pain point for him.
6:28
But it does sound like him not clarifying that I never put it you two together.
6:33
I feel like that's where Kazuma also is needing to take some of the fault.
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So I don't know.
6:39
I feel like I don't have enough information though to make a solid conclusion whether
6:45
or not I think Kazuma is to blame.
6:47
Yeah, that's fair and Nishiki does make his own choices but I think his choices were limited
6:52
by other people.
6:53
And I'm glad you brought the bromance into it because there are a lot of similarities
6:58
here.
6:59
It's a very similar argument we're having to when Majima walked away from Makoto at
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the end of Y0.
7:04
You were like, he took away her choice and now I'm saying Kiryu took away Nishiki's
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choice.
7:11
We're like on the flip side of the last argument which is very interesting.
7:17
But again, my point is it's a similar situation where someone takes away someone else's choice
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for a good reason so that Nishiki could help his sister be there for his sister.
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It could be the right choice and in the moment it is the right choice to them from their
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point of view.
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What are the effects of making a choice for somebody else?
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I think that's the moral dilemma.
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They should have, like Kiryu said, they should have fought back against fate.
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It would have turned out much differently.
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Maybe none of them would be in jail.
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Right?
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So many things could have gone differently and I get they needed that to really start
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the problem with this entire game.
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I'm gonna be so mad if they kill off Nishiki because they're putting those two against
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each other.
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I'm just gonna put that out there.
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Even though I don't like how Nishiki slapped Mayuna, I feel like if they do kill him off
8:15
because it was needed for this game.
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I'm gonna be so upset at the director who writes the story, storyline writers.
8:26
I'm just gonna be so mad.
8:29
I'm already mad because it gets too far gone too fast with Nishiki, I feel like.
8:37
It's too much of a change too fast.
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Say it again.
8:44
It's too much of a change too fast.
8:46
Exactly.
8:48
I feel like they jumped over two or three decades in the making.
8:52
I agree.
8:53
So we should put this one to rest temporarily and move on to Chinatown where Kiryu tells
9:00
Date that he's just gonna get in the way but thanks for the ride, basically, and goes
9:05
in on his own to the Chinese restaurant where apparently the snake flower triad operate.
9:10
He does not get a warm welcome and instead he gets a machine gun to the face but fortunately
9:16
there is a host there and he became a shield.
9:20
A human shield.
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Which then turns into a weapon when Kiryu throws him like a javelin at the man with
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the gun.
9:31
Kiryu does eventually fight his way up to Lau who says, none of you seem to grasp the
9:36
true value of this girl.
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So it seems like there's something surrounding Haruka that is also valuable because Lau sold
9:43
the pendant to Nishiki.
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I guess Shimono is too cheap to bite.
9:49
He didn't want the pendant.
9:51
So what is Haruka's worth if it's more than 10 billion?
9:55
So my first question, multiple things that come through my mind, so before I get to your
10:01
question, is that for this pendant, where did Nishiki get the money to buy it?
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I mean it has to be pretty expensive because Shimono is not even going to buy it.
10:10
I think his family is just that good now.
10:12
Okay.
10:13
Well, okay.
10:14
So those other things is that, my wild theories.
10:19
One is that Haruka is going to be used as a trading chip.
10:25
They know that Mizuki isn't dead and probably Yumi isn't dead and they know the only thing
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that's going to force them to give whatever they have over to everyone else is Haruka.
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And she's the best kind of bargaining chip because they know that they're going to do
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whatever they do if they threaten to kill Haruka.
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And so I think it's the fact that she's a human walking bargaining chip that makes her
10:53
valuable.
10:54
Okay.
10:55
Follow-up question.
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We saw a meeting between Lau, Shimono, and Terada.
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And now, Shimono does not have Haruka and he does not have the pendant.
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So what was the purpose of that meeting?
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Did the deal fall through?
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Where is the money coming from?
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Is the money, what Nishiki is paying them for the pendant, is that going to all three
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of them?
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I think partially yes, but at the same time, I almost feel like Shimono doesn't even need
11:23
any of that, that he's still going to get a cut of the deal.
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And so he doesn't need to have either of them, as long as one of the three of them have either
11:32
the pendant or the girl, depending on what they need it for.
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I feel like Shimono's like, okay, it's fine.
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We're an alliance now.
11:40
Okay.
11:41
That does make sense because Shimono does seem to...
11:45
He plays the long game.
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We know that from Yakuza 0.
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So maybe this is more just about moving pieces on the board and getting himself in a position
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rather than just earning money.
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So Kiryu does eventually defeat Lau and frees Haruka, but only to immediately be arrested
12:01
for kidnapping by Sudo.
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Are you ready for scene two?
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I know you've got something to say.
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So we then see Date questioning Sudo.
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And Sudo says that he will not be releasing Kiryu no matter how weak the charges are.
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So what's up with Sudo?
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Is he in someone's pocket?
12:20
Why is he want Kiryu behind bars so bad?
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I think he just wants us as something to demonstrate that he's valuable and he should get promoted
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and take over Date's position.
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Because right now, who's higher up in terms of ranking Sudo or Date?
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Or the same level?
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I don't know.
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Because it seems like Sudo is giving him orders.
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I feel like they're pretty close to being equal, I think.
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But I think Sudo might be a little higher up.
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Maybe it's just Sudo's way of pulling a rank and to kind of demonstrate, hey, I can get
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you someone from the Yakuza and that's why I'm reliable.
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And I know we need to talk about how this line of questioning came about because I couldn't
13:04
tell if they were gonna fight or kiss.
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Seriously.
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And I know you had the same reaction.
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They only have like a foot, not even a foot between the two of them.
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Their bodies are nearly pressed up against each other.
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It's the arm.
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It's the arm against the wall.
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Everyone knows what that means.
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Yes.
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And Sudo has his palms pressed up against the wall like he's trying to inch backwards
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and press himself to be part of the wall while Date's leaning forward.
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Date, you're flustering me.
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Right?
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This is the kind of thing where if you all of a sudden add it, like cherry blossoms falling
13:41
from the corner of the screen, then you have a whole romance anime.
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Yes.
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And I love, because it seems like Sudo is a little flustered because he just goes, excuse
13:52
me, and then quickly walks away.
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At the end, he wants to run but he doesn't want to show how flustered he is and just
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speed walks instead.
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He's so flustered by Date.
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Because he has a crush on Date.
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No, sorry, I'm not gonna make it weird.
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We already did.
14:08
We already did.
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Everyone was thinking it though.
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It's the wrong kind of intimidation.
14:15
It was the wrong kind.
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Date really has no other option and he has to break Kiryu out of jail.
14:22
And then they flee with Haruka.
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I mean, is there anything else you want to discuss in the jail?
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Kiryu does stick his hand through the bars and pats Haruka on the top of her head and
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he thought that was really cute.
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It's adorable.
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Now on the run and in a car, Date tells Kiryu that he has discovered the secret organization
14:40
who had stolen Haruka and used her to get the pendant out of Kiryu's hands.
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They are the MIA or Ministry Intelligence Agency, an underground government organization led
14:52
by someone named Jingu, who Kiryu comments, a politician.
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But Date does not yet know their connection to Haruka or the 10 billion.
15:01
What do you think is going on?
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The 10 billion, somehow the government wants it, yet they can't take it because and use
15:09
it because it's not through legal means.
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And they also know that Haruka is a key piece to it.
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Or Mizuki and Yumi contracted the MIA to help bring Haruka back and they said that in exchange
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we'll give you the money that we stole.
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I like them.
15:27
I like them, but I feel like I need to change the subject just real quick because I am distracted.
15:33
You do not have a child, but you do have three boxes of diapers behind you.
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I knew you were going to make a comment about that.
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I almost sent you a snap when he got that.
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And they're not little boxes.
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They're bulk.
15:46
Yeah.
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They're a pack of 96 for each one.
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Golly, cabi.
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And one pack of 120.
15:52
It's so funny that you mentioned it.
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I need you to explain.
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Baby showers.
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I have a few baby showers coming up because a lot of my friends are in that baby making
16:01
instance.
16:03
Worst way to say that.
16:07
I'm just reeling that you spent 80 bucks on diapers.
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For kids that I don't even have.
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I'm reeling.
16:15
I think we need to change the subject, but I'm glad I have that answer because I could
16:20
not stop looking at my...
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What the f*** are all these diapers doing in my back here?
16:25
Okay.
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Anyway, Date also reveals that the body discovered a few days ago in the river is not actually
16:31
Mizuki.
16:32
I knew it.
16:35
So someone just put a tattoo on her that matched?
16:38
That's a lot of work.
16:39
I mean, it could be a popular tattoo, right?
16:42
Is it?
16:43
I don't know.
16:44
I don't know either.
16:45
If it is, it's a big coincidence though.
16:48
But at the same time, I feel like it's a Makoto situation.
16:52
And I think I mentioned it before that this was a theory.
16:55
I don't think that was her and I'm glad that it's proven correctly.
16:59
Haruka is probably even more happy that it's not her mom.
17:04
But at the same time, why did they need to pretend like Mizuki is dead?
17:10
And right now I'm really leaning towards thinking that it's Mizuki faking her own death.
17:15
Unfortunately, the snake flower triad catches up to them and a high-speed shootout begins.
17:22
And I edited out all the times that I died.
17:25
And I kept the sections where I did the best, so it looks like I did really good.
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I did not.
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I struggled.
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On your first try, you killed it.
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I think you could see the fury in my eyes just watching the gameplay back.
17:40
Yeah, I did see that.
17:41
You look so angry.
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Are we ready for Chapter 10?
17:46
Yes.
17:47
Alright, back in time again.
17:50
Kathy finally gets to see Nishiki's hair transformation that I've been teasing since Ikuzo Zero and
17:57
ooh man, it feels so good to not have to keep that secret anymore.
18:01
I bet with me always asking questions and my fear of spoiling it for myself, so I'm
18:07
glad we got there.
18:09
Nishiki's sister has passed away.
18:10
We see her little memorial stone.
18:13
It seems like this is the final straw for Nishiki, who is prepared to end his suffering.
18:18
But unfortunately, Matsushige enters and finds himself the target of Nishiki's pain when
18:25
he again compares him to Kiryu.
18:28
Nishiki stabs him in the gut, but he has some final words.
18:31
He says, I wish we could play the audio, but it's in Japanese.
18:36
It's not gonna serve most of you well, but it's...
18:40
I'll say it.
18:41
Here we go.
18:42
I am Nishiki.
18:43
He says, here's a gift you can bring to hell with you.
18:45
The man who killed Dojima.
18:47
It was me.
18:49
What a hard line.
18:51
It's the beginning.
18:52
It's the origin story of his villain era.
18:55
Oh yeah.
18:56
That line gave me a bit of chills.
18:58
And so right before we dive into our discussion, I'll just describe it.
19:02
He sees the blood on his hands, and he embraces it, and he even uses it to slick his hair
19:08
back.
19:09
And the transformation is complete.
19:11
The new hair Nishiki is here.
19:13
Now you can tell me how much you hated it.
19:16
I don't like it.
19:17
I thought it was gross.
19:21
I will say that it is kind of gross to do that, and I get the whole outfit change always signals
19:28
a new era, so the hair change also is doing that.
19:33
But I feel like there must have been a better way of doing that.
19:37
Okay, but let me just pause real quick before you continue.
19:41
If the range goes from going to the barbershop to murdering somebody and using their blood
19:48
to slick your hair back, what more do you want, Kathy?
19:52
I feel like you're frustrated at my lack of- lack of a-ha moment for the- because I reacted
20:01
more to Nishiki slapping Reina than- Well, I haven't heard your full thoughts yet,
20:06
though, so I need to be fair.
20:07
You need to tell me your full thoughts, though.
20:09
I will say that my theory of the transformation was going to be very similar to Kiryu doing
20:16
that shower scene at Tachibana's house, and it would have been him looking at the mirror
20:20
and then slicking it back and saying that, I'm going to make it to the top.
20:25
So you just wanted to see some cheeks?
20:28
No, I just thought it was going to be just facing the mirror.
20:37
I didn't need to see the bottom half.
20:39
I was just messing with you.
20:40
I get that.
20:41
That would be cool.
20:42
It would be cool to see him- it's still a moment of realization, but it's getting there
20:48
by thought rather than action.
20:51
I was hoping that the transformation comes more of a parallel between why, Sierra, when
20:56
we see a new Kiryu, this would have been a great way of showing a new Nishiki.
21:01
I'm not against it, though.
21:03
I think you are right that between a bar or shop and just a steamy shower, murder is probably
21:09
a lot cooler on the other end, a lot more illegal.
21:15
But not entirely undeserved.
21:18
Let's say that.
21:19
I don't want to condone murder, but if anyone deserves a knife in the gut, it's Matsushige.
21:25
And the fact that he just keeps taunting Nishiki, he forces Nishiki's hand to do this.
21:29
Talk about taking away choices.
21:30
You keep saying that, you made him pretty much betray Kazama and Kashiwagi.
21:38
He kind of had it coming with the Karma bust.
21:40
Anyways, back to the hair transformation, though.
21:43
I do admit that it's cool.
21:45
Now that I've processed it a bit more, I think you're right.
21:49
Because this is his second kill, right?
21:52
He has two over Kiryu, which I don't know if tossing a waiter at someone and getting
21:58
that guy killed is going to count.
22:00
And slaughter at worst.
22:02
Yeah.
22:03
Nishiki has two on Kiryu and it's just kind of a way of trying to redeem himself and say
22:09
that, see, all you want that I'm not as good as Kiryu.
22:11
He's killed no one and I've killed two.
22:14
One being you as you're dying and your life is bleeding out.
22:19
I don't think I've been fair to you though, because I've had a lot more time.
22:23
This is the second time I've played this game.
22:24
And I've had a lot more time to process this.
22:29
So let me go through a couple of the reasons why I love this so much.
22:33
When he kills Dojima, this is out of protection.
22:36
Oh my gosh.
22:37
It's reactionary.
22:38
I was just about to say that that first time killing, he was freaking out.
22:43
Oh yeah.
22:44
Therefore, Kiryu does everything he does that we see.
22:47
But this is like, he's ready for it.
22:50
And I get exactly this is sorry, I'm going to pounce on what you're saying.
22:53
Yeah, go ahead.
22:54
Because it's so cool that he changes into his villain face is because he was ready to
23:00
become a villain versus the transformation is that he already knew what the next step
23:05
is and this is the bridge that connects him from being his old self that kills only out
23:11
of self-defense into I'm ready to kill anyone I want and look at my hair.
23:17
I'm covered in blood.
23:18
My hair's covered in blood from top to the bottom.
23:21
I'm a killer.
23:22
I'm a villain and I'm going to make it to the top.
23:25
Yes.
23:26
Yeah.
23:27
And building off of that.
23:29
No, that's exactly the point I was going to make.
23:31
So I'm glad that you saw that.
23:34
Yeah.
23:35
Because I know you agree with me now.
23:36
The difference is I think between why I think okay, let me rephrase that.
23:41
I think why he's ready now as you're saying is he's lost Kiryu.
23:46
He's lost Kazuma.
23:47
He's lost Kashiwagi.
23:49
He's lost Yumi.
23:50
And now he's lost his sister.
23:52
He has essentially no ties.
23:55
He has one more tie, which we'll see.
23:58
But at this point, I think he used her so maybe it's not really a tie.
24:02
But at this point, all of his ties to his previous version, their previous Nishiki,
24:08
all those ties are severed.
24:10
There's nothing stopping him from going this path anymore.
24:14
Because if you put yourself in Nishiki's point of view, the only reason to fight like breaking
24:20
bad is to be there for your sister, for Kiryu, to be there for these people who helped make
24:26
you who you are.
24:28
They're gone.
24:29
Are you still the same person?
24:31
It's the final straw, but it's not just the final straw.
24:34
It's the final tether to who he was.
24:38
You're right, because he has nothing to lose right now, too.
24:41
That's the thing is that his most important thing that grounds him besides his sister
24:49
is Kiryu, and he doesn't have both.
24:51
And if anything, he sees Kiryu as the competition.
24:55
Because other people put that in his mind.
24:57
Yeah.
24:58
I was going to say something before my next note that I just thought of.
25:02
Oh, well, I was just going to say, imagine how much anger has been building in this man
25:08
since Kiryu took the fall and people start praising him for that.
25:13
And Nishiki's not getting the recognition for something he did, even though it was murder.
25:17
Well, self-defense.
25:18
I don't want to call it murder.
25:19
And then getting bamboozled by the doctor.
25:23
I'd be fuming at that.
25:25
And then you're angry for your sister gets taken away from you, too, and nobody's offering
25:29
him any way to resolve that.
25:33
It's gonna feel like a release to do this to this guy who has been tormenting you this
25:40
whole time.
25:41
Why at this point would you not embrace this?
25:44
It would be so hard not to.
25:46
This is kind of his only choice to put his energy towards because he has no good energy
25:51
left at this point.
25:53
There's so much pain and he doesn't know how to handle it with the grief and that probably
25:59
turns into his villain phase.
26:02
Yes, and speaking of grief, I'm glad you mentioned that because I want to take us back
26:07
to chapter 14 of Yakuza 0.
26:10
This is when Tachibana meets his end and he and Makoto reunite very tragically.
26:17
Nishiki is watching this.
26:18
He's here in the scene at the empty lot watching a blind Makoto not be able to physically see
26:23
her brother who has just died and is not able to physically see his sister after years.
26:28
I think that him witnessing this in Yakuza 0 has a direct impact on the amount of desperation
26:35
that he feels in this game to save his sister.
26:39
That was a tragic scene.
26:40
We were almost crying.
26:41
Nishiki was crying.
26:42
It hurt to watch.
26:43
If you see that and then you see your sister slowly fading away, you're gonna have that
26:50
desperation because you've already seen how painful it is.
26:53
You're gonna do whatever you can to stop it and when he fails to stop it, does he feel
26:57
like he failed?
26:59
Again, because they sort of failed Makoto and Tachibana as well.
27:03
That's a good point.
27:05
Just a really good parallel is that I think that's the only set of siblings, like brother-sister
27:09
siblings that we've seen so far.
27:12
The other thing is that after witnessing that, he has Kiryu to share that pain.
27:18
Kiryu knows exactly what that pain is, but right now he's by himself.
27:21
Kiryu still has Date and everyone else and friends he meets along the way to help him,
27:28
but Nishiki doesn't have any friends.
27:30
He only has people who he doesn't know if he can trust or if people who are laughing
27:35
behind his back because they think he's incompetent.
27:38
Actively against him.
27:39
That's even something that he said to Kiryu when they met in Serena.
27:43
That's why people flock to you.
27:44
Even he sees people flock to him, but all people do to me is talk behind my back.
27:50
It's shitty.
27:51
People are kind of shitty to Nishiki, let's be honest.
27:54
Nishiki deserves better.
27:55
He does deserve better.
27:57
This is why we need to take care of everybody because if we don't, they might snap.
28:02
I have one more thing I want to point out about this scene.
28:07
You're probably going to tell me I'm reaching, but just work with me.
28:13
In this scene as well as the Dojima death scene, there is lightning.
28:19
It's storming out.
28:20
Could this potentially be a metaphor for what's going on in Nishiki's mind?
28:25
It's sort of chaotic and lightning and thunder takes place because of cold and warm air mixing.
28:31
Could that be a metaphor for Nishiki's mix of good and bad mixing?
28:37
In these moments of killing is when they mix to the point of explosion, thunder, lightning.
28:44
He can't control it.
28:45
In this instance, he decides to go with it instead of trying to fight it.
28:51
I don't think you're reaching, but I also do think that this theory applies to a lot
28:55
of murder scenes.
28:56
It's like bad mood.
28:59
It's going to be in rainy weather and everything.
29:01
I just feel like it's the industry of making, whether it's games or movies or anything,
29:08
I just feel like generally when you kill someone, there's always lightning and thunder happening
29:13
behind you and rainstorm.
29:15
I did have that thought except to my memory.
29:18
I don't recall another death scene where there is a storm, which is why I feel it stands
29:26
out to me.
29:27
But I do think part of it is just the ominous aspect of it.
29:31
But even that ties into Nishiki and his thoughts.
29:34
I think it's both.
29:36
I really think that he's fighting the good and the bad because I do think he has both.
29:40
I think everyone has both.
29:42
I think that he's being forced to see more of the bad by the circumstances.
29:48
Well talking about fighting the good and the bad goes back to the whole topic about fate.
29:53
So what do you think that Nishiki's fate is or should have been?
29:57
Is he supposed to turn villain-like and that's his fate?
30:00
And then the fighting against it would be with Kiryu's help, he fights against his fate
30:05
of becoming a bigger villain?
30:08
Or is this him fighting against his fate of being a loyal brother to the Kusama family
30:15
and being a good, I don't know if you could say good Yakuza, but a good friend?
30:21
So I'm curious what you think, which his fate should be.
30:25
I think it depends on the turning point.
30:29
I see this scene as the point where Nishiki goes full villain.
30:35
So if we agree to that, then I think his fate would have been he doesn't have a family,
30:45
Kiryu has a family, and he would not be in this position to murder Matsushige, to even
30:51
be pressed by him, and therefore at least in this way he does not turn bad.
30:58
And that would obviously be by either Kiryu letting Nishiki go to prison or them both
31:02
fighting the Yakuza together.
31:06
So I do think that Kiryu did change Nishiki's fate because without Kiryu going to prison,
31:12
Kiryu has his own family.
31:13
Nishiki never would have had one.
31:15
The fact that he has his own family is what leads to him being in the situation that turns
31:21
him bad, or at least where he embraces turning bad.
31:25
I can see that.
31:26
I don't know if that directly answered your question.
31:29
Also processing that, I think we want to let that simmer for a bit first before- I feel
31:34
like we just don't have enough information about that.
31:37
I will ask though, how many more episodes are there after chapter 10?
31:41
Or how many more chapters are there?
31:42
Three more?
31:43
Oh dang.
31:44
Turning point has to come quick or seriously, if they kill off Nishiki I'm gonna be so
31:49
mad.
31:50
We're gonna have a lot to talk about, but speaking of killing people off, should we
31:53
do this so long for Matsushige?
31:55
Definitely, mother- I don't think there's any disagreements there.
31:59
Yeah.
32:00
He's acting like a child.
32:02
I don't like this guy.
32:04
He doesn't know how to not press buttons.
32:07
He's a bully.
32:08
He's a terrible leader.
32:10
Oh yeah.
32:11
The fact that he thinks he's a better leader than Nishiki by insulting him and everything
32:15
just goes to show that he actually is a worse leader.
32:18
Sure, Nishiki can't control his men, but at least he doesn't disrespect them like that,
32:22
and you don't command respect by insulting and disrespecting others.
32:27
And 100% because he, I guess, feels like he should be the leader.
32:31
He's trying to take charge.
32:33
If you feel like you should be the leader, should you not feel that people should have
32:37
respect for authority?
32:39
Would you not want people to respect your authority?
32:41
He's disrespecting Kazuma's authority for assigning him to be under Nishiki.
32:46
He's disrespecting Nishiki's authority, who is his direct superior.
32:50
And so you can't be in the Yakuza and have that attitude and expect to live.
32:54
He asked for it.
32:56
We signed up for this, friend.
32:57
I think we just got to say so long mother****** to him.
33:00
Yeah.
33:01
Okay, we're in the car still.
33:03
Snake Flower Triad has been dealt with.
33:05
We are peacefully driving down the road.
33:08
And then Date hands Kiryu his cell phone and says that he has a message from Shane G. And
33:13
I think you had a little red flag about that.
33:16
Yes, because there's just that parallel when Oda's driving and Kiryu and Makoto in the
33:22
car and we immediately know that Oda is not a good person, not on Team Kiryu.
33:29
It's giving off some kind of parallel that makes you think that maybe Date is going to
33:35
be the person who betrays them.
33:37
And Date hasn't been helpful.
33:39
He lost Haruka twice already.
33:42
And I feel like as a grown man, you should be more competent than that.
33:46
And he's a detective.
33:47
A trained detective too, yeah.
33:48
Right?
33:49
We said, where's the gun?
33:50
Where's your gun at, Date?
33:52
It does get odd.
33:54
And you even commented, did he listen to Kiryu's messages?
33:57
Maybe it just said message from Shane G. on his phone without reading it, but he could
34:02
have.
34:03
But anyway, the message that Shane G. left essentially tells Kiryu that there's a rat
34:07
near him.
34:09
Someone close to Kiryu is feeding Nishiki information.
34:12
And then this is when the camera shows Date looking back at Kiryu in the mirror.
34:17
Which was a weird vibe.
34:19
But on a hunch, Kiryu goes to the florist to ask to see footage of Serena.
34:24
And this is where we see that Reina's contacting Nishiki to tell him where Kiryu's going.
34:30
How do you feel?
34:31
Betrayed.
34:32
It hurts.
34:33
It does.
34:34
And all the episodes leading up to here, I kept going about how great Reina is.
34:40
And it hurts.
34:42
It's slapped in the face.
34:45
Before we get to Serena, the florist also recognized Reina as the woman who came to
34:51
ask him for help locating Haruka.
34:54
So do we think that she was doing that on Nishiki's instruction?
34:57
Well, I'm wondering, did Misuki ever disclose that she had a daughter to Reina when she
35:05
worked there?
35:06
Either no, or Reina is a very good liar because she acts surprised to find out who her mother
35:12
is.
35:13
So I think either she has known this whole time, or Nishiki asked her to do this.
35:21
How did Nishiki know about Haruka then?
35:24
I don't remember if he explained why, but he found out about stuff fairly early on because
35:29
he's the one that leaked the missing 10 billion at the officer's meeting.
35:35
So I think he sent her to try to find Haruka.
35:38
But then we do go to Serena.
35:42
It's in disarray.
35:43
Chairs are knocked over, there's blood on the floor.
35:45
But Kiryu finds a note left for him by Reina.
35:49
Basically she confesses to being the rat and apologizes, saying she was just trying to
35:52
earn Nishiki's love.
35:55
And she says that she knows it was wrong, and she's gonna do everything she can to
35:59
make it right.
36:01
So let's put ourselves in Reina's position real quick.
36:04
Obviously what she has done is wrong.
36:06
But she does realize that what she's done is wrong, but let's be fair.
36:11
When Kiryu was in prison, she kind of had nothing as far as we know except for Nishiki.
36:16
After 10 years, you're gonna build that loyalty.
36:19
And it even goes back a bit further because you mentioned something about that when Kiryu
36:25
bought a ring for Yumi and she made a joke to Nishiki saying that, oh, on my birthday
36:30
I want...
36:31
Was it a ring or a necklace or something?
36:34
And so I'm even thinking that I maybe mistook that instead of her having a crush on Kiryu.
36:40
I think you're right that she has a crush on Nishiki, and that was before 10 years ago,
36:44
and that must have been even before.
36:46
And the title of this chapter is even Shape of Love.
36:50
I'm not happy that that's how it turned out, but I also don't fault her for doing that,
36:55
that she's like a fool for love.
36:57
So do you think that Nishiki then liked Yumi?
37:00
I think so.
37:01
I think it's the messed up love square.
37:04
Yeah.
37:05
I think so too.
37:07
But it turns out that the way Reyna was going to make things right is, according to Shinji,
37:12
she lured him to Serena and tried to shoot him.
37:17
That sounds like a bad plan to me.
37:20
I mean, what are you gonna do after you kill him?
37:21
It's interesting.
37:23
She's probably kind of angry at him and herself.
37:25
But anyway, she is now on the run with Shinji.
37:29
And Shinji's just the best.
37:31
Can we just give a shout out to Shinji?
37:34
Probably by far my favorite character in this game so far.
37:37
He hasn't done anything wrong since we've known him.
37:40
He's got the cleanest record.
37:42
And he has not slapped a woman.
37:43
All that we are aware of.
37:47
Kiryu makes it to an injured Shinji, just in time to save him from, or frim, as I wrote
37:53
in my notes, from being shot by a Nishigama family member.
37:59
He's mad.
38:00
Kiryu's a mad boy right now.
38:01
He is furiously punching people.
38:05
But something happens.
38:08
So this guy shows up.
38:10
His name is Arase.
38:12
I think he's captain of the Nishigama family.
38:15
No, sergeant.
38:16
He's sergeant of the Nishigama family.
38:18
He shows up with a couple goons, one of which tosses a deceased Serena to the ground in
38:24
front of Kiryu.
38:26
Poor Serena.
38:27
Probably tied.
38:29
Maybe Makoto still wins, but one of the most undeserving characters of everything that
38:34
she has suffered.
38:36
She did insert herself a little bit.
38:38
She didn't deserve it though.
38:39
No.
38:40
And she tried to right her wrongs.
38:42
And what did she get for that?
38:44
Death.
38:45
Yeah.
38:46
Yeah.
38:47
I mean, she dying though.
38:50
We get a raging Kiryu so angry that he literally just levitates from the ground.
38:56
He just floats.
38:57
Pretty much.
38:58
He doesn't flinch when bullets fly at his face more than once.
39:03
He's in the zone.
39:04
But she would do a little so long for Reina.
39:06
I mean, we've talked about her a lot.
39:09
I think it's pretty obvious.
39:10
She made a couple mistakes.
39:13
She was blinded by love.
39:14
She had to redeem herself though.
39:15
She at least tried to redeem herself.
39:17
I tried, yes.
39:18
Which is honorable.
39:20
And that's not something we've seen from a lot of people.
39:23
So I think she deserves the so long mother respecter.
39:27
Yeah.
39:28
And we know that if she was really a bad person, I don't think she would go all out to save
39:34
Reina and to fight with her alongside her for her.
39:38
And the fact that he does just also goes to show that really, Reina is a mother respecter.
39:45
Agreed.
39:47
So I guess that's so long.
39:49
So long, Reina.
39:50
Mother respecter.
39:51
At least they made her look peacefully dead instead of in pain dead.
39:58
It's true.
39:59
It's true.
40:00
Also, real quick, is she outfit matching Nishiki?
40:05
Because she's got the black and white going on.
40:08
I was about to say that she's wearing slacks instead of a skirt.
40:14
I think it's an interesting choice to basically wear the same thing that he's wearing.
40:18
We do eventually defeat Arase after a very frustrating fight.
40:25
And then a dying Shinji tells Kiryu that Kazuma is with his girl Akami.
40:30
And he also gives him Yumi's ring.
40:32
I don't remember how or why he has that, but he does.
40:36
Anything you want to say or she would just go into the so long for Shinji.
40:39
This might be a record for so longs per episode.
40:42
Right?
40:43
Definitely hands down, mother respecter.
40:46
The fact that we were so supportive of Shinji, all the great things we said, I don't think
40:51
we've ever dissed him.
40:52
I don't think we ever had anything against him.
40:56
And even till the end, he makes sure that Kiryu knows everything he needs to know about
41:02
where to find Kazuma and he protects his boss's boss.
41:08
I just mad respect for Shinji.
41:11
They're also in the streets talking about how even though Shinji was hurt, he was still
41:15
taking down so many people on his way to the roof.
41:18
Oh yeah.
41:20
And the way I see it playing out, because first of all, he also was assigned to the
41:24
Nishikiyama family to keep tabs on Nishiki.
41:27
That's already dangerous.
41:28
And I'm assuming that he was there at Serena when Reina had set her trap because he was
41:33
with the Nishikiyama family.
41:35
And this is where when he turned and kind of had to out himself as officially, yes,
41:40
you had your suspicions, but I am against you.
41:43
And probably helped fight them all off, which means he held off Nishiki, which is no easy
41:48
feat.
41:49
He's done nothing wrong.
41:51
And not even that.
41:52
He's gone above and beyond.
41:54
He's the most pure mother respecter I think we've had.
41:57
That's so funny you say that because I wrote word for word, Shinji is probably one of the
42:02
biggest mother respecters out there.
42:04
Along with Lee, I think Lee is probably also one of them.
42:08
Yep.
42:09
He's textbook textbook mother respecter.
42:12
I'm gonna miss him.
42:13
Seriously, MVP right there.
42:16
I bet I know he was getting the KFC award in the summer episode.
42:23
I don't know why I was squeezing my cheeks like that to talk in that voice.
42:26
I think you were trying to like shout it over.
42:28
I was, but I couldn't touch the mic.
42:32
Anyway, anything else for you?
42:36
We're at the end of the gameplay.
42:39
I'm a bit internally laughing because it went from Nishiki being, I thought, one of my favorite
42:47
players and the best people out there in Y0 to Shinji Mille going uphill and also Nishiki
42:55
not going downhill, but just being different because he's embraced the villain side and
43:00
that's not something I was expecting.
43:02
And all my theories out there saying that he's still a good guy and everything, this
43:06
kind of confirms that.
43:07
My suspicions are kind of wrong.
43:08
He's damaged goods.
43:10
Yes, but Shinji just shooting high up there, it just makes me laugh that Emili 180 of Nishiki
43:16
being my favorite too.
43:18
Probably not my favorite.
43:19
And then Shinji's beautiful man right there.
43:22
Any last thoughts?
43:23
A lot happened.
43:24
Not a lot happened, but a lot happened, if you know what I mean.
43:28
You don't need a lot to make it impactful.
43:30
It's enough to be impactful with just very few seconds.
43:33
And I think it's done so well that the character arcs that they build in this, we don't even
43:38
see a lot of screen time for Shinji, but his impact is still there.
43:43
And I think that's really great of Yakuza to have built such wonderful character arcs.
43:49
Were we tracking things in this series?
43:52
I don't, was it the amount of times a woman gets slapped?
43:55
Oh God, that's so terrible.
43:59
It might have been though.
44:01
I would be surprised if we did that.
44:06
I think it was a joke, but I think we said that.
44:09
It's just two, right?
44:10
Three.
44:11
Oh, we talked about it last time, last week.
44:17
They're just, they're handing out slaps left and right in this game.
44:21
Can we see someone slap a guy?
44:23
I think the writer was going through something when he wrote this game.
44:26
A divorce?
44:27
You okay, bud?
44:28
You got it figured out by now?
44:30
Should we hop on?
44:31
Yeah, let's wrap it up.
44:33
Let's see, Adacity on one, three, two, one.
44:37
Thank you for listening and don't forget to send in any questions, comments, or game
44:41
suggestions.
44:42
You can find all our contact info on our website, replayreviewspod.com, or contact us directly
44:47
through our site.
44:48
Did we completely miss something?
44:49
Are we way off the mark?
44:50
Or you just want us to take a deeper look at anything from the game?
44:53
We'll tackle any topics you all want to hear in our season wrap up episode.
44:57
We also have a Reddit where we discuss anything we're curious about.
45:00
Go take a look and let us know what you're thinking.
45:03
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