Like a Dragon Gaiden Continues a Disappointing Trend

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is the latest spin-off entry in the Like a Dragon series, formerly known as the Yakuza franchise. Gaiden is an interquel, following Kiryu Kazuma’s perspective following the events of the sixth game and throughout the seventh, in which he was not the protagonist. While Like a Dragon‘s rebrand in the West makes sense for a myriad of reasons, the most apparent being that it brings the naming convention to parity with the original Japanese, there are some faults that the franchise has held onto through this soft reboot. Unfortunately, Like a Dragon Gaiden continues the series’ disappointing handling of race.