The Yakuza series is full of narrative lines and character development, but one thing we’ve never know for sure is whether Kiryu is a virgin or not. I mean, these are the important kinds of questions we should be asking about game characters, right? In an interview with Yakuza series Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama, he mentions that there are a number of hints and arguments to be made for the case that Kiryu is indeed a virgin.
“This is just my own interpretation and as such isn’t official or anything like that, and I hope people read it as a kind of lip service, but I think that Kiryu is probably a virgin. Probably,” Yokoyama said, reiterating that this isn’t official Yakuza canon, but rather his own interpretation of the story “Kiryu held this pure love for Yumi Sawamura, but because of Nishikiyama he probably never made any strong advances on Yumi. Probably.”
Yokoyama continued to dive deep into the character development and tiny details that led him to this conclusion.
Neither Kiryu nor Nishikiyama laid a hand on Yumi until they were 27. I do think that Nishikiyama probably played around along the way, though. Probably. Things happen and Kiryu ends up spending 10 years in prison for the murder of Sohei Dojima. Though he does enjoy himself with hostesses after being released, I’m sure he never actually lays a hand on them because he loves Yumi. And then Yumi passes away, and time just drags on. Mayumi says something about this in Ryu ga Gotoku 5 [Yakuza 5] as well, right? “We’ve been together for six months, but haven’t done anything.” That means that Kiryu must still have no experience and keeps holding onto that pure love. Probably.
Note that Yokoyama repeatedly says “probably” to remind everyone that this is only his thoughts on the character based on details present in the story. That’s one of the things Yokoyama loves about the Yakuza series. The ability to discuss minor details and have them be backed up by evidence allows fans to continue conversation surrounding the series well after they’ve finished playing it.
I’m sure that there are a lot of cases to be made for and against my opinion, but generally, when something is set in a fantasy world you can, with a level of realism, think about things that you usually never would. Leaving to one side the question of whether or not Kiryu is a virgin, I think that one of the charms of Ryu ga Gotoku [Yakuza] is that you can talk like this about the kind of silly things you might discuss at a bar.
Yakuza 6 released last month in North America to stellar reviews. The game concludes Kiryu’s story, but there’s plenty to discover in the game if you want to remain in that world a little bit longer. We put together a full guide on every substory in the game so that you can have those fun conversations that Yokoyama finds so charming about Yakuza.
What’s your opinion? Is Kiryu a virgin? Are there any other interesting details that you’ve picked up on through the story?
[Source: SegaBits]
