Amazon Prime's live-action Yakuza series title explained and its connection to original game

The latest Amazon Prime series sees another beloved video game get the screen adaptation treatment.

Based on the popular franchise published by Sega, Like a Dragon: Yakuza marries the two titles that the games have been known for across its near twenty-year lifespan.

Some fans may be confused why and how the long running series has had two different names, what the title actually means and if that definition differs from the game to the television version.

There are some theories around the origins but the game's creator also has their own ideas about what the name means to them. Here's everything you need to know.

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As the original game neared release back in 2005, it began gaining comparisons to another popular open series, namely Grand Theft Auto.

Many began to label the upcoming title as GTA in Japan and the theory is that in an effort to capitalise on this marketability they went with a simple title of Yakuza. In the developer's native Japan however, the games have always been titled Ryu ga Gotoku, which translates as Like a Dragon.

The studio that makes the game, even adopted this moniker, but have since shortened their own name to RGG Studios.

However, when the seventh title in the main series was released in 2020 in the West, the publishers took the opportunity to switch things up. As the new title introduced a new character to focus the story on, the name was altered to reflect this.

While named Ryu ga Gotoku 7 in Japan, English speaking gamers will know it as Yakuza: Like A Dragon. The developer then dropped Yakuza from the name altogether with the 2022 sequel, Infinite Wealth.

Toshihiro Nagoshi, who initially conceived the series has said of the original name that dragons have a strong image and when players sample the life of the characters in the game, they would get a feel for the strength of the mythical creature and in effect the main character.

The Amazon Prime series title switches the name again slightly to Like A Dragon: Yakuza.

Speaking in an interview recorded for San Diego Comic Con earlier this year, Director of RGG Studio and the show's executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama says that this is to reflect on the original vision of the games.

He said: "When the original game was first released I didn't think its world setting would be well-received. And we named it Yakuza without much consideration. I didn't think it would sell, nor did I care if no one understood it.

"It's the charm of evil, that only Japanese could understand. By depicting Kamruocho, I wanted to portray the drama of the people living in those districts. That's the idea we had 20 years ago."

Like a Dragon: Yakuza episodes 1-3 are available to stream now Amazon Prime from October 25 with the final episodes available on October 31