MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura has revealed that he has been invited to star in the latest Yakuza game, and shared some development footage.
Asakura was invited to Sega to talk with Yakuza series representative Masayoshi Yokoyama, and Sega president Haruki Satomi.
“You go in with this realistic feeling”
In a Youtube video titled “Something I never thought would happen” on the fighter’s channel, Asakura films his meeting with the executives.
As translated by GLHF, when asked to appear in the latest Yakuza game, Asakura claims he thinks he might cry.
Yokoyama then leads Asakura to the studio where he gets to see footage of the game which was first announced in October last year.
In the clip we can see footage from the game on developers’ screens.
This confirms that Yu Nanba and Koichi Adachi will be returning as we see them in a scene with Yakuza: Like a Dragon protagonist Ichiban Kasuga.
Ichi has a new look and his iconic afro is now slicked back into a bun, at least in the scene we can see.
Asakura then enters the 3D studio where images of his face are taken from various angles.
The fighter had to sit and pose for a long time showing the developers various facial expressions.
We then see the images get turned into 3D models for the game.
The Yakuza series is known for cameo appearances by famous Japanese celebrities.
Yakuza 6 featured both Beat Takeshi and Tatsuya Fujiwara, famous for their roles in Battle Royale.
Asakura is apparently the first celebrity who has been asked to star in the game which is still being developed under the name Yakuza 8.
This is also the first footage to be shown of Yakuza 8 since the October announcement.
No other information has been shared through Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios or Sega’s official channels.
It was not shared with us what role Asakura will be taking on, or if he will return to perform his own stunts.
While this is not usual for the series, Asakura has the physical fitness and fighting prowess to perform moves most actors couldn’t pull off.
“incredibly realistic” comments Asakura when looking at the footage.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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