The first installment in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise, which has shipped over 30 million copies worldwide, has been adapted into a live action work that remains almost faithful to the original. Produced by the cast and staff of the hugely popular franchise Unification of Japan, which depicts the Japanese underworld, the adaptation is fully supervised by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. The story follows the events leading up to the video game Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties.
When Kanzaki Kaoru was young, her mother operated an Okonomiyaki restaurant. However, in just a day, her entire life as she knew it turned upside down. Her mother was declared a bankrupt, and they were plunged into a life of poverty. Moving from place to place, Kaoru started working the minute she graduated from middle high school. By scrimping and saving, today, Kaoru finally has 1 million yen in her savings account. Since she understood fully what it felt like to be poor, Kaoru lends her money to her colleague who is in financial trouble. She finds herself moneyless again, and under strange circumstances, she comes to know of someone who works for the company "Koshimizu Consultant"... and thus begins her journey into a world where betrayals are the norm, and everyone is trying to outwit the other; a world full of sly and cunning people. With her indomitable spirit, Kaoru claws her way.
The story revolves around 20-year-old Makoto, who frequently gets involved in highly dangerous situations, usually against his own judgment. Along for the ride are his best buddies Shun, Masa, and Takashi, the enigmatic leader of a local gang in Ikebukuro.
A Japanese tabloid reporter tired of working simply as a celebrity scandals writer accepts a new challenge when he is assigned to make contact with a former Yakuza informant.
Policeman Moaz Ibrahim is forced into living a dangerous double life with the criminal gang Enemiez as an attempt to keep his shady past hidden from the outside world.
In the crime-ridden, mafia-governed city of Ergastulum, Worick and Nicolas are two “handymen” known as “Benriya” who would take any dirty job from either police or mafia, for a good price. After an assignment from police the two met and later joined by Alex, a former prostitute who got interested in the mysterious background of the team, in particular of Nicolas’ abilities.
A rising-star restaurateur is forced into New York's criminal underworld when his chaotic brother returns to town with loan sharks on his trail.
Mikado Ryugamine moves to Ikebukuro at his friend’s invitation and quickly becomes entangled in the city’s dangerous underworld. After witnessing the legendary Headless Rider, he finds himself caught up in escalating violence and gang conflict that begin to throw Ikebukuro into chaos.
When their convenience store-magnate father suddenly dies, a pair of pampered Pakistani American brothers lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba's secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld.
In one tragic night, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Martin Jones's life is blown apart, and he is forced into a deadly underground of Cartel soldiers, Yakuza assassins, and mysterious vigilantes. Soon he finds himself lost on a surreal odyssey of murder, mysticism and vengeance, as his past sins close in on him.
The police woman Hanna Svensson has a strained relationship to her son after having arrested him for drug dealing. Her married police man lover disappears, possibly kidnapped by MC gangs, although ties to Bosnia also appear.
Former SAS operative and convicted criminal John Kline is released from prison and recruited to act as an undercover agent within Birmingham's underworld.
A five-person team comprised of a thief, a grifter, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, use their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.
Two outlaws must navigate the galaxy's dangerous underworld as they chart their destinies.
Justine Laurier, an ex-Canadian soldier, just inherited her father's shares of Blue Moon, a security company that carries out sensitive operations for the Canadian government. While Justine discovers what Blue Moon is all about, she receives troubling information regarding the death of her father. Alone, she must find the truth in a universe of lies.
Jonathon Raven is a ninja-trained former Special Forces agent, retired in Hawaii to search for his long-lost son. Avoiding assassins sent to kill him by his former associates in the Black Dragon Clan, he uses his skills to help those in need. He is assisted by his former military buddy turned eccentric private investigator, Herman Jablonski.
In a near-future 1980s, England is under autocratic rule by a government that uses a paramilitary force known as The Guardians to maintain control, while a fragmented resistance group tries to provoke the state into revealing its true brutality.
Alex Godman, the English-raised son of Russian mafia exiles, has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of their past, building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend Rebecca. But when a murder forces his family's past to return to threaten them, Alex is drawn into the criminal underworld and must confront his values to protect those he loves.
Desperate for funds, Ferry Bouman stumbles upon a golden opportunity when a high-profile bust leaves a vacant position among Brabant's top dealers.
A link in their pasts leads an honest cop to a fugitive gang boss, whose cryptic warning spurs the officer on a quest to save Mumbai from cataclysm.