So welcome to Shinada, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking his story from start to finish is one of the greatest stories RGG Studios has ever written.
It's so funny that everyone did say Tanimura will not appear again due to his actor's allegation but somehow Nico did forget it, again. Classic Nico Bizzle the Dino Sizzle
A WALK-OFF Home Run basically means you hit the home run that wins the game right then and there. It's impossible for the other team to catch up so the game immediately ends.
Enter Shanada, the second greatest chucklefuck to walk the earth (The greatest is still a few games off) I love this dude, He is the closest to a normal ass dude in this series and fights like one, being very scrappy and subbing in for Tanimura as the grappler, the deference is that he has a lot of ways to get opponents into a grab. He also doubles as the game's weapon master getting unique skills for weapons (Except baseball bats, he would never dare tarnish the sport) also having health comparable to *Haruka*. His personality rounds this out, both relatable due to money troubles (making healing items a luxury) and his strange relationship with his dept collector Takasugi. Shanada is a personal favorite of mine, and singlehandedly got me to like Baseball (Go Phillies)
I Can FINALLY Bring this up! Say hello to the best Yakuza Character ever. Shinada. But also say hello to the final Yakuza 0 Style Reference. As you might have gleamed, the Styles that both Majima and Kiryu have in Yakuza 0 directly reference the playable characters of Yakuza 5. Brawler and Thug are basically weak versions of Majima and Kiryu, makes sense Dragon and Mad Dog are obvious references to Majima and Kiryu as they are in future games However there's still 4 Styles unaccounted for, and we have 4 playable characters not mention yet that are in Yakuza 5 Rush Style - Akiyama Beast Style - Saejima Breaker Style - Haruka Slugger Style - Shinada I cannot express how cool this was when i first played Yakuza 5 and it clicked.
Damn Tanimura got recasted again! So yeah, no Tanimura this game. Now you might think that it's because of the whole voice actor cocaine controversy (which actually wasn't cocaine and the dude was innocent), that Tanimura didn't return this game. But that controversy happened a while *after* Yakuza 5 released. So the real truth is, RGG just didn't feel like bringing Tanimura back lol. I guess they had no other story left to tell with him. Shinada here though is really great though. His combat style is weird but his character and portion of the story is a fan favorite. And also, Shinada's VA here is Toshiyuki Morikawa aka the Japanese voice actor for SEPHIROTH! Yes that deep fricking Sephiroth voice is also now this high-pitched, smut writing himbo character. Morikawa really is talented.
*Important Combat Notes:* Alright, so Shinada is a _strange_ one. His bare hands gimmick are grabs similar to Saejima but specifically grab tackles. His red heat mechanic “My Meteor Tackle” revolves around this quirk of his do do an invincible running tackle that *only starts draining heat when you are carrying an enemy.* The goal is to _ram/chuck the carried enemy into other enemies or slam them into a wall or light attack to knock them into the ground to perform heat action._ But you might be surprised to know, Shinada’s bare hand combat is kinda trash I am ngl. Can you beat the game with it? Yeah but it alone is quite janky and weak to play if we are being brutally honest. *The grabs may struggle to connect in certain scenarios, bosses tend to be hit or miss in trying to use “My Meteor Tackle” on them, and his natural bare hand combos strings suck.* This is, believe or not, intentional game design for better or worse depending how you see it lol. *Shinada is canonically way weaker than the likes of Akiyama and especially Kiryu/Saejima. Why? He is just a regular dude, depressed and little to no combat experience with no motivation at the start of Part 4.* For immersion reasons, this makes a lot of sense as the *game tends to actually imply time and time again in the story that Shinada is pretty weak and not a legend, because *he really is just a normal person with only his job and broken dream. * So _what is broken in his kit?_ Weapons. This is where the weapon leveling system actually makes sense because the game ENCOURAGES you to use them often. *That sturdy iron pipe you just got? It is part of a set of infinite durability weapons that corresponds to Shinada EXCLUSIVE MOVESET for each sturdy weapon type.* Each of these movesets he has are GREAT in comparison to his bare hands kit. His unique weapon movesets are: *One Handed (your sturdy iron pipe), Knives, Swords, and Poles.* Those last dlc packs I had you keep for Shinada help assist him since they have some useful stuff for Shinada. One huge problem Shinada has is that you don’t gain the rest of his sturdy weapons in his main story. *They all are in his “The Cost of a Swing” sidestory mode sub-missions making HIS SIDE STORY VERY IMPORTANT to his combat experience.* I actually strongly urge you to try to do his side story’s sub-missions as early as possible UNTIL you get all 4 Sturdy Weapons in it and then you can pace yourself then. It's crucial for you to unlock his full kit as Shinada usually doesn’t have a lot of money to buy/repair weapons early game and weapons in yakuza games break fast, so infinite durability weapons are a must imo.
I think a big combat tip to note is that... his heat actions are very useful. Any heat action that causes a "wallsplat" is extremely useful because it gives shinada a chance to taunt and refund some heat, before going for a finishing hold to confirm more damage off of it. They're also a way to keep Shinada safe and confirm some reliable damage, and he has MANY ways to trigger hard-hitting heat actions from revelations and weapons. In particular, the one where Shinada picks up an opponent by the shoulders and throws them against a wall is very, very handy, since the first QTE leads straight into a wallsplat, where you have enough time to taunt, then do a light and then heavy for a free finishing hold. If you position Shinada just right, the 3rd finisher into a finishing hold can hit an opponent as they're picking themselves back up, and lead to more free damage.
Well, I did find his Meteor Tackle to be effective against bosses who themselves use weapons and thus are able to block Shinada's knife attacks. Pretty strange that for me it was better to use weapons against unarmed opponents and vice versa.
Yeah, as someone who doesn't enjoy using the weapons much outside of Heat Actions (and also cheesing with guns when possible), Shinada might be my least favourite playing character in the entire series.
Goodbye Tanimura, so say hello to Shinada, aka, Baseball Man. He is a horny loser who we love very dearly. An absolute goofball with a heart of gold, though a bit selfish at times. One thing about you'd probably find the most interesting thing about him is his voice actor, Toshiyuki Morikawa. He has voiced a lot of famous characters, including Dante from DMC, Leon from Resident Evil, a character from the part 4 anime of Jojo, and lastly, probably his most famous role.... Final Fantasy's very own fan favorite back stabber, Sephiroth. (Que One Winged Angel) He is also the director of an actor agency called Axl One. This agency is also the same one Takaya Kuroda, Kiryu's actor, works at. So Morikawa is Kuroda's boss, which is funny considering who they each voice in this game. Edit: A few corrections I'd like to point out for you, Nico. 1. The lieutenant you're thinking of is not a lieutenant but the captain of the Omi Alliance, and Watase is his name. 2. The traitor guy's name is Morinaga, not Matsunaga. 3. Technically, we have seen Kamurocho in this game. It was right at the start of Saejima's part before he went back to prison. This last one is not a correction, just a little fun thing to point out. Katsuya is the Omi's Chief of HQ. Aoyama was also a Chief of HQ for the Tojo, so getting to meet both from each side is kinda cool.
I gotta say, Tanimura getting plastic surgery, becoming a pro baseball player and then ending up broke and horny is definitely a weird plot development, but let’s see where it goes! Seriously tho, you’re not alone Nico lol. Shinada is a very hard left turn for everyone who plays this game. Believe it or not, though, he very much is a fan favorite! I love his “everyman” charm and relatability, which is a refreshing change of pace considering we’ve played as legends and a super popular idol so far lol. After playing as Haruka who is currently living her dream, now we get to play as someone who lost theirs and is now looking for a new purpose. As for his gameplay, THIS is basically what the weapons mastering system was introduced for lol. He is THE weapons guy, so be sure to use a variety of them as him, especially poles and knives. His unarmed moveset takes some getting used to but it can be pretty fun as well if a bit quirky, just be sure to make good use of chaining heat actions and his My Meteor Tackle and you’ll be good! So yeah, have fun in Nagoya (another brand new location)! Oh right, when you get the chance, try picking up a baseball bat as a weapon if you see one in a fight, you won’t regret it! Edit: Yeah you’re right Nico, baseball is HUGE in Japan. It’s basically like how Brazil is with soccer/football, they’re crazy about it lol. Edit 2: btw Nico, My Meteor Tackle actually goes way further than you think if you don’t interrupt it! You can use it to ram other enemies before knocking them down, throwing em or shoving them into a wall
I love how excellently this first segment of Shinada sets him up as a regular dude. Up until now, whenever we see a debt collection for a leading man, it's always to the benefit of THEIR image (Kiryu looks badass in 0 or Y1, Akiyama looks charming in Y4, Yagami gets to show off his badge in Judgement) but Shinada doesn't get that. In fact, he's such a nobody, he doesn't even get harassed by an actual Yakuza, just an acquaintance. It's such an awesome way of showing how out of his depth he is in a game with a massive crime conspiracy and sets up his entrance to that fray perfectly
Yakuza 4: Play the first three chapters as brand new characters, and the fourth chapter as a well-known character. Yakuza 5: Play the first three chapters as well-known characters, and the fourth chapter as a brand new character.
during the y4 LP, after being told by the comments: "yeah its a shame tanimura doesnt come back to the series ever again" nicos brain throughout the y5 LP: TANIMURA IS STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT
For those who don't know baseball terminology: A "Walk-Off Home Run" is a home run that ends the game. So named because the outfielders start walking off the field as the batter is running the bases since the games already over.
My name is Tatsuo Shinada. I'm 37 years old. My house is in the southwest section of Kineicho, where all the buildings are, and I am not married. I work as a nightlife journalist for the red light district, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I'm in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before going to bed, I usually have no problems sleeping until morning. Just like a baby, I wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up. I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn't lose to anyone.
Welcome to one of the most well-loved characters of the series Tatsuo Shinada The down on his luck Red light reviewer and ex baseball player Who barely knows how to fight I hope that you come to love him as much as I do throughout these chapters Nico.
Yeah so you were half right and half wrong. They _did_ save the last protag to be the new one, just that there were 2 new ones lmao. So you are most likely wondering why Tanimura didn’t come back, it ISN’T the fact of the OG va’s controversy with the drug allegations. *That happened WAY AFTER Yakuza 5 in 2016, 4 years after Y5 which is ALSO the launch of Yakuza 6.* There is no connection whatsoever that Tanimura was “replaced” from being a protag in Y5 from that drama as it didn’t even happen yet. _So what would be the actual reason he didn’t come back?_ The most likely theory, *was that he was too expensive for RGG at the time to reasonably do so.* His OG va was very popular and considering this was before RGG blew up in popularity from Y0, the *more accurate assumption is that RGG didn’t plan to bring him back for Yakuza 5 during the time.* Remember, RGG old yakuza games tend to have a lot of celebrities/famous actors play side characters which most of the time either die or only played their character for that game. Akiyama and Saejima came back because their VAs aren’t as _nearly_ expensive in comparison to Tanimura’s. *Newer games tend to have some of them like Kimura (Yagami’s VA) and another future game famous actor because they were able to afford bringing them back for later games and popularity on their side.* Not to mention Tanimura as a character is less popular in general than Akiyama or Saejima for both hemispheres. *For Akiyama and Saejima, it made complete sense to bring them back at a lower cost too.* There’s also the _supportive theory they couldn’t think of a reason to bring him back effectively._ And this makes sense too because since he was the most complete character by the end of Yakuza 4, having little to no loose ends. *Akiyama's lack of content in Yakuza 5 itself kinda shows that being likely considering he felt like he was shoved into Haruka’s Part as a dual protag, meaning RGG could have wanted to avoid that considering how Akiyama’s Part in the game was much shallower than the others in terms of content.* So what’s the future of Tanimura? *Well he has been recast for Yakuza 4 Remastered, he could make a return as the devs bothered to put him in their mobile game “Yakuza Online”,* but has yet to reappear in the main series, likely because of what happened to the OG VA during Yakuza 6’s launch period. The character can totally come back if RGG wants to bring him *TDLR:* Drug scandal of Tanimura’s OG VA has nothing to do with his disappearance after Y4 because it happened during Y6. More likely because of being too expensive and not given good enough reasons to bring back from having a complete character arc than Saejima/Akiyama. Also least popular from the other 2 returning protags.
Also, just to add to this, there's also the fact that Y5 nearly didn't reach the West at all during this period. So even if Tanimura was more popular in the west, this really wasn't a factor they would've been considering. For a while, the western fans felt like they were a hairs width from losing access to the franchise entirely during this period, as it was before Zero made it truly feel like they had the attention of the Western audience from the devs perspective. It took years to cross the gap, never got considered for a physical release (during a time period where this was considerably less common) and was funded by Sony due to fan requests (also a very rare situation in general). My memory is not the best, but that's how I remember it going down, as someone who found the franchise when Y3 got released.
idk, the whole idea that they couldn't think of anything to do with Tanimura feels ridiculous to me, because, imo, Tanimura is by far the EASIEST character out of Yakuza 4's playable characters to fit into future games stories, like having a guy who's a cop who (unlike Date) is actually capable of winning fights and who has significant ties to Little Asia is INSANELY versatile. I'll be honest, Tanimura is SUCH a versatile character, that it frankly feels weird that he's never even brought up again since there are so many situations throughout the entire series where it really makes no sense for Tanimura to NOT be involved in it, like even with just Yakuza 5, the fact that Tanimura isn't even a side character who helps the playable characters figure out what to do in regards to all these conspiracies is frankly insane to me
Akiyama feels like he's in Yakuza 5 just so Haruka can have a whole part but you still have an excuse to never be TOO far away from some action. I guess they had cold feet about the whole "an entire part of the game with zero fighting" thing.
Every time Nico said Tanimura throughout this playthrough I've been simultaneously laughing and feeling sad lol. But I think you'll like Shinada, he's a good, likeable dude.
Every time just had me more & more excited for the reaction because switching out Tanimura for Shinada is possibly the biggest curveball the series ever pulls on the player (as long as you don't look at the ensemble cast art too often like Nico clearly doesn't)
@@Triforce_of_Doomhow does he even avoid looking at it? It’s on the cover and the loading menu, which is impossible to avoid unless you’re closing your eyes when you log into your PlayStation
Here we have Tatsuo Shinada, the broke and horny baseball man. He is voiced by the legendary Toshiyuki Morikawa, whom you might know as Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Dante from Devil May Cry, Isshin Kurosaki from Bleach, and so many other roles. We’re now in Nagoya, which is in Central Japan, so it’s essentially the midpoint between Tokyo and Osaka. This fictional town of Kineicho (“kee-nay-cho”) is based on the Nagoya district of, no kidding, Nishiki! With all the other names like Nagasu (Nakasu), Tsukimino (Susukino), Sotenbori (Dotonbori), and Kamurocho (Kabukicho), the name Kineicho is nothing like Nishiki probably because we already had a major character named Nishiki. By the way, when you eventually do the hostess stuff, DEFINITELY do a karaoke date because his ad-libs and dancing while the girl sings her song are fucking GOLD.
Nico the whole LP: Can't wait to play Tanimura, that guy's awesome. Love that dude. Shinada: When you're through with me you won't even remember that name.
Fun fact: The Futo Momo Club's name on the sign is read "Fu" (the sound of a sigh) "To" (and) "Momo" (peach) and the whole thing together sounds like the word for thighs.
Shinada is interesting as a character for being a normal dude, even compared to Akiyama. He has no trained fighting style or the like, just grabbing and tackling and anything else like most people would. And of course, he'd grab anything he could use as a weapon, which is where you'll want to focus. Definitely keep the pipe, as having an infinite weapon is handy. Also, try picking up a bat off the ground during a fight. You'll see something interesting happen that shows off more of Shinada's personality.
To be clear, Shinada has special movesets and heat actions with One Handed Light Weapons, Knives, Katanas, and Poles. He does not have special movesets with ALL weapons.
"WHO TF IS THAT?" He's the best character in the game Nico. Also, Tanimura is DONE with a capital D. We actually never see him again in the series. At most, he's mentioned a couple of times by other people but that's it. I got CotD?! Let's GOOO!!
I like how despite living a struggling lifestyle in debt as a smut writer, Shinada is like a walking encyclopaedia when it comes to baseball like when he examined the bat and went into details. Then there is how he hasn't really lost his touch when he needs to use the batting centre to hit a home run when he is low on cash.
yeah, I feel really bad for the guy, like he's definitely not dumb, Shinada is probably one of the most intelligent playable characters in the series and I adore how Y5 portrays his depression and overall lack of motivation, since he is NOT a loser, but just straight up doesn't know what to do with himself anymore and I love how RGG chose to focus on this man who isn't a godlike fighter or charismatic personality who can easily rally people to his cause, he's just a really depressed guy and I think that's cool
Fun fact : Shinada have some essence moves to learn but when a move starts with "My" that basically means its not something you'd learn from Komaki or anyone with a knack for martial arts. It's Shinada's own personal move basically.
Yea, Shinada's baseball game is very different from every other character in the game. Makes sense, given he is a former baseball pro so he has a far better read on where the ball will go and when to swing. Everyone else does it as a fun distraction so they just have to use some intuition, Shinada has a lot of experience to rely on.
1:24:19 Select your bat. Select your swing. You have selected POWER DRIVE. Ball is in: Majima's brain. Would you like to play again? You have selected: No.
Just to point out, Katsuya isn't the head of the Omi he's the captain of HQ. It basically means that he's the right-hand man of the actual head of the Omi who we still haven't met properly
So yeah, the 4th section isn't Tanimura, but actually a new character, Shinada. Which means I have to break the bad news, unfortunately Tanimura's only appearance was in Yakuza 4, and he does not appear in any future titles besides Yakuza Online (even so it was only after the remaster). Now, as you may remember, Tanimura's original actor, Hiroshige Narimiya, retired from acting due to allegations of him using drugs, and so many think that is the reason he isn't in future games. The thing is, however, all of that happened in 2016, years after 5, 0, and Ishin were released, so the reasoning behind his exclusion is still up in the air. This brings me to something you may have noticed when playing this series, and it's something a lot of fans bring up; it's that characters only showing up for one game and never coming back or even being mentioned in future titles is fairly common, mainly due to a lot of the characters being modeled off of and played by real-life actors.
I think it's more accurate to say it's "due to a lot of the characters being modeled after their real-life actors" rather than "being played by real-life actors", since the latter is a given, of course. XD But yeah, even if you change the voice actor, it can be a lot of money to keep the OG VA's face because of royalties and stuff like that.
Thats whats majorly fucking up the Judgment games too, considering the actor for Yagami's agency was restricting PC ports + is currently shutting down cause of a huge scandal with the founder
I love Shinada’s fighting style, just because I saw someone say that he fights “like a gas station crackhead” He also has a lot of moves that start with “My”, like his signature “My Meteor Tackle.” It shows that he’s a more undisciplined fighter
The idea of "Tanimura had a pretty complete arc in four" does have me thinking of his replacement as potentially like "Find a way to pull a guy like that into the dreamidy dream dream plot and then of Yakuza 5, which the writers might have been unsatisfied with, verses letting him have that and make a new guy tailored to that theme".
Shinada was my favorite part about Yakuza 5. Hes just a dude. Hes not a cop, hes not a ex yakuza, hes not current Yakuza, hes not a money lender, hes just a poor dude whos dream was unfortanatly crushed. This goofy man has be crying my eyes out towards the end of his section. Hes a weapons master which took me a while to get used too. He gets a few "Sturdy" weapons which never break and have there own unique movesets but its still better to eventually buy actually good weapons. Its a fun switch up from the common Yakuza formula of punch fighting. His baseball minigame is my third favorite. It actually made me fall in love with the batting center and Ive completed the batting center in every game since.
Ah Shinada, my goat. No spoilers or anything but this truly is the best section of the game for me. Amazing city, amazing characters, and the best Y5 has to offer imo.
My favorite part too! I actually never liked baseball, but after Y5 and Y6, I watched the World Baseball Classic last year and now I enjoy a new sport.
Shinada's finishing hold (pressing grab after landing a finishing blow for a command grab follow-up attack) is instrumental to his gameplay. It's easy guaranteed damage that also builds up heat for things like meteor tackles and heat actions and it knocks opponents down. Remember that there's a different one for each of the three hits of his rush combo. Also remember that pressing the grab button (circle) while holding an equipped weapon (not something you picked up, you'll just throw it) will cause you to do an alternate flurry attack, but it does cost more durability (which doesn't matter if it's infinite)
I think part of what's made this experience has been the "Nico, Tanimura's gone, he's really super gone. Gone forever" type comments up to this point, and how he either ignored or didn't register them. Just perfect.
Nico: I can’t handle the twists in Yakuza 5. Baba-chan is a bad guy all this time, Haruka is playable character, & Park-san’s ex-husband is Goro Majima!?! Well at least we get to see Tanimura in this chapter…Wait why we in the baseball stadium? Part-4 “Tatsuo Shinada” Nico:🤯
It also reinforces the notion that 'HARUKA CAN NOT BE LEFT ALONE FOR 2 MINUTES' even when she gets randomly discovered to become a Idol she ends up unknowingly involved in a multi-layer scheme by a criminal organization.
I feel like the Seven voice might do wonders for Shinada here, Nico. I mean the voice tends to work for rather horny characters and adlibs and as we all can see Shinada's a horndog lmao
Welcome to the most anticipated character in Y5, the Baseball man. We’re not kidding, this is the best part both story and character-wise. I actually tears-up many time throughout the chapter. It was THAT good. Also, remember that there’re 3 candidates for the next Omi alliance’s chairman right? The first is Watase (gigachad man who Kiryu met) and second being Katsuya (Akiyama’s cool antagonist). So where’s the third guy? Well, according to the conversation at 1:05:33 that guy is already dead. Yep, that’s it. F that guy who didn’t has model and screen time then
Welcome to the peak of Yakuza 5. This is my favourite protagonist in the series, and my favourite part of the game - a story that really does explore the best parts of this game's central theme of Dreams. Why we reach out towards them, how they shed light upon our lives, and how we carry on once our dreams flutter out of our reach. Welcome to Kineicho. Welcome, Tatsuo Shinada. It's good to see you.
There's something really funny about hearing each time Nico is convinced that Tanimura is the last playable character, for the video to then reach the end and show Shinada hero-posing alongside the other characters in the game's cover art.
That Nico is one of the BEST characters you'll ever meet. And he's voiced by Japanese Sephiroth, Morikawa Toshiyuki. Who is awesome and amazing. Enjoy!
I'm really hoping for jokes in the comments about how this is where Sephiroth goes when not annoying Cloud, how his life turned to shit after his defeat, or how the Black Meteria he wants so much is actually one of his baseballs.
As sad as it is that we won't be seeing Tanimura again, I honestly get why they wouldn't bring him back. If his story has been told and they felt that there was nothing more to add, then, technically speaking, what's the point? If they tried to shoehorn him in just for the sake of doing so, it would likely end up feeling like Kiryu in Y4, where he was so inconsequential to the plot, that had they cut him from the game, nothing would've been lost.
22:56 Technically even Sotenbori is a new city. Keep in mind that the first time Sotenbori was in Yakuza was Yakuza 2 and since then, you never been to Sotenbori so this is the first time you can see the city in the newer style (and then Y0 reused the city). Kamurocho would be the only reused city in this game
I want to point out a little touch they added for Shinada’s fighting style. Although it focuses on weapon use, he will refuse to use Baseball Bats to fight, because he respects the sport too much to sully its equipment with blood.
I really appreciated Nico’s opening talk about the whole Majima plot twist with Park. Because it was a very mature way to analyze it instead of just having a gut negative reaction like other people had without thinking too much about it
Finally rgg can stop hiding behind all those old-news legacy Yakuza characters they used as bait for fans in order to start the real game they set out to make: Shinada 5
And here we come to one of my favourite characters in the ENTIRETY of the Yakuza franchise. Shinada. I like his unarmed playstyle but he's extremely weapon-focused, given that he gets an infinite durability weapon to start. His story hits me really hard near the end and IMO he's one of the best characters ever in Yakuza. Kineicho is one of my favourite districts in the series as well. Like all the characters having a job (except Akiyama. Haruka has her idol stuff, Kiryu has taxi driving, Saejima has hunting), Shinada's 'job' is the batting cages lol.
Okay so, about *My Explosive Finish.* The one where after landing a heavy attack/triangle at the end of your combos, you press grab/circle It's one of Shinada's core moves in his unarmed style because frankly, *his unarmed style is janky* You should see it as his Double Finisher/Kiryu's Bounding Throw, very good to have. Btw, he's voiced by Sephiroth's Japanese Voice Actor. So yeah, life has been rough for Sephy.😮
I’m sorry to break it to you Nico, but while Tanimura does get mentioned on rare occasions, we never see him again. While some people think it’s because of the scandal his VA had, that’s not the truth, as said scandal wasn’t a thing until 2016, long after Yakuza 5 was released. No, most people agree that it’s likely that RGG thought Tanimura’s character arc was over and/or couldn’t figure out how to fit him into the story anymore. Add to that the fact that his VA was in high demand at the time, and it probably wasn’t worth the time or money to get him just for a cameo either. Now Shinada. I hope you like Baseball, because he lives and breathes it. So much so that he will refuse to use bats in combat. Anyways he is a huge pivot from the rest of the characters and has seemingly nothing to do with anything, but don’t worry, it’ll all make sense in due time. Just know that he is a fan favorite character despite his fighting style being…hard to grasp.
1:58 You're thinking of *Watase* who was definitely a notable guy during Kiryu's part, but it's been a while so kinda understandable you forgot. 3:11 You're thinking of *Morinaga* here, that guy who was among Daigo's bodyguards that turned traitor towards the end of Kiryu's part. 14:53 By this point RGG's protagonists and how they interact with money during their introductions has been used as a short-hand narrative device to more easily compare and contrast their circumstances: • Collecting money from someone (Kiryu in Yakuza Zero and Kiwami 1, Akiyama in Yakuza 4, Yagami and Kaito in Judgment, Tanimura in Y4 in the form of a bribe*) • Paying a debt collector (Majima in Zero, Shinada in Y5) • Making an earning (Majima in Kiwami 2 - Majima Saga, Tanimura listening to a horse race in Yakuza 4, Kiryu and Haruka in 5 interacting with their bank accounts) Interestingly it seems only Saejima bucks this trend, being too busy being in prison at the start of 4 and then going back to prison at the start of this game. His notable money-related interaction that would come close to this would be when Kiryu gave him clothes and money in Y4 to get to Kamurocho. 22:06 We have been to Kamurocho already in this game but only for a short time, during Saejima's introduction before he goes to Abashiri Prison. Again, it's been a while since Saejima's part so it's easy to forget. 42:39 That's a *pain relief plaster* by the way, and NOT a coin as some mistakenly believe. Roihi-Tsuboko by Nichiban is a popular brand that looks exactly like the type seen here. Some brands have tiny magnets, believed to relieve muscle fatigue. I guess they're trying to emphasize that Milky is at such an age (late 30+) that she'd be constantly using these which is why she forgot to remove them.
And now we've reached what I believe to be the best character in the game. And it's not that difficult to see why. I've anticipated your reactions to his part the most when you started this game. He's best boy.
Well... to be frank, Yakuza 5 came out before the og actor of Tanimura got into some scandel. Maybe he got too busy playing Phoenix Wright in the live action movie
I made this point last episode but just to reiterate. It is possible the writers of Y5 didn't intend for there to be such an age gap between Park and Majima. Majima's age wasn't as set in stone at the time. Some of the head writers only work on the main plots while the small detail, like characters birthdays and exact age, are done by other writers.
So... Mane people (myself included) mistakenly throught the reason Tanimura's didn't return was because of the scandal with his old va, but thats not quite true. The scandal came out AFTER Yakuza 5 and before 6. So I guess the only reason is that the developers thought his story was finished in 4 (he avenged his dad's death and brought justice). Saejima came back because he's Majima's bro, and Akiyama was simply too popular. So with that outta the way, let's say hello to our NEW protagonist: Tetsuo Shinada, the baseball man. He's comparably a loser compared to the reast of the cast, so personally, I was hoping you'd give him the Larry voice of all things. Fun fact, his va? The same Japanese voice actor for SEPHIROTH. Now I want to hear all sorts of jokes in the comments about how this is where Seph went when not annoying Cloud and how the Black Materia he keeps asking is part of his base ell collection lol.
character changes to Haruka Nicob: Wait what? character changes Akiyama Nicob: What the Hell? What? Sudden Akiyama? character changes to Shinada Nicob: What? What?
Honestly, I always imagined you'd voice shinada like sylvester stallone. Shinada acts like a moron, but he's actually very sharp and has an eye for details.
More like "Only Nico could still expect Tanimura to be in this game despite not being on the cover & Shinada is there instead." I don't know what he does to avoid seeing the cover for these games, but it's super effective.
I didn't know Tanimura liked baseball.
Not all Yakuza games are about the money Nico. It's about the Wyvern, yeah the Wyverns go Wyverns get a home run.
Time for the best part of the game.
Nico, since NO ONE ELSE has brought it up, FUTO MOMO the place where Milky works at? FUTO MOMO MEANS THICK THIGHS!
So welcome to Shinada, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking his story from start to finish is one of the greatest stories RGG Studios has ever written.
It's so funny that everyone did say Tanimura will not appear again due to his actor's allegation but somehow Nico did forget it, again. Classic Nico Bizzle the Dino Sizzle
A WALK-OFF Home Run basically means you hit the home run that wins the game right then and there. It's impossible for the other team to catch up so the game immediately ends.
Nico: *baffled that Tanimura isn't coming back*
Also Nico: *forgot the penguins already told him Tanimura wasn't coming back*
I believe he just thought the old Tanimura was gone and that the new actor that played him would continue his storyline in Yakuza 5
Wow, Tanimura changed his job!
And his name!
And his face!
Yup, classic Tanimura!
Tatsuya giving Shinada tips how to make food more delicious when Shinada cant even buy food
"WHO TF ARE YOU??" uhh one of the best Yakuza characters involved in one of the best personal stories. Buckle up it's awesome
Just saying. Having a playable character that is a scrapper and not a a trained fighter is a awesome change of pace
The ironic part here is, the broke character has a way to make money and Akiyama who is loaded barely has one.
Really ironic, huh?
Enter Shanada, the second greatest chucklefuck to walk the earth (The greatest is still a few games off)
I love this dude, He is the closest to a normal ass dude in this series and fights like one, being very scrappy and subbing in for Tanimura as the grappler, the deference is that he has a lot of ways to get opponents into a grab. He also doubles as the game's weapon master getting unique skills for weapons (Except baseball bats, he would never dare tarnish the sport) also having health comparable to *Haruka*.
His personality rounds this out, both relatable due to money troubles (making healing items a luxury) and his strange relationship with his dept collector Takasugi.
Shanada is a personal favorite of mine, and singlehandedly got me to like Baseball (Go Phillies)
I think I can guess who that greatest is! I almost feel Shinada was a prototype for that character given his approach, poor living and personality
Who woulda thought Sephirot would cut his hair and become a baseball player?
I'm just impressed that Nico was genuinely surprised that Tanamura wasn't in this game. Good job on not spoiling him, penguins!
I Can FINALLY Bring this up! Say hello to the best Yakuza Character ever. Shinada. But also say hello to the final Yakuza 0 Style Reference. As you might have gleamed, the Styles that both Majima and Kiryu have in Yakuza 0 directly reference the playable characters of Yakuza 5.
Brawler and Thug are basically weak versions of Majima and Kiryu, makes sense
Dragon and Mad Dog are obvious references to Majima and Kiryu as they are in future games
However there's still 4 Styles unaccounted for, and we have 4 playable characters not mention yet that are in Yakuza 5
Rush Style - Akiyama
Beast Style - Saejima
Breaker Style - Haruka
Slugger Style - Shinada
I cannot express how cool this was when i first played Yakuza 5 and it clicked.
It's beast style, not tiger. Or am I missing something
@@Kochen51 you're right, I just siad the wrong thing, thats my bad
That's such a cool detail, didn't even think until now that those styles were inspired by Y5
Damn Tanimura got recasted again!
So yeah, no Tanimura this game. Now you might think that it's because of the whole voice actor cocaine controversy (which actually wasn't cocaine and the dude was innocent), that Tanimura didn't return this game. But that controversy happened a while *after* Yakuza 5 released. So the real truth is, RGG just didn't feel like bringing Tanimura back lol. I guess they had no other story left to tell with him.
Shinada here though is really great though. His combat style is weird but his character and portion of the story is a fan favorite. And also, Shinada's VA here is Toshiyuki Morikawa aka the Japanese voice actor for SEPHIROTH! Yes that deep fricking Sephiroth voice is also now this high-pitched, smut writing himbo character. Morikawa really is talented.
Sephiroth: Remember Cloud, rule number one is to always have a secret sports star identity.
*Important Combat Notes:* Alright, so Shinada is a _strange_ one. His bare hands gimmick are grabs similar to Saejima but specifically grab tackles. His red heat mechanic “My Meteor Tackle” revolves around this quirk of his do do an invincible running tackle that *only starts draining heat when you are carrying an enemy.* The goal is to _ram/chuck the carried enemy into other enemies or slam them into a wall or light attack to knock them into the ground to perform heat action._
But you might be surprised to know, Shinada’s bare hand combat is kinda trash I am ngl. Can you beat the game with it? Yeah but it alone is quite janky and weak to play if we are being brutally honest. *The grabs may struggle to connect in certain scenarios, bosses tend to be hit or miss in trying to use “My Meteor Tackle” on them, and his natural bare hand combos strings suck.*
This is, believe or not, intentional game design for better or worse depending how you see it lol. *Shinada is canonically way weaker than the likes of Akiyama and especially Kiryu/Saejima. Why? He is just a regular dude, depressed and little to no combat experience with no motivation at the start of Part 4.* For immersion reasons, this makes a lot of sense as the *game tends to actually imply time and time again in the story that Shinada is pretty weak and not a legend, because *he really is just a normal person with only his job and broken dream. *
So _what is broken in his kit?_ Weapons. This is where the weapon leveling system actually makes sense because the game ENCOURAGES you to use them often. *That sturdy iron pipe you just got? It is part of a set of infinite durability weapons that corresponds to Shinada EXCLUSIVE MOVESET for each sturdy weapon type.* Each of these movesets he has are GREAT in comparison to his bare hands kit.
His unique weapon movesets are: *One Handed (your sturdy iron pipe), Knives, Swords, and Poles.* Those last dlc packs I had you keep for Shinada help assist him since they have some useful stuff for Shinada.
One huge problem Shinada has is that you don’t gain the rest of his sturdy weapons in his main story. *They all are in his “The Cost of a Swing” sidestory mode sub-missions making HIS SIDE STORY VERY IMPORTANT to his combat experience.*
I actually strongly urge you to try to do his side story’s sub-missions as early as possible UNTIL you get all 4 Sturdy Weapons in it and then you can pace yourself then. It's crucial for you to unlock his full kit as Shinada usually doesn’t have a lot of money to buy/repair weapons early game and weapons in yakuza games break fast, so infinite durability weapons are a must imo.
I think a big combat tip to note is that... his heat actions are very useful. Any heat action that causes a "wallsplat" is extremely useful because it gives shinada a chance to taunt and refund some heat, before going for a finishing hold to confirm more damage off of it. They're also a way to keep Shinada safe and confirm some reliable damage, and he has MANY ways to trigger hard-hitting heat actions from revelations and weapons.
In particular, the one where Shinada picks up an opponent by the shoulders and throws them against a wall is very, very handy, since the first QTE leads straight into a wallsplat, where you have enough time to taunt, then do a light and then heavy for a free finishing hold. If you position Shinada just right, the 3rd finisher into a finishing hold can hit an opponent as they're picking themselves back up, and lead to more free damage.
This is definitely going to be helpful
Well, I did find his Meteor Tackle to be effective against bosses who themselves use weapons and thus are able to block Shinada's knife attacks. Pretty strange that for me it was better to use weapons against unarmed opponents and vice versa.
Yeah, as someone who doesn't enjoy using the weapons much outside of Heat Actions (and also cheesing with guns when possible), Shinada might be my least favourite playing character in the entire series.
Goodbye Tanimura, so say hello to Shinada, aka, Baseball Man. He is a horny loser who we love very dearly. An absolute goofball with a heart of gold, though a bit selfish at times.
One thing about you'd probably find the most interesting thing about him is his voice actor, Toshiyuki Morikawa. He has voiced a lot of famous characters, including Dante from DMC, Leon from Resident Evil, a character from the part 4 anime of Jojo, and lastly, probably his most famous role.... Final Fantasy's very own fan favorite back stabber, Sephiroth. (Que One Winged Angel)
He is also the director of an actor agency called Axl One. This agency is also the same one Takaya Kuroda, Kiryu's actor, works at. So Morikawa is Kuroda's boss, which is funny considering who they each voice in this game.
Edit: A few corrections I'd like to point out for you, Nico.
1. The lieutenant you're thinking of is not a lieutenant but the captain of the Omi Alliance, and Watase is his name.
2. The traitor guy's name is Morinaga, not Matsunaga.
3. Technically, we have seen Kamurocho in this game. It was right at the start of Saejima's part before he went back to prison.
This last one is not a correction, just a little fun thing to point out. Katsuya is the Omi's Chief of HQ. Aoyama was also a Chief of HQ for the Tojo, so getting to meet both from each side is kinda cool.
It's still crazy to me that the guy who voiced SE-PHI-ROTH is the *same guy* who voices SHI-NA-DA. Man's talented to have that range of voice acting.
I gotta say, Tanimura getting plastic surgery, becoming a pro baseball player and then ending up broke and horny is definitely a weird plot development, but let’s see where it goes!
Seriously tho, you’re not alone Nico lol. Shinada is a very hard left turn for everyone who plays this game. Believe it or not, though, he very much is a fan favorite! I love his “everyman” charm and relatability, which is a refreshing change of pace considering we’ve played as legends and a super popular idol so far lol. After playing as Haruka who is currently living her dream, now we get to play as someone who lost theirs and is now looking for a new purpose. As for his gameplay, THIS is basically what the weapons mastering system was introduced for lol. He is THE weapons guy, so be sure to use a variety of them as him, especially poles and knives. His unarmed moveset takes some getting used to but it can be pretty fun as well if a bit quirky, just be sure to make good use of chaining heat actions and his My Meteor Tackle and you’ll be good!
So yeah, have fun in Nagoya (another brand new location)! Oh right, when you get the chance, try picking up a baseball bat as a weapon if you see one in a fight, you won’t regret it!
Edit: Yeah you’re right Nico, baseball is HUGE in Japan. It’s basically like how Brazil is with soccer/football, they’re crazy about it lol.
Edit 2: btw Nico, My Meteor Tackle actually goes way further than you think if you don’t interrupt it! You can use it to ram other enemies before knocking them down, throwing em or shoving them into a wall
I love how excellently this first segment of Shinada sets him up as a regular dude. Up until now, whenever we see a debt collection for a leading man, it's always to the benefit of THEIR image (Kiryu looks badass in 0 or Y1, Akiyama looks charming in Y4, Yagami gets to show off his badge in Judgement) but Shinada doesn't get that. In fact, he's such a nobody, he doesn't even get harassed by an actual Yakuza, just an acquaintance. It's such an awesome way of showing how out of his depth he is in a game with a massive crime conspiracy and sets up his entrance to that fray perfectly
Yakuza 4: Play the first three chapters as brand new characters, and the fourth chapter as a well-known character.
Yakuza 5: Play the first three chapters as well-known characters, and the fourth chapter as a brand new character.
during the y4 LP, after being told by the comments: "yeah its a shame tanimura doesnt come back to the series ever again"
nicos brain throughout the y5 LP: TANIMURA IS STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT
To be fair, we lie to Nico a lot.
@@QuizMasterEntertainment Remember the Great Cuccos incident of Breath of the Wild? The lying penguins saw their opportunity & took it.
Last we saw Tanimura, he entered a car with Date. So famously Date not only kept losing Haruka in K1, he also lost Tanimura.
Nico really gave Shinada the Tanimura voice too XD
For those who don't know baseball terminology: A "Walk-Off Home Run" is a home run that ends the game. So named because the outfielders start walking off the field as the batter is running the bases since the games already over.
My name is Tatsuo Shinada. I'm 37 years old. My house is in the southwest section of Kineicho, where all the buildings are, and I am not married. I work as a nightlife journalist for the red light district, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I'm in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before going to bed, I usually have no problems sleeping until morning. Just like a baby, I wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up. I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn't lose to anyone.
Cant wait for nico to be able to get this reference
I forgot that Sephiroth's JP VA also voices Yoshikage Kira and Ashiya Douman. He has such a distinct voice, but with Shinada, it's different sounding
*chew*
Welcome to one of the most well-loved characters of the series
Tatsuo Shinada The down on his luck Red light reviewer and ex baseball player Who barely knows how to fight
I hope that you come to love him as much as I do throughout these chapters Nico.
Yeah so you were half right and half wrong. They _did_ save the last protag to be the new one, just that there were 2 new ones lmao.
So you are most likely wondering why Tanimura didn’t come back, it ISN’T the fact of the OG va’s controversy with the drug allegations. *That happened WAY AFTER Yakuza 5 in 2016, 4 years after Y5 which is ALSO the launch of Yakuza 6.* There is no connection whatsoever that Tanimura was “replaced” from being a protag in Y5 from that drama as it didn’t even happen yet.
_So what would be the actual reason he didn’t come back?_ The most likely theory, *was that he was too expensive for RGG at the time to reasonably do so.* His OG va was very popular and considering this was before RGG blew up in popularity from Y0, the *more accurate assumption is that RGG didn’t plan to bring him back for Yakuza 5 during the time.*
Remember, RGG old yakuza games tend to have a lot of celebrities/famous actors play side characters which most of the time either die or only played their character for that game. Akiyama and Saejima came back because their VAs aren’t as _nearly_ expensive in comparison to Tanimura’s. *Newer games tend to have some of them like Kimura (Yagami’s VA) and another future game famous actor because they were able to afford bringing them back for later games and popularity on their side.*
Not to mention Tanimura as a character is less popular in general than Akiyama or Saejima for both hemispheres. *For Akiyama and Saejima, it made complete sense to bring them back at a lower cost too.*
There’s also the _supportive theory they couldn’t think of a reason to bring him back effectively._ And this makes sense too because since he was the most complete character by the end of Yakuza 4, having little to no loose ends. *Akiyama's lack of content in Yakuza 5 itself kinda shows that being likely considering he felt like he was shoved into Haruka’s Part as a dual protag, meaning RGG could have wanted to avoid that considering how Akiyama’s Part in the game was much shallower than the others in terms of content.*
So what’s the future of Tanimura? *Well he has been recast for Yakuza 4 Remastered, he could make a return as the devs bothered to put him in their mobile game “Yakuza Online”,* but has yet to reappear in the main series, likely because of what happened to the OG VA during Yakuza 6’s launch period. The character can totally come back if RGG wants to bring him
*TDLR:* Drug scandal of Tanimura’s OG VA has nothing to do with his disappearance after Y4 because it happened during Y6. More likely because of being too expensive and not given good enough reasons to bring back from having a complete character arc than Saejima/Akiyama. Also least popular from the other 2 returning protags.
Also, just to add to this, there's also the fact that Y5 nearly didn't reach the West at all during this period. So even if Tanimura was more popular in the west, this really wasn't a factor they would've been considering.
For a while, the western fans felt like they were a hairs width from losing access to the franchise entirely during this period, as it was before Zero made it truly feel like they had the attention of the Western audience from the devs perspective.
It took years to cross the gap, never got considered for a physical release (during a time period where this was considerably less common) and was funded by Sony due to fan requests (also a very rare situation in general).
My memory is not the best, but that's how I remember it going down, as someone who found the franchise when Y3 got released.
Thanks for sharing, I never knew that was the real reason, and it makes sense.
idk, the whole idea that they couldn't think of anything to do with Tanimura feels ridiculous to me, because, imo, Tanimura is by far the EASIEST character out of Yakuza 4's playable characters to fit into future games stories, like having a guy who's a cop who (unlike Date) is actually capable of winning fights and who has significant ties to Little Asia is INSANELY versatile. I'll be honest, Tanimura is SUCH a versatile character, that it frankly feels weird that he's never even brought up again since there are so many situations throughout the entire series where it really makes no sense for Tanimura to NOT be involved in it, like even with just Yakuza 5, the fact that Tanimura isn't even a side character who helps the playable characters figure out what to do in regards to all these conspiracies is frankly insane to me
Akiyama feels like he's in Yakuza 5 just so Haruka can have a whole part but you still have an excuse to never be TOO far away from some action. I guess they had cold feet about the whole "an entire part of the game with zero fighting" thing.
Every time Nico said Tanimura throughout this playthrough I've been simultaneously laughing and feeling sad lol. But I think you'll like Shinada, he's a good, likeable dude.
Trust me I did too, the whole time I was like "should I tell him?"
Every time just had me more & more excited for the reaction because switching out Tanimura for Shinada is possibly the biggest curveball the series ever pulls on the player (as long as you don't look at the ensemble cast art too often like Nico clearly doesn't)
@@Triforce_of_Doomhow does he even avoid looking at it? It’s on the cover and the loading menu, which is impossible to avoid unless you’re closing your eyes when you log into your PlayStation
@@jenniferrannila1414 So glad it wasn't spoiled for him. His confusion about it was pretty entertaining lol
@@DiarrheaIsUnbreakable seeing it in passing and stopping to closely analyze it are two very different thing
Here we have Tatsuo Shinada, the broke and horny baseball man. He is voiced by the legendary Toshiyuki Morikawa, whom you might know as Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Dante from Devil May Cry, Isshin Kurosaki from Bleach, and so many other roles.
We’re now in Nagoya, which is in Central Japan, so it’s essentially the midpoint between Tokyo and Osaka. This fictional town of Kineicho (“kee-nay-cho”) is based on the Nagoya district of, no kidding, Nishiki!
With all the other names like Nagasu (Nakasu), Tsukimino (Susukino), Sotenbori (Dotonbori), and Kamurocho (Kabukicho), the name Kineicho is nothing like Nishiki probably because we already had a major character named Nishiki.
By the way, when you eventually do the hostess stuff, DEFINITELY do a karaoke date because his ad-libs and dancing while the girl sings her song are fucking GOLD.
Well Nico to qoute Tehsnakerer, thats the best character in the game and the greatest chucklefuck thats ever lived
Nico the whole LP: Can't wait to play Tanimura, that guy's awesome. Love that dude.
Shinada: When you're through with me you won't even remember that name.
Okay, real talk. The start of Tatsuo's story was really funny. He seems like a fun goofy character.
Fun fact: The Futo Momo Club's name on the sign is read "Fu" (the sound of a sigh) "To" (and) "Momo" (peach) and the whole thing together sounds like the word for thighs.
Shinada is interesting as a character for being a normal dude, even compared to Akiyama. He has no trained fighting style or the like, just grabbing and tackling and anything else like most people would. And of course, he'd grab anything he could use as a weapon, which is where you'll want to focus. Definitely keep the pipe, as having an infinite weapon is handy. Also, try picking up a bat off the ground during a fight. You'll see something interesting happen that shows off more of Shinada's personality.
To be clear, Shinada has special movesets and heat actions with One Handed Light Weapons, Knives, Katanas, and Poles. He does not have special movesets with ALL weapons.
OH, THAT’S A BASEBALL!!
"WHO TF IS THAT?"
He's the best character in the game Nico.
Also, Tanimura is DONE with a capital D. We actually never see him again in the series. At most, he's mentioned a couple of times by other people but that's it.
I got CotD?! Let's GOOO!!
*slow clap* bra fucking vo.
O H ! T H A T ' S A B A S E B A L L ! !
not only does Shinada get unique weapon attacks but unique weapon heat actions al well!
I like how despite living a struggling lifestyle in debt as a smut writer, Shinada is like a walking encyclopaedia when it comes to baseball like when he examined the bat and went into details. Then there is how he hasn't really lost his touch when he needs to use the batting centre to hit a home run when he is low on cash.
yeah, I feel really bad for the guy, like he's definitely not dumb, Shinada is probably one of the most intelligent playable characters in the series and I adore how Y5 portrays his depression and overall lack of motivation, since he is NOT a loser, but just straight up doesn't know what to do with himself anymore and I love how RGG chose to focus on this man who isn't a godlike fighter or charismatic personality who can easily rally people to his cause, he's just a really depressed guy and I think that's cool
29:22 Damn, this Sonic Rush soundtrack (Jeh Jeh Rocket) brings back memories. I used to play that game all the time on my DS.
Fun fact : Shinada have some essence moves to learn but when a move starts with "My" that basically means its not something you'd learn from Komaki or anyone with a knack for martial arts. It's Shinada's own personal move basically.
Let's put the technically card for a minute.
Technically we did get 2 new playable characters but we got one brand new character
And now, for the best protagonist in Yakuza history..
i love that shinadas story starts like an anime lol
Yea, Shinada's baseball game is very different from every other character in the game. Makes sense, given he is a former baseball pro so he has a far better read on where the ball will go and when to swing. Everyone else does it as a fun distraction so they just have to use some intuition, Shinada has a lot of experience to rely on.
I love how part of Shinada's unarmed combo he throws a baseball swing in there.
1:24:19
Select your bat.
Select your swing.
You have selected POWER DRIVE.
Ball is in: Majima's brain.
Would you like to play again?
You have selected: No.
Just to point out, Katsuya isn't the head of the Omi he's the captain of HQ. It basically means that he's the right-hand man of the actual head of the Omi who we still haven't met properly
The one dying of Lung Cancer, right?
PEAK FICTION IS HERE
So yeah, the 4th section isn't Tanimura, but actually a new character, Shinada. Which means I have to break the bad news, unfortunately Tanimura's only appearance was in Yakuza 4, and he does not appear in any future titles besides Yakuza Online (even so it was only after the remaster). Now, as you may remember, Tanimura's original actor, Hiroshige Narimiya, retired from acting due to allegations of him using drugs, and so many think that is the reason he isn't in future games. The thing is, however, all of that happened in 2016, years after 5, 0, and Ishin were released, so the reasoning behind his exclusion is still up in the air.
This brings me to something you may have noticed when playing this series, and it's something a lot of fans bring up; it's that characters only showing up for one game and never coming back or even being mentioned in future titles is fairly common, mainly due to a lot of the characters being modeled off of and played by real-life actors.
I think it's more accurate to say it's "due to a lot of the characters being modeled after their real-life actors" rather than "being played by real-life actors", since the latter is a given, of course. XD
But yeah, even if you change the voice actor, it can be a lot of money to keep the OG VA's face because of royalties and stuff like that.
@Omeyrolx_theChessmaster yeah that's fair lol.
Thats whats majorly fucking up the Judgment games too, considering the actor for Yagami's agency was restricting PC ports + is currently shutting down cause of a huge scandal with the founder
"I can't imagine it's not Tanimura."
It was in fact, not Tanimura.
I love Shinada’s fighting style, just because I saw someone say that he fights “like a gas station crackhead”
He also has a lot of moves that start with “My”, like his signature “My Meteor Tackle.” It shows that he’s a more undisciplined fighter
The idea of "Tanimura had a pretty complete arc in four" does have me thinking of his replacement as potentially like "Find a way to pull a guy like that into the dreamidy dream dream plot and then of Yakuza 5, which the writers might have been unsatisfied with, verses letting him have that and make a new guy tailored to that theme".
Shinada was my favorite part about Yakuza 5. Hes just a dude. Hes not a cop, hes not a ex yakuza, hes not current Yakuza, hes not a money lender, hes just a poor dude whos dream was unfortanatly crushed. This goofy man has be crying my eyes out towards the end of his section.
Hes a weapons master which took me a while to get used too. He gets a few "Sturdy" weapons which never break and have there own unique movesets but its still better to eventually buy actually good weapons. Its a fun switch up from the common Yakuza formula of punch fighting.
His baseball minigame is my third favorite. It actually made me fall in love with the batting center and Ive completed the batting center in every game since.
Ah Shinada, my goat. No spoilers or anything but this truly is the best section of the game for me. Amazing city, amazing characters, and the best Y5 has to offer imo.
My favorite part too! I actually never liked baseball, but after Y5 and Y6, I watched the World Baseball Classic last year and now I enjoy a new sport.
You were expecting Tanimura, but it was him, Shinada! Entirely new character!
Shinada's finishing hold (pressing grab after landing a finishing blow for a command grab follow-up attack) is instrumental to his gameplay. It's easy guaranteed damage that also builds up heat for things like meteor tackles and heat actions and it knocks opponents down. Remember that there's a different one for each of the three hits of his rush combo. Also remember that pressing the grab button (circle) while holding an equipped weapon (not something you picked up, you'll just throw it) will cause you to do an alternate flurry attack, but it does cost more durability (which doesn't matter if it's infinite)
Nico: Alright time to see Tanimura!
Yakuza 5: TIME FOR BASEBALL MAN
I think part of what's made this experience has been the "Nico, Tanimura's gone, he's really super gone. Gone forever" type comments up to this point, and how he either ignored or didn't register them. Just perfect.
Nico: I can’t handle the twists in Yakuza 5. Baba-chan is a bad guy all this time, Haruka is playable character, & Park-san’s ex-husband is Goro Majima!?! Well at least we get to see Tanimura in this chapter…Wait why we in the baseball stadium?
Part-4 “Tatsuo Shinada”
Nico:🤯
It also reinforces the notion that 'HARUKA CAN NOT BE LEFT ALONE FOR 2 MINUTES' even when she gets randomly discovered to become a Idol she ends up unknowingly involved in a multi-layer scheme by a criminal organization.
Shinada, my beloved.
Tanimura is gone. Reduced to nothing, nada, Shinada
I feel like the Seven voice might do wonders for Shinada here, Nico. I mean the voice tends to work for rather horny characters and adlibs and as we all can see Shinada's a horndog lmao
29:18 Oh Wow! Anyone else notice Jeh Jeh Rocket from Sonic Rush playing in the background!? That's actually suprising to me!😊
Ladies and gentlemen..... we got him. Now the REAL game begins
That's Toshiyuki Morikawa voicing shinada, also known as JAPANESE SEPHIROTH!
Welcome to the most anticipated character in Y5, the Baseball man. We’re not kidding, this is the best part both story and character-wise. I actually tears-up many time throughout the chapter. It was THAT good.
Also, remember that there’re 3 candidates for the next Omi alliance’s chairman right? The first is Watase (gigachad man who Kiryu met) and second being Katsuya (Akiyama’s cool antagonist). So where’s the third guy?
Well, according to the conversation at 1:05:33 that guy is already dead. Yep, that’s it. F that guy who didn’t has model and screen time then
We interrupt your regularly scheduled japanese crime drama starring big larger-than-life badasses to bring you... baseball!
Welcome to the peak of Yakuza 5. This is my favourite protagonist in the series, and my favourite part of the game - a story that really does explore the best parts of this game's central theme of Dreams. Why we reach out towards them, how they shed light upon our lives, and how we carry on once our dreams flutter out of our reach.
Welcome to Kineicho. Welcome, Tatsuo Shinada. It's good to see you.
There's something really funny about hearing each time Nico is convinced that Tanimura is the last playable character, for the video to then reach the end and show Shinada hero-posing alongside the other characters in the game's cover art.
That Nico is one of the BEST characters you'll ever meet. And he's voiced by Japanese Sephiroth, Morikawa Toshiyuki. Who is awesome and amazing. Enjoy!
I believe he also does the JP voice of Dante from DMC5
I'm really hoping for jokes in the comments about how this is where Sephiroth goes when not annoying Cloud, how his life turned to shit after his defeat, or how the Black Meteria he wants so much is actually one of his baseballs.
@@caitsith3.0 Yup. And he's Leon Kennedy as well.
@@legacyofthephoenix6059 HA!!
First of all, I love Shinada, he's just so much fun.
Second of all, Takasugi looks like he could be Kuze's nephew or some kinda distant relative
And now Nico is at the best part of Yakuza 5's story imo
Time for the best charactrer in the game.
Here he is my goat I love Shinada so much I hope you will come to like this man just about half as much as I do Nico
If you can believe it, this guy's va is also Sephiroth
As sad as it is that we won't be seeing Tanimura again, I honestly get why they wouldn't bring him back. If his story has been told and they felt that there was nothing more to add, then, technically speaking, what's the point? If they tried to shoehorn him in just for the sake of doing so, it would likely end up feeling like Kiryu in Y4, where he was so inconsequential to the plot, that had they cut him from the game, nothing would've been lost.
I just gotta say, I FUCKING LOVE Shinada
22:56 Technically even Sotenbori is a new city. Keep in mind that the first time Sotenbori was in Yakuza was Yakuza 2 and since then, you never been to Sotenbori so this is the first time you can see the city in the newer style (and then Y0 reused the city).
Kamurocho would be the only reused city in this game
I want to point out a little touch they added for Shinada’s fighting style. Although it focuses on weapon use, he will refuse to use Baseball Bats to fight, because he respects the sport too much to sully its equipment with blood.
Majima hit park for killing their baby and not even running it by him first? Oh, that makes sense. No wonder he went psycho. Park is disgusting
Yeah tell me your hateful without telling me.
This game has a literal r*pist, murderer, human trafficker in it and you think the 18 year old girl getting abortion is the most disgusting thing?
I really appreciated Nico’s opening talk about the whole Majima plot twist with Park. Because it was a very mature way to analyze it instead of just having a gut negative reaction like other people had without thinking too much about it
Finally rgg can stop hiding behind all those old-news legacy Yakuza characters they used as bait for fans in order to start the real game they set out to make:
Shinada 5
And here we come to one of my favourite characters in the ENTIRETY of the Yakuza franchise. Shinada. I like his unarmed playstyle but he's extremely weapon-focused, given that he gets an infinite durability weapon to start. His story hits me really hard near the end and IMO he's one of the best characters ever in Yakuza. Kineicho is one of my favourite districts in the series as well.
Like all the characters having a job (except Akiyama. Haruka has her idol stuff, Kiryu has taxi driving, Saejima has hunting), Shinada's 'job' is the batting cages lol.
Nico last stream: "i'm assuming it's tanimura"
The entire stream chat: *Knowing Smile*
Okay so, about *My Explosive Finish.*
The one where after landing a heavy attack/triangle at the end of your combos, you press grab/circle
It's one of Shinada's core moves in his unarmed style because frankly, *his unarmed style is janky*
You should see it as his Double Finisher/Kiryu's Bounding Throw, very good to have.
Btw, he's voiced by Sephiroth's Japanese Voice Actor. So yeah, life has been rough for Sephy.😮
I’m sorry to break it to you Nico, but while Tanimura does get mentioned on rare occasions, we never see him again. While some people think it’s because of the scandal his VA had, that’s not the truth, as said scandal wasn’t a thing until 2016, long after Yakuza 5 was released. No, most people agree that it’s likely that RGG thought Tanimura’s character arc was over and/or couldn’t figure out how to fit him into the story anymore. Add to that the fact that his VA was in high demand at the time, and it probably wasn’t worth the time or money to get him just for a cameo either.
Now Shinada. I hope you like Baseball, because he lives and breathes it. So much so that he will refuse to use bats in combat. Anyways he is a huge pivot from the rest of the characters and has seemingly nothing to do with anything, but don’t worry, it’ll all make sense in due time. Just know that he is a fan favorite character despite his fighting style being…hard to grasp.
1:58 You're thinking of *Watase* who was definitely a notable guy during Kiryu's part, but it's been a while so kinda understandable you forgot.
3:11 You're thinking of *Morinaga* here, that guy who was among Daigo's bodyguards that turned traitor towards the end of Kiryu's part.
14:53
By this point RGG's protagonists and how they interact with money during their introductions has been used as a short-hand narrative device to more easily compare and contrast their circumstances:
• Collecting money from someone (Kiryu in Yakuza Zero and Kiwami 1, Akiyama in Yakuza 4, Yagami and Kaito in Judgment, Tanimura in Y4 in the form of a bribe*)
• Paying a debt collector (Majima in Zero, Shinada in Y5)
• Making an earning (Majima in Kiwami 2 - Majima Saga, Tanimura listening to a horse race in Yakuza 4, Kiryu and Haruka in 5 interacting with their bank accounts)
Interestingly it seems only Saejima bucks this trend, being too busy being in prison at the start of 4 and then going back to prison at the start of this game. His notable money-related interaction that would come close to this would be when Kiryu gave him clothes and money in Y4 to get to Kamurocho.
22:06 We have been to Kamurocho already in this game but only for a short time, during Saejima's introduction before he goes to Abashiri Prison. Again, it's been a while since Saejima's part so it's easy to forget.
42:39 That's a *pain relief plaster* by the way, and NOT a coin as some mistakenly believe. Roihi-Tsuboko by Nichiban is a popular brand that looks exactly like the type seen here.
Some brands have tiny magnets, believed to relieve muscle fatigue. I guess they're trying to emphasize that Milky is at such an age (late 30+) that she'd be constantly using these which is why she forgot to remove them.
Japan LOVES baseball.
Heck, Nintendo owned the Seattle Mariners and still has a 10% ownership over the team today.
And now we've reached what I believe to be the best character in the game. And it's not that difficult to see why. I've anticipated your reactions to his part the most when you started this game. He's best boy.
Yep Tanimura is effectively dead but reincarnated as Yagami
Best boy is here.
Well... to be frank, Yakuza 5 came out before the og actor of Tanimura got into some scandel. Maybe he got too busy playing Phoenix Wright in the live action movie
I made this point last episode but just to reiterate. It is possible the writers of Y5 didn't intend for there to be such an age gap between Park and Majima. Majima's age wasn't as set in stone at the time. Some of the head writers only work on the main plots while the small detail, like characters birthdays and exact age, are done by other writers.
So... Mane people (myself included) mistakenly throught the reason Tanimura's didn't return was because of the scandal with his old va, but thats not quite true. The scandal came out AFTER Yakuza 5 and before 6. So I guess the only reason is that the developers thought his story was finished in 4 (he avenged his dad's death and brought justice). Saejima came back because he's Majima's bro, and Akiyama was simply too popular.
So with that outta the way, let's say hello to our NEW protagonist: Tetsuo Shinada, the baseball man. He's comparably a loser compared to the reast of the cast, so personally, I was hoping you'd give him the Larry voice of all things. Fun fact, his va? The same Japanese voice actor for SEPHIROTH. Now I want to hear all sorts of jokes in the comments about how this is where Seph went when not annoying Cloud and how the Black Materia he keeps asking is part of his base ell collection lol.
Stupid autocorrect btw
Who is he? Only the best character in the Yakuza games ever
character changes to Haruka
Nicob: Wait what?
character changes Akiyama
Nicob: What the Hell? What? Sudden Akiyama?
character changes to Shinada
Nicob: What? What?
Honestly, I always imagined you'd voice shinada like sylvester stallone.
Shinada acts like a moron, but he's actually very sharp and has an eye for details.
*Who’s that Yakuza?*
Nico: IT’S TANIMURA!!!
*It’s Tatsuo Shinada*
Nico: FUUUUUUUU-
Only Nico could still expect Tanimura to be in this game despite constantly being told his actor retired from acting
Yeah, Japan doesn't like replacing actors if they can help it
That was after Yakuza 5 though, wasn't it? That scandal that caused him to retire hadn't happened yet.
More like "Only Nico could still expect Tanimura to be in this game despite not being on the cover & Shinada is there instead."
I don't know what he does to avoid seeing the cover for these games, but it's super effective.
Kiryu: Tender Cleveage!