| NOTE: Some info are copied from his HB page, which was created and written by me. |
Hi there, welcome to another of my NPG proposals. Today it's another Like a Dragon candidate by me (same old habit). This time I'm gonna bring a widely loved mentor in the franchise, who acted like an older brother to Kazuma Kiryu. I initially considered him as a HB but I think he may not fail that hard. Please welcome Osamu Kashiwagi!
What's The Work?
Like a Dragon (formerly known as Yakuza in the West) is an action beat 'em up (later turn-based) drama video game franchise created by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. The games take place in various locations in Japan (and to an extent, Hawaii). It features many selfless heroes who did their best to stop any possible threats who could have harmed the large sum of innocents. They also did not hesitate to get along with other people and improve their lives.
Who is He?
Osamu Kashiwagi is a major character of the franchise. He was the captain of Kazama Family, the mentor and brother figure of Kazuma Kiryu and Akira Nishikiyama. He was also the leader of HLA (Honest Living Association), where he desired to give ex-yakuza chances of honest careers. After his "death", he moved to Isezaki Ijincho to open his bar called Survive Bar, where Ichiban and his party frequently visited.
What Has He Done?
Yakuza Saga
In an unknown point of time, he rented the Kamuro Castle and founded Honest Living Association, so that he could recruit many ex-yakuza who had nowhere to go and gave them honest careers. Therefore, he was the first person to attempt to do so, before the Great Dissolution, which reformed an even larger scale of ex-yakuza.
In Yakuza 0, When Kazama was framed and imprisoned by Sohei Dojima, he temporarily took charge of the Kazama family, maintaining the family's stability in Kazama's absence. He then helped Kiryu in proving his innocence and tried his best to find the man behind the murder of a yakuza thug. When Goro Majima came to Kamurocho to search for Nishiki, he fought him in order to protect Nishiki from being possibly threatened. After knowing about Majima's true intentions, he let him do the mission without interfering. When Kiryu and Nishiki came to the Nikkyo Consortium wharf to stop Shibusawa and Dojima family, he provided sufficient backup for them by sending some of his men to let the two focus on the main threats.
In Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami, he maintained the Kazama family and protected it from the Dojima family, even after Sohei Dojima's death, keeping the family stronger than ever. When Kiryu, Kazama, Haruka and Terada came to the wharf to stop Futoshi Shimano and his men, he then brought many Kazama family members to stop the goons from causing chaos so that Kazama and Kiryu could stop Shimano himself. After Kazama's death, he then became the patriarch of Kazama family, which he kept doing charitable works in Kazama's behalf, such as actively funding the Emoto clinic, so that the doctor could cure patients without charge.
A year later, upon the Tojo Clan civil war, he helped Goro Majima in in finding the true killer of Uematsu as well as exposing his scheme, who turned out to be Kei Ibuchi, a power hungry crime boss. Following Yukio Terada's presumed death, he helped the Tojo Clan and the main heroes in preventing possible gang wars. Notably when he sent out 300 Kazama family men across Kamurocho to help Daigo defeat the main threats.
After the events of Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2, he became the Tojo Clan captain in order to help Daigo in stabilizing the clan, as well as trying to prevent any possible gang wars. He also helped Daigo in protecting the Morning Glory Orphanage from the Black Monday, as well as the corrupted politicians, from being evicted. After his presumed death, many of his subordinates strived to maintain his legacy of giving the ex-yakuza their honest careers, helping more ex-yakuza getting honest careers, notably the Siren Bar Owner, who became a bar owner as well as the mentor of the vigilante Jin Kuwana.
Like a Dragon Saga
After surviving the gunshots, he moved to Isezaki Ijincho to open a bar called Survive, where many heroes frequently visited. He also provided them a place to rest. Years later, when he re-encountered Kiryu, knowing Kiryu had to fake his death and hide his identity, just like him, he pretended not to know about him when they encountered after years. He even promised that if he had nothing more to hide, they would reunite and celebrate.
Admirable Standard
We all know that the admirable standard of Like a Dragon franchise is not to be looked down on, as there are many heroes who willing to selflessly defeat notorious villains who tried to harm the large sum of innocents, they did so restlessly. Let's take a look at some of the most admirable character of the verse. (Important note: I copied the list from my recent PG proposals for Ichiban Kasuga and Kaoru Sayama, which was written by me, in order to save time).
- Kazuma Kiryu: The man who allegedly set the admirable standard of the series. For all his life, he had done countless of heroic deeds, which resulted in thousands of innocents being saved from harmful threats who tried to threaten the large scale. He was also known to influence other heroes to further do their heroic deeds more and more. This guy even continued doing heroism when he faked his death or even got cancer, and only stopped when he was hospitalized.
- Goro Majima: Another extremely admirable hero, who, also contributed to defeating countless of large scale threats and prevented countless gang wars from happening, from such power hungry crime bosses like Sohei Dojima or Kei Ibuchi. He also contributed in making cities more worth living by forming a construction team to build landscapes for the city. He also further stopped any aftermath of Bryce Fairchild so that Hawaii could be much safer.
- Taiga Saejima: This gentle giant also contributed in defeating a lot of corrupted criminals and officials, who are all harmful threats who were capable of threatening thousands of innocents, such as Seishiro Munakata or Tsubasa Kurosawa. He was also a key player in reforming many ex-yakuza across the entire Japan and turned them into honest workers.
- Shun Akiyama: A kind businessman who was known to lending money to countless of helpless people who had nowhere to go without demanding any strict regulations, thus was named "The Lifeline of Kamurocho". Aside from selflessly saving desperate people's lives, he also took part in defeating many heinous villains who, of course, could have harmed the large scale of people. Even the citizens whom he acquired with and lent money to, he also did his best to protect them.
- Daigo Dojima: Despite being the son of arguably the most evil villain of the franchise, Sohei Dojima, he still grew up to be an extremely noble hero who had to take the position of Tojo chairman at a young age. However, he still managed to utilize his position to prevent any possible gang wars caused by power hungry crime lords, making civilians safer from criminals who tried to disturb their lives. He was also a leading figure of the Great Dissolution, strategically planned to get rid of the harmful yakuza way of life across the entire Japan.
- Ichiban Kasuga: He was an extremely kind and selfless hero who would never hesitate to help other people in need, regardless how big their issues are. Because of his heroism, he actively influenced other people and his friends to become heroes themselves, together stopping bigger threats, such as his own brother Masato Arakawa, and especially the notorious cult leader Bryce Fairchild, who could have harmed the global scale if not for Ichiban's intervention.
For Kashiwagi, I think he may not fully meet the admirable standard. As his best acts were supporting the main heroes in defeating the main villains throughout his character arc. Therefore, I think his best acts were shared with such Kiryu, Majima, Kazama, Nishiki and Daigo, as the latter five had done more direct heroic acts in their lives. For resources, he was the captain of the Kazama family, which means he had a high resources to do what he did. Kiryu and Nishiki (before his fall) also had less resources than him. He was also a martial artist who was capable of fighting enemies so I don't think he has inferior individual capabilities.
Does he fail that hard? I don't think so, he nonetheless can still stand out because the threats he helped defeating were really heinous, as most of them were some of the most heinous villains of the franchise, such as Sohei Dojima, Futoshi Shimano, Kei Ibuchi or Ryo Takashima, all of them attempted to harm thousands of innocents. He also had some acts on his own, such as trying to reform many ex-yakuza by giving them honest careers, the best example was Siren Bar Owner, as he became the bar owner thanks to Honest Living Association, as well as the adoptive uncle of Jin Kuwana, a vigilante who passed the admirable standard.
Possible Mitigating Factors?
Throughout his character arc, there was only one corrupting factor which he had, was his recklessness. As seen when he punched Kiryu in Yakuza 0 and Nishiki in Yakuza Kiwami because they tried to take huge risks. However, they are merely heating-up periods as he did so for good and with genuine intention to protect them from getting harmed. In addition, even if they were corrupting, he still wholly subverted them in Yakuza (Kiwami) 2, as he became a much calmer, wiser and understanding person.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Good?
As mentioned in the admirable standard section, he slightly fails the general admirable standard of the franchise, especially comparing to Kiryu, Majima, Daigo, or even Kazama and Nishiki.
Final Verdict
A yes to this compassionate mentor.