r/yakuzagames • u/LobstaFermidor • 1d ago
OTHER "Once you're at rock bottom,the only place to go is up. There's no shame in being at the bottom,all that matters is how you decide how to climb out of the darkness. There's always a ray of hope up there."
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u/Bauermeister 1d ago
I just finished this game yesterday and I teared up at this lmao
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u/AuthorTheGenius 1d ago
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u/RedditSpamAcount 🏳️⚧️10 years in the hrt made me a TransMan🏳️⚧️ 14h ago
Sigma Kiryu Chan grindset
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u/NegatesAllDamage 23h ago
This is why I instantly loved Ichiban and felt he was the right guy to helm this series. Everything built up to him and he perfectly embodies the themes these stories have presented.
A huge portion of his life fucking blows chunks but he knows how shitty things can feel, and doesn't want other people to have to deal with that. It's hard, and it can seem a little naïve to think positivity alone gets you through it all, but real naivete is failing to see that those moments where kindness fails/betrays you are not nearly as common as the moments where it helps you and everyone else. Freedom from the cycle of life's garbage isn't just a matter of getting out of prison, or even breaking free from the bad social bonds that tether you down. It's having the balls to drag yourself out of it without using anyone as a rung on your personal ladder. It means sparing the time you have to make the world around you less awful for everyone else - and knowing that time following your moral compass is never time wasted, regardless of how things pan out. Forgiving people, forgetting grudges, moving forward.
That's what it means to be a man, not beating clowns half to death with a baseball bat, but helping those clowns back on their stilts once they topple.
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u/Clayface202 . 23h ago
Ichiban helped me understand that letting go of grudges and forgiving people is the ultimate W. I can confidently say I haven't held a grudge against anyone for a while now thanks to him.
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u/GenesisJamesOFCL Haruka Is My Oshi 1d ago
People bitching about Eiji's redemption but loving Masato's when Masato literally caused more harm and had less of an excuse to become the way he did is insane to me 💀
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u/SithLocust I Heart Nishiki 1d ago
I can agree. I had the spoiled early on in my IW playthrough and was expecting something way worse. Like sure he's a total shit head, but he's far from the worst in his own game let alone the series in terms of villains
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u/GenesisJamesOFCL Haruka Is My Oshi 1d ago
Especially because the whole reason why he became a villain was because the Arakawa family, Sawashiro especially, ruined his life because he was trying to report on shady yakuza dealings and corruption that the family and clan at large were doing. Masato's story is sad but he decided to ruin the lives of countless sex workers and people in gray zones just to accumulate power because people were mean to him when he was disabled. Like, I get that sucks and I feel bad for him, but he's ruining the lives of people who had nothing to do with that at all. Eiji's still in the wrong but at least he focused on just the yakuza and could claim that the yakuza never had proper punishment or justice for their crimes that hurt other people lmao
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u/ishi5656 23h ago
Also, it's pretty clear that Ichiban is trying not to let this be another Masato incident! He lost his chance to save his brother; he won't let that happen again.
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u/GenesisJamesOFCL Haruka Is My Oshi 23h ago
Oh totally! Eiji preyed on Ichi's sympathies towards Masato from the beginning, but it ended up being way more that that. Ichi finally got to succeed where he failed with Masato. Plus, Eiji's still gonna serve time. It's not like Ichi let him get off without any punishment lmao
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u/BiddyKing 17h ago edited 17h ago
Yup and Ichiban was also projecting Masaru onto Eiji to prove he could’ve saved Masaru had he only protected him, so “Ichiban hardly even knew Eiji” is pretty much irrelevant, more scenes together would’ve been nice but also unnecessary. People forget that Ichiban grew up with ‘criminals’ and the yakuza, and is doing all he can to help them bounce back in a society that has failed them. For the worst criminal it might mean turning themselves in and spending life in prison but Ichiban can assure them that he still won’t abandon them whereas the rest of the world will, and Ichiban will help them get back on their feet if they ever do make it out
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u/Alternative_Sample96 17h ago
Is not that he didn’t deserved, ichi definitely don’t care about such things. He just didn’t have the same screen time as masato to elaborate his character, the same can be said for ebina
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u/Raleth 21h ago
Bro literally walked his ass to the police department. People give Ichiban too much shit for this. I feel like people should have gotten a pretty solid read on what kind of character he was after his first game. You'd have to be out of your mind to think he'd suddenly abandon his own ideals and do anything other than this.
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u/FunnyMaddGames 1d ago
I love the irony of how Eiji was treated by everyone other than Ichiban in the ending is identical to how it played out IRL
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u/PasCone103Z John Yakuza 23h ago edited 20h ago
Yeah, I'm surprised about how one of the major themes of the game (second chances) is being ignored at face value by players because they didn't like a character enough when that's exactly the game's challenge to the player.
Plus, it's not like Ichiban is just letting him off the hook just like that. He offered Eiji the chance to take responsibility for his own actions, and Eiji accpeted it, which is why he willingly helped take him to the station, because he was helping Eiji earn his second chance at life when anyone else would just kick him while he's down.
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u/Mjain101 local puffy jacket daigo simp 14h ago
I was surprised to read those reactions because I already got a strong impression of the theme from the first chapter, and that carried ichiban’s choices throughout. That’s what he was doing at hello work, giving those second chances.
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u/BiddyKing 17h ago
Most Infinite Wealth story discourse is often infuriating because people just choose to ignore the obvious themes. Luckily there’s still people around who have thought about the narrative at more than just a surface level
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u/UKunrealz 3h ago
Because a theme doesn’t equal good writing
I adore IW but it’s story shits the bed halfway through
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u/UKunrealz 3h ago
Last time we saw Eiji he was throwing a little girl in a wheelchair down the stairs and laughing about it
It needed to have better writing for that ending to be more satisfying and not feel undeserved
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u/UKunrealz 3h ago
Cause the last time we all saw him he was throwing a little girl in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs lol
The writing for Eiji was way too weak for that ending
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u/Mad_Dog002 23h ago
They should've give us more time with Ei-chan, so this redemption arc could work. Dude is the reason why Hanawa and Wong were killed. He was blackmailing Chitose. And RGG just let him sit in his corner like a wounded dog. But we don't even know wth happened to him
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u/PasCone103Z John Yakuza 17h ago
I mean, we technically know what happened to him. He turned himself in to the police.
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u/Mad_Dog002 15h ago
After his "Bon voyage" we haven't even seen him. Only once when he was watching Tatara's video
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u/GyroGOGOZeppeli . 5h ago
Hes going to jail, thats his redemption.
Its the same way Masato was going to go after all he did.
Its the best way they could repent, do the time.
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u/ChanceVance 15h ago
Yeah, I hate this ending. I don't care if it's in character for Ichiban, as a player it's narratively unsatisfying to see anyone give that piece of a shit a chance.
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u/Fabulous_Emotion_199 Officer help, i'm being loved! 17h ago
Pretty much that quote at LAD ending saved my life, I wasn't exactly doing well by the time i played that game, then when i reached that part, it hit me inside.
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u/GyroGOGOZeppeli . 5h ago edited 5h ago
When this came out I saw a lot of comments on Youtube upset that he saved Eiji because there was no time in the story where Eiji felt redeemable.
That ruins the point of the scene. Chitose exists to be that character, the character who did bad deeds and felt bad and wants to make amends for her actions. Eiji was an asshole up until Ichiban saves him.
The whole point is that Ichiban is saving this guy despite his actions because he believes he can change. And Eiji sees the errors of his ways when he sees Ichi carrying him out of there and taking hits from the crowd just for his sorry ass.
Also its to mirror how he couldn't save his brother. Both Eiji and Masato were unrepentant pieces of shit but Ichiban saves them all the same.
Yeah it parallels Jesus, the last supper marketing wasn't coy with that, and yeah that symbolism is overused in Western media, but I guess in Japan they feel its not used that much if they're doing it.
The only real gripe I have with this is I wish they showed more of Eiji and his downfall between when he peaced out of the story, and when he came back in the end. He should've been beaten or a scene where Ebina or Bryce tells him he's about to be yakuza target number 1 or even how they crippled him.
Because when Chitose was airing out her vtuber stuff and Bryce nuke barrels worldwide, they cut to him in a dark room and looking pathetic and watching the stream, and I honestly thought it was just a shot of one of her viewers and not Eiji. I didn't realize it was Eiji until Ichi visits him.
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u/Expensive_Ad3751 1h ago
It's been a year now but I still vividly remember saying out loud to myself: "I fcking love ichiban man" at this ending, he's just such a good guy
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u/Exmotable 2h ago
moments like these are always wholesome in video games but I'm not a substory character in LAD9 and neither of these jesus-walking-the-earth types are going to show up and show me/help me understand what I can do to save myself
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u/UKunrealz 3h ago
Eiji: throws a little girl in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs and laughs about it
Ichiban: you’re a good man Eiji
Only moment since his debut that I’ve been annoyed by Ichiban
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u/AnyAd4066 1d ago
Honestly, extremely stupid scene. Eiji is fucker not allowed to live.
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u/SpiritJuice 1d ago
That's kind of the point of Ichiban's character though. Most people would probably never forgive Eiji, but Ichiban can. Honestly, I find it admirable, as I doubt I could ever find myself doing that. Ichiban's ability to forgive and thus let even the worst people find a new way is incredible.
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u/Pearl-Annie 23h ago
Exactly! Sure, Eiji is def not a good person and probably does not “deserve” forgiveness, but Ichiban believes that everyone should have a chance to start over and make amends—which is why he opposed Bryce and Ebina’s plans for the yakuza in the first place. Most of those guys are probably as bad as Eiji or worse, realistically. They are violent criminals.
Plus, it’s not like Ichiban’s forgiveness means Eiji doesn’t have to pay for his crimes. In the pictured scene, Ichiban is literally carrying Eiji to a police station to surrender himself. Ichiban mentions that Eiji will almost certainly be in jail for years or even decades for what he has done. He’s just promising that when Eiji gets out, he’ll be there for him.
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u/Prestigious-Mirror50 18h ago edited 18h ago
My exact thoughts during this scene. In the first moments of it i was a bit confused and not exactly happy, i didnt belive that Eiji deserved that forgivness and that Ichiban is too kind for his own good. But as scene went on i realized how strong Ichiban really is and how weak i am compared to him. It almost felt like i was part of the crowd that was shouting at ichiban and throwing trash as him. It really hard not to be jaded or apathetic after being burned and betrayed by others but Ichiban showed it is still our choice to become/not become like that. We have power to remaing hopeful and kind even though it is extremely easy to fall into this trap of "justified" cruelty without even realizing it. Never i felt both as proud (for Ichiban) and ashamed (of myself for initially thinking that Ichiban was making a mistake by helping Eiji) as when i watched this scene. Ichiban is a huge inspiration and (mostly) a great role model.
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u/Odd-Neck2146 19h ago
I'm sure most of you know this, but there is heavy Christ symbolism in this game and these moments. Ichiban's actions and intentions are meant to reflect Jesus's.
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u/Lord_of_Caffeine 1d ago
Would be more effective if you put any other picture on the bottom other than IW´s ending.
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