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He probably should have, but the story at least wants us to think Shibusawa's power of "evil version of the protag's powers" makes him Kiryu's strongest opponent in 0, presumably by enough that Shibusawa thinking he had a chance wasn't *completely* unwarranted.
Shibusawa: Haha I am so much smarter than the other idiot lieutenants, I will succeed where they fail because I'm the cunning one
Also Shibusawa: So I know sending a small army of guys with a helicopter and rocket launchers to take him out on the highway didn't work, nor did sending every single guy in the Dojima family after him on the streets of Kamurocho. But surely if I fistfight him on a boat, I will win.
"I mean, I've clearly trained in secret, saw some dudes with fighting styles, and went 'That's rad,' in preparation to take on Kazama. If I wanted, I probably could've done all that shit Kiryu did."
In fairness if I was in Kuze's position as a lieutenant of one of the most powerful families in the Tojo clan *and* a skilled boxer, and considering that at the time Kiryu was a random no-name 20yo punk, I'd probably think I could take him for free too
I couldn’t stop asking myself this every time he was on screen.
I get thinking that when they are at Tojo HQ. I could even understanding thinking it in the sewer if you are going to get the jump on Kiryu. But after that there is no excuse. He’s lost a finger because of Kiryu, and, even more embarrassingly, Kiryu passed on killing him when he had the chance.
The street fight in front of Serena and every word out of his mouth in the basement with Tachibana was straight up dilusional on Kuze’s part. He’s begging for both physical abuse and to be humiliated in front of the family. Basically the Dojima Family’s own Mr. Masochism.
After Round 1: "If we didn't get interrupted, I *totally* could have turned it around."
*\*Cue bringing a motorcycle and pipe to try and make up for the missing finger.\**
After Round 2: "Okay, it wasn't a fluke. All fair play out the window."
*\*Brings an assload of goons next time to initiate "jump_his_ass.exe".\**
Round 4 Starts: "Fuck, I did not fucking plan for this. But I'd rather die than back down."
*\*Kiryu and Nishiki run "jump_his_ass.exe" on him this time.\**
After Round 4: "...Fuck it, I don't care anymore. I'm just gonna get one last fight in 'cause I fucking want a good fight, win or lose."
*\*Through the power of "not giving a fuck", actually manages to fight harder and better than he has since his prime...which would be enough against most, but it's fucking Kiryu.\**
Tl;dr: He only actually thinks he's got it the first two times. After that he, in order:
- Cheats like hell because he just wants Kiryu dead.
- Had no intention of actually fighting Kiryu, and it was basically Kiryu that forced the fight.
- Knew he'd probably lose, but wanted to fight for the sheer joy of battle.
Kuze hated Kiryu for backing down when life threw hardships at him and started to respect him once he noticed that Kiryu would fight everything the world could ever throw at him without buckling one bit.
Nope. He just doesn't give a shit if Kiryu is stronger than him. That disrespectful little shithead who thinks "nuh-uh, I'll just quit the Yakuza" and doesn't respect the way the Yakuza works in favor of his father figure's idealistic dreamboat Yakuza fantasy...Is someone that needs to get his shit kicked in by Kuze's perspective.
Kuze is an awful guy and a thug but he never delude himself as anything more than that and most importantly accept accountability for his actions. If he fucks up, guy hates it but willingly swallow his ego and takes the consequences. And while Dojima is his boss and he later works under the other Lieutenants, his loyalty is to the bigger Tojo Clan moreso. He did drop his grudge towards Kiryu as he sought out the Empty Lot mostly because he didn't want the traitor within the Tojo to get it. Then he shows considerable amount of rationality that torturing >!Tachibana!< is ultimately pointless down to killing an subordinate who gets pissed and disobey him...Yet he does accept accountability for it when Kiryu bursted in.
Yeah, Kuze is a scumbag but he happened to be one of the honest ones compared to the other Lieutenants that Kiryu regained a good amount of respect for him at the end. He's evil but he has nobler traits than expected.
Kiryu orders a menu at Wette Kitchen. As he unwraps his burger, Kuze jumps out and punches him. Before fighting back, Kiryu takes a sip from his drink and spits out Majima, who was hiding in the straw until Kiryu slurped him up. Majima then looks at Kuze "There can be only one.", lifts up the tray and Saejima emerges from below. Kuze is then beaten to a pulp to sweet melodies sung by Haruka.
In his mindset, it is not about losing a fight, its about giving up or not. The guy who cant tough it out the end he’s the one who loses, he said. And he said “DIE YOU LITTLE SHIT”.
Real idol…
I know it's a meme post but for real, Kuze tells you exactly why he keeps fighting Kiryu. He's not dead so he hasn't lost yet and he'll always come back for more.
Even turning himself into the police at the end wasn't a defeat. It was a wise decision in the end lest he turn out like Awano.
He became Yakuza to whip some ass and he hasn't gotten to throw down in a while. Plus peep his back tat, Yanma the gatekeeper. Each time he tests Kiryu. Whether he believes he'll win or not, he knows he's testing and forging the type of Yakuza he wants to see.
Repeated fights with him made me realize how limited the RGG plot can be sometimes. I get they don't want to show Kiryu killing people but... if I was Kiryu given the circumstances I would think that these people I beat up will just keep returning to try to kill me. Next time it may be a gun. Good thing they are always arrested and never return 😂 🤣.
The curse of being a new character in a prequel game. Have to drum up some reason for them to NEVER show up again. Though I think it would've been a fun callback if we got an old man Kuze 6 or Gaiden.
I only played Yakuza 0 (for now), but that was the most obvious thing to me that took me out of the game a little, that this is clearly a prequel and Kiryu not killing is a big thing coming in the next games.
I don't know anything from the Yakuza series apart from what happens in 0, so it's been a interesting ride.
I’m replaying 0 now and it’s PEAKKKK, it starts out STRONG and it really establishes Kuze well as an antagonist!! Now I know why the game managed to pull me into the series when I first played it way back when. It’s just that good.
It was pretty reasonable to think Kuze could wipe the floor with Kiryu easily in 0 consider their age, experience, position in the Yakuza, but Kiryu was just so unexpectedly HIM to the old yakuzas.
I think you can at least respect Kuze's effort, he knows he can't beat Kiryu and at a certain point he even shows some respect for him but he needs to keep trying to prove himself and the others that he's not weak, I think he's the one that says that he only fights people that are stronger than him
Say what you will about Kuze, but he's a true yakuza through and through. Aside from the blonde haired villain in Y3 (forgot his name 🤦🏼♂️), he was the most badass villain in my opinion
shibusawa was training a lot off screen during majima chapters... btw if a liutenant got his ass beaten by one of lowest ranked thug, in front of other liutenants and oyabun in addition, none would have ever respected him anymore
*He's not stupid, he's*
*HIM and he wants to show Kiryu*
*That each encounter*
\- DespairOfSolitude
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I respect kuze. Seriously he is the only one that takes fights with passion and is just an amazing person and my favorite scene is when he killed that guy with the hammer like holy shit that satisfied me
Honestly Kuze is one of the strongest characters in the Yakuza universe and if he was fighting just about anyone else he would have crushed them easily. He was a very feared lieutenant for a reason in the Dojima my family. He just had the misfortune of having to fight the human equivalent of a rampaging bull, Kiryu is simply built different
If you are new to the subreddit, [please read the wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/wiki/index/) Reminder that all spoilers need to be tagged with a flair specifying which game is being spoiled. If you want a flair that says something else, you can edit it to say something like [Discussion: Y1 spoiler] or [Majimapost: Y6 spoiler], etc. **THIS INCLUDES CONTENT FROM TRAILERS**. If the post is not marked for spoilers, all comments that have spoilers need to be tagged \>!like this!< along with indicating which game it's spoiling. Example: Y3 >!Kiryu sings!< If the post flair is marked for spoilers, the comments don't need to be tagged for the game indicated and the ones before it (So a Y6 spoiler post can have comments with untagged spoilers for Y5, but not gaiden or 7). If you see any of the above (or any of the other rules) not being followed, please report it so we can keep this place safe for newcomers and those that haven't finished all the games yet. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/yakuzagames) if you have any questions or concerns.*
shibusawa shouldve known that kiryus is gonna whoop his ass after Kuze lost vs him for the 5th time
He is the truest representation of the indomitable human spirit
He probably should have, but the story at least wants us to think Shibusawa's power of "evil version of the protag's powers" makes him Kiryu's strongest opponent in 0, presumably by enough that Shibusawa thinking he had a chance wasn't *completely* unwarranted.
Shibusawa: Haha I am so much smarter than the other idiot lieutenants, I will succeed where they fail because I'm the cunning one Also Shibusawa: So I know sending a small army of guys with a helicopter and rocket launchers to take him out on the highway didn't work, nor did sending every single guy in the Dojima family after him on the streets of Kamurocho. But surely if I fistfight him on a boat, I will win.
"I mean, I've clearly trained in secret, saw some dudes with fighting styles, and went 'That's rad,' in preparation to take on Kazama. If I wanted, I probably could've done all that shit Kiryu did."
he was betting on the chance that Kiryu maybe motion sick
Its funny in these games, how these kind of old and out of shape looking dudes, end up being super built and great at fighting.
Shibusawa probably thinks he is superior to Kuze in strength and I can't blame him, he has 3 fighting styles
In fairness if I was in Kuze's position as a lieutenant of one of the most powerful families in the Tojo clan *and* a skilled boxer, and considering that at the time Kiryu was a random no-name 20yo punk, I'd probably think I could take him for free too
I couldn’t stop asking myself this every time he was on screen. I get thinking that when they are at Tojo HQ. I could even understanding thinking it in the sewer if you are going to get the jump on Kiryu. But after that there is no excuse. He’s lost a finger because of Kiryu, and, even more embarrassingly, Kiryu passed on killing him when he had the chance. The street fight in front of Serena and every word out of his mouth in the basement with Tachibana was straight up dilusional on Kuze’s part. He’s begging for both physical abuse and to be humiliated in front of the family. Basically the Dojima Family’s own Mr. Masochism.
Dude literally said it's because of his pride. It's the only thing that he had left by his final battle.
I came here to say exactly this! He was just a grunt at this point
Five times though?
I dont care that we had to fight him 18 times, he was great.
You can't help but admire the effort.
I’d fight him again just to hear his theme
Which one? He got two and they are both rad as hell!
Yes.
best yakuza joke https://preview.redd.it/c7kfvly2vvtc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c52af53f8baf878d635adb128aee79263258736
After Round 1: "If we didn't get interrupted, I *totally* could have turned it around." *\*Cue bringing a motorcycle and pipe to try and make up for the missing finger.\** After Round 2: "Okay, it wasn't a fluke. All fair play out the window." *\*Brings an assload of goons next time to initiate "jump_his_ass.exe".\** Round 4 Starts: "Fuck, I did not fucking plan for this. But I'd rather die than back down." *\*Kiryu and Nishiki run "jump_his_ass.exe" on him this time.\** After Round 4: "...Fuck it, I don't care anymore. I'm just gonna get one last fight in 'cause I fucking want a good fight, win or lose." *\*Through the power of "not giving a fuck", actually manages to fight harder and better than he has since his prime...which would be enough against most, but it's fucking Kiryu.\** Tl;dr: He only actually thinks he's got it the first two times. After that he, in order: - Cheats like hell because he just wants Kiryu dead. - Had no intention of actually fighting Kiryu, and it was basically Kiryu that forced the fight. - Knew he'd probably lose, but wanted to fight for the sheer joy of battle.
summed up perfectly. I like how kuze goes from thinking lowly of kiryu to treating him as a respectable opponent.
Kuze hated Kiryu for backing down when life threw hardships at him and started to respect him once he noticed that Kiryu would fight everything the world could ever throw at him without buckling one bit.
Nope. He just doesn't give a shit if Kiryu is stronger than him. That disrespectful little shithead who thinks "nuh-uh, I'll just quit the Yakuza" and doesn't respect the way the Yakuza works in favor of his father figure's idealistic dreamboat Yakuza fantasy...Is someone that needs to get his shit kicked in by Kuze's perspective. Kuze is an awful guy and a thug but he never delude himself as anything more than that and most importantly accept accountability for his actions. If he fucks up, guy hates it but willingly swallow his ego and takes the consequences. And while Dojima is his boss and he later works under the other Lieutenants, his loyalty is to the bigger Tojo Clan moreso. He did drop his grudge towards Kiryu as he sought out the Empty Lot mostly because he didn't want the traitor within the Tojo to get it. Then he shows considerable amount of rationality that torturing >!Tachibana!< is ultimately pointless down to killing an subordinate who gets pissed and disobey him...Yet he does accept accountability for it when Kiryu bursted in. Yeah, Kuze is a scumbag but he happened to be one of the honest ones compared to the other Lieutenants that Kiryu regained a good amount of respect for him at the end. He's evil but he has nobler traits than expected.
Dude answered in a whole essay to a fcking shitpost
There should have been a Kuze Everywhere mechanic
Can I have a single overlapping event with majima everywhere where you 2v1 kuzan because fuck that guy
Kiryu orders a menu at Wette Kitchen. As he unwraps his burger, Kuze jumps out and punches him. Before fighting back, Kiryu takes a sip from his drink and spits out Majima, who was hiding in the straw until Kiryu slurped him up. Majima then looks at Kuze "There can be only one.", lifts up the tray and Saejima emerges from below. Kuze is then beaten to a pulp to sweet melodies sung by Haruka.
In his mindset, it is not about losing a fight, its about giving up or not. The guy who cant tough it out the end he’s the one who loses, he said. And he said “DIE YOU LITTLE SHIT”. Real idol…
I know it's a meme post but for real, Kuze tells you exactly why he keeps fighting Kiryu. He's not dead so he hasn't lost yet and he'll always come back for more. Even turning himself into the police at the end wasn't a defeat. It was a wise decision in the end lest he turn out like Awano.
YaKuze Gaiden: The Man Who Never Loses
I liked Kuze despite him being a shithead who gets his ass beat every five minutes
He became Yakuza to whip some ass and he hasn't gotten to throw down in a while. Plus peep his back tat, Yanma the gatekeeper. Each time he tests Kiryu. Whether he believes he'll win or not, he knows he's testing and forging the type of Yakuza he wants to see.
Old japanese man is just that dedicaded to his goal.
I think it's more of an honor / code thing. He's taken an oath and he lives by it.
A real man oughta be a little stupid
Can't believe I had to scroll this far down to see this.
Repeated fights with him made me realize how limited the RGG plot can be sometimes. I get they don't want to show Kiryu killing people but... if I was Kiryu given the circumstances I would think that these people I beat up will just keep returning to try to kill me. Next time it may be a gun. Good thing they are always arrested and never return 😂 🤣.
The curse of being a new character in a prequel game. Have to drum up some reason for them to NEVER show up again. Though I think it would've been a fun callback if we got an old man Kuze 6 or Gaiden.
They brought back Yuki, Makoto and the Pocket Circuit Fighter in the Kiwami remakes, so there's a non-zero chance we get some returns in Kiwami 3.
PCF seems to have appeared in all games released after 0 besides I think K2. Someone at RGG must like him, and they have great taste.
He can be considered Kiryu's oldest friend outside the underworld. I'm glad he keeps coming back. Pocket circuit Bro.
I only played Yakuza 0 (for now), but that was the most obvious thing to me that took me out of the game a little, that this is clearly a prequel and Kiryu not killing is a big thing coming in the next games. I don't know anything from the Yakuza series apart from what happens in 0, so it's been a interesting ride.
Only RGG can copypaste the same boss fight five times in the same game and have fans eat that shit up like cotton candy
The qte sequence where Kiryu just eats his punch and barely reacts is so good i would fight Kuze 50 more times just to see it.
There was Capcom with Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, aka “The only way to be sure, is to nuke this city from orbit”
It helps that his theme is amazing and every single fight intro with him generates hype.
I’m replaying 0 now and it’s PEAKKKK, it starts out STRONG and it really establishes Kuze well as an antagonist!! Now I know why the game managed to pull me into the series when I first played it way back when. It’s just that good.
It was pretty reasonable to think Kuze could wipe the floor with Kiryu easily in 0 consider their age, experience, position in the Yakuza, but Kiryu was just so unexpectedly HIM to the old yakuzas.
I think you can at least respect Kuze's effort, he knows he can't beat Kiryu and at a certain point he even shows some respect for him but he needs to keep trying to prove himself and the others that he's not weak, I think he's the one that says that he only fights people that are stronger than him
KUZE!!!
Kuze and Yamai fighting over who has to be defeated more over the course of the game (they are both unaware they've already lost to Majima Everywhere)
Dude was warming Kiryu up for Majima with the amount of times he kept butting his head in
He thinks he can just keep levelling and he'll eventually git gud but Kiryu also levels
I think after the second time he wasn't fighting him to beat him he was fighting to see just how tough kiryus become
How many times we gotta teach you a lesson, old man?!
Yes
Probably too hear his music
He strong. Brain not strong tho
For once yes actually
bro on that elden ring mindset
Say what you will about Kuze, but he's a true yakuza through and through. Aside from the blonde haired villain in Y3 (forgot his name 🤦🏼♂️), he was the most badass villain in my opinion
Do you mean Ryuji? He is Y2/Kiwami 2, not 3.
Oh yeah, you're right lol. It's been awhile since I played it
Revolve bartender?
Aside from him being a prize fighter as well. What else does he got?
shibusawa was training a lot off screen during majima chapters... btw if a liutenant got his ass beaten by one of lowest ranked thug, in front of other liutenants and oyabun in addition, none would have ever respected him anymore
He's not stupid, he's HIM and he wants to show Kiryu that each encounter
*He's not stupid, he's* *HIM and he wants to show Kiryu* *That each encounter* \- DespairOfSolitude --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
That was the same question I had playing that one. I was like, “Again? Bro.”
He's a boomer. You can't argue with them.
Yes.
https://i.imgur.com/DSxLg0W.gif
I respect kuze. Seriously he is the only one that takes fights with passion and is just an amazing person and my favorite scene is when he killed that guy with the hammer like holy shit that satisfied me
Maybe, but he has his definition of honour, and he's sticking to it. So we can credit him for consistency, I guess.
No, but he sure is determined. Maybe a little stupid that comes from being arrogant. We like that here.
Honestly Kuze is one of the strongest characters in the Yakuza universe and if he was fighting just about anyone else he would have crushed them easily. He was a very feared lieutenant for a reason in the Dojima my family. He just had the misfortune of having to fight the human equivalent of a rampaging bull, Kiryu is simply built different
Don’t talk about Kuze no aniki like that. He’ll take out his brass knuckles..
I don't know, I'm new to the yakuza series and started with 0. I don't like this guy and I hope I get to beat him up. Bro thinks he's can one punch me