I have so many fucking thoughts about Majima but I don't wanna post them considering I'm so new to Yakuza and don't know anything (And absolutely don't want spoilers from Discourse™)
but anyways
But Majima was 21 when he Saejima planned the hit. He was 21 when he was literally stabbed in the eye. He was 21 when he was thrown into the Hole to be tortured for an entire year.
If we take Sagawa's words at face-value and not as some euphemism, then Majima spent that year not only experiencing whatever is typical yakuza torture, but repeatedly being sexually assaulted by Shimano. He probably turned 22 in that awful fucking place.
And does he get what he should? Does he get to die and find peace? No. Shimano let's him go, but without the dignity of banishment or expulsion. He lets him go to continue his control and abuse by using him at the Grand with the promise that he and Saejima can come back to the family.
For three years he's had to do the bidding of his abusers. He's had to say "yes sir" and "no sir" and bow with respect toward him and Sagawa. He's had to been Shimano's lap dog. Ultimately, the torture never ended.
This is why I don't like The Mad Dog of Shimano name, and I think it's another form of punishment. Dogs are expected to be obedient and controlled. If Goro is really going a little crazy and it isn't really an act, then it's an incredibly desperate cry for help from someone so incredibly broken. It's a serious sign of something deeply disturbing and wrong going on with him.
And I know he's often seen and used as comic relief, but I really, really don't like that. As a survivor of sexual assault myself, I don't like his PTSD being a joke. As a game developer, I am very conscious of the design choices that can have deeper meaning, and I feel like that maybe this was missed. Of course, Yakuza can't be an incredibly serious, empathic game meant to get the player thinking. That's just not the franchise. And it could be a cultural difference (though any culture that thinks obvious mental illness is funny is uhhhhhhhhhhh a lil fucked). But I feel like Majima's trauma is very mishandled. Yes, I know about Mokoto and how he finds this character that parallels him and develops a healing connection (I'm only on Ch 7 of Yak 0 though so idk) but the treatment of his history still leaves me uncomfortable. This was definitely compounded by the...Old Lady of Osaka (forget her name) sidestory where she forces herself on him. Like "oh assault is funny because it's a guy!"??? No. Unequivocally no.
Goro is the most tragic character in the series. I really don't find myself caring about Little Orphan Kiryu who just wants to be a yakuza when there's this deep, emotional, heartbreaking character in Goro.
But Goro is still this incredibly intelligent, helpful, person. He's even a bit of a hopeless romantic. He let a girl call him daddy and helped a guy propose and constantly gives people confidence throughout Sotenbori to stand up for themselves or to be honest or to be just be authentic. Some of his philosophical, peptalk lines are amazingly eloquent, and sound like they come from some genuine, deep part of him.
I just love him. I came into Yakuza from a Kiwami playthrough, and the only thing I knew about him was the Majima Everywhere mechanic, so I also fell into this trap of thinking he's the comedic relief character when he's really, really not.
I just want him to have all this darkness, this badness and sadness taken away from him. No one deserves this kind of crushing dehumanization--as a victim and as a lap dog. Goro deserves agency for myself.
