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🐉龍が如く/ yakuza fan artist🚫 18↓ @govpartychair on twitter

[govpartychair]

🌟Yakuza Commissions are now OPEN!

📩DMs are open for further inquiries

[govpartychair]

🩺Happy Birthday Dr. Tenma!🎂

[govpartychair]

❇️ 2025 art summary!!

[govpartychair]

❤️💙Happy Birthday Masato and Ichiban 🍻🎉

[govpartychair]

I’ve changed my username!

shofukucho → govpartychair

[govpartychair]

No, Ichiban and Ryo’s color schemes aren’t red and blue because those colors represent “good and evil”

Red is not a color that represents evil in Japan at all, in fact it’s the color associated with heroes and many protagonists have a primarily red color scheme. Ichiban’s color is red because he’s the hero and protagonist.

This is especially noticeable when you consider Ichiban’s party. Ichiban is the main hero, which is why he is red.

Ichiban would still be regarded poorly by society if his suit was any other color. He is a yakuza and he styles himself like one, much like Ishioda who wears a blue suit. Color scheme is irrelevant here.

As for Ryo Aoki, red would be a highly unusual color for him because it’s not traditionally worn in professional settings where blue, grey and black are the norm. A blue suit makes sense from a character design perspective as it makes him stand out more than grey and black.

Blue also represents youth in Japan, which makes sense for Ryo Aoki as his young age is often brought up by other characters.

Ryo Aoki’s professional and pristine appearance is meant to contrast Masato Arakawa. Masato doesn’t want to be discriminated against and looked down on by society anymore so he transforms himself into someone society can respect, which is Ryo Aoki.

Masato is perceived as bad by society because of his ties to the yakuza (being Masumi’s son) despite being a civilian, while Horinouchi is regarded positively by society because he is a high ranking police officer, despite us knowing how corrupt he is. None of this is color coded.

Why would a game like Yakuza 7 even welcome childish concepts such “red vs blue = good vs evil” anyway, even in the attempt to subvert that? Masato isn’t meant to represent evil, he is a victim of society’s prejudice and Ryo Aoki is the answer to it

The greatest evil in this game is society, which is personified with Kume’s ignorant, prejudiced black and white view of the world.

While Ichiban and Masato’s color schemes contrast from a character design perspective, it doesn’t have anything to do with good vs evil symbolism. Besides, Ichiban and Masato are already “color coded” as they are light and shadow!

[govpartychair]

do you have any thoughts on aoki/ogasawara theyre killing me from the inside

I like them! I think it’s very interesting that Ogasawara knows about Masato’s past to some degree which implies Masato might’ve shared some things with him at some point

I think there’s definitely something interesting here… I’ve seen some fanart of them as well that I really love

[govpartychair]

Madonna - Die Another Day

[govpartychair]

🧠

[govpartychair]

👁️‍🗨️

[govpartychair]

Masato and Ichiban did not grow up together, were raised by different people and are not biologically related. How is it acceptable to label people who ship them as incest shippers?

I think the most ridiculous thing that gets passed around as fact is the claim that Masato and Ichiban were raised together. This is a bizarre lie that is easily disproved by actually playing the game

Masumi Arakawa rescues Masato Arakawa from the locked coin locker and raises him as his son

While Jiro Kasuga finds Ichiban in the coin locker with the key attached and brings him to the Shangri La soapland, raising him as his son.

How could Ichiban be raised with Masato as brothers if the fact that did not happen is a key plot point of the game?

Ichiban being raised in Shangri La is an important element to his character, how could you ever play the game and say that he was raised with Masato?

Masumi only lets Ichiban join the Arakawa family after Masato sees him for the first time, thinking Ichiban joining would be beneficial for his son as they are the same age. They are both around 16 years old at this time.

Masumi tasked Ichiban to be by Masato's side and to keep him safe, something outsiders ridiculed and likened to babysitting and indentured servitude.

Clearly they were not raised together as brothers, and eventually forming a close bond with someone you meet at 16 years old does not mean you are brothers, that is called making a friend.

Claiming Masato and Ichiban grew up together, especially as brothers is inherently false. This is not something that’s up to interpretation, it’s simply something that doesn’t happen.

Clearly it was well known that Masumi Arakawa had one son that he was fond of, and Ichiban was a low level grunt in the Arakawa family with the task of taking Masato places and keeping him company.

Of course we know that Ichiban does not see spending time with Masato as a task, but he cares about him as a friend

Ichiban calls Masato his kyoudai, this I'm well aware of.

It's not unheard of for men to call each other brothers when highlighting how important and special their bond is, as calling each other best friends can sound childish.

Why would he refer to Masato as "the boss' son" and not as his brother? It's clearly because "brother" here is not meant to be literal but more of a symbolic way of expressing how close they were.

He also often refers to him as his friend, in fact he calls Masato the first friend he's ever had, and of course he also calls him young master, something he calls him even at his funeral.

And when you take into account the fact that Ichiban is yakuza, the use of familial terms like kyoudai is especially common in that context to refer to a man that you have a strong bond with and highly respect.

Using Ichiban saying kyoudai as proof of them being literal brothers and to paint anyone that ships them as being into incest is not only dishonest, but often hypocritical as well. Familial terms are used throughout the series between characters that are in no way related but are shipped without issue.

Here's a compilation of Kiryu calling Majima "niisan" which translates to older brother, more times than Ichiban has ever referred to Masato as his kyoudai, which of course doesn't stop anybody from shipping kazumaji, and it shouldn't because of course Kiryu doesn't mean brother in a literal way, but neither does Ichiban when referring to Masato.

Ryoma clearly expresses that he sees Okita as a sibling and calls him his brother.

Would shipping Okita and Ryoma be incestuous? or is this obviously two men using the vocabulary they have available to express their fondness for each other?

So how is it allowed to accuse people who ship Ichiban and Masato as incest shippers when:

Masato is biologically Sawashiro's son and Ichiban is biologically Masumi's son

They were raised separately by their own respective father figures, that being Arakawa for Masato and Jiro Kasuga for Ichiban

Ichiban clearly does not refer to him as a brother in the literal sense of the word and often calls him his friend

Under no definition is shipping these two characters incest and it's in incredibly bad faith to say so, the same would go for majima x saejima which again, I can't believe it's so common for people in this community to label shipping two adults that are not related and did not grow up together in any shape or form as incest.

Ichiban and Masato are soulmates born on the same day, fated to meet. They complete and understand each other like no other. They are light and shadow. I don’t see them as brothers but as close friends and canon supports this, and there's nothing immoral and incestuous about shipping two friends.

If you dislike this ship and interpret their relationship as familial that is completely fine, but that's your headcanon. Quietly curate your space as you deem fit, block and mute whatever you need but to accuse people who ship ichiwaka to be incest shippers can only be done in bad faith and is a bold faced lie.

[govpartychair]

[govpartychair]

The Yakuza community's weird double standard on adoptive family

A recurring theme in Yakuza series is that family isn't inherently defined by blood, this has been established with the very first game and they are very unsubtle about it.

Nobody questions Kazama being Kiryu's father nor does anyone question Kiryu being Haruka's father, or the father of any of the children at Morning Glory for that matter.

So why do people get so weird when it comes to Masato Arakawa being Masumi Arakawa's son?

I've seen people call Masumi a deadbeat father for the crime of not knowing Ichiban was his biological son, when we know Masumi is actually closer to being a helicopter parent towards Masato.

I've seen people accuse Masato, a dying infant, of stealing Ichiban's rightful spot in the Arakawa family.

To some, the fact he dared be mistakenly rescued by Masumi Arakawa instead of rotting away in his coin locker is one of the many contemptible things that he's done, going as far as to unironically claim that Masato was "born evil".

The reason for this behavior is clearly because Masato isn't well liked compared to Ichiban, so this all often goes unquestioned.

If you agree that Haruka is Kiryu's daughter, you can't say Masato is Arakawa's son with air quotes.

Ichiban never tells Masato that Sawashiro is his biological father because he's better off not knowing that he was placed in that coin locker to ensure his death and not his safety, but also because Ichiban doesn't find blood relation important. He always respected Masumi being Masato's father.

And in Ichiban's case he doesn't care to confirm if Arakawa is his biological father or not with a DNA test.

Masato has two dads, much like Ichiban does.

But for some reason, in this pursuit to acknowledge Ichiban as Masumi's legitimate son, people forget the entire plot of the game.

Why do people completely forget Jiro Kasuga exists?

He was Ichiban's father that raised him alongside the people of Kamurocho. Just because he's not Ichiban's biological father doesn't mean he's irrelevant compared to Masumi in Ichiban's life.

Ichiban still sees Arakawa as his boss above all, because that was the nature of their relationship. Arakawa was his patriarch that turned out to be his biological dad.

I also don't understand where the notion that Arakawa raised Ichiban, or even more absurdly, that he raised Ichiban and Masato together comes from since we know that not to be true. That's a major plot point of the game, if not the reason the story exists in the first place.

One thing that's unquestionably true is that Masumi was willing to do anything to protect his son, even if it meant sacrificing Ichiban to achieve that.

Just because you think it's unfair that Ichiban wasn't raised into the Arakawa family or because you don't like Masato doesn't change the fact that Masato is Masumi's son.

If you struggle to accept this then you struggle to understand one of the core themes in the series.

[govpartychair]

Did the 6 Fanarts challenge again on Twitter!

[govpartychair]

Ryo Aoki’s political career, his motives and what people get wrong

I've noticed that a lot of people completely miss and overlook the reason why Masato Arakawa becomes Ryo Aoki and why he specifically chooses to get into politics.

Masato doesn’t become a politician because he has an affinity for politics or seeks change, but his goal is a very personal one.

Masato becomes a politician because you need to gain the approval of millions to gain power. Millions of people need to like you enough to want to cast their vote for you and this alone is his only motive.

Ryo Aoki’s entire political campaign is built upon society’s demands and beliefs in order to gain the most popularity and support, which was the reason behind his work as an activist, getting in touch with what people wanted and shaping himself accordingly.

So I believe it's disingenuous to single out Ryo Aoki’s actions as a politician to water down Masato as a "right wing bigot" acting on his own beliefs when it’s clear that's not the case.

Ryo Aoki doesn't care who he needs to sacrifice in order to get the results he wants, why would you only focus on his anti grey zone policies when he's willing to go as far as killing his own father?

He doesn't care who gets hurt in the process of him trying to secure his power, be it the homeless or his own family.

Ryo Aoki considers people like Kume who genuinely believes in the goals of Bleach Japan to be ignorant and is just using him as a means to an end.

Again, he is not a politician because he wants to bring about change, but because he wants the power that comes with being loved and respected and trusted on such a large scale.

Ichiban who knows Masato better than anyone is quick to recognize how out of character his venture in to politics is, as he immediately questions if he's even happy doing this.

The reality is that Masato is a victim of the very same intolerant society that he uses to shape and successfully build his political career with, gaining up to 80% approval rates.

The game spells this out for you, Masato becomes Ryo Aoki because he doesn't want society to ostracize him and look down on him anymore. He wants to prove the people that discriminated against him wrong and become the most powerful person in all of Japan with the support of millions who LOVE him.

We know this because the game tells us.

Writing Masato off as a fascist bigot is intentionally ignoring many scenes and text in the game and is a simple minded, unambiguously wrong approach to themes that shouldn't be so difficult to understand in the first place because they aren't exactly subtle either.

His rise to power is more a commentary on society itself, as he felt the need to become Ryo Aoki to be accepted in the first place.

Masato's story is one of a man discriminated by society deciding to transform himself to become someone society almost unanimously approves of and using politics to achieve this.

He sacrifices as many lives necessary to achieve his goals starting with his own.

For more, read my post on Masato and Yumeno's relationship

[govpartychair]

Masato and Yumeno’s relationship and the ridiculous misinformation surrounding it

I want to start this by addressing how bizarre it is to believe that his character arc is commentary on “incel ideology” or that he became Ryo Aoki “over a girl” as it shows an astounding lack of ability to understand the very basic themes the game only requires paying attention to understand.

First of all, I don’t understand why so many people run with the belief that Masato and Yumeno weren’t actually dating, as there’s nothing implying it’s one sided and you have to actually make that up in your head

Multiple characters not only recognize their relationship, but acknowledge it as committed. If the story wanted us to think otherwise, they’d TELL US. But all the game tells us is that they were in a relationship.

Why would Yumeno care if Masato flirts with other women if their relationship isn’t real, why would Masato respect their committed relationship if it isn’t real? Why does nothing or no one in the game hint at the relationship being one sided and actually Masato misunderstanding hostessing as a real relationship?

Because they are actually dating

Which shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve played other Yakuza games that have always portrayed hostesses as women with inner lives outside of their job, many of them being in committed relationships.

What exactly is so difficult to believe about Masato having a girlfriend anyway? He’s very sweet to Yumeno and he’s a handsome guy. Does his disability make it hard for you to accept he’d have a girlfriend?

Their relationship is not only supported by the scenes in the game that you have to pay attention to, but narratively speaking it is very important for the actual themes of the game and not the “incel analogy” some of you pull out of your ass.

If you genuinely believe Masato is incapable of being loved because he’s physically disabled, he’d agree with you!

He goes as far as to import illegal steroids to not embarrass his girlfriend on her birthday.

But Masato doesn’t only lack an able body, he is also lacking a good public image due to him being Masumi Arakawa’s son.

Masato is a civilian, he isn’t yakuza and he doesn’t like the yakuza either, but he’s associated with them by default because he was raised by a yakuza family. He is seen as a lowlife and a criminal.

Juro Horinouchi is the Senior Commissioner of the Tokyo PD, a powerful role he is quick to brag about.

A difference between Masato and Horinouchi is that while society will discriminate against Masato because he appears to be a lowlife, Horinouchi is regarded as a good person by default because he’s a man of the law, therefore perceived as well intentioned.

But we know what type of man Horinouchi is.

This is relevant because Yumeno is a social climber, and with Masato she couldn’t possibly climb society’s ladder because he makes her look bad

It’s pretty clear that Yumeno is more interested in pursuing Horinouchi than the other way around, with her chasing Horinouchi into the bathroom when he says he wants to leave, disgusted by the likes of Ichiban and Masato being at the same club as he is.

If Horinouchi caught wind of the fact Yumeno is actually dating Masato it would definitely ruin all chances she has with him as he would see her as lesser for wanting to associate with people like that, tainting her public image.

Which is why in this moment she decides to cast Masato aside as he is no longer useful to her, and in order to disassociate herself from him she paints Masato as a dangerous and threatening man.

Her painting Masato as a threat not only helps put distance between Masato and herself despite the fact the two are in a committed relationship, but it also plays into Horinouchi's ego as Chief Commissioner, giving him the opportunity to brag about how he could easily have Masato locked up.

Masato had been there the whole time, overhearing their conversation. He realizes here that no amount of money or steroids that temporarily mask his disability are enough to make him look good as his entire existence is inherently flawed as he's also Masumi Arakawa's son.

Masato never seeks revenge on Yumeno or does anything to hurt her, a lot of the anger here is turned on himself as he seeks to have the type of power Horinouchi has, the one of being seen positively by society by default.

He changes everything about himself in order to fit what most of society deems good and acceptable, which is the goal of his governor persona as Ryo Aoki

Masato meets Yumeno again as Ryo Aoki, which further reinforces his belief that Masato needed to change everything about himself as Yumeno's first impression of Ryo Aoki is that he's very bright and sophisticated, a far cry from what she said about him to Horinouchi in the club bathroom.

How is Masato wrong for being deeply hurt by his girlfriend not only cheating on him but painting him as a lowlife? Where does the "incel metaphor" come in?

Is it not bizarre to take a story about a man that is discriminated against and ostracized by society for factors outside of his control and choosing to demonize him because his girlfriend doesn't want the corrupt cop she's pursuing to think she's associated with someone like him?

We know Yumeno doing this is the last straw that pushes Masato into throwing Masato away and taking up the role as Ryo Aoki that's more palatable and likeable by society's standards.

He didn't want people to look down on him anymore, and he did everything in his power to prove to the world that he was capable of being more than Masato Arakawa.

We know this because he tells us.

All you have to do is pay attention to the game, which for many it seems to be a demanding task.

If you believe his relationship with Yumeno wasn't real despite there being nothing in the game claiming otherwise or if his character arc is meant to be about "incel ideology" (how) you are unambiguously wrong and I think games like Yakuza 7 are far too complex for you.

[govpartychair]

Ryo Aoki in a few different art styles