proteamomegas replied to your post:On that topic, why can’t Team Rocket solely be...
// Yakuza definitely makes more sense than the mafia, I’m not sure why the English release of the games tried to spin it that way by giving Sakaki the name Giovanni.
Maybe they thought it might give Japan a bad name? Or, a better reason would be to make it more western since, unless you're into anime/manga/japan-in general, yakuza is a weird word and completely foreign. It might even appear like the mafia because it's easier to base/relate to it after with al capone and all the stuff you'd find in the west.
strength-of-the-silver-soul replied to your post:On that topic, why can’t Team Rocket solely be...
//I suppose in the English release they wanted to make it more relevant to English speaking countries with something more relatable. Although it’s stupid it does make sense.