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Ichiban Kasuga (春日 一番, Kasuga Ichiban?) is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Kazuma Kiryu) of Sega's Like a Dragon franchise.
He is the main protagonist of the Like a Dragon saga, which follows the events of the yakuza era officially reaching its end, and now the former yakuza members are now trying to adjust to their new normal life, with Ichiban helping them.
He is a former member of the Tojo Clan's Arakawa Family that took the blame for a murder to protect his family. After being released from prison, he finds out that his patriarch and clan have betrayed him and sets out to seek the truth behind his incarceration. Along the way, he meets a bunch of outcasts who all come from different backgrounds and forms a ragtag group of heroes with them. Together, they go on adventures and unmask conspiracies to that hold national and sometimes even international consequences.
In Japanese, he is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakaya (who also voiced Akira Nishikiyama), while in English, he is voiced by Kaiji Tang.
Appearance[]
Ichiban is a young-looking man, who has a very muscular build. He has dark brown hair that was previously a short punch perm but has been styled into a long, wavy perm that stands up like an afro since his release from prison, as well as a thin beard on his face.
Attire[]
Kasuga's trademark attire consists of a maroon suit over a white shirt with an upturned collar and a gold chain necklace. He also wears black leather loafers with gold buckles and a matching black leather belt with a gold buckle. He imagines his outfit in combat to be slightly different when he is assigned his special class, Hero; he dons black leather gloves, rolls up his sleeves to the elbow, and swaps out his necklace for a red silk ascot.
During his time at Hello Work, he switches from his iconic suit to a blue suit with a red tie. In Hawaii, he wears a red Hawaiian-patterned shirt over a white undershirt and jean shorts, complete with a gold chain necklace.
Tattoo[]
Kasuga's back is covered in a dragonfish tattoo, which represents the koi's in-between state in the legend of a koi that swims up to the top of a waterfall and is rewarded for its tenacity by being transformed into a dragon.
Personality[]
Kasuga is a fiercely loyal and steadfast man, perhaps to a fault. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is prone to letting his emotions get the best of him, whether it be sheer rage or getting overly excitable. However, he has a strong sense of justice and is always willing to help out anyone in need. Kasuga is also a huge fan of Dragon Quest, a video game he loved to play ever since his youth. This contributed to his strong sense of imagination where he imagines his battles as if they were a turn-based JRPG. This imagination has also made him a quick thinker and a creative tactician in battles despite his rash and impulsive demeanor.
One of Kasuga's notable traits is his unfailing kindness and general love for people. These traits have made him an infectiously charismatic person that never fails to inspire admiration from the people around him. He cares deeply about his party members and leads them with grace and in turn, they stand by him and are ready to have his back no matter how overwhelming the odds are. He's also extremely cunning, able to call out Zheng on his arrogance for using the Yokohama Liumang as an excuse to get away with shaking down the homeless, as well as Yamato Totsuka's fear of the Seiryu chairman.
Abilities[]
His default job is "Freelancer", which is a powerful scrapper class designed to overwhelm enemies with single-target attacks. He later trades out this job for the much more powerful "Hero" job, which focuses on him using a baseball bat for wide-hitting swings and devastating blows. His personal skills revolve around using his charisma to get his way in battle, like buffing his allies or convincing enemies to fork over items
Trivia[]
- Kasuga was given the name "Ichiban" (一番, lit. "number one" in the context of being the best) by executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi and lead writer Masayoshi Yokoyama. They decided on the name due to its contrast with his background and lifestyle being emblematic of Kasuga as a character, who "[lives life] to the fullest like he doesn't see the irony."
- In Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Kasuga appears as a Shinsengumi Trooper Card rather than as one of the division captains specifically because his character and beliefs would not fit with how the captains are portrayed.
- Humorously, despite his love for his pet crawfish Nancy, Kasuga’s favorite food is lobster, as revealed by Saeko in Infinite Wealth.
- Ichiban’s origin is an almost complete rendition of Kiryu’s, even the colour scheme on his outfit feels like it mirrors Kiryu; A red jacket and white shirt to that of Kiryu’s grayish jacket and red shirt.
External Links[]
- Ichiban Kasuga on the Yakuza/Like a Dragon Wiki
- Ichiban Kasuga on the Sega Wiki
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 Heroes
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Main Series Yakuza Organizations Other Characters Black Panther Series Judgment Series Like a Dragon: Ishin! | ||