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Wataru Kurahashi

SPOILER WARNING: Plot details for Yakuza 2 follow. (Skip)

Wataru Kurahashi (倉橋 渉, Kurahashi Wataru), born Yeongmin Ji (지영민, Ji Yeong-min/池 頻敏, Ji Yonmin), is a character in Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2. He is the chief of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Foreign Affairs Division.

Profile

Appearance

In Yakuza Kiwami 2, Kurahashi's face is modeled after his voice actor, Houka KinoshitaWP. He is of average height and has short black hair.

In Yakuza 2, Kurahashi has a more youthful appearance, with a longer face and his hair slicked back. In the 1980 flashbacks, his hair is down and parted in the center.

Attire

Kurahashi wears a light gray suit over white shirt and black tie.

Personality

On the outside, Kurahashi appears as a somewhat level-headed police officer, but deep inside, he's a vengeful person, holding a great amount of grudge against the yakuza after the 1980 Jingweon massacre and wishing to avenge for his fallen brothers by blowing up Kamurocho.


Background

During the 1980 Christmas Massacre perpetrated by the Tojo Clan's Dojima Family against the Jingweon Mafia, 36 members of the Jingweon were wiped out. However, Ji and another teenager named Daejin Kim (who would later take the name Yukio Terada) were spared thanks to the mercy of Shintaro Kazama. The two boys would grow up to become Japanese citizens and get Japanese names, with Ji taking the name Wataru Kurahashi. However, both of them remained loyal to and continued being in the Jingweon Mafia, waiting patiently to take revenge against the Tojo Clan.

While Terada went on to join the yakuza, Ji infiltrated the other side of the law: the police. He joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and worked his way up to becoming the Section Superintendent for the Foreign Affairs Division. However, unbeknownst to him he was being watched the entire time by Jiro Kawara, a fellow police officer who was known for being merciless towards foreign criminals.

In 2006, the Jingweon Mafia finally hatched its plot to exact revenge on the Tojo Clan, along with the help of Terada's ally in the yakuza Ryo Takashima.

Involvement

Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2: 2006

Kurahashi and his men kidnap Makoto Date to set a trap for Kazuma Kiryu. Kurahashi reveals to Kaoru Sayama that Kawara is her father. Kiryu and Kurahashi then fight; Kurahashi is defeated, but manages to pick up a gun. He tries to shoot Kaoru, but Kawara uses his body to shield her and takes the bullet before shooting Kurahashi and killing him, before dying himself in his daughter's arms.

Later, Terada cited the death of Ji as another reason he desired revenge on Kiryu.

Fighting Style

Yakuza 2

Kurahashi uses a pistol, and is backed up by four Jingweon goons. He usually avoids close-quarters combat, sprinting around the arena and taking potshots instead. His attacks are listed as follows:

  • Kyohei Jingu's one-handed shot,
  • firing two shots two-handed,
  • firing three shots two-handed while crouching, and
  • a left side kick.

He will crouch down and perform a reload animation after firing his gun too many times.

Yakuza Kiwami 2

Kurahashi's moveset has seen quite a few changes. Instead of sprinting around to put as much distance between himself and Kiryu as possible, he is now far more prone to engaging him at close-range, frequently quickstepping to evade attacks. His attacks belong to Tetsuo Tamashiro’s pistol moveset, except they have received updated animations. These include:

  • Tamashiro’s pistol Rush Combo,
  • Tamashiro's single-shot attack,
  • Tamashiro’s guard reversal, and
  • a crouching one-handed shot after dashing right/left.

Trivia

  • In some promotional material for Yakuza 2, his given name is written with the kanji 歩 rather than the kanji 渉.
  • Kurahashi was one of three characters given the name "Kaoru Sayama" in early drafts for the story of Yakuza 2.[3]
  • Terada described Ji as his brother after his death. It is unknown if he was saying this simply in reference to him being a fellow Jingweon Mafia member, or if he and Ji have a personal oath similar that of the yakuza's oath brothers.
SPOILERS END HERE. (Return)

Gallery

Yakuza 2

Yakuza Kiwami 2

Notes

  1. ↑ The given birth year of 1964 is an estimate based on Kurahashi's age and is not intended as a substitute for an official date.
  2. ↑ The given height of 170 cm (5′ 7″) is based on the character model's scaling factor within Yakuza Kiwami 2's data.[2] For Dragon Engine games, this method is believed to be very accurate (±2 cm). However, this is intended as an estimate, not a substitute for an official statistic.

References

  1. ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “Chapter 11: The Iron Creed”, Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017; Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2018), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One/Amazon Luna.
    No, not Daejim Kim and Yeongmin Ji. [...] They were only 16 at the time, but somehow they made it out [of the Christmas 1980 massacre] alive.
    — Murai, Yakuza Kiwami 2
  2. ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “character_model_model_data” (.BIN file), Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017; Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2018), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One/Amazon Luna.
  3. ↑ Yokoyama Masayoshi 横山 昌義 (@yokoyama_masa), “The story behind the name: I chose the name 'Kaoru Sayama' because it's a unisex name. There were actually three Kaoru Sayamas in early drafts of 2's plot. One became Kurahashi, the other became Ryuji Goda (lol), ” Twitter, July 12, 2013, 12:33 a.m. JST, https://twitter.com/yokoyama_masa/status/355613754421022720.