The Yakuza series is jam-packed with studs. Everywhere you look, you'll usually find an absolute beefcake of a man ready to take you on a heartwarming journey to find the true meaning of love and friendship. That's why it's kind of amazing that Yakuza series producer and director Hiroyuki Sakamoto didn't actually realise that fan-favorite character Goro Majima is actually extremely popular with the ladies over in Japan.
In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun (thanks Kotaku), Sakamoto is asked about his favorite thing in Like A Dragon Ishin, which then proceeds to give his translator the giggles. According to Sakamoto, the team working on the original game back that released back in 2014 wasn't too sure about which characters to include. The game needed an all-star cast, but trying to nail down the most popular characters in the series at that point was apparently pretty tricky, so Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios held a popularity contest for its fans to narrow things down. The results were apparently pretty surprising.
"And I think we did the top five, or top ten people and we had it on a big screen and it was, like, a big announcement," said Sakamoto. "And when the number one person came up, and it was Majima, there was just this huge horde of female fans that all just screamed and screamed. And at that moment, we were like, 'Wait a minute, girls like Majima this much? Is he that popular with the ladies?!'"
Most of you who have played through the Yakuza series probably won't be too surprised to hear that Majima caused rapturous applause when he won. He's a constant yet lovable annoyance throughout Kiryu's adventures and his role in Yakuza 0 let us see a more tender side of the Mad Dog of Shimano. If anything, it would be surprising if Majima didn't top a popularity poll, but it turns out a lot of people like him a lot for more than just wacky antics and memorable catchphrase.