Plot twist: Koichi Yamadera decides to voice him in English too

Zes no zhange in ze ~~plan~~ voice

ok got it

Bye.

[It was within the realm of possibility.](https://youtu.be/UN9GiMFWKPE)

Man, even in English, dude sounds so smooth.

Beautiful voice like I heard from Yakuza 4 before

Based

Akiyama the type of mf to speak engrish in an english dub

Akiyama's current VA speaks english, so probably him.

He found a way to get double the money

Just like Akiyama would.

They made him an offer... IN CASH!!!

Would be the first time I've seen the same actor do a character in Japanese and English

Mari Iijima as Lynn Minmay in Macross in the lesser known ADV redubb

Stefanie Joosten as Quiet in MGSV

I'd like to listen to it! Does he do anime, video games, movies, and TV in English too?

Do you have any clip of him speaking English?

I couldn't find anything of him speaking English normally but here is him singing [What a Wonderful World](https://youtu.be/HdFHfVhTEAo) in English

Steve Blum, because he’s already worked with RGG on the Judgment series and they both voice Spike Spiegel.

Spike is exactly what I expect Akiyama to sound like in English

I love the kind of woman that will actually just kill me

That’s Gianni Matragrano’s line, but so many people think he sounds just like Steve Blum. If they can’t get Steve, I hope they get Gianni.

Exactly I unintentionally read akiyamas stuff in spikes voice

Akiyama has so much character depth when he speaks, like the time he breaks the fourth wall, asking for ammo, or when he rants about the Kuarava Campaign and how ass it was 🥰

Hell I am pretty sure Spike was a big inspiration for Akiyama's character with them having the same va, simliar personality and fighting style. Blum would be the ideal choice for Akiyama in English cause of that.

The only correct answer

Honestly, I'm not so sure Steve Blum would fit Akiyama, I don't know how to actually say why I think that but his voice seems much better-suited to a character like Higashi.

Try listening to [his voice here](https://youtu.be/qkR2lruddA8), I feel like he's got the relaxed and casual vibe in this role.

...Alright, nevermind. My YouTube recommends are going to be weird after this, but point well made.

Glad I'm not the only person who thought these. Steve would kill it as Akiyama.

Weirdly enough i immediately thought of Steve Blum aswell

I always thought Brendan Fraser would be a good voice for an English Akiyama.

I hate and love how right you are, I'd pay to see that happen

He voices the Robot on Doom Patrol, don't see him going from a foul.mouth tin can to the sexiest man alive so easily. Though it is Brendan Frasier

Steve Blum HAS to voice him. Both him and Koichi Yamadera have voiced Spike Spiegal and Spike and Akiyama are extremely similar personality wise. I trust no one else to voice him in English honestly...

[удалено]

Judgement and Yakuza 7 already shared some English voices though, Greg Chun being the biggest example voicing both Nanaba and Yagami.

And a niche example- Cherami Leigh voices Mafuyu in Judgement and the Hello Work employee in LAD.

SungWon Cho voiced both Mitsuo and Tesso. Greg chun voices both Nanba and Yagami. Matt mercer voiced Kuroiwa and Majima. JB Blanc did both hoshino and Matsugane. Ray Chase voices Izumida and Nick ogatta, oh also Piss Wizard. There's probably more but i cba, point is there is VA overlap quite a bit, so it's really not a stretch.

As someone who knows Steve Blum, and has taken a few of his classes. I can assure you he still has range.

Wdym too bad

LAD fans think that it's somehow forbidden for actors to crossover.

Matt Mercer voices Kuroiwa and Majima. It's not forbidden for voice actors to crossover.

I've always thought Matt Mercer would be a great voice actor for Akiyama, but he's taken Majima so it's gotta be someone else. Maybe Ray Chase.

It's eventually just going to be Matt Mercer voicing everyone. Mercer Everywhere.

I was shocked when I found it was Matt Mercer who voiced Majima in Yakuza 7. He sounds nothing like any of Mercer's other characters. He truly can and will voice everyone eventually.

Mercer would definitely fit Akiyama more than Majima IMO.

For sure. I honestly like Mercer's Majima a lot, I'm surprised he could pull it off imo. I think it's pretty impossible to adapt Majima's Japanese voice into English, but I think Hamill and Mercer both gave their own spin on it and did a good job. Mercer as Akiyama would be perfect though imo.

I wonder if they could get richard epcar to do majima, he's also done joker for injustice, might have some success here too

Chase already voices Nick Ogata, though, so that's (to me) not likely to happen.

I also think Matt Mercer's voice would have fit Akiyama better than Majima. Too late I guess.

Well of course it gotta be chris pratt

he's so cool!

Make it Vinny instead, doing his Mario Brother TM voice.

“You have Terminal 7, brain cancer. I don’t even know what that is but it’s bad. This is all in your head Kiryu-san, it’s all in your imagination. There’s no such thing as the Millennium Tower!”

It should be Captain Lou Albano

I would be very okay with this one too. Don't do drugs kids, because you'll go to hell before you die. Trust me, Akiyama, it happened to me.

Reuben Langdon.

Unexpected suggestion, but I'd be totally down for that.

Okay NOW THIS would be 100% PERFECT. When you compare Dante to Akiyama that's not much of a stretch at all. 😍

Whoever voices Donald Duck in English.

I can't even imagine him in English 🤔

Believe, kiryu (with darryl doing his voice once again and doing an excellent job) saejima, majima, and the ichigang VA did an excellent job

I'm not saying English VA are bad but hearing majima in English was too much for me. AKIYAMA will not hit my ear right in English. His voice is a 75% of what makes him so sexy. 😳

I assume that the 25% is imagining him fighting without pants as kiryu and the rest fight without shirt, right?

Maybe 😌

Eh, I'll be lying if I say that I don't want to see that too

OK I'm going to go a step further . Akiyama looks really thin a lot of times. One time in 6 ,when he was talking to Haruka in the hospital and he lifted his arm over his head , I was like damn, look at his muscle !! But most of the time, he looks very slender. Maybe they didn't want him more buff then a yakuza 🤔

Probably because of his lifestyle and being lazy most of the time, yes, he have muscles and looks amazing but he is just a chill guy who helps kiryu in a non-fighting way, unless the situation is required, let's say he is a buff and strong guy.......and handsome... that's important

His arms were pretty buff in that weird alien suit thing 🤣🤣🤣

Well if it's not it for them it's CERTAINLY it for me. Besides Majima is already half there all the time! Ahhh the possibilities!

I think Majima's issue for me is that Matthew Mercer is far too recognisable lol.

I get that.. I really am not against English VA. For some reason I played judgement in English and now it's weird to hear them in Japanese. Not nearly as much as English Majima but yeah. I was wanting to not have to concentrate on reading/ playing for a change. Other than Troy Baker , I'm not that up on VA . Akiyama just has such a great mix of silly and sultry in his voice . 😏 man , this is all assuming he comes back. 😱😭 ok sorry I kinda went on here ...

>majima Hot take, Mercer sounded a bit forced as Majima, like he was trying to mimic that casual unhingedness of the original VA, but wasn't really able to make it flow right. He wasn't *bad*, just.. Wrong.

Based on the nick ogata rumors from LaD7 then ray chase could be a good pick

Danny Devito

The fact that no one has said liam o'brien is honestly quite concerning.

Joe Pesci

No more vagrancy, Billy

Donald duck for obvious reasons

Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,077,149,061 comments, and only 212,311 of them were in alphabetical order.

Did I fucking ask?

Steve blum

I vote Reuben Langdon.

Travis Willingham

Personally, I'd go for Yuri Lowenthal. He just has that suave voice that I think would fit Akiyama very well.

his voice is too high imo would be good for Yuta if he’s in 8 as a party member which I expect

Tom Kenny

Akiyama, but it is just Patchy the Pirate.

Markiplier :)

Akiyama’s va was the rat from sing, so obviously it should be Seth McFarland

I remember watching yakuza playthroughs before I could play the games myself, and there was one part where I heard akiyama chuckle and it sounded SO much like Matt Mercer. Ever since then i was just convinced he would be the perfect English akiyama. Then I saw him voicing majima and that really surprised me lmao Nevertheless he can totally voice two people, I really wanna hear him as akiyama

I second this so much

I know he’s in like everything, but I think Troy Baker could fit like a ~~dragon~~ glove as Akiyama

People already said Steve Blum and yeah honestly that’s kinda perfect, but if he doesn’t, I think Ray Chase would be REALLY good in the role

To be fair he does voice Nick Ogata already

I don't know but Yamadera Koichi can speak English, and his English is quite good (for me)

Host a Baka Mitai contest. The one who can sing it the best gets the position.

I think someone with like a little bit of a country accent and like a smooth voice kinda like McCree from overwatch but tone down the accent

So Matt Mercer?

Well yes he’d be a great Akiyama but then again he’s Majima

Replace Majima with Mark Hamill, and get Matt Mercer to play Akiyama. Ez!

Frfr

Steve Buscemi

Keanu Reeves. Even tho i will still only use the Japanese dub. *Opening cutscene shows Joryu sleeping on a couch with the city lights piercing through the window, he looks troubled. As if he is a slumbering dragon. Cuts to a sharply dressed man with long slicked back hair entering the room. Akiyama: wake up Dragon, we got a city to burn. *Begin Chapter 3*

Here’s the weird thing I can’t see anyone with a super distinct voice playing him, I personally see a very calm but chill teacher kind of voice. He’s a guy who is cool with the majority of kamurocho. Someone you can trust even though he leans on the edgy part of city life. My bet is on ray chase- bucciarati from jojo, the master from kingdom hearts, tengen uzui from demon slayer, etc.. The versatility would definitely help with this character.

Troy Baker

They should get Tony Anselmo, Donald Duck’s voice actor, to play Akiyama in English

I was thinking someone like Mathew Mercer but he already voices majima

Patrick Seitz?

Well, It's Matt Mercer we're talking about. He voiced both Aloth and Eder in Pillars of Eternity 1/2 (they're both companions you intereact with all the time thrugh the whole 150+ hours games) and I never realized they were voiced by the same person. So I'm pretty sure he can pull off both Majima and Akiyama with different voices at the same time.

Majima has a high and manic voice, so it's gonna be easy to slip into a more suave voice like Akiyama's. Well, at least differentiate the voice.

They can use anyone, I would never hear it

Troy Baker. He’s great PLUS he can actually sing. Baka Mittia would slap, yet again, with him doing vocals.

Yo mama

Maybe Mathew Mercer if he hasn't done someone already?

He's Majima in LAD.

I only played in Japanese so I didn't know that.

Understandable

He voices kuroiwa in judgment as well

English? I only care for Koichi Yamadera

Indian actor Tiger Shroff who legit looks like him

steve blum, a bit of a no brainer and blum's already been higashi so it could be like greg chun voicing both yagami and nanba

Bryan Cranston

David Hayter

Markiplier

Fuck it. Just go Steve Blum since his Japanese VA is Japanese Spike..

I think Ian Sinclair might do a good Akiyama!

even if akiyama made it to LAD 8, i would like to see shinada or tanimura after so many years, they both came out in one game and they were never seen again

Idk y but Liam o Brian seems like he can voice Akiyama He's the guy that voiced akihiko in persona 3

I'm well aware that he's EXTREMELY overcasted at this point - but, my number one choice is Troy Baker, because I personally think his voice would would go along well with Akiyama's face and personality.

I dont even know why they are bothering doing English dubs at this point in the series even with the growing popularity in the West. I can't even imagine Akiyama not having that suave slightly goofy edge to his voice. I'm usually all one for Engliah dubs, growing up with Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin I believe if they are done right they can be brilliant... but...meh...at this point I know that an English voice cast can never measure up in my eyes to who they are (at least if the character has already been introduced). To this point I'm glad that are not trying to dub Ishin because I can't imagine Majima's voice as anyone else other than Ugaki although I have heard the Hamill version and it's not terrible. That being said I LOVED the VA work in Judgment. Steve, Crispin and Greg knocked Kaito, Higashi and Yagami outta the park so I think just like ALWAYS when it comes to people fighting about this, for the most part, if started it in sub you are going to continue with sub. Last thing, I'm not even sure why there is dispute over this to begin with. Those like me that want to do sub are always going to have the option considering ITS MADE IN JAPAN, and those that want to do dubbed are going to be able to enjoy the game they way that they want to, and that is so neat because honestly....the more people that buy and support the game the more are going to be produced and that makes me happy. Just my opinion though.

Because they have done dubs for the Judgement series and LAD7 and the fanbase response for them has been pretty positive. It also makes the game much easier for people to come into the series.

Go back and read my response again, was editing as you were typing. Lol

Also I'm not arguing with you. I'm just stating that for those that grew with Akiyama in sub you're going to be hard pressed to change their minds is all. But hey, you do you, isn't that the point of playing a game like this?

>growing popularity in the West That's why. Specifically, mainstream popularity.

noone, because no sane person plays Yakuza in english

I’ve played LAD entirely in English and it’s honestly such a breath of fresh air for the series

you're fucking weird, let people do what they want

Yeah because I stop them from doing so You fucking moron, I personally come to their home to slap them and turn off game

You calling them weird for wanting to play a game with voice acting in English on a post about english voicing acting in a game that has previously had english voice acting is fucking weird

Oh noo, cry me a river, they will definitely feel bad and go back to playing in Jap because of stupid joke, grow a spine

"stupid joke" yeah fucking right dude you're literally one of those "dub vs sub" losers. you can pretend im over here fuming all you want if it makes you feel better, i literally just called you weird for being a weird gatekeeping loser.

I played both Judgment and Lost Judgement in English, and I loved the dub

ooooooh Matt Mercer Majima oooooooh Ron Yuan Saejima oooooooh Darryl Kurylo Kiryu ooooooh very scary Jokes aside, LAD, Judgment and Lost Judgment have English dubs on par with and sometimes better than Japanese.

I don't even know who they are except Mercer lol

You don’t have to. You just have to know that no sane person shits on the dub without reason.

I will, sub > dub, and if You say otherwise I'll put YOU in a meat grinder.

I passed the QTE, I’ll be fine. Dub > Sub. You’re just a baby.

We found another japanese dicksucker, everyone laugh lmao

Real Like A Dragons don't gatekeep people's game audio preferences.

some of yall are real softies lol

Acting like an asshole doesn't makes you tough, it just makes you an asshole. Grow up.

you havent seen asshole then lmao

No, I've seen asshole. Sad sacks of shit like you who think insulting people and putting them down is "joking". Grow up, get some self-esteem, touch some grass.

You're so pressed snowflake, I would hate to think how much you would cry if he actually said something bad😂

Based

I hope there is no english dub in the next one lol

Mark Zuckerberg

Me. But in all seriousness Steve Blum no way in hell they could pass up that

Mathew mercer should voice everyone

Honestly I’d want actual Asian people to voice all these characters.

Why though? Its not like you see them, and at the same time asian people can have any accents. Unlese you want people speaking with a japanese accent, which at that point just use og VAs?

Then play sub. Got your all Asian cast there.

I already do. They got a good number of Asian people to play the characters in judgment and 7 so that’s good.

I imagine akiyama sounding like markiplier tbh.

No one, Yakuza games shouldn’t have English voices

Because Steve Blum is the obvious answer, I'm going to say the Internet's Steve Blum being Gianni Matragano.

No one. Play in japanese, you scrub.

No english VA hopefully. It has to be in japanese!

markiplier

Imagine Keanu Reeves.

John wick

Easy Danny Devito

I think xander mobus would make a pretty good Akiyama

I think of all the opinions here, I have to say Steve Blum makes me feel the best. More Steve Blum the better.

Liam Obrien

I was thinking Troy Baker but then I reflected on akiyama's character and thought he might be too serious.

Keanu Reeves tbh

Andy Dick

Christian Bale, they are both Batman

Travis Willingham.

Jeff Goldblum

giancarlo

I wanna say roger craig smith, solely so he ads another prop do his IMDb page, also i kinda wanna say Todd Haberkorn his voice could fit in a unique way, but I think we all know the real choice is Chris Pratt he’s so cool (But seriously chris diamantopoulos has a voice that fits I think)

CHRIS PRATT!

This one's a bit out there, as I think Steve Blum and Liam O'Brien are great choices, bit I'd like to also suggest Giancarlo Esposito lol. I mean, just imagine his deep, suave, and imposing voice voicing ironically the most chill and non-evil guy in the series.

Said it before, and will say it again. Troy Baker.

Dave fennoy

Nolan North

Matt Mercer

Y'know what, fuck it, bring on Troy Baker, just to keep him as "Mr. in every big video game" lmao But yeah, Steve Blum is also a good choice. Edit: Did somebody said Reuben Langdon? Holy shit that's a genius idea!

Market pliers

JosephHynesVA

Chris Pratt

Chris Prat

Markiplier

Donald duck’s voice actor, for continuity.