The Weirdest Yakuza Plot Twist (Hannya's Advocate)

The best plot twist, though, is the rubber bullets one

I like mirror face, he's a silly lil guy

People keep memeing about rubber bullets and yet they fail to mention that for the ending of Like a Dragon to work, you need a literal Shapeshifter!!

Exactly 😂

In my opinion, Mirror face not a single, but multiple persons. Each person will do a mission which fit the most. After explosion Mirror face dont hang out with group. Nobody can say with 100% confidence, person who took Tendo personality, and person who took Adachi personality, is same person.

I honestly don't care about the Mirror Face twist too much. My interpretation is that Aoki was so high and mighty that he didn't even notice that he was being undone by his own creation. It's ridiculous, but at least the second use didn't feel like a cheap cop out like the rubber bullet thing was. And like you said, Like a Dragon was over the top anyway. Having an impersonator doesn't seem that farfetched.

Lets not forget, robots exist in this universe

I headcanon him as secretly being Tanimura and the lore reason why he looks so different In the original and remaster is because he morphed is face

I think the main problem with the mirror face twist isn't believability, but rather, necessity. Even if Aoki had come to the office in the millenium tower to find Ichiban's party, KO'd alongside Tendo, he still would've done something incriminating enough to be recorded and published.
'Tendo' standing there does barely anything to facilitate a more suspicious behaviour, he doesn't command Tendo to kill them, he commands his personal detail, and even if he did command Tendo, him being KO'd would just mean that he'd have to tell his men to do so.

There is no real reason for him to be less incriminating just because he sees Tendo having won, at the very least, Kasuga could have pretended to be wounded, but conscious, and prompt Aoki to say something incriminating.

It's really bizarre that they put so much effort to create this oversized patch for a hole that didn't really exist.

the real justification is that it's a funny metal gear reference

I would love it if mirror face was a party member in premium adventure that can imitate skills and appearance from bosses, it would have been neat

Yakuza is pretty ridiculous but I feel that Mirror Face is an entirely different caliber of strangeness compared to the rest of he series. Ignoring things like substories and Ichiban’s imagination, I think Mirror Face being able to perfectly mimic others doesn’t really fit with Yakuza. When I think of ridiculous stuff in the main story, I think of characters with superhuman levels of strength or being able to perfectly predict everything for their plan. Mirror Face perfectly mimicking others just feels a bit too much of a stretch for Yakuza’s standards since there isn’t really a precedent for that type of absurdity. I get that you can do a lot of insane stuff with makeup but this feels too fantastical personally. Their inclusion in general just doesn’t make sense to me. I guess the idea was that they would be conceptually cool but the execution was flawed and even if it wasn’t, fighting Adachi just isn’t a very interesting idea for a boss fight, especially since we’ve already had 2 boss fights against party members. I think it would’ve been a much better idea to make a character with an interesting personality than one with an interesting concept behind them. That being said, I think the bigger issue with Mirror Face is the fact that they helped Ichiban at all. From what little we know, they only sided with him because Aoki didn’t appreciate them enough. That’s pretty in character for Aoki to do but it just makes Mirror Face look petty and childish, which clashes with how we’re supposed to view them as a highly skilled, threatening assassin. Perhaps if they got actual character development, it could feel like more of a legit character trait than just weird pettiness but that would likely detract from the surprise of Mirror Face helping Ichiban, nullifying the twist altogether. To me, it feels like the developers had an idea for a boss fight with someone who can mimic your party members but later wrote themselves into a corner when it came to confronting Aoki. Aoki’s hubris being his downfall is very fitting for him so having him unknowingly confess his crimes to his subordinates while being filmed makes sense. But then they didn’t know how to set it up and remembered the random boss that could mimic others and decided it was the only solution. Lastly, I just feel like it’s too bad of a twist for 7 of all games. Say what you want about rubber bullets, but it definitely fits Yakuza 4. Even without the twist, 4 is already a messy, ridiculous narrative so while you may not like the rubber bullets plot line, I’d say it at least makes sense for it to be in 4 of all games. 7 on the other hand is one of the tightest stories in the series. It’s really fucking weird, but that’s almost solely down to the presentation in the combat and side content. The plot itself plays it pretty straight generally, so having a twist like Mirror Face is not only poor writing but just messes with the entire flow of 7. I don’t think it ruins the entire story but it is definitely a bruise on an otherwise amazing story.

When is the next upload 😅

YESS I LOVE THESE VIDEOS!!!

I think Mirror Face exists because reasoning with Tendo would simply not be a good way to resolve that plot. Ichiban's greatest strength has always been his ability to connect with people, and it would be the most ridiculous thing for him to reconcile with the man who murdered his father. Mirror Face existing solves that issue, where after the boss fight with Tendo, Ichi doesn't need to reason with him and have the assassin replace Tendo to fool Masato instead. Because that's exactly the purpose he serves.

I guess this can also be resolved by Tendo not murdering Arakawa and being maybe tangentially responsible for it, so Ichi could just negotiate with him after the boss fight and set Masato up that way. But that could also take away the impact and cathartic factor Tendo's boss has in the game as the final dragon to take down, so I see why they made him so hate-able.

I'm a big fan of 7 and its story as a whole because of how strong the core cast- Ichiban in particular- and the emotions it conveys is. Mirror Face existing as a plot convenience is not too bothersome when all I'm looking for is that quality Yakuza/Like A Dragon character work.

Also side note, surprise Ishioda return in 8 or beyond? Because only he seems to have died in that explosion lol.

To me it wasn't a problem of believability, after all the exposure to similar things like Sherlock Holmes, Metal gear, the Fiend with 20 faces, Chiba from Kengan Ashura and the like, it was more of a surprise they didn't did it earlier in other games, i think the annoyance came from him being not that important aside from a weird interaction with adachi and that fight but then he gets to resolve a major plot point seemingly out of nowhere, if he would have been introduced since the beginning, 2 to 3 substories, kind of a "Mirror Face everywhere" system i think he would have been more accepted, I like him still he is really cool a concept

I hear a lot of people say that RGG Studios was taking it to far with Mirror Face and how unrealistic it is
Even though in the Yakuza universe there are Kappas, Ghost, and UFOs not to mention what ever the hell Amon is doing
The voice can be explained by him just having a really good range of voice, even in the real world we can see voice actors change their voice into anything
With clothing he could obviously just make it himself or have someone make it for him. But I wouldn't be surprised if he just stole Tendo's and bought Adachi's jacket online and added on the patches
Physic is definitely the only real gray area for this whole character. You can't just build someone's muscle mass in a day or 2 even with steroids, and someone's height however that could be explained by saying he's on stilts (unless the person is small if that's the case then I have no clue)
There's also facial structure but have you seen the Geomijul's counterfeiting machine I wouldn't be surprised if they have super realistic face mask in the Yakuza universe

So overall he's not to far out there of an idea within the world of Yakuza and I kinda hope they bring him back in some way for Yakuza 8

Despite the fumble in the concept of mirror face i think is handled better alot of better than other tropes and plot and plot twist it good to outlandish trope in place especially in a series like yakuza but if you strech that out the trope so much it becomes so outlandish it doesn't fit anymore like for judgement for example the idea of amnesia was cool untill it became the sole motivation of most non main characters in the game another example is rubber bullet the introduction of it wasn't bad it they stretch it so much to point it where it become excuse to fake kill characters tho what the last 2 example have that mirror face doesn't is information we basically know nothing about him or why would zhao even recognize him or he would even help ichiban in the case of rubber bullets we know it a government project leaked to the yakuza in the case the amnesia we know it was case of human experimentation scandal in attempt to develop a cure but mirror face? I don't understand his purpose other than to maybe shy away from last minute sympathy we seen another games in the series after saying all that here is where a think mirror face is handled better Timing here takes up the exact amount time he needs to be in the plot he not overused or unbelievably stretched like the previous two examples sure he could use more screen time but i think its time for him to fit in without being too outlandish

I just hope he's only used here in Y:LAD and maybe RGGO. As I said in the community post, I don't like that his existence can be used to retcon any character deaths moving forward. Sure it's in-line for the series to have dumb plot twists within the main story so anything goes and is acceptable if that ever happens I guess? If anything, he can be used to elevate the wacky side stuff in the future. A mini-game of sorts. Having clones in Arena fights or training. Something like that I can accept.

Speaking of retcons, that'd be a cool video. Kashiwagi and Richardson are alive and well. Who else could be "resurrected" and how do their return affect their death scenes or the story of the games they died in?

mad how people take the piss out of y4's rubber bullets but dont find an issue with the fact that an invisible shapeshifting assassin is the only reason why y7's ending makes any sense

Ty for the lovely video, but I’m sorry I’ll have to say this. This “twist” in unbelievably shit, it’s even shittier than good ol rubber bullets and this video is big cope. I still enjoyed watching through it tho

I think Mirror Face's greatest flaw is that he only exists in the final act, and leaves as quickly as he arrives. Nearly every other questionable part of Yakuza 7's plot has at least some buildup or foreshadowing before they come out in full. Tendo's behavior in the Chinese restaurant is clearly that of a future rival/boss, Kiryu pops in during the Omi showdown before stealing the show in his chapter, even the coin locker babies have some setup with how much we see Aoki and Sawashiro interacting before the big reveal, and there's plenty you can read into with how they interact to suggest that there's at least something going on between them. But Mirror Face? He shows up in the penultimate chapter, when everyone is still reeling from Kiryu's boss fight, and then shows up again right after the final boss fight without any sign that he had even survived the explosion after his own fight. His introduction feels like a total afterthought, and then when he comes back I'm left thinking "Wait, this guy wasn't just a one-off gimmick fight? And NOW he's leaving for good?" From there every other problem you mentioned comes into play, the more you think about him, the less sense he makes. Remember how in Yakuza 3 you fight Andre Richardson after Hasabe, and then he comes back in the final act where his true nature is revealed? Imagine if you had only met him in the hospital room, no idea who he is, and then it's revealed he's the main bad guy of the entire game. That's really the best solution they could've given Mirror Face, have people at least mention him once before his introduction in the end of the game, talk him up as a legendary hitman the same way Nanba goes on and on about how Tendo is a legendary boxer. Make it seem as though he matters so that when he suddenly does matter, the player isn't completely blindsided. All that aside, great video as always, and a great deconstruction of the new most divisive twist in the series.

Incredible video, very well-presented! You did a great job being a mediator.

As someone who adores Yakuza 7, I do think it's on the ridiculous side but also, it's Yakuza. It's nothing new. Like you said, I see people present other "lesser" ridiculous plot points from other games to point out how much worse this one is, but people don't have to make others feel bad about enjoying the game, just say "I don't like Yakuza 7" and be on your way.

Now you know what's truly bullcrap? Kume coming out of absolutely nowhere by completely chance just to give us that stab scene

I thought it was a little weird but then I replayed the series and as early as Yakuza 2 we have a main story plotpoint that features a perfect doppleganger for Kazuki, a guy that the Jingweon mafia presumably just gave some surgery to and had him flawlessly replace Kazuki in a way that nobody noticed for months (including people that spoke to him every single day).

In the same game that gives us Mirror Face, we also have a 2nd Joon Gi Han that not only looks like the original but talks, behaves and fights like him.

These are just off the top of my head, there may be more examples in the series. Honourable mention to Lost Judgement where apparently a facemask and a 3d-printed jawline can fool the nation's media and police investigation.

I'm all down for Mirror face, but the thing that didn't make sense to me is why it had to be there. Tendo seemed like a guy that Ichiban and the gang could talk it out with him after beating him. I believe that Tendo was smart enough to know that Ryo Aoki was using him and would have disposed of him as soon as he wasn't useful anymore. With a bit of convincing he could have gone with the plan without having the mirror face twist

I mean this is a series where Kiryu was told to beat the shit out of an entire yakuza so he would be too tired to beat up said yakuza's boss during a negotiation an assassin who's really good at cosplay and voice acting isn't really that out there. Main problem I would have is he's kinda only used as a tool for the 2 plot bits and has very little character.

well said, I think it's dumb but it's such a small thing in the entirety of the game that it doesn't really impact my experience towards it at all.

Still a better story than yakuza 3 lol
I don't know, maybe its an acquired taste with all the bizare yakuza twists over the years, but I've grown to see past the unrealistic nature of plot points like these to the point that this never struck me as odd.

The thing that just feels so weird about Mirror Face is that he is completely unnecessary to the plot
In the first encounter he literally could have just not been there, the situation would have played out the same way
In the second one... there's really no reason why the real Tendo wouldn't agree to simply sell Aoki out once he was defeated. He was already uninterested in his scheme and just wanted to throw down

I'm neutral to this. I'm not a fan of the twist but I'm not losing sleep over his existence. 7 is still a favorite of mine

gotta love when people wants to take the Yakuza series seriously
those gotta be my favorite types of people

Having beaten the game, I think Mirror Face might've been a former plastic surgeon who operates on himself (not a big stretch since there are many cases of surgeons operating on themselves). Or maybe he simply uses masks or make-up.

Him copying Adachi and Tendo is also believable, because both of them are similar in size. They're both big, buff dudes and Mirror Face probably is too. Or he trains himself in advance by changing his diet and working out to match the body shape of his targets.

Honestly, just adding a couple throwaway lines like what I mentioned above would've been enough to make him more believable.

I will drop a like and leave since I didnt finish Y7. I'll Come back once im done with it.

I pretty much zone out hard when Mirror Face turns up. I can’t suspend my disbelief, so I just suspend my attention instead. I love the thought you’ve put into this video, analysing the logic and creative absurdity of Mirror Face. God bless RGG, for the genius and equalising wackiness.

actually comparing tendo and mf tendo you can notice mf tendos kansai dialect slips up a few times when talking to aoki, so for the voice id say mixed

mirror face was such a half assed plot twist. i question how LAD stans can defend it, but then i remember these people will literally lie saying that LAD doesn't have anything to do with the previous games.

My thoughts on some of the more unbelievable elements of Mirror Face:

Combat: 100% Ichi's imagination. As implied by most "real" cutscenes showing Ichi and gang fighting, essentially nothing we see in combat can be taken at face value. Ichi would absolutely daydream about Mirror Face mimicking Adachi's abilities. I also don't think Mirror Face actually absorbs his mirrored target's strength canonically, he can just be assumed to be a good fighter as would be expected from such a renowned mercenary.

Voice impressions: Different people can have different versatilities to their voice, and I think it's worth bearing in mind the Adachis were tussling so wouldn't be speaking in their normal tone to easily distinguish them. I think in this case as well as Mirror Face's other work, talking that much isn't excessively necessary, the disguise is what usually matters.

Mirror Face being able to recite traffic codes: My headcanon is, because Mirror Face declares knowing the traffic code is "common sense" he genuinely knows certain laws off by heart and thinks that's normal lmao


Personally as an actual character, I didn't mind Mirror Face. It's an out there concept but not supremely central to the plot and Yakuza plays around with suspension of disbelief like this often.

I beat Y7 2 days ago for the first time. I didn't even know this was considered as a big deal. He is established, introduced and beaten before this scene, and i figured out it was mirror fsce before he pulled the body out so it was clearly set up well enough. And they establish he's up for hire, if Ichiban came up with the whole plan before hand he could just hire him for that job ahead of time. I mean we fight a chimp driving an excavator and a roomba the size of a tank, and neither of those are ichi haveing a schizophrenic episode, bc other people react to it. In a world were wear trashbags and use the junk they are full with to fight an assasin who is good with makeup isn't really that out of place

I really don't see why everyone makes such a big deal about Mirror Face, I enjoy the twist a bit, it's funny, and maybe there is some narative dissonance there because of the more serious manner of the end game, the boss directly after is against a man who are the beginning of the game did use a random serum to regain the use of his legs for a few hours, and no one complains about how goofy that is. Is this really as bad as the ending of 2 with it's fake bomb and everyone being related to Sayama? Is it as bad as anything that happens in the entire plot of Yakuza 5? It's hardly unbelievable in the series that gives us men that can survive falling from buildings, being thrown off of moving trucks speeding down highways and being shot by helicopters.

I actually didn't know the Mirror Face thing was in contention until I saw this video. I think there's just certain hollywood tropes my brain just passively accepts, Misson Impossible-induced brain rot maybe lol.

I guess I’m just an idiot, cause when I saw the twist I just thought, “aaaah sh*t, they hired mirror face!”

atleast better than rubber bulltet

Not gonna lie it would been very cool if he was one of villains in Gaiden, Like playing mind games with joryu

These are some banger videos great job

The problem with mirror face isnt his existance or believability, its the fact that he was the cause of ryo aoki's downfall, and that was lame. That only happened because the game needed a very quick solution, due to its pacing being way too slow in its first half, due to the setup to all of the changes in the status quo,and establishing tye new setting and characters. That slowness caused the actual plot to be confined into practically just the latter half of the game, generating a final chapter where the villain was nowhere near close to defeat, needing a very quick solition to that problem. Mirror face was simply a plot device to achieve that. Since that scene was underwhelming, and it happens because of mirror face, we tend to blame the character, which is only part pf the problem.

I cannot describe how much i hate mirrorface.
In my eyes he isn't a real character but more of a plot device to create the stupid plottwist with tendo legit killing arakawa sensei.

In a world with several Han Joon-gis who look and sound exactly the same, as well as formerly "deceased" characters returning with a completely new face, Mirror Face seems like just a regular fellow to me.

Honestly the abilities of Mirror Face aren't the problem here. He has a ultra duper supernatural abilitie to copy another person? Sure okay, he's a superassassin. We're talking about a series where shirtless buff men launch eachother across multiple floors and keep fighting. I'd say it's even inconsistent to not believe this supernatural abilities from Mirror Face; we're talking about Yakuza logic.

It's the way he was used in the story which makes him kinda wack.

Yes, this is a bizarre topic to tackle in a semi-serious manner. That's why it felt like a fun video to do :D
Please don't take it too seriously, as it's merely one of the handful of videos I've been constructing on the side, while preparing a much larger analytical piece that's become quite the undertaking. It's a long ways off, but don't worry. Details on it will follow when the time is right.
Thank you for your time.