Yakuza Character Appreciation - Toru Higashi 

In the end, Higashi was the friend you made along the way.

Dude runs an arcade store, good enough for me

I dunno if I'm part of the majority or minority, but Toru Higashi is my favorite character in the Judgment canon. At the first introduction, he seems like your run-of-the-mill stubborn boss mook. Especially when the story starts building, you realize that he was once uncertain and naive. Loyal to Kaito, Higashi eventually gets swept up in a power struggle between Hamura and Kaito. At this point he realized how powerless he was and that if he didn't adapt, he would continuously be at the mercy of men like Hamura. However, even after the years that had passed, Higashi grew strong physically--but never changed his core character. He still remained compassionate to his allies and even risked his own safety to keep them safe. But he still struggles with his own independence and remains conflicted as a result of Hamura's abuse. By the story's conclusion, we see Higashi start to assert himself. Much of his exposition revolves around Higashi's loyalty. Should he remain loyal to Matsugane or to his role model Kaito? After much internal conflict, Higashi decides to remain loyal to Kaito and is ultimately able to repay him for the sacrifice he made on his behalf. To this end, Higashi becomes a truly likable character with a well written perspective to the events that unfold in the main storyline. Perhaps what I like most about him is the fact that Higashi provides some much needed representation of Muay Thai. Unfortunately, Higashi is never playable throughout the story, but maintains a pretty robust moveset. Unlike previous users of Muay Thai, Higashi's moves are tailored for the purpose of appearing more stylish. His stance is a little unorthodox, resembling a type of long-guard with his left hand stretched forward. He's also light on his lead foot despite never ever using teeps in his boss fights. Higashi's style ultimately resembles Muay Thai with a number of Tae Kwon Do spin kicks and tricking mixed in. What is kind of notable is that Higashi does seem to have his own version of the question mark kick, which is used by some of the most prominent Muay Thai champions to this day. His Mortal Attack also seems heavily inspired by Muay Thai champion Saenchai's famous hand-stand kick. My only gripe is that Higashi's knee attacks lack a bit of oomph, he never uses teeps, elbows, or clinches--when all 4 are hallmarks of Muay Thai. Clearly, Yakuza developers are paying attention to the martial arts that exist in the real world. So I would love to see a Yakuza 4 equivalent of Judgment where Higashi is playable. Until then, I will forever pine for a main playable character that boasts a robust Muay Thai moveset.

Amazing character relatable as hell and looks like the best looking nerd of all time

Higashi is kinda like the Nishki to Kaito's Kiryu, and it's a pretty good thing

Judgment has been my introduction to the franchise. Higashi is the character that made me fall completely in love with the writing. I wasn't expecting such a great character drama. (Don't get me started on Kaito, Sugiura and the entire Yagami arc. Holy shit.)

Higashi's theme "Flower of Chivalry" is so good! That amazing intro sends shivers down my spine everytime~ Love it!

You're goddamn right I appreciate Japanese Johnny Gat.

Im expecting character appreciation for Mr. Libido ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Recalling that Higashi was my fave character in Judgement. Having played so many Yakuza games lately, this was a good refresher on the reason why.

Since we got the Kaito Files, I really hope that one day we get a Higashi side-story too. He's an amazing character, and I love that he has a mostly unique moveset. Playing as him would be awesome.

man has one of the best dynamic intros and soundtracks in the whole series, love this dude.

The god steve blum joins the yakuza games and he did well

I had no idea you even made a character appreciation series. Well, this was an unexpected video for me, but most certainly a welcome one, especially since it's about my main man (well, one of them haha) 😍 It's refreshing hearing you talk about a certain character in more detail and not about some controversy or whatever, so, whenever you can, please keep posting these types of videos, and I'll watch every one of them! Lastly, stay safe everyone! 🤗

I'm glad you mentioned Steve Blum in the English dub! Despite largely playing in the original Japanese track, I occasionally switched to English at points and I felt he does an amazing job portraying all aspects of Higashi's character and was the clear highlight for me. Seeing this actually makes me want to go back and do another full playthrough and hear the whole English dub!

On the off chance we get a Judgment 2, Higashi had better be a playable character. He's got potential to be Akiyama 2.0, and I'd hate to see it squandered.

Higashi is actually pretty awesome, yeah. I remember when I first saw him I laughed at his almost-Kiryu outfit and his edgy Steve Blum VA (for the English dub anyway), but he honestly wound up one of my favorite members of the squad in Judgment.

3:46 Boys are useful Expect a one weeaboo ninja.

WW3, a pandemic, half life three confirmation and now another Yakuza character appreciation, it is the end of the world

Love the shit outta HIgashi, thanks for making this! And yeah, Flower of Chivalry absolutely fucking SLAYS as a boss theme. As for underrated characters, Yasuko Saejima from 4 has really grown on me every time I boot up the game. I've always loved her design (I have a thing for the Film Noir femme fatale archetype) but it took a couple of playthroughs for me to really appreciate her character. Not to mention she's very much the driving force of the game for all four protagonists in one way or another.

Higashi is the best Judgment husbando!

Fantastic video, Devileon! Higashi was a great character and had one of the best boss soundtracks in the game. This makes me wanna replay Judgment. Hoping Judgment on the PS5 will get a patch to enable 4K 60FPS, that'd be amazing.

ジャッジアイズの人気投票を日本でやったら、東が1番になりました。 日本以外でも東が人気なのはとても嬉しいです。 東は心優しい男です。

hell yea higashi, i love his lil fighting stance

Higashi's the man, glad he got a video about him

I hope he's gonna be a playable character in the future because hes one of the characters I actually like, I wanna play as so badly when he was introduced

Yay! Was wondering when you'd be doing character appreciation vids again. I loved the Hayashi one and now we have Higashi. Looking forward to a Han Joon-Gi one someday.

My man returned and became FORKLIFT CERTIFIED

If you do another one of these character appreciation videos, can you do Daisaku Kuze? That man was an absolute legend. He hounded the player and Kiryu, earned your grudging respect, and had not one but TWO awesome themes. Not to mention the awesome dynamic intros he got as well.

Personally, I'd like to see Higashi as a future playable character alongside Kaito, Sugira and Yagami in a Judgment sequel.

I loved Higashi's VA

Great video, Leon! I have a suggestion for your next one: Goh Hamazaki. He turned from a ruthless and evil character to a likable and honorable character after Yakuza 3 because he later realized that Kiryu was the only person who trusted him along with Saejima, who he was originally planning to betray during the prison breakout. Hamazaki even earned Haruka’s respect, despite her not liking him for what he did at the end of 3, and she was by his side when he died. Hamazaki may be one of the best characters in Yakuza.

If you haven’t already can you make a character appreciation for Rikiya because he was the only one to make kiryu sound like Majima

Love these types of vids keep em goin.

Now this is something I didn't expect to return, but I'm certainly not complaining.

He's my favourite boy.

This was an amazing video. Higashi was probably my favorite character in the game besides Yagami and Kaito. His character makes you want to be friends with him. Like the type of guy that would do anything to help out a friend and not think twice about it. Hope that if and when judgment gets a sequel him and kaito somehow become playable characters. Higashi reminds me of a mix between akiyama and majima. Like a hybrid. Then Kaito is beast mode Kiryu but constantly. Just a bruiser of a dude. Saw him take on all those guys on his own and was like glad hes on my side lol

Love this dude so much, thank you for giving him a little of the spotlight!! 💖💖

Good video in all seriousness. I enjoy these highlights of characters who nobody really mentions too often.

Been replaying Judgment the past week, this time with the Japanese audio after my English initial play through, and yeah, I really like Higashi. I'm actually pretty worried about what possibly happens to him and the other Matsugane troops when the Omi take over in Y7.

I love Judgment! So happy that this is gonna get a sequel :D the story and fight scenes were so fantastic! I've been absolutely obsessed with it as of late haha

Damn Leon been waiting for more character appreciation vids and you didn't disappoint with the best character from Judgment! Higashi from both a gameplay and story perspective is easily one of the top characters RGG has put out on the last few Yakuza games, especially on the Dragon Engine Your breakdown of his boss theme's significance to his character arc/depth and the keen eye on his amazing Muay Thai fighting style, badass purple heat aura, and reused QTEs (which I'm surprised I didn't even recognize from 5) were all dope Also, you're right with him having the best music alongside Kuroiwa and Shin Amon in Judgment, all 3 were the killer highlight bosses of the game! Here's hoping to more of these character breakdowns and Judgment 2 in the near future! Judgment was such a surprise for a spin off that I can't believe in some ways it eclipses the mainline games as of late, so hopefully the sequel ramps everything up to 11 and has more Higashi/Kaito focus, maybe even leaning into some crossover with the main games???

This video is really really awesome, Judgment was such an incredible game, I'd love to see more character appreciation videos

It's great to see another one of these after such a long time :D

I just want to hug Higashi, he's such a pure boi

He added so much to the game. Great character. Nice to have a vid like that.

One of my favourite characters in the game

higashi’s dynamic of “why are you guys in my arcade AGAIN” with the boys was really funny

Glad to see some appreciation for my favorite Judgment character! Higashi is a badass, but still with a good heart, not unlike Kiryu in some aspects, being a Yakuza, but never being able to let go of that softer side of his. He's got one of the best themes in the game (Which has a stellar soundtrack as a whole), a pretty kickass fighting style (Literally!) and we get to see him grow a lot as he overcomes that inner conflict between his loyalty and doing what must be done, I was so damn happy to see him fight alongside Yagami and the others by the end of the game! Also he's got a damn good sense of fashion, blue and purple are the best colors. :P

What a wholesome guy

You're really good at these types of videos. Character analysis is one of my favorite types of videos on RU-vid cause you get people's perspectives on the character themselves instead of just oh that guys cool and you move on. Great video

I hope you will do more like this one! many characters deserve a video like this!

I appreciate this new series.

YESSSSSS! My fave character!

Goddamn it's just chapter 3 and that boy can surprisingly hit HARD

I was going to do an English dub playthrough for NG+ Legend, but that didn't happen because I started playing something else. I may have to bump it up on the list, after hearing Steve Blum as Higashi. His voice is so damn good.

This is literally the first character appreciation video I have EVER saw! ... Probably because you took a little too long, lol. But I like it! Now we might get to see something like, I don't know, ''Yakuza Character Rant'' or ''Yakuza Character Disappreciation'' or something like that. I bet there should be some hated characters aside from villains from the Yakuza series here and there.

The dude just has that swagger and aura. Plus my personal favorite fighting style, Muay Thai (one that I practice myself)

I love 2.23 he is a big softie really. After Sugiura Higashi is my fave character.

Kashiwagi would be cool to do for this series

AHHHH YESSSSS!

Just finished this game like last week really hope for a sequel

THE MAD MAN FINALLY DID IT

best boy best boy BEST BOY!!!!

I was struggling to remember this guy from Yakuza but he was actually from Judgment. Need to get on to watching that Judgment LP I was kindly linked to months ago while the world's on hold...

I honestly hope we get to see more of him in Judgment 3 or get a DLC about Higashi. He's overall my favourite in the Judge Men group, but I wouldn't mind if we get a Sugiura DLC instead

Keep the 'Toru' streak going and do Toru Hirose from Yakuza 6 *Spoilers* His character arc is so goddamn good. He goes from laconic patriarch, secret harborer of Haruka and her child, loyal assassin, and finally a caring father figure. And refusing Kurusu at the end shows that having people to care for can change anyone's loyalties.

Judgment 2: Electric Bugaloo featuring Higashi and Kaito as the protagonists. Stfu and take my money!! In all seriousness tho, I love these character appreciation, hell I still remember your Hayashi and Kiryu analogy based on their suits, fucking brilliant my dude. Please consider making more of these.

10:27 Higashi would fit pretty well in Tekken ngl. Maybe even replace that new Fahkumram guy.

The moment I heard Steve Blum's voice in the dub, I was sold on Toru

Tbh they should make a higashi spin off tbh or a kaito spin off idk and yes he would make a good protagonist what they should've done for the story is do what Yakuza 4 did You got to play as 3 other characters The order it would go in You play as yagami as usual then you play as kaito experience what he was doing when yagami was investigating Then suguira (can't remember his name haven't played in a year) Why suguira is 3rd it's because you meet him before higashi (I think) Then it goes to higashi then back to the main main character yagami But that would actually be too much work and planning Idk wtf I'm saying this is a character appreciation video

Been another 2 years! Time for another?

HELL YEAH. I DID SOMETHING.. I THINK?

I think suigiura was the best supporting character

dude kaito wants to read his manga in peace.

I'm a little late, but i hope you do more of these. Maybe Shindo?

Higashi reminds me just a little of a character from Saints Row. I think he wore similar glasses?

I really like hamura and kaito personally but higashi is a great character too.

Higashi has one of my favourite movesets. His moveset (Unarmed) is a mix of Muay Thai and taekwondo. His heat aura is a sexy purple-blue. While he attacks he leaves heat trails that is so pleasing to the eye that I let him to beat the shit out of me just to see it (Although I do that to every boss).

If they don’t continue with Yagami then I’ll definitely take Higashi for a spin-off game

I hope he returns in Judgement and gets his own unique tag team EX action. I loved his muay thai/taekwondo fighting style.

YES YES FIRST LEON

الرباعي المرح

devilleon: I would be down with a Higashi game, maybe with Judgement 2? RGG: heard you loud and clear, Kaito dlc coming out for Lost Judgement in 2022 I mean, I'm _far_ from complaining about a Kaito dlc, just thought it was kinda funny, lmao

If you do another maybe Tanimura or Shinada would be good choices.

anyone know name of batik pattern worn by Higashi?

Anyone else think he looks like Michael Westen from Burn Notice?

Leon is a Teletubby

Don't want to sound like an ass but there's 7 kiryu games Leon lmao. Although I get thinking 6 because I think of 0 has more of majimas game

With the amount of love and nuance RGG put into Judgment's most significant side characters, I kinda wish IT was the turn-based one.

He is cute tbh

Yakuza Johnny Gat

Is it just me or does the main cast of judgement looks identified to the one of final fantasy 15?

zegran's voice?

8:00 Tell me what the soundtrack is called

I really feel like they should have called this game "Yakuza: Jugement" or "Yakuza: Judge Eyes" just for the brand recognition. There are tons of people in the Yakuza games reddit and other related social media groups that I am in that often don't even realize that Judgement is part of the Yakuza universe.

Too late to buy ps4 for me.gotta wait for ps5 to play all yakuza game since most of them not coming to pc.

2:53 A yakuza protagonist? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA never.

IM EARLY NIGGA

I know Mr. Blum is a awful person that proudly hates fans that voted for Trump, calls them Nazis, pieces of shit, etc... But damn he is a great voice actor. I wish he didn't hate half his fans, but what can you do.