Stranger Than Heaven seems like it’s shaping up to be a banger with its story lead by a mixed-race protagonist. Provided that this game is well-received in part due to how it will explore themes of race and identity, do you think RGG could pull off a modern-day tale with similar themes? This could take place between PYIH and LaD 9, or maybe after 9.
To preface this, I’m a 23-yo Afro-Rican male who’s never lived in or visited Japan in his life and is just hoping he can make the Kabukicho trip happen within the next few years lol. I’ve only heard and read all kinds of anecdotes from people of color about their experiences in Japan, both native and foreign.
But I would absolutely love to see RGG explore these experiences by introducing new IP that features a biracial civilian protagonist in modern Japan. Personally, I think Mitsuo’s just the guy for the job! A half-black lead could present a healthy new challenge for RGG’s writing team, plus we’d get to play as a young man (a win for the small camp of folks who’ve been wanting a younger protag as well) whose ethos comes directly from Kazuma Kiryu himself and is closely tied with the rest of his loved ones.
I honestly have no clue what the actual conflict of the story might entail, but a new brawler combat system is easy enough to justify in-universe. After the Bucket List event from IW, maybe Taichi decided it wasn’t befitting of a firefighter to be so easily downed by some no-name chinpira, so he beefed up, took up some sort of formal combat training, and probably just kept roping Mitsuo into sparring with him like when they were kids. Naturally, one of their latest sparring sessions brings up memories of Uncle Kaz. They might have a heart-to-heart where they both resolve to become strong to protect their family in Kiryu’s absence… as civilians, of course. Yuta’s no slouch, but he’s only one man who he can’t be everywhere with a presumably legitimate full-time job now and family of his own.
So boom, you now have a new brawler protagonist in Mitsuo and a very likely Kaito-esque deuteragonist in Taichi. This would also be a great opportunity to implement some (barehanded) combat elements from STH into this new iteration of brawler combat, as is characteristic of Reuse Ga Gotoku.
Once again, I’m not sure what kind of plot this hypothetical game would have. But I know it’d be awesome to see more snippets of the Morning Glory gang in their adult lives, to be an older brother to Haruto, and to hopefully spend a little bit of quality time with the goat himself. A good dozen or two heartwarming moments just waiting to be shown over the course of this narrative.
In the end, I would definitely want this story to explore what it means to “carry the torch” in the civilian world in a way that parallels Kasuga’s torch-carrying journey, primarily through the lens of a half-black, visibly melanated young man who grew up as an orphan in Japan. And just like with Kasuga, who is also biracial and has actually met his biological parents, I hope the story would still lean into the message that family is what you make of it regardless of who/where you came from or what you look like. If you recall the Mitsuo and Riona storyline, I wholeheartedly believe that RGG has the chops to do this.
Just kind of throwing some ideas out there as they’ve been bouncing around in my head for a while, but what do you guys think? Would you tweak or add anything? What would the plot actually look like for a game like this? Is there existing media like anime or manga that closely echoes or compliments what I’m describing here? Am I just waffling?
