I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been interested in the Yakuza series. The first game in the series came out in 2005 and back then I was working the returns desk at Best Buy and I remember seeing a few copies slide across my path while working there but that was it. A few years later in college my friend ,Justin had Yakuza 2 and I remember playing that once when my roommate, Vincent and I went over to his apartment to hang out. I only remember that cause that was a fun time. Justin had just gotten the game and we were just over there bullshitting. We had stepped out to get something to eat and we were passing the controller back and forth taking turns eating and playing and at one point I refused to put the piece of chicken I was eating down so I was playing with just one hand.

Other than those few times I really don’t have that much experience with the Yakuza series so I have no idea who the characters in it are or what the plot of any of the games are about. But, when Gallery Nucleus announced the Yakuza 6: Essence of Art Exhibition in order to help promote the upcoming release of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life I thought that this would make great material for another post.

Out of all the exhibitions I’ve been to at Gallery Nucleus this was undoubtedly one of the more extravagant. But considering how this exhibition was  a collaboration with SEGA to help promote Yakuza 6: The Song of Life it’s not surprising.Aside from the art exhibition and associated merchandise on sale Gallery Nucleus also had Daisuke Sato, the General Producer of the Yakuza series on site to do a live panel and Q&A as well as tattoo artist HORITOMO who was responsible for designing the tattoos in the game doing a live art demonstration.

Considering all the stuff Gallery Nucleus had planned I thought it would be a good idea to stop by a little later so that I could catch the panel with HORITOMO and Daisuke Sato. Unfortunately I didn’t realize exactly how popular Yakuza is because Gallery Nucleus had to cap it off cause of fire code, and also the panel was being held in the gallery so I would have to wait before I could check out the art. It’s probably a good thing I brought my dad along with me to get him out of the house for a few hours cause I was just going to say “fuck it” and just take off without snapping photos but my dad talked me into staying and just waiting out the panel which I was able to catch some of from way in the back. Unfortunately due to how far I was standing I wasn’t able to understand much of the panel but honestly I was there for the art and not the panel, and even if I did pay attention to the panel I’m not quite sure how I would turn that into a story here.

So without further delay here is the art from the Yakuza 6:Essence of Art Exhibition.

Judging from what the title cards on these said I’m guessing these first couple pieces were concept art used from the game series.

Kamurocho, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life by SEGA.

Onomichi, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life by SEGA.

Kazuma Kiryu O Ryu by HORITOMO.

Goro Majima Hannya/ Snake and Cherry Blossoms by HORITOMO.

Goro Majima Hannya/Snake and Cherry Blossoms (sleeves) by HORITOMO.

Ryuji Goda/Gold Dragon by HORITOMO.

The following pieces are the tribute pieces that were created for the exhibition.

Kataguruma by Tohru Patrick Awa.

Yakuza by David Mack.

Yakuza Dragon by David Mack.

Beat Takeshi by David Mack.

Tatsuya by David Mack.

Yakuza 6 by David Mack.

If the style of these pieces and the name David Mack seem familiar they should be. David Mack is actually a pretty famous comic book artist and writer best known for creating the Kabuki series as well as his work at Marvel on Daredevil and Alias.

Untitled by Corinne Butcher.

Untitled by Saladin Sane.

Untitled by Shu.

Untitled by Ashley Bowman.

Untitled by John Tubera.

Untitled by Maria Kotsamanidis.

Untitled by Keyes Rushing.

Untitled by Kyle “Yakusan” Toorie.

Untitled by Jill Q.

Daddy Daycare by Sara Kipin.

This 1 had part of the info sticker cut off so I’m not sure what it is titled. I’m pretty it’s an untitled piece. All I know is that it’s by Michael Ishibashi “Highwater Trousers.”

Untitled by Alissa Salah.

The Song of Life by Tobias Kwan.

Majima by Mindy Lee.

Untitled by Jasmine J. Batista.

Untitled by Mel Tow.

Untitled by Theodore Taylor III.

Untitled by Luke Valentine.

Nobori-Ryu by Janice Chu.

Untitled by Alessandro “Cecco” Ceccato.

Untitled by Lin (Jieutan). When I first saw this picture I thought it came out bad due to camera shake. I took a second look to realize it was just an optical effect in the background. It’s a cool touch but honestly it gives me a freaking headache.

Untitled by Turner Harbert.

Untitled by TOFU+Beast.

Because I have You by Jennifer Strichart.

Untitled by Giovanni Emblen.

Atashin’kuza by Hannah Ayoubi.

Untitled by ichi.

Untitled by Roupen Akmakian.

Ono’s Battle by Celine Kim.

We live for the run! By Grace Kum.

Untitled by Aiden Jimeno.

Untitled by Robin Namini.

Haruka by Ellen Wong.

That’s it for all the artwork from the Yakuza 6: Essence of Art Exhibition. I didn’t realize how many pieces were untitled until I started looking through my photos. I also didn’t realize that many of pieces were not for sale. I’m guessing most of them were 1 of a kind originals and they didn’t have prints made.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Also please stand by, my coverage of Wondercon 2018 is coming up and I’m really excited. I’m also really excited at the what kind of stories I can bring back from that considering what I’ve learned while building my site over the last few months.