Masaru Watase

Masaru Watase (, Watase Masaru) is a recurring character in the Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) series introduced as a supporting character in Yakuza 5. He is the former captain of the Omi Alliance and the former patriarch of the Watase Family.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
Watase is a muscular man with a stocky build, putting all his weight behind his attacks. He has short dark hair, slicked back with a widow's peak, as well as a goatee.
==== Tattoo ====
Watase's tattoo covers his biceps, upper chest, and stretches from his neck to his lower back. It depicts the on his back, a on his left arm, and a cakraratna wheel on his right arm. This is a portrayal of a battle between and the Asura King, in which Taishakuten uses the vajra and the cakraratna to attack the Asura King.
==== Attire ====
Watase's attire consists of an off-white pinstriped double-breasted suit worn over a black dress shirt, checkered tie, and white oxfords. Additionally, he wears a Watase Family crest pin on his lapel and is often seen in sunglasses.
=== Personality ===
A fierce "man's man" with no interest in money, schemes, or fussing over the finer details, Watase loves fighting more than anything else and is considered the Omi Alliance's most militant. He possesses an overwhelming presence and a great deal of charisma, described as running the Watase Family, the largest organization in the Omi's ranks, on charm alone. Though he often lets his emotions get the better of him and occasionally jokes around, he is capable of being remarkably observant and well-informed, and prefers to remain a spectator until push comes to shove. 
Watase aspires to be the strongest in Japan and take control of the whole country in an all-out war against the Tojo Clan as the Omi's eighth chairman, surpassing the might of Ryuji Goda. However, he does not care to do so without going up against the "strongest of the strong," and views Kazuma Kiryu as the only worthy opponent to lead the Tojo Clan during the conflict. His grand visions of war indicate to Kiryu that, in Watase's eyes, "being a yakuza is a way to die."
As an old-school yakuza, Watase only respects power and authority, and appears to have a strong sense of loyalty and an understanding of the responsibilities of his position. He holds a high opinion of Kiryu due to his legendary status, to the point he would begrudgingly accept the long-neutral Yomei Alliance becoming affiliated with the Tojo Clan if Kiryu oversaw the proceedings.
== Background ==
Watase and his Family first made their name amongst the Omi Alliance in the late 1990's when they thwarted the efforts of an international crime syndicate called the Blue Dragon to take territory in Osaka. Later, in the midst of the power vacuum caused after the Omi Alliance's leadership was decimated during their failed 2006 war against the Tojo Clan, Watase became one of the Alliance's most powerful leaders.
Watase was loyal to Tsubasa Kurosawa before he took the position of Seventh Chairman, to the point of agreeing to swear an oath of brotherhood with Minoru Aoyama on Kurosawa's orders despite his disdain for Aoyama's low rank within the Tojo. After Kurosawa was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Watase believed himself to be the only viable successor for his boss, so he began to make plans for his leadership of the Omi after he would take over.
Watase wished to secure his place among yakuza legend by leading the Omi into another war against the Tojo Clan and finally conquering Tokyo. However, he considered that defeating the Tojo in their current state would not make him into the legend he wished to be, since the Clan was still recovering from their disastrous 2005 civil war and he judged Sixth Chairman Daigo Dojima to not be a worthwhile adversary for himself. Instead, he wanted to get retired Fourth Chairman Kazuma Kiryu to retake the Tojo's leadership.
==Involvement==
===Yakuza 5: 2012===
Acting on a tip from Aoyama, Watase travels to Fukuoka in search of Kiryu. Soon after arrival, Watase and his entourage go for a night out at Club Olivier, where they are unexpectedly met by Kiryu, who accuses Watase of being responsible for Daigo's recent disappearance. Watase denies any involvement in Daigo's vanishing and then orders his subordinate, Nishihara, and his men to attack Kiryu, since he wants to see the legendary Dragon of Dojima in action. After Kiryu defeats Watase's men, the Omi patriarch invites Kiryu to share a drink with him, which Kiryu rejects by breaking Watase's bottle of expensive sake with a single punch. 
Kiryu demands to know why Watase is in town if it isn't to kidnap Daigo, upon which Watase tells Kiryu that he wants him to take up leadership of the Tojo once again before his upcoming invasion of Tokyo. This prompts Kiryu to accuse him once again, saying he took Daigo to get Kiryu to return, but Watase adamantly denies this, saying that removing Daigo would weaken the Tojo even further, which would make his war on Tokyo even easier and therefore even more pointless in securing his legend. Watase passionately pleads for Kiryu to return to the Tojo, saying that they're both alike in that they live to fight and he can see that Kiryu is wasting his life living as a civilian. However, Kiryu denies being like Watase, since Watase lives to fight for the thrill of fighting itself, whereas Kiryu lives to fight to protect those he cares about. Kiryu departs, insisting that he won't take part in Watase's war, but after he leaves, Watase smiles to himself nevertheless.
A couple days later, Aoyama receives a challenge from Yahata, the captain of the Yamagasa Family, calling the Tojo Clan to a brawl at Hakata Pier to settle the conflict between their two organizations. Aoyama calls Watase and asks him to serve as a witness to the battle on behalf of the Omi Alliance. At the appointed time, Watase accompanies his oath brother as he leads all his men still in Fukuoka to fight the Yamagasa Family. Aoyama and Watase initially hang back and watch the two groups move against each other from Aoyama's car, which annoys Watase, who wanted to participate in the battle. Aoyama says that a "general doesn't dirty his hands doing a soldier's job", which only further aggravates the bellicose Watase. However, before the brawl can start, Kiryu interrupts and declares that he intends to fight the Tojo Clan forces all by himself, saying that if he defeats Aoyama's army then the Tojo Clan must leave the city without going to war with the Yamagasa. Aoyama mocks Kiryu and refuses to abide by these conditions, so Watase punches him in the face and forces him to agree to them.
After Kiryu single-handedly defeats the several dozen Tojo men, Aoyama pulls out a gun and tries to shoot him, only for Watase to intervene once again. Watase takes away Aoyama's gun and says that Kiryu has won the brawl, so letting Aoyama shoot him in spite of triumphing would "sully his reputation as a witness". Aoyama responds by saying that he's doing Watase a favor, since he wanted to kill Kiryu anyway. This angers Watase, who hits Aoyama again and says that when he takes on Kiryu, he'll do it on his terms, fighting him like a real yakuza, not by shooting him like a coward. After Kiryu threatens Aoyama into ending his machinations against Daigo, Aoyama whimpers to himself in self-pity about how badly the scheme has gone, prompting Watase to grab him by the shirt and yell at him to "grow a pair" if he "wants to helm the Tojo Clan". This makes Aoyama reveal that he was only following orders but, before he can reveal who was ordering him, he's shot dead by Yu Morinaga.
Several days later, during a meeting at his Family's offices, Nishihara informs Watase that Naoki Katsuya of Ousaka Enterprises has mobilized most of his forces into Tokyo and is facing very little opposition from the Tojo Clan. Fearing that Katsuya will steal his victory over the Tojo out from under him before the Seventh Chairman is even dead, Watase orders his men to prepare to move against Tokyo immediately.
As soon as he's in Tokyo, Watase goes to Katsuya's suite in Kamurocho Hills to confront him but, when he arrives, he's surprised to see Kiryu and Taiga Saejima are also there. Katsuya invites the three men to come with him to the helipad on the roof, where he explains what he's been up to: He mobilized his forces to Tokyo and lured all three of them to bait the mastermind who's behind the recent attacks against high-ranking Tojo and Omi members in Fukuoka, Sapporo and Nagoya. Katsuya says he suspects this mastermind is keeping them under surveillance at all times and is trying to get them to kill each other, so if all four of them fight in a seeming battle to the death, this might lure out the mastermind. The three other men agree to this and a series of fights commences: First, Kiryu and Watase fight each other, with Kiryu ending victorious. Then Saejima takes on Katsuya and defeats him. Finally, Kiryu and Saejima fight one another to a draw, at which point the mastermind reveals himself.
The mastermind, revealed to be Seventh Omi Chairman Tsubasa Kurosawa, shoots all four men from across the other Kamurocho Hills tower, wounding them heavily. Kurosawa tells his four targets that he hates principled yakuza like them and that, before he succumbs to his illness, he wishes to purge the Omi and the Tojo of their kind so that only business-minded leaders like himself remain. Watase is heartbroken by the revelation, professing that he'd loyally followed Kurosawa for years out of gratitude for giving him a chance to succeed and that he just wanted to make him proud by leading the Omi Alliance to victory after his death. Kurosawa disdainfully tells him that he'd be ashamed to leave the Omi Alliance in the hands of a "simpleton" like him, who leads on charisma and principle instead of pragmatism. The Chairman then tries to shoot Watase dead, but Katsuya takes the bullet for him. Watase tearfully asks Katsuya why he did that, to which Katsuya responds that the Omi need Watase far more than himself, since he's the one who should be Eighth Chairman. Subsequently, Daigo Dojima arrives and almost kills Kurosawa, but the Omi Chairman is saved by Kamon Kanai.
The following evening, Watase visits Katsuya in the hospital. While he leaves, he crosses paths with Tatsuo Shinada, whom he does not know. At random, he asks Shinada a question: If he and a friend shared a dream, but then the friend was killed, would he seek revenge or prioritize achieving their dream? Shinada says he would want to seek revenge, but not if he thought his friend would be against it, because honoring his friend's wishes and achieving their dream would matter more. Watase thanks him for the advice and departs.
Reflecting on Shinada's words, Watase decides to put his personal desire for revenge against Kurosawa aside and instead chooses to honor Katsuya's wishes by bringing peace to the yakuza world. Watase gets in contact with the Yamagasa Family from Fukuoka and the Kitakata Family from Sapporo and asks them to honor their alliances with the Tojo Clan by joining him in defending Tokyo from Kurosawa's forces. The next day, Tadashi Madarame and Taizo Kitakata mobilize their forces towards the capital and link up with the Watase Family. With their forces combined, the three organizations defeat Kurosawa's army, which had poured into Tokyo to destroy the Tojo Clan.
After the battle is over, Watase learns that Shun Akiyama, a civilian friend of Kiryu's, is singlehandedly battling Kanai and a mob of his men in Theater Square to keep them from going after Kiryu and Saejima, so Watase leads his combined army to aid him. When they arrive, they find Akiyama has beaten most of the goons by himself and only Kanai is left standing. Upon seeing the army of yakuza approaching, Kanai initially mistakes them for Kurosawa's army, but he quickly realizes what has transpired. Watase tells Kanai that the Yamagasa, the Kitakata and himself have been united by their struggles against and alongside Kiryu, Goro Majima and Dojima, so they've put their differences aside to support them and put an end to Kurosawa's schemes. After Kanai surrenders, Watase approaches Akiyama and says that the Omi Alliance has never bowed to anybody, but he's making an exception because of what Akiyama has done to help the yakuza world in spite of not being a yakuza himself. Afterwards, Watase and all the other yakuza gathered there bow to Akiyama out of respect, much to his awkward chagrin.
=== Yakuza: Like a Dragon: 2017-2019 ===
Watase continues to serve as captain of the Omi Alliance under its unnamed Eighth Chairman. Due to this Chairman's frequent illness, Watase often serves as Acting Chairman and de facto runs the Omi Alliance. Having become a more even tempered man after the events of 2012, Watase maintains peaceful relations with the Tojo Clan under Daigo, whom he now respects. Both men come to believe that recently passed anti-yakuza laws have put the future of their organizations in jeopardy and, rather than slowly withering away or turning into secretive hangure groups, they both decide it would be best to dissolve the Omi and the Tojo. However, because of the size and disunity of both organizations, neither man can think of how to successfully disband them without risking large scale mutiny and civil war.
However, an opportunity arises in 2017 when Patriarch Masumi Arakawa approaches Daigo with a dire problem: Arakawa's son has become Governor of Tokyo using the alias of Ryo Aoki and is threatening to use his authority to sabotage his Family's business if he doesn't betray the Tojo Clan by providing intel that can help the police crack down on their operations. Daigo and Watase come up with a plan to use this situation to disband the Omi and the Tojo: Daigo tells Arakawa to comply with his son's demands and help the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department dismantle the Tojo, after which he must switch allegiances to the Omi Alliance and help them expand into Tokyo in exchange for a high position within the Alliance's hierarchy. Watase and Daigo hope the expansion into Tokyo will divide and spread out the Omi's forces, so if they announce a dissolution afterwards, it'll be much less likely that any mutineers will rally around a single new Chairman to replace Watase; thus breaking the Alliance up into much smaller yakuza groups.
The three men set their plan in motion but, soon after, Watase is arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for unrelated reasons. To ensure their scheme proceeds as planned, Watase names Arakawa as Acting Captain for as long as he's behind bars.
By 2019, everything has gone according to plan, as the Tojo Clan has practically ceased to exist and the Omi Alliance has divided into two functionally separate, smaller organizations. Watase and Daigo decide to carry out the final stage of their plan at the party celebrating Watase's release, intending to announce the official dissolution of both the Tojo and the Omi, and then report said dissolutions to the police.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name: Fearing some violence will erupt during the announcement, Watase tasks the captain and lieutenant of the Watase Family, Yuki Tsuruno and Kosei Shishido, with tracking down Kiryu, who's been in hiding since faking his death in 2016, and request that he attends the announcement to protect him and Daigo. They find out he's now working for the Daidoji Faction under the codename "Joryu", and after many conflicts, Tsuruno gives 50 billion yen to the Daidoji just for Kiryu to be allowed to help them.
After his release, Watase goes to a construction site where Tsuruno, Shishido, Kiryu, and many of his men are waiting for him. However, Shishido begins recording their conversation and threatens to spread it to other Omi members, declaring that he was planning to bide for time to betray Watase all along after discovering Watase's plans to dissolve the Omi Alliance. A truck invades the site soon after, and out of it walk Kijin Clan members and their leader, Homare Nishitani III, a man who used to idolize Watase and was presumed dead when "Joryu" raided Nishitani's headquarters but turned out to be a farce done by Shishido to trick Kiryu. Nishitani then declares that he despises Watase for trying to disband the Alliance and behind their backs had Shishido and Nishitani unite their forces to take over the Omi, and after a fierce battle, Nishitani stabs Watase in the stomach and is knocked out by him, while Shishido was kicked down a steep hole by Kiryu. Kihei Hanawa, Kiryu's manager in the Daidoji, and Akame, a Sotenbori information dealer, arrive to the scene in a limo after Akame was informed of their presence there. Akame treats Watase's wounds and gives a makeover to his bloody face so he would look more respectable during the announcement, and afterwards Hanawa takes them to the Omi Alliance Headquarters.
During the release celebration at Omi HQ, Watase is suddenly joined on stage by Daigo and both men announce the dissolution of their respective organizations. As expected, many of the gathered patriarchs are furious and try to rush the stage to attack the two leaders, but they are held back by Arakawa, Majima, Saejima, Ichiban Kasuga and his party, and the sole Omi patriarch who appears to approve of the dissolution, Yosuke Tendo. A massive fight ensues, with Watase almost getting stabbed again if Kiryu didn't jump into action. Daigo, shocked by his appearance, asks Watase how he got in contact with him, but Watase avoids the question by saying he's nothing but a bodyguard he hired. Arakawa stays behind with Kasuga and his party. As the rest leaves, Shishido returns, intending to resume his coup. Watase's wounds start to open and they are surrounded by the former Omi members. Kiryu, Majima, Saejima and Daigo fight back, with Kiryu even defeating Shishido by himself, and ultimately, the revolt is put down.
The next day, Watase and Daigo report the dissolutions to the Osaka Prefectural Police. In the aftermath, Watase and Daigo decide to pool their resources together to open a private security company, which will serve as a means for ex-members of their yakuza groups to re-enter civilian life. Some months later, Watase and Daigo attend the funeral of Arakawa and Aoki, during which they offer Kasuga a chance to join their company, which he politely declines.
=== Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: 2023 ===
Despite finding initial success with the security company he co-founded with Daigo, a series of damaging accusations by the Tatara Channel caused the company to go under after one year. Though it is unknown what became of Watase after this, it is presumed he went into hiding just as Daigo, Majima, and Saejima did.
==Fighting Style==
Watase is a crude, fierce brawler, who relies entirely on his own brute strength in combat.
===Yakuza 5===
Watase's attacks consist almost entirely of wild swings and punches. He assumes an open-handed, hunched stance, holding his right arm at stomach-height and his left by his thigh. His moveset is listed below:
*a Rush Combo consisting of a left jab, a right haymaker, and a left haymaker;
*a left jab-right cross combo,
*a right body cross-left body hook combo,
*a right haymaker,
*a running right push kick,
*a right uppercut as a guard reversal,
*a spinning right/left haymaker after quickstepping right/left respectively, which can stun Kiryu;
*a running waist-grapple command grab where he floors Kiryu and gets him in a ground-and-pound;
*a right ground punch as a downed attack, and
*a taunt where he beckons Kiryu with his left hand.
When Watase enters Heat Mode, he starts to extend his combos with Finishing Blows. These include:
*two separate finishers for his Rush Combo, including:
**a right cross finisher, and
**a right uppercut finisher;
*a lunging right cross finisher for his jab-cross combo, and
*a left haymaker command grab after his right haymaker, where he grabs Kiryu's left arm and hits him with three right crosses to the chest, before tripping him up with a left leg-sweep, and ending with a right punt kick to the head.
His Heat Mode aura is a flaming orange with red accents, in contrast to Katsuya's royal blue and indigo aura.
Many of Watase's attacks are reused for Hiroki Awano's moveset in Yakuza 0, which is itself reused by Satoshi Shioya in Judgment.
===Yakuza: Like a Dragon===
Kasuga can call upon Watase in battle as a Poundmates summon, for the price of 1,000,000 yen. He becomes available after purchasing the 'Masaru Watase Poundmates Privilege' from Kamulop for 20 Tojo Clan Crests.
During his attack, 'Hundred Fists of Asura,' a shirtless Watase begins pummeling an enemy with a barrage of flaming punches, while he becomes enveloped in a fiery aura, and hits them into the air. He then leaps into the air as a projection of his Asura tattoo appears in the sky above, before falling back down and crushing the enemy under his feet. If they survive, their attack power is greatly diminished. This attack can only be used on human enemies.
=== Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name ===
Watase fights alongside Kiryu as an AI partner during the construction site battle, and the first half of the Omi Alliance HQ battle. He retains his moveset from Yakuza 5.
==Trivia==
*In a poll conducted in 2013, Watase was voted the eighth most popular character in the Yakuza series, coming in at 105,898 votes.
*In a poll conducted in 2018, Watase was voted the eighteenth most requested character for Ryu Ga Gotoku Online, coming in at 28,678 votes.https://ryu-ga-gotoku.com (September 12, 2018) - (Ryū ga Gotoku series character sō senkyo, lit. "Ryū ga Gotoku series character general election") - Archive
*At some point during the development of Yakuza 5, Watase was considered for the role of playable protagonist. It was decided against, however, so as not to break the tradition of playable characters not being part of any yakuza group or organization. 
==Gallery==
===Yakuza 5===
full (40).jpg|Watase's Yakuza 5 full-body render
c_am_watase_tatoo_di.png|Watase's tattoo.
three headed devil.jpg|Watase's tattoo (from 10th anniversary book).
Second Playthrough Screenshot 2019-05-10 12-42-21.png
Second Playthrough Screenshot 2019-05-10 12-56-40.png
Y5 Watase.png
yakuza_5_40.jpg|Watase and Omi men
yakuza_5_37.jpg|Watase and Tojo members
===Yakuza: Like a Dragon===
YLAD - Character Render - Masaru Watase.png|Watase's Yakuza: Like a Dragon full-body render
YLAD - Title Card - Masaru Watase.png|Introductory title card
Masaru Watase YLAD Profile.jpg
960372.jpg|Watase's poundmate attack
===Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name===
LADG - Title Card - Masaru Watase.png|Introductory title card
===Ryu Ga Gotoku Online===
RGGO - Card - SSR Masaru Watase.png|SSR Masaru Watase
RGGO - Card - SSR Masaru Watase (Decisive Battle).png|SSR Masaru Watase (Decisive Battle)
RGGO - Card - SSR Masaru Watase (Black).png|SSR Masaru Watase (Black)
RGGO - Card - KSR Masaru Watase (Kiwami).png|KSR Masaru Watase (Kiwami)
RGGO - Card - KSR Masaru Watase (YLAD Kiwami).png|KSR Masaru Watase (Y:LAD Kiwami)
 
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Watase Family
Category:Omi Alliance
Category:Yakuza 5 Characters
Category:Yakuza 5 Bosses
Category:Yakuza 5 Supporting Characters
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Characters
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Poundmates
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Supporting Characters
Category:Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Characters
Category:Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Supporting Characters
Category:Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name AI Partners
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Characters