Sega has revealed the new model for Judgment character Kyohei Hamura after the game’s original Hamura actor, Pierre Taki, was indicted for cocaine use.
The change is a fairly subtle one. The new Hamura is an original model, not based on a scan of an actor, and the character’s movements and lip-sync remain the same.
You can see both versions in our comparison video below:
Yakuza Studio head Toshihiro Nagoshi previously explained how much had to be altered to remove Taki’s likeness from the game:
“First of all we had to replace the character model and re-record all of the dialogue. But replacing the character model is only the start: We had to change all of the pre-rendered cut scenes Hamura appeared in; also, his face appears on some of the evidence that you present on your smartphone, so we had to replace those textures; and some trophies had to be changed too.”
Source: IGN.com Judgment: Sega Reveals Replacement Character Model After Drugs Scandal