Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, faces an eighteen-year prison sentence after taking the fall for a crime he didn't commit. Never losing faith, he loyally serves his time and returns to society to discover that no one was waiting for him on the outside, and his clan has been destroyed by the man he respected most.
Ichiban sets out to discover the truth behind his family's betrayal and take his life back, drawing a ragtag group of society’s outcasts to his side: Adachi, a rogue cop, Nanba, a homeless ex-nurse, and Saeko, a hostess on a mission. Together, they are drawn into a conflict brewing beneath the surface in Yokohama and must rise to become the heroes they never expected to be.
When Kasuga's father figure and patriarch Masumi Arakawa asks him to take the fall for Sawashiro's mistake, he answers the call and turns himself in. After serving an eighteen-year prison sentence for a murder he didn't commit, he returns to Kamurocho to find the Tojo Clan gone and the city under the control of the Omi Alliance of Kansai. Learning that Arakawa was involved in this shocking turn of events, Kasuga sets out to find Arakawa and hear the truth from the man himself.
Once the patriarch of the Tojo Clan's lowly Arakawa Family, Arakawa leaked sensitive Tojo intel to the police, which contributed significantly to the Omi Alliance's invasion of Tokyo and subsequent downfall of the Tojo Clan. This achievement earned him the trust of the Omi Alliance, making him acting captain and, effectively, the second-in-command of the entire organization.
Once a cop in the Criminal Investigation Department, Adachi was unfairly demoted after defying his boss, Juro Horinouchi. Investigating Horinouchi has brought to light a suspicion that the now-police-commissioner accepted bribes from Masumi Arakawa, which leads Adachi to approach Kasuga in hopes of getting closer to the yakuza boss.
NANBA
A former nurse, Nanba lost his license to practice after getting caught stealing and selling drugs on the side. He ends up homeless in the slums of Ijincho, where he nurses an unconscious Kasuga back to health after his brush with death at the hands of Masumi Arakawa. After Kasuga aids the homeless camp, he decides to join him on his journey.
SAEKO MUKODA
She manages a hostess club owned by Nonomiya, the Yokohama nightlife mogul and proprietor of the long-standing soapland, Otohime Land. She gets to know Kasuga after a mystery surrounding a scam being committed by the local yakuza draws them together.
ICHIBAN KASUGA 2019 Version
When Kasuga's father figure and patriarch Masumi Arakawa asks him to take the fall for Sawashiro's mistake, he answers the call and turns himself in. After serving an eighteen-year prison sentence for a murder he didn't commit, he returns to Kamurocho to find the Tojo Clan gone and the city under the control of the Omi Alliance of Kansai. Learning that Arakawa was involved in this shocking turn of events, Kasuga sets out to find Arakawa and hear the truth from the man himself.
