Yakuza: Like a Dragon is one of the series' most enjoyable, well-written installments, but one unpopular character, Nonomiya, singlehandedly causes the game's biggest problem. For most of the game, the storyline and motivations of the characters are pretty easy to understand. However, the introduction of Nonomiya early in the story makes no sense when one remembers how the heroes are meant to act.
[Warning: some spoilers ahead for Yakuza: Like a Dragon.]
Nonomiya is a soapland owner who gives Ichiban, Nanba, and Adachi a job early in the game. He plays a supporting role in setting the party towards their first proper dungeon, and is killed at the end of his introductory chapter. However, in Nonomiya's short time in the game, he manages to cause a series of problems that clash with several other aspects of the story. With almost every Yakuza title visiting Xbox Game Pass, the series is seeing a wider audience, and Nonomiya could leave a bad impression on those potential fans.
It's easy to question Nonomiya's role in the story as well as how Ichiban reacts to him, in particular because it makes no sense in context with the rest of the game. Nonomiya does not feel like an ally, or even like someone who is deserving of sympathy. As a character who ends up launching a major arc of the story, he remains as a bad mark on an otherwise excellent game.
Nonomiya Is An Unpleasant Person In Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Nonomiya offers the heroes a job early on, and he wastes no time in showing off his repellent personality. He is introduced arguing with the girls who work for him over the phone, even making one cry. In a discussion shortly afterward, he even admits that he specifically hires girls whose situations are too desperate for them to quit. Considering Ichiban manages a business in Yakuza: Like a Dragon despite no training and does very well thanks to his honesty and determination, Nonomiya's slimy practices look particularly horrible. He does everything he can to come off as a terrible person, and Nanba and Adachi are rightfully disgusted by him within minutes, ready to walk out after their first conversation.
In almost any other scene in the game, Nonomiya would have been one of the many slimeballs that gets a beating from Ichiban and company. However, in an astonishingly out-of-character moment, Ichiban decides to accept employment from Nonomiya despite the protests of his allies. This makes no sense, because there is no other time in the game that Ichiban willingly sides with someone so visibly terrible. Even the gangsters and crime bosses that the team works alongside have redeeming qualities, while Nonomiya shows none. With changing jobs in Yakuza: Like a Dragon being a core mechanic, the party should have been able to walk out on Nonomiya's offer.
When Nonomiya does something decent by requesting that the heroes save the father of one of the girls from his soapland, it is such an absurd turn that it isn't believable. Although there is talk of him doing good deeds, all of these are hearsay to the player rather than something to be witnessed. Even Saeko says that she hates him, and she doesn't appear until after his death in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, showing he is not well remembered.
Yakuza - It Doesn't Make Sense For Ichiban To Work With Nonomiya
A major part of Ichiban's backstory is that he was raised in a soapland, collectively parented by the girls who worked there as well as the owner. This is explained to the player early on, and Ichiban even declares his pride in his upbringing to the antagonist group Bleach Japan. He has a natural connection with people down on their luck in general, and Ichiban is an important protagonist in Yakuza because of the empathy and hope that he inspires. Throughout the game, Ichiban repeatedly shows himself to be a moral person who will help or defend anyone who needs it.
It's Ichiban's kind nature combined with his background that makes his acceptance of Nonomiya inexplicable. Ichiban has fought people in substories who were less detestable than Nonomiya, so it doesn't make sense why he gets a pass. If he were acting the way he normally would, then he would have either beaten up Nonomiya, or otherwise forced him to stop treating his girls terribly. Instead, he comes up with an incredibly flimsy excuse of "At least he doesn't pretend it's not a harsh situation", which is no excuse for Nonomiya's behavior. The fact that Ichiban is the only party member who doesn't react appropriately despite normally having morals on par with Lost Judgment's Yagami makes it even worse.
By all accounts, Ichiban should have hated Nonomiya. Despite that, he wound up being the only member of the party who didn't. Even Saeko, who doesn't show up until after Nonomiya's death, makes sure to mention that she hated him as well. Ichiban may be a nice guy, but even he has his limits, and tolerating Nonomiya should have been one of them.
Yakuza - Hamako Would Have Been Better Than Nonomiya
One of the most baffling things about Nonomiya's presence in the game is that there was already a character that would have been able to fill his role, and one that debuted earlier to boot. Hamako is an old woman who let undocumented sex workers operate out of a building that she owned, and she also gave Ichiban and Nanba their first employment by having them give security to a friend's bar. Considering how long Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes to beat, positive characters like Hamako are quite welcome during the long journey.
Hamako is shown to treat the girls that she looks after well, and she gets along well with Ichiban and company when they first meet, offering them a room in her building while they get back on their feet. She's clearly appreciative of Ichiban and his friends, and generally comes across well. If Nonomiya were excised from the game, and Hamako was given his role, then the writing would have been stronger. After all, Hamako was already likable, and the heroes had plenty of reason to support her.
The fact that Hamako is such a good candidate for the exact same position makes how bad Nonomiya is truly perplexing. They are in a similar line of work, but Hamako proves that Nonomiya did not have to be such a terrible person in the process. With a Yakuza: Like a Dragon sequel confirmed, hopefully, that game's allies will be more like Hamako and less like Nonomiya.
Nonomiya is the game's worst NPC, and it's not much of a contest. The only characters worse than him are villains who were obviously supposed to be hated. Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a very good game, and Ichiban is a fantastic protagonist. However, Nonomiya represents the exact opposite of what the series is all about, and what the heroes fight for.