Before Majima Lost His Eye

(C/W : toxic relationships , abuse, spoilers for yakuza 0)

I saw a fanart of two-eyed Majima and wondered if before his eye loss, Majima would’ve been considered a pretty boy by the other yakuza members who saw him.

Then I wondered of his relationship with Shimano.

Canonically, the games don’t reveal much, but I want to assume from the brief details in Yakuza 0 that:

1. Majima’s a favourite of Shimano

He implies this in the following scene:

2. Majima has complex feelings towards him

My opinion is that Majima caught Shimano’s attention for his looks, then built a reputation for his ruthless fighting skills. Majima became Shimano’s favourite before he’s sent to the Hole for disobeying orders. Logically, after all this, Majima would hate Shimano, right?

But events in 0 prove otherwise.

Majima had the perfect opportunity to serve retribution and kill Shimano after he sold out the Tojo clan to Omi during the Empty Lot conflict. It’s possible it’s playing to the canonical “Majima cannot kill” trope that is emphasized during the start of the game, but it could also be that he simply does not want to kill Shimano. Previously, we see him ready to kill the entire Dojima family, including its patriarch and lieutenants. It was only after Sera stepped in that Majima reconsidered. In Shimano’s case, he was encouraged by Sera, and Sagawa too didn’t seek to stop him. Yet, Majima didn’t go through with it.

Why?

Shimano and Majima’s relationships mimics that of a toxic parent-child one.

If you have experienced or observed toxic parent-child relationships, you’ll be able to find certain patterns.

The parent figure will brandish their power/abuse over their child in the name of “discipline”

Shimano does exactly this when he sent Majima to the Hole and then to be exiled in Sotenbori after Majima defies his order.

The parent figure doesn’t think much of said punishment, but the child figure is often traumatized and learns to fear the parent.

We see this time and time again when Majima sits down with Shimano. He’s clearly afraid of him. Shimano on the other hand, sometimes appear as if he doesn’t really remember that he sent Majima to the Hole and imprisoned him in Sotenbori.

Despite all this, the child refuses to leave or exact revenge on the parent beyond reasons such as money/shelter/filial support.

Majima doesn’t need Shimano at this point, as 0 has established. Sera has implied that Majima could very well rejoin Tojo and not be held for offing Shimano, but he chooses not to. Is it his loyalty? Principles? Why would he choose the harder way to his goal (building a family and a place for Saejima) by risking of his own life (by choosing to sacrifice himself for the betrayal Shimano committed in 0 when he sold out Tojo to Omi)? Did he do it to find out if Shimano cared about him enough to not kill him? We know that Majima matters enough to Shimano that he doesn’t shoot Majima, we just don’t know as what. Maybe Majima’s just a weapon to him. Maybe he does care enough like a parent would to a child, no matter how abusive they are. Nobody knows, and we can only assume what Majima felt when he’s finally reabsorbed into the family and then made captain.

So does Majima hate Shimano?

Yes and no.

A better word for what I think Majima feels for Shimano is hurt. Hurt that Shimano did what he did, and yet he can’t bring himself to fully defy him. He learns to repress this and make a name for himself, but when Shimano dies, the feelings come back. He says Shimano deserves it, but he’s not entirely happy about it. After all, this is the man who raised him to where he’s risen in the Tojo clan, even if he partially broke him.

(opinions are entirely my own and you’re free to yours, lmk what you think!)