Lost Judgment Is Getting Its Own Soba Noodles in Japan

Today Sega announced a new collaboration to promote Lost Judgment in Japan.

The collaboration will launch on September 24 with the popular Nadai Fuji Soba chain of standing soba and udon restaurants Nadai Fuji Soba.

Until October 15, a collaboration menu featuring a bowl of spicy soba with meat, miso, and chili pepper will be available for 560 yen (just north of $5) at the chain’s restaurant. The menu is described as “recommended by Masaharu Kaito”

You can see what it looks like below.

This collaboration may seem surprising to the western eye, but it’s actually rather common for the Yakuza franchise. As a matter of fact, exactly the same menu was offered in collaboration with Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

The association with Masaharu Kaito is quite interesting, as opposed to focusing on the protagonist Takayuki Yagami. Yet, this isn’t surprising either, considering that putting the likeness of a famous actor like Takuya Kimura on the posters would have likely been more complicated and expensive. Incidentally, Masaharu Kaito will be playable in a dedicated DLC.

As for the reason for targeting the clientele of standing soba restaurants, this really isn’t a mystery. They largely attract middle-aged office workers, which are definitely a classic target for the Yakuza franchise and its spin-offs in Japan.

Lost Judgment is coming for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One on Sept. 24, 2021. A demo is already available on the Japanese Playstation Store, including English subtitles, and you can read our review.

If you’d like to learn more, you can enjoy the original announcement, the first screenshots and details, the opening cutscene, and another video showing minigames, a batch of screenshots, another gallery, one more, another, an extensive gameplay trailer, an equally extensive story trailer, and another focusing on the English voices. More videos introduce Jin Kuwana, Ryuzo Genda, Kazuki Soma, and Akihiro Ehara.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, you can read a brief official description below.

• Put Yagami’s distinct martial arts forms to the test in order get to the bottom of the case
• Harness the Crane, Tiger, and new Snake stance, a graceful style that can deflect and return an opponent’s strikes, using their energy against them
• Employ Yagami’s arsenal of detective tricks with new gadgets, stealthily tracking suspects, and crafty methods of infiltration
• Leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the truth as you take on cases in both Tokyo and Yokohama