Hiroaki Arai

Hiroaki Arai (新井弘明, Arai Hiroaki) is a secondary antagonist in Yakuza 4. He is an undercover police officer, who was tasked with infiltrating the Tojo Clan by Seishiro Munakata. Arai serves as the captain of Kanemura Enterprises.

Profile[]

Appearance[]

Arai's face is modeled after his voice actor, Ikki Sawamura^WP. He is a fairly tall man, standing around Shun Akiyama's height. He has a very muscular body, chiseled facial features, and medium-length, black hair with his bangs brushed over to the right.

Attire[]

Arai's signature attire consists of a black suit with muted red pinstripes worn over a dark blue dress shirt and a striped blue and gray necktie. The Kanemura Enterprises crest pin adorns his lapel. He also wears a black crocodile leather belt with a silver buckle and black, cap-toe, monk-strap dress shoes.

In 2005, Arai is seen wearing a purple suit over a gray dress shirt and a black tie.

Personality[]

You can't turn back the clock. Regrets serve no purpose.

— Arai to Akiyama, Yakuza 4

Arai appears to be a man of integrity and noble intentions at first. He is shown to share mutual respect with his subordinates in Kanemura Enterprises, and with Akiyama. He was willing to help a then-homeless Akiyama retrieve money that was stolen from him by thugs. However, deep down, Arai is highly ambitious and manipulative in spite of his intentions of "justice." He pretends to be loyal to the Tojo Clan, but is secretly subordinate to Munakata, whom he also later betrays. He is willing to sacrifice and betray those around him in pursuit of his plans, including Kazuo Shibata, whom he kills; Munakata, whom he attempts to kill; and even shoots his own oath brother, Takeshi Kido, whom he only left alive in the interest of determining his true allegiances.

Despite being a police infiltrator, Arai seems to have some degree of respect for the yakuza and desires to be one; when he attempts to kill Munakata, he states that he lives by his own code, not just as an officer of the law, but also as a yakuza. Notably, he specifically turns on Munakata out of a refusal to kidnap Kiryu's children to be used as leverage against the him. He also, in yakuza tradition, chose to strip when fighting Akiyama.

Background[]

Arai was an officer under the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. At some point, he was employed by his superior, Seishiro Munakata to infiltrate the Tojo Clan. Around 2005, Arai joined Kanemura Enterprises of the Shibata Family, and eventually became oath brothers with Takeshi Kido. Arai would also form a partnership with Isao Katsuragi, as underlings of Munakata.

In December 2005, Arai encountered a group of homeless hunters, who attempted to steal from Shun Akiyama, a sleeping homeless man. Arai defended Akiyama, and promised he would turn Kamurocho around, and they soon became friends. When Akiyama started Sky Finance, the offer of lending money to Kanemura Enterprises was made, on the agreement that Arai would take over the family one day.

By 2010, Arai became somewhat close with Katsuragi and Kazuo Shibata, and learned the truth of the Ueno Seiwa Hit.

Involvement[]

Yakuza 4: 2010[]

Arai instigates conflict when he murders Masaru Ihara at the Elnard club. In reality, the altercation at Elnard and Arai's shooting of him was part of a plot by Katsuragi and Shibata to coax the Tojo into giving Katsuragi and Ueno Seiwa the lucrative Kamurocho Hills project. Katsuragi demanded of the Tojo's chairman, Daigo Dojima, that he either hand over Arai's head or forfeit the project, but Arai had secretly been in hiding under his and Katsuragi's knowledge the whole time.

Arai later appears when Masayoshi Tanimura closes in on him and Shibata. Shibata wanted to rape and murder Yasuko Saejima in retaliation for her murdering many of Shibata's men on Katsuragi's orders. At this point, Arai reveals his loyalty to Katsuragi, and kills Shibata, stating that it is retaliation for Shibata blackmailing Katsuragi and due to Shibata no longer being necessary to his plans. He then escapes from Tanimura.

It is revealed that Kido is also conspiring with Arai, though in reality Kido is secretly loyal to Daigo. After Kido shoots Katsuragi (unaware that he was wearing protection) and hands over Munakata's file provided by Kazuma Kiryu to Arai, Arai shoots Kido. Kiryu scolds him for betraying an oath brother, declaring that he will never lead the Tojo Clan. He leaves without taking Akiyama's money.

Arai then reports to Munakata. Here, he is ordered to kidnap the children of Kiryu at Morning Glory Orphanage, as a bargaining chip to force Kiryu to return the money. At this point, Arai states that he lives by his own code as a yakuza and an officer, and shoots Munakata.

He finally appears at the rooftop, lured there thanks to the money. Here, he confronts Daigo, reprimanding him for betraying the Tojo Clan and sending Goro Majima to prison, and reveals being a police infiltrator. It is revealed here that Arai intentionally ensured Kido would survive his shooting; he was suspicious that Kido was working on Daigo's orders, and when Kido ran to Daigo after surviving, this verified his suspicions. At this point, Munakata appears, revealing that Arai had only shot Munakata with rubber bullets. As Munakata is about to have his bodyguards attack Kido, Daigo, and Arai; the game's protagonists arrive via helicopter to confront their enemies. Akiyama decides to confront Arai; the two have a battle, which Akiyama ultimately wins.

After regaining consciousness following his loss, Arai helps subdue Munakata, and personally compliments Tanimura due to him being a cop of integrity. He accepts that he should stay in prison for his crimes. He initially opposes killing Munakata, wanting him to spend his life in prison, but Munakata is able to kill himself anyway. Arai goes on to serve time in prison for the murders of Ihara and Shibata.

Fighting Style[]

Arai appears to be a Tang Soo Do practitioner, utllizing kicks mostly with a few hand attacks. His techinques are a lot more rigid and stable in comparison to Akiyama's faster, dynamic fighting style. His stance is almost identical to the latter's, only with his hands curled into fists.

Arai's fight functions similarly to that of Yoshitaka Mine, in that he has separate Heat Modes that he alternates between, using a different set of attacks in each of them. His calm-state moveset is listed below:

a Rush Combo consisting of a left palm strike, a right body palm strike, a right roundhouse kick, and a right downward roundhouse kick;
a right roundhouse kick-spinning left heel kick combo,
a backstep followed by a flying left roundhouse kick,
a left rolling thunder kick as a running attack,
a grab attack where he grabs Akiyama by the hair, drags him to left and throws him off to the right;
a left backfist knockback as a guard reversal, followed by a left spear-hand body strike;
Kazuma Kiryu's Knockdown Reversal, which can stun Akiyama;
a right/left quickstep combo, consisting of a hopping left side kick and two slash kicks, taken from Akiyama's Rush Combo;
Mine's right axe kick basic/downed attack, and
a taunt where he puts his right foot forward and raises his hands to his sides.

Blue Heat[]

Arai uses moves that focus on speed and striking quickly in this Heat Mode. He emits a navy blue aura, and his attack trails are navy with indigo accents. His attacks in this mode include:

his Rush Combo,
his running attack,
his guard reversal and follow-up attack,
Kiryu's Knockdown Reversal,
a right leg sweep kick as a grab counter,
his quickstep combo with an additional two slash kicks from Akiyama's Rush Combo, and a right Thai roundhouse kick finisher; and
Mine's axe kick.

Red Heat[]

When Arai enters this Heat mode, his moveset changes to focus on power, gaining multiple Finishing Blows for his other attacks. He now emits a scarlet red aura, and he has an extra scarlet trail along with his regular one. His attacks in this mode include:

his Rush Combo left palm strike, followed by:
- feinting a right body blow for a right leg sweep kick finisher, or
- his Rush Combo right body blow, and a right high side kick finisher (unused);
his two-kick combo with a 360° jumping left axe kick finisher,
his flying roundhouse kick,
a spinning left heel sweep kick finisher for his running attack,
his guard reversal and follow-up attack,
Kiryu's Knockdown Reversal,
an open-handed parry stance where he performs a single-leg roll takedown if Akiyama attacks, and
Mine's axe kick.

Arai can use two Heat Actions in red Heat Mode: if Akiyama is down, he may perform Joji Kazama's Heat Action QTE, and Lau Ka Long's Heat Action from Yakuza replaces his usual grab attack.