Japanese YouTubers go viral after filming ‘real life video game’ on streets of Tokyo

KMZW Isolation channel filmed the impressive recreation in one of the city’s famous shopping districts

A Japanese YouTube channel has gone viral for posting footage of a “real life video game”, in which a man wanders the streets of Tokyo.

Entitled “Grand Theft Gotoku” (or "Grand Theft Yakuza"), the clip is filmed in the style of a third-person video game like Grand Theft Auto – or the popular beat-em-up series Yakuza.

KMZW Isolation, the channel on which the video appeared, usually features dance tutorials from a street dancing duo.

The video’s camerawork mimics the movements of a video game point-of-view, as one of the channel’s stars navigates his way around the famous shopping district in Shibuya, a ward of Tokyo.

The video’s “story mode” involves its “player-character” waking up and hunting for clues to solve a recent crime.

Towards the end, “Grand Theft Yakuza” even features a fight scene, with some video game-like special effects.

A clip from the video was shared on Twitter, gaining over 15 million views.

“This really is GTA V: Japanese Edition huh?” wrote one commenter. “Ngl, I would actually play this game.”

Another praised the camerawork, noting how impressive it was to accurately replicate the rotating over-the-shoulder perspective used in video games.

“THE CAMERAWORK??? that’s 10000% the most impressive bit,” they wrote.

You can watch the full video on YouTube here.