In Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, an action game from Spike being brought to North America by Atlus, you play a “yankii” (or “yankee”); a gruff, authority-hating teen with powerful fists and a striking hairdo. Real-life yankii have been around for decades and in various forms throughout Japan — once considered detrimental to society, today they’re relatively harmless, if still somewhat intimidating and wildly-dressed, youth. Although they come from Japanese pop culture, the whole yankii concept is odd in any context, making it easier to make fun of — both for the developers and for you, the player, surprised by the game’s absurdity.
The main character, Sakamoto (you can change his first name) joins the rest of his fellow high school seniors on the annual field trip, and there are many places the students are going during their week-long itinerary. For the most part, though, Sakamoto is more interested in other schools’ ne’er-do-wells, defeating their banchos (leaders), and becoming the number-one badass in the whole country. Since the other prefectures’ schools are, conveniently, on their field trips too, Sakamoto doesn’t have to go far to assert his dominance — a few trips around the nearby towns are all that’s needed, provided that he has a school’s itinerary telling him where they’ll be. That, or they’ll simply be found semi-randomly as the days go on.