is the mafia still a thing

If you're asking about the mafia's existence, yes they still exist. They may not be as flagrant as in their heyday of the past century, but they've adapted and evolved. Traditional organized crime groups like the Italian 'Cosa Nostra', Russian 'Bratva', and Japanese 'Yakuza' still operate under the radar dealing with illegal activities. Now, they've branched into things like cybercrime, money laundering, and sophisticated fraud schemes, just to name a few. They may not be as visible, but their impact continues to be significant.

Digging into the intriguing underbelly of the world's organized crime syndicates can remind one of a plot straight from a thrilling mafia-centric anime like 'Baccano' or '91 Days'. If we focus on the traditional Italian-American Mafia, often portrayed in classics like 'The Godfather', their power and influence aren't as potent as before. Law enforcement crackdowns dealt some significant blows. However, they have far from vanished. They've reinvented themselves, with operations now more covert. Global crime organizations, including the Japanese 'Yakuza', Russian 'Mafiya', and numerous others, undertake a range of illegal activities. These include cybercrimes, sophisticated financial fraud, drug trafficking and more. So, in a sense, not only does 'mafia' remain a real-world phenomenon, it's become a more diverse, global element, much like the intricate plots and shady underworlds depicted in games like 'Yakuza 0'.