Shenmue Dojo Blog

This week, our hero inched ever closer to finding the man holding the keys to understanding his father’s untimely death. The hunt for Yuanda Zhu continued in Episode 9: Distinct. Here’s the recap. Symbols and Codes Continuing the conclusion of last week’s episode, Ryo stands in the library of Man Mo Temple with the Wulishu in hand. Paging through the book authored by Yuanda Zhu, he finds the name Sunming Zhao on a heritage tree of martial artists. This is the very man Lan Di accused his father of killing just before the end of their fatal encounter. A paper slips out that contains a coded symbol Ryo does not recognize, but seems to be a clue to help find Zhu. As Ryo returns to Xiuying’s apartment for the night, he spies her looking...

Welcome to my Shenmue anime Analysis, this time for EP8 Aspiration, this Analysis will have SPOILERS of the anime and the games. The episode begins with Shenhua in Guilin when Lan Di appear with the Phoenix mirror with him, Lan Di looks at Shenhua and we hear thunder claps, Ryo wakes up in Xiuying’s room and realized he had the same dream, this scene is the bad ending in Shenmue II so is a nice detail to see this scene in the game. Fangmei enter in the room, she introduce herself, Fangmei remember that her intuition was right and Ryo agree with her. Fangmei say tha Xiuying is waiting for him in the Man mo Temple library. Ryo go to the library, Xiuying say she would like Ryo to take a lot of books out and after that air them on...

Back again for an episode recap of Aspiration. This week our hero learned a bit about better appreciating his new Hong Kong scenery. Paying the Rent Opening to our protagonist’s recurring nightmare of Shenhua being stalked by Lan Di as ominous thunder claps overhead, he jumps awake on his borrowed sofa in Xiuying’s room to be greeted her cheerful assistant. Fangmei is happy her prediction of seeing him again turned out to be true and passes along a message to meet her master at the temple library. There Xiuying instructs Ryo to carry the library’s books to the yard for an airing out. Feeling this task is a waste of time, he instead tries to ask about Yuanda Zhu, but is rebuffed again. She remains steadfast in her unwillingness to...

Welcome to my Shenmue anime Analysis, this time for EP7 Future. this Analysis will have SPOILERS of the anime and the games. The episode begins with Ryo question Xiuying if she really is Master Lishao Tao, Xiuying say that she will guess what Ryo is thinking, she say... "Is this woman really Lishao Tao? Where is the proof? I would never lose in a fight against her." Ryo say that this is not true, and that fighting women isn't something he do, then Hanhui Liu ask what else would convince Ryo about it, what can prove to him that she is Master Lishao Tao, he say for Ryo to not hold back and spar with her. Ryo decides to spar with Xiuying and she bests him in a way that she could have killed him if she wanted, she say that this is a...

It was a hunt for the second Wude in this week’s episode, titled Future. Here’s the recap. For Her Sake This episode picks up right where Dignified left off, continuing the reveal of Master Lishao Tao’s identity as the stoic woman he met last week: Xiuying Hong. Reading his shock, she verbalizes his internal doubts that a woman could be a master and would never win a fight against him. Despite Ryo’s hesitancy to fight a member of the opposite sex, he agrees to a sparring match with Xiuying, allowing her to demonstrate the martial prowess that earned her the title of master. The pair assume fighting stances and Ryo charges, only to see his barrage of attacks easily avoided as the lightning fast Xiuying dances around him. He...