Jigen
Man Mo Journeyman
It was pretty good. Some changes I wouldn't have done, but pretty good otherwise. Nozomi doesn't look like Nozomi.
Exactly this...they have 12 episodes to work with and yeah, it's gonna be condensed.I think the first episode in particular probably feels a bit too fast because they're trying to connect Ryo's past and the first few hours of the game to set the tone of the next few episodes to come. They had to condense a few things but honestly it all felt fine the way they did it. The only thing I didn't like was Ine-san agreeing to Ryo's revenge thing so easily. That would have never happened in the game. That aside, goddamn, that was GREAT!! The soundtrack is incredible. And can we talk about the ending/credits? That animation was incredible. Gonna have to give this a solid 8.5/10 for now. Next episode may increase that.
I think what I disliked about it the most was the flow. It never felt natural, like they were rushing to get through it all. We go from tournament, to Iwao's death, to Ryo wanting revenge, to hanging out with Nozomi and picking up a clue, to fighting Chai in the Dojo. Too rushed, no natural direction and flow, which is everything I feared and have seen in many 12-13 episode anime shows over the years.
I also thought it was a weird direction they took in the end with Ryo's focus kind of shifting from what it was in the games. He was dead set on revenge in the game, but in the anime, he shifted in the end to wanting to understand Iwao more.
I agree the Chai fight happened a little bit early and the first episode seems faster compare to the original game. But the fight was epic especially with Shenmue theme and I think it was the best way to finish the first episode for newcomers. By the way, the fight reminds me the Dou Niu rooftop fight (flashbacks and etc.).Exactly this...they have 12 episodes to work with and yeah, it's gonna be condensed.
I'm not saying it's perfect. My issue is more so still with the Chai fight...I guess I understand why they felt they needed something big to finish the first episode with but I thought the Chai fight came way too early. Oh well, will see how it pans out over the next few weeks.
I'd say 7.5 to 8 for me. The Chai fight being too early was where it lost points for me.
I wish I could view this thru the lens of someone who knows zero about the games. It's definitely condensed, but I wonder did the story progression feel natural to newcomers.
Lol I just saw someone on Twitter who didn't play the game say they liked the episode but the pacing felt "sluggish". I guess for the commoner it's moving either the right speed or slow
I would have been okay with him moving on from the revenge motivation if they didn't have him change so quickly. To go from revenge being his biggest motivation to wanting to know more about Iwao so quickly just didn't feel right. I think if they were going down the road of mixing his motivations up a bit and making him see beyond revenge, it would be much better suited to show that during his time spent with Xiuying.I'm kind of okay with it. He still seems thirsty for revenge to me. But more than that, I've been waiting for in-game Ryo to realize it's a bigger picture than just revenge for years. And that moment still really hasn't come for in-game Ryo. So I'm okay if they play into that with this version of Ryo.
I think after seeing this first episode that I'm gonna just split the two and treat them differently. You're not gonna get the same experience from a 12 episode anime that you will from a what? 100+ hour three game experience (thus far) that gladly takes its time telling the story. (some would say it takes too much time)