Tried to stay up last night to watch it, but decided at 2am that it would just kill my whole Sunday if I did
.
Woke up this morning and watched it straight away and I'm blown away honestly. It's just that good!
There are so many little details that just had me grinning from ear to ear and you can tell that they just get Shenmue. They've put so much care into every scene, and have not only done the game justice, but have given the fans some awesome little nods, and full blown story chucks that didn't make the final game. Finally seeing the Karate Tournament after hearing about it in that interview so many years ago is just perfect! I really hope they do the same with the boat chapter!
Things that stood out to me:-
- I like that they introduced Shenhua in Bailu via a quick jump there and back. Very different to how we felt playing the games (who the fuck is that on the front of the box, at the start of the game & on the chocolate bars lol). Super interested to see how often they do this, and what they will show of Shenhua's life before we meet her in the games. Maybe we will see some more of Yuan? That would be awesome, and it would also flesh out his character for us while playing Shenmue 3.
- The music in the scene with Lan Di killing Iwao, although wasn't very Shenmue, was fucking awesome and ominous. The increase of tempo as the fight goes on is something that you don't hear very often so really added to the tension of the situation.
- Super interesting to see that they left out the mention of Meng Cun. I wonder if the anime team & Yu have a revised story of some kind, and have decide to omit going there?
- I think I actually prefer Nozomi from the anime (although she is much more forward). Love the fact that Ryo has his green bag, and that he beats up Akio and Tetsuya without taking it off
- At so many points in the anime, I noticed myself looking at the backgrounds while thinking that I know what's down that road, around the corner etc. They've done a fantastic job with the locations, and I'd love to just be able to walk around in the anime lol.
- So cool to see that they actually got the police involved, and that there is a quick jump cut to house phone in homage to the achievement in the remasters.
- Felt literal nerd chills during the fight with Chai. Those emotional internal struggles about overcoming the odds always get me in games, so no surprise it got me here
- The
Could go on for hours really, but I'm just so happy about it and think they did a fantastic job so far.
As mentioned in the past, I feel like the anime writing team could really help Yu flesh out the story for Shenmue IV/V and really deliver on what the fans want as a completion of the story. I'm so interested to see what else they change, and what they flesh out.
If they manage to do 13 episodes similar to the quality of this first one, then fuck me are we in for a treat lol. Going to be so awesome having something to look forward to every Sunday for the near future!
Can't wait to watch the live reactions later on the Dojo Stream too!
Also, get the guy who made this "next episode" screen, work on the UI for future Shenmue games lol. Looks awesome!