- Joined
- Nov 23, 2019
I thought our introduction to Shenmue 2 was wonderful but not quite as good as the intro to Shenmue 1 IMO. It was mostly a very faithful translation of the game (which means it was bound to be at least "good") but what they did change was hit and miss for me.
1. Ryo knows enough Chinese (Cantonese) to get by! A very simple throwaway line clears up a lot of the confusion that can't just be handwaved with "it's a videogame" and it combines nicely with the fact that they never establish that Ryo doesn't know any Chinese in the S1 portion. A simple change that I like, especially Ryo checking the translation book.
2. Ryo no longer loses the Phoenix Mirror (or his money) with his bag! I understand why they would change this because it's kind of weird for him to not immediately stop everything he's doing in order to find it and there's still A LOT that they needed to fit into the run time but ultimately I think the game handled it way better. Ryo losing the Phoenix Mirror as soon as he gets to Hong Kong not only frames Hong Kong as a more dangerous place, it shows how out of his depth Ryo is and why he needs to get his bag back. In the show I didn't really understand why he wanted it back. He even goes to the police!
3. Joy explaining Wong's backstory. This struck me as either part of the condensing that will depend on what they change later, or characterizing Joy as a more protective character who sees Ryo as more of a threat. I don't think it needed to be condensed but I can totally understand why they'd want to introduce Joy as more than "really horny for Ryo". That comes later.
4. Ryo learns of the Wude from Jianmin! I like this change and I can understand why the anime would want to cut certain scenes of Ryo performing manual labor (see also Ryo keeping his money). It also gives Lishao Tao more of a mysterious Yoda vibe, which is in line with how she trains Ryo later on. I like that Xiuying is framing the path Ryo could be on rather than the path that he is on as well; it's a small distinction but it keeps the series feeling lighter and less dour which is clearly a deliberate tonal shift. I do wish they kept Jianmin's badass moment with the tree though...
5. Return to Bailu! I guess the Shenmue tree is in bloom? It really feels like we're going to get to the end of S2 at this pace even though they said that we wouldn't.
1. Ryo knows enough Chinese (Cantonese) to get by! A very simple throwaway line clears up a lot of the confusion that can't just be handwaved with "it's a videogame" and it combines nicely with the fact that they never establish that Ryo doesn't know any Chinese in the S1 portion. A simple change that I like, especially Ryo checking the translation book.
2. Ryo no longer loses the Phoenix Mirror (or his money) with his bag! I understand why they would change this because it's kind of weird for him to not immediately stop everything he's doing in order to find it and there's still A LOT that they needed to fit into the run time but ultimately I think the game handled it way better. Ryo losing the Phoenix Mirror as soon as he gets to Hong Kong not only frames Hong Kong as a more dangerous place, it shows how out of his depth Ryo is and why he needs to get his bag back. In the show I didn't really understand why he wanted it back. He even goes to the police!
3. Joy explaining Wong's backstory. This struck me as either part of the condensing that will depend on what they change later, or characterizing Joy as a more protective character who sees Ryo as more of a threat. I don't think it needed to be condensed but I can totally understand why they'd want to introduce Joy as more than "really horny for Ryo". That comes later.
4. Ryo learns of the Wude from Jianmin! I like this change and I can understand why the anime would want to cut certain scenes of Ryo performing manual labor (see also Ryo keeping his money). It also gives Lishao Tao more of a mysterious Yoda vibe, which is in line with how she trains Ryo later on. I like that Xiuying is framing the path Ryo could be on rather than the path that he is on as well; it's a small distinction but it keeps the series feeling lighter and less dour which is clearly a deliberate tonal shift. I do wish they kept Jianmin's badass moment with the tree though...
5. Return to Bailu! I guess the Shenmue tree is in bloom? It really feels like we're going to get to the end of S2 at this pace even though they said that we wouldn't.