In Shenmue II does Ryo actually say this?

Not sure on the exact translation, but apparently yes, the Japanese game was more open about Yuan being trans or non-binary.

I wish they didn't censor the character in the west for better LGBTQ+ visibility. Although, I'm also conflicted because if the line's translation was accurate then they definitely should've changed the wording. If true, it is a fairly atrocious embarrassment so I'm actually glad they decided to sanitize rather than leave such verbiage.
 
I decided I'm gonna play the JP version of Shenmue II via Redream (nothing illegal I own the Jp version anyways). I never actually played the JP version of II, but I doubt I will have a problem with it being in Japanese I know the game very well at this point.
 
While playing through I took pictures of some other text along the way, so here are some. These are translated by Google translate so take it with a grain of salt.

Screenshot_20211118-183950_Translate.jpgScreenshot_20211118-184108_Translate.jpg
As for this last one I can't take a pic of this with the games image as it's too big so I could only show the text, but the text is for when the game pauses and tells you to say goodbye to everyone when you leave for Kowloon. It seems Ryo says this instead of the game.

Screenshot_20211118-184250_Translate.jpg
 
Update I'm now on disc 3 and I'm at the part where I'm looking for Yuan. While looking, I took 2 pictures here, you go!

This is the lucky hit museum owner Hassan. To you he might look different than usual, but this is what he looks like in the Japanese Dreamcast version of II. Sega removed his outfit in later versions due to 9/11.
Screenshot_20211119-011556_redream.jpg

Screenshot_20211119-014248_Translate.jpg
Ren likes to say 10 years early a lot!
 
I don't recall Ryo ever saying anything like that in the Japanese version of the game. Aside from being a somewhat lazy Japanese stereotype of gay men, the only description I remember Ryo giving for Yuan is, 'A man who talks like a woman.' I'm looking through some Jikkyou videos of the section where Ryo is looking for Yuan, and so far the only thing that sticks out other than what I remembered is one of the old men in Miao garb talking about some rumors he'd heard of, 'A terrifying man with a face like a woman's.'

Also, Google Translate is pretty horrendous. The first one, ’くそっ!金だけ抜き取ったな!’ is more like 'Crap/dammit! You took out my money!' The more crass terms are 'クッソ’ / ’畜生’ ('kusso' / 'chikushou').

The 'ten years early' lines from Ren could be a slight nod to Akira, but it's a fairly common dis in Japanese, that has something of the meaning, 'You're not in my league; You're barking up the wrong tree.'
Aside from that, Ren says: '十年早ぇぜ’ (jyuunen haeze).
Whereas Akira's win quote is: '十年早いんだよ!’ (jyuunen hayaindayo).

Lastly, 'Katakiuchi" is a term for getting revenge (although Ren actually uses the pronunciation of 'Adauchi'). Ren is basically saying, 'Little brat's out for revenge. You're asking for trouble.'
 
I don't recall Ryo ever saying anything like that in the Japanese version of the game. Aside from being a somewhat lazy Japanese stereotype of gay men, the only description I remember Ryo giving for Yuan is, 'A man who talks like a woman.' I'm looking through some Jikkyou videos of the section where Ryo is looking for Yuan, and so far the only thing that sticks out other than what I remembered is one of the old men in Miao garb talking about some rumors he'd heard of, 'A terrifying man with a face like a woman's.'

Also, Google Translate is pretty horrendous. The first one, ’くそっ!金だけ抜き取ったな!’ is more like 'Crap/dammit! You took out my money!' The more crass terms are 'クッソ’ / ’畜生’ ('kusso' / 'chikushou').

The 'ten years early' lines from Ren could be a slight nod to Akira, but it's a fairly common dis in Japanese, that has something of the meaning, 'You're not in my league; You're barking up the wrong tree.'
Aside from that, Ren says: '十年早ぇぜ’ (jyuunen haeze).
Whereas Akira's win quote is: '十年早いんだよ!’ (jyuunen hayaindayo).

Lastly, 'Katakiuchi" is a term for getting revenge (although Ren actually uses the pronunciation of 'Adauchi'). Ren is basically saying, 'Little brat's out for revenge. You're asking for trouble.'

Many thanks for the assistance!!
 
I remember this rumor.

Interestingly, if you play Shenmue 2 in Japanese in the Shenmue 1 and 2 HD remaster, the English subtitles refer to Yuan with male pronouns. This is interesting because up until then, no version of the game offered that translation. If you play in English, reverts back to female pronouns. The PAL version of Shenmue 2 on Dreamcast also used female pronouns, and the English Xbox version did too of course. Not sure if the Japanese version on Dreamcast or Xbox had an English subtitle option, but this certainly was a conscious decision either way.
 
So I talked to about 50 people in Kowloon and it seems what Rydeen says is correct. Ryo only says stuff like "He talks like a woman." And "He dresses like a woman". I couldn't find anything with Ryo saying what I thought he said in the first post... it seems I was 10 years early.
 
NEVER EVER use Google Translate! I've heard DeepL is better, but when it comes to Japanese/English, machine translations are as reliable as expecting your cable guy to come on time. Either way, Rydeen has already answered the question for the most part.

Other than that, Ryo does not say anything derogatory about Yuan, at least for that time. Ryo says Yuan's a man that just talks and dresses like a woman.

I wish they didn't censor the character in the west for better LGBTQ+ visibility.
Yeah, but 2001/2002 was a much different time.
 
Funny rumor. I really wonder where it come from. Good it is not true because it would feel out of character for Ryo to do so.
 
I just did another playthrough of Shenmue II in Japanese, Ryo just generally says that Yuan is a man, but dresses and speaks like a woman and that's it. But of course these days, you can't get away with calling Yuan a man but considering the game takes place in 1987, that should give it some leeway.
 
Back
Top