Random Shenmue Anime Thoughts

On one of the Legend of Akira art, there's a bald guy looming in the sky who may be the big bad, Tentei, but Tentei being Zhu makes more dramatic sense than a new character imo. It may fill in a lot of gaps if Zhu is the true villian, like why the letter arrived late (deliberete) why he told Chen about the mirrors awakening Chi You (he worships the entity of war) why does Lan Di fly away on the helicopter when he sees Ryo with Zhu? (He may have started to realise what's going on when he recognised the man who calls himself Zhu) Zhang presumably then would work for a hidden Cell of the CYM, a shadow group may have told Lan Di that Iwao only has one Mirror. Imo Zhu being Tentei could reframe the whole story in an epic way.

I am not sure if @David De ville is still active on the forums but from one of his interviews I believe he confirms with Suzuki the shadow figures seen in GDC title card 8 as separate masters, not Chi You Men leaders I don’t know if the same extends to bald guy pictured too.
 
I think there may be room for Zhu to be a villain or at least more gray, as alluded to by YS in one of he Shenmue Master interviews, but there isn't enough information to go off of a this point. Biggest thing...if he is Tentei, why is a Chiyoumen black suit knocking him out on the roof of the Yellow Head Building? Why is Lan Di after him? Maybe he's not Tentei, but more on the side of Niao Sun...?
 
I think there may be room for Zhu to be a villain or at least more gray, as alluded to by YS in one of he Shenmue Master interviews, but there isn't enough information to go off of a this point. Biggest thing...if he is Tentei, why is a Chiyoumen black suit knocking him out on the roof of the Yellow Head Building? Why is Lan Di after him? Maybe he's not Tentei, but more on the side of Niao Sun...?
Might be a hidden deep cell within the CYM and not everyone knows who is truly in charge. That might mean Lan Di is the poster boy, de facto leader of the group. Hence why Sun assumes the Chi You Men will belong to her when she believes he's burning in the castle.

A theory is you have the organised cartel front, 4 leaders, and the Chi You cult within who really run things, and I believe they may have had Shenhua's parents killed. They're after something more dangerous than treasure and riches.
 
Zhu being Tentai doesn't make sense IMO. If this guy is the big bad he wouldn't have gone thru all that suffering in Shenmue 2. It makes more sense if Zhu is closely related to the Chiyoumen and Tentai and him sending that letter to Iwao was him trying to out maneuver Tentai and the Chiyoumen IMO.
 
Zhu being Tentai doesn't make sense IMO. If this guy is the big bad he wouldn't have gone thru all that suffering in Shenmue 2. It makes more sense if Zhu is closely related to the Chiyoumen and Tentai and him sending that letter to Iwao was him trying to out maneuver Tentai and the Chiyoumen IMO.
I assume he would be a nutter, who pretends to be a helpess old man, but isn't afraid of pain, the kind of nutter who thinks that when the Mirrors meet, Chi You will awaken and devour the world.

I'd love to see a flashback, where Zhu or whatever his name would be, finds Lan Di, acts like Ra's Al Gul/Ducard in Batman Begins, a liason and recruits him into the organisation. He gets to Longsun before Iwao can tell him the truth about why his father died. It would be interesting to imagine an alternate story when Iwao finds Longsun and raises him.

'Zhu' has ties with many of the main characters including Iwao, so it would make him a personal antagonist, if Lan Di isn't the true overarching villian and the guy who raised him in the CYM is.
 
I dont know why so many people on here are fans of the Zhu=Tian Di theory. It doesn't make any sense and I feel like I'm the only one who thinks it would actually be a really bad plot twist.

Why can't Tian Di just be a new character. Assuming he's even still in the story.
 
I dont know why so many people on here are fans of the Zhu=Tian Di theory. It doesn't make any sense and I feel like I'm the only one who thinks it would actually be a really bad plot twist.

Why can't Tian Di just be a new character. Assuming he's even still in the story.
It makes sense to me. A new villian shows who is suddenly the new big bad instead of Lan Di. I think that would be unsatisfying. You could argue it worked with Star Wars in ROTJ when they introduce Palpatine as the main villian, but the Emperor had an appearence in the second film and we got a picture painted of who the overarching enemy is. I think a new main villian later in the story would feel impersonal.

I think it could add more moral ambiguity and depth to Lan Di, that we find out he was manipulated as a young man, by the same person who has been leading Ryo on. We see him as this cool, ruthless character and the player has some empathy for him, because the same villian is manipulating Ryo. Imagine fighting Lan Di, with those conflicted emotions, that could be thrilling.
 
It makes sense to me. A new villian shows who is suddenly the new big bad instead of Lan Di. I think that would be unsatisfying. You could argue it worked with Star Wars in ROTJ when they introduce Palpatine as the main villian, but the Emperor had an appearence in the second film and we got a picture painted of who the overarching enemy is. I think a new main villian later in the story would feel impersonal
But this is the point though. It wouldn't make sense to introduce Tian Di at the last moment, he should have already been hinted at by this point in the story. The same sentiment would be there if for 90% of the games you thought Lan Di was the leader of the CYM and Zhu suddenly pops in at the end as the villain. Remeber, Tian Di is an assumption at this point, there is nothing in the games to even hint at his existence at all.

Also, the existence of a leader of the CYM doesn't automatically not make Lan Di the main villain. That really only has to do with the CYM structure and not Ryo's story. This could play out in a number of ways, Lan Di or Niao Sun could betray him and kill him. Ryo could defeat him before Lan Di etc. Basically there is no reason to assume just because he exists he has to be the main villain, all signs point to Lan Di for that
 
What if there is a Tentai but Lan Di or Niao Sun betrays and kills him. What if Tentai is like "Keyser Söze" and Lan Di is really the true puppet master. Maybe Niao Sun has figured this out and is attempting to seize control from Lan Di.
 
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But this is the point though. It wouldn't make sense to introduce Tian Di at the last moment, he should have already been hinted at by this point in the story. The same sentiment would be there if for 90% of the games you thought Lan Di was the leader of the CYM and Zhu suddenly pops in at the end as the villain. Remeber, Tian Di is an assumption at this point, there is nothing in the games to even hint at his existence at all.

Also, the existence of a leader of the CYM doesn't automatically not make Lan Di the main villain. That really only has to do with the CYM structure and not Ryo's story. This could play out in a number of ways, Lan Di or Niao Sun could betray him and kill him. Ryo could defeat him before Lan Di etc. Basically there is no reason to assume just because he exists he has to be the main villain, all signs point to Lan Di for that
We know there are more than 1 leader which suggests the possibility that we're scratching the surface from what we know of how the CYM organisation operates. We know someone must have enlisted Lan Di into the group (Sunming's "best friend?") In S3 We know Zhu apparently lost it all but he has a mysterious spy organisation (Theorising they're a hidden deep cell in the CYM) featured in III's DLC. There are hints of entities operating in the shadows. A Web that could be unraveled.

Ryo and Lan Di have an obvious duality thing going on, with the scars and shared desire for vengeance. I don't think Lan Di is the true main villian because Ryo needs to break the cycle of revenge and redeem him in some way. That to me suggests there might be a bigger villian, not just a character Sun or Lan Di assassinates at some point to cement power. That's really interesting to me because the character development for Ryo is he learns the way to honour his father, is to save his friends' son, where Iwao had failed to save Longsun's father.

The Shenmue 3 DLC is about Zhang and Zhu and it ends with Zhang saying Zhu will have a reward waiting for him next time he is in Hong Kong. Yeah I guess he's being saved for something important, the hidden 5th leader, the one in the organisation who knows about the Qing Dynasty's lost treasure and the calamity (Yeh spoke of a calamity) in the mountains, the dangers that the Mirrors may truly unleash. "Chi You will ressurect itself"
 
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We know there are more than 1 leader which suggests the possibility that we're scratching the surface from what we know of how the CYM organisation operates. We know someone must have enlisted Lan Di into the group (Sunming's "best friend?")
True, it does make sense and we know from interviews that is likely the case but if we just look at the games alone the implication is that Lan Di is the leader and Niao Sun is trying to supplant him. Still, we are like 50-60% through the story so if he were to get introduced basically at the onset of S4 it could still make sense. I'm wondering how the anime will handle this.
n S3 We know Zhu apparently lost it all but he has a mysterious spy organisation (Theorising they're a hidden deep cell in the CYM) featured in III's DLC. There are hints of entities operating in the shadows. A Web that could be unraveled.
Did I miss something here? We know Zhu used to run a smuggling operation out of Hong Kong but lost it, presumably in a power struggle with the CYM, although the games never say. But where in S3 (or DLC) does it imply it he runs a sleeper cell in the CYM?
Ryo and Lan Di have an obvious duality thing going on, with the scars and shared desire for vengeance. I don't think Lan Di is the true main villian because Ryo needs to break the cycle of revenge and redeem him in some way. That to me suggests there might be a bigger villian, not just a character Sun or Lan Di assassinates at some point to cement power. That's really interesting to me because the character development for Ryo is he learns the way to honour his father, is to save his friends' son, where Iwao had failed to save Longshu's father
This is all contingent on whether or not Iwao killed Zhao, and if he did, for what reasons. If the series is really to have a bigger villain, not just a boss to the CYM, but an actual main villain, they should have introduced it by now. This is a problem with S3 because it failed to raise the stakes of the story in this way.

Personally, the moments of doubt about Lan DI being redeemed are gone after playing S3. The ending cements to me that he is likely not going to be redeemed and has always been intended to be the main villain of the story. How they'll handle that with Ryo not getting revenge remains to be seen. It could be that he still dies/is punished but not by Ryo's hand.

However, if the goal is to make it that Ryo breaks the cycle of revenge it makes less sense that Lan Di is a sympathetic redeemable character.
Yeah I guess he's being saved for something important, the hidden 5th leader, the one in the organisation who knows about the Qing Dynasty's lost treasure and the calamity (Yeh spoke of a calamity) in the mountains, the dangers that the Mirrors may truly unleash. "Chi You will ressurect itself"
This is pure speculation on your part. I mean, it's totally fine btw, and if you think it's cool that's fine too. I personally think it would be lame if Zhu was the main villain, not to mention it doesn't add up with what we know.
 
True, it does make sense and we know from interviews that is likely the case but if we just look at the games alone the implication is that Lan Di is the leader and Niao Sun is trying to supplant him. Still, we are like 50-60% through the story so if he were to get introduced basically at the onset of S4 it could still make sense. I'm wondering how the anime will handle this.

Did I miss something here? We know Zhu used to run a smuggling operation out of Hong Kong but lost it, presumably in a power struggle with the CYM, although the games never say. But where in S3 (or DLC) does it imply it he runs a sleeper cell in the CYM?

This is all contingent on whether or not Iwao killed Zhao, and if he did, for what reasons. If the series is really to have a bigger villain, not just a boss to the CYM, but an actual main villain, they should have introduced it by now. This is a problem with S3 because it failed to raise the stakes of the story in this way.

Personally, the moments of doubt about Lan DI being redeemed are gone after playing S3. The ending cements to me that he is likely not going to be redeemed and has always been intended to be the main villain of the story. How they'll handle that with Ryo not getting revenge remains to be seen. It could be that he still dies/is punished but not by Ryo's hand.

However, if the goal is to make it that Ryo breaks the cycle of revenge it makes less sense that Lan Di is a sympathetic redeemable character.

This is pure speculation on your part. I mean, it's totally fine btw, and if you think it's cool that's fine too. I personally think it would be lame if Zhu was the main villain, not to mention it doesn't add up with what we know.
I think it adds up and the story makes more sense in my opinion. It explains why Zhu's letter was late to Iwao, because he actually wanted his son to recieve it instead, to lure him out. It explains why Lan Di has only just learnt about Iwao having the Dragon Mirror and just 1 Mirror because Tentei wanted him to know that information at that time, and someone higher up in the CYM is being deceptive with him. Zhu apparently helped Iwao smuggle the Mirrors to Japan so he was in the position to use his proxies and spies to relay the information back at the time he wanted to manipulate Lan Di. It explains why Zhu knows so much about the Lost Treasure and how to reveal the Mirror's secret light pattern because as the secret leader of CYM he would be in a powerful and enlightened position to learn these things. It explains why Lan Di just leaves Ryo with Zhu in Kowloon because he's coming to a realisation about Tentei's identity, or whose identity he has assumed, Lan Di leaves and I believe he would intend to adapt his plan. It explains why Zhu is meant to have lost it all, according to Ren, but has been this elaborate spy organisation featured in the DLC, the chapter's antagonist Wei wants a powerful group like this. This group being a hidden spy cell within the CYM I think might explain the disparity of why the man who lost it all actually does have all this power.

The bigger picture though, if he's the antagonist why all this charade? Maybe he wants Shenhua involved, and why he led Ryo to Bailu Village. When "the Phoenix and Dragon meet, Chi You will ressurect itself" Maybe that's Shenhua and Lan Di symbolically meeting, the treasure can't be opened with just the Mirrors and perhaps this is why Sun and the Red Snakes were targetting the stone masons, there's an obstacle they're trying to brute force through. If he was the mastermind, Tentei couls know the only way to unlock the calamity, that they have to open it willingly, potentially at the cliff temple where Ryo, Lan Di and Shenhua are meant to be headed. The phoenix descends, the dragon will emerge, and Tentei allows the chaos to serve as the theatre backdrop, their drive. As a villainous character, Tentei's view of the prophecy, of the lengendary Chi You, may be twisted and backfire like with with many classic villian and spell his undoing.
 
I'm really enjoying the Shenmue anime so far, the character design is ok, the scenarios are amazing, but one thing I can't stand (well 2) is the intro and ending music, man, it's just horrible , it's got nothing in common with the Shenmue vibe.
 
Wot the ending music is so soothing it's beautiful
 
Yes, I also like both songs. The intro is ok, the lyrics and the name are weird, but it sounds good. The ending theme is great.
 
Can't say I'm too hot on the ending theme personally, but I really love the opening music and visuals!
 
The ending theme don't vibe with me at all but the opening is straight fire. So catchy don't know what's being said but I'm always humming it!
 
I know that tastes are subjective, maybe it's because I'm a musician, but I feel that music has nothing in common with Shenmue.
The intro could have been something 80s, maybe something funk with the main Shenmue tune, not nonsense otaku ska music and the ending song could have been similar to the song of Ryo and Nozomi returning on the motorcycle or something with piano, like Rainy song, which is similar to Ryuichi Sakamoto's music that they tried to emulate in the original Shenmues.
But it's just my opinion.
 
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