Random Shenmue III Thoughts

I have a feeling that in this scene Shenhua used a ocular power, maybe similar to sharingan in the anime Naruto. I say this because in that scene the focus was more on Shenhua's eyes.

Interesting to notice the sound effect in this scene, it is not a sound effect of a humor scene in my opinion, that part with Shenhua's eyes have a different feeling.

We don't know how many powers Shenhua have, and i think the power she used on him is a power that Yu Suzuki wants to reveal only in Shenmue IV or V.


After what happened Yanlang was like this, it looks like he didn't want to look at Shenhua.


Yanlang.png

If she really have a power in her eyes then i think she made him see something really terrible, maybe when Yanlang looked at Shenhua's eyes she used her ocular power and maybe he saw his deepest fears or something like this, it was not something she liked to do, was just to get the informations and end this bad situation quickly.

I played the game with japanese audio and this all my thoughts about this scene.
 
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I have a feeling that in this scene Shenhua used an ocular power, maybe similar to sharingan in the anime Naruto. I say this because in that scene the focus was more on Shenhua's eyes.

Interesting to notice the sound effect in this scene, it is not a sound effect of a humor scene, in my opinion, that part with Shenhua's eyes has a different feeling.

We don't know how many powers Shenhua has, and I think the power she used on him is a power that Yu Suzuki wants to reveal only in Shenmue IV or V.


After what happened Yanlang was like this, it looks like he didn't want to look at Shenhua.


View attachment 10917

If she has power in her eyes then I think she made him see something terrible, maybe when Yanlang looked at Shenhua's eyes she used her ocular power and maybe he saw his deepest fears or something like this, it was not something she liked to do, was just to get the information and end this bad situation quickly.

I played the game with Japanese audio and this all my thoughts about this scene.
While it's true that we don't know the full extent of Shenhua's powers, I just don't buy that the scene was meant to be serious. If she was using some sort of eye power, then why in the next scene do we see her cracking her knuckles? That implies to me she got physical with him.

Also, there were more practical ways to extract information out of Yanglang. Like I stated in a previous post, Ryo isn't afraid to hurt people like Jimmy, Charlie, Tony, Smith, Chai, etc to get what he wants. It would have been more consistent and would have been a nice contrast between himself and Longsun Zhao.

Also, I think that Shenhua is only going to use the full extent of her power in extreme circumstances such as the return of Chiyou. And again, Suzuki has stated he doesn't want his stories to be too heavy or dramatic. And subverting expectations believing that Shenhua can't hurt Yanglang, is one way humor works.

In any case, this will be my last post on this topic as I have said all I wanted to say and I don't like being redundant.

P.S. I also played the game with Japanese dialogue.
 
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While it's true that we don't know the full extent of Shenhua's powers, I just don't buy that the scene was meant to be serious. If she was using some sort of eye power, then why in the next scene do we see her cracking her knuckles? That implies to me she got physical with him.

Also, there were more practical ways to extract information out of Yanglang. Like I stated in a previous post, Ryo isn't afraid to hurt people like Jimmy, Charlie, Tony, Smith, Chai, etc to get what he wants. It would have been more consistent and would have been a nice contrast between himself and Longsun Zhao.

Also, I think that Shenhua is only going to use the full extent of her power in extreme circumstances such as the return of Chiyou. And again, Suzuki has stated he doesn't want his stories to be too heavy or dramatic. And subverting expectations believing that Shenhua can't hurt Yanglang, is one way humor works.

In any case, this will be my last post on this topic as I have said all I wanted to say and I don't like being redundant.

P.S. I also played the game with Japanese dialogue.

About your question i really don't know why she did that. I agree with you that Ryo is not afraid to hurt people like Jimmy, Charlie, Tony, Smith, Chai, etc to get what he wants, would have been nice but i like the scene we got with Shenhua.

Will be interesting one day if Yu Suzuki talks about this scene, about what he wanted to express with this, if for him this scene is a serious scene or not, maybe one day we will know, it is a interesting question to ask for him. I hope one day we will see what Shenhua did in that scene.

"Suzuki has stated he doesn't want his stories to be too heavy or dramatic." I understand but that doesn't mean he will never put a heavy or dramatic scene, Shenmue begins with a heavy and dramatic scene in my opinion.

We have different opinions about this scene and i respect that, it is important to respect people.

This will be my last post about this scene here in this topic, i said all my thoughts about it. Thanks for talking with me about it in a nice way, 😊
 
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I’m really not sure why this scene is so divisive. Yes, it’s probably not in Shenhua’s nature to be malicious for the sake of it, but she could see Ryo’s questioning wasn’t getting them anywhere and took matters into her own hands- she wanted her father back after all. If the scene was meant to be played for laughs I doubt Yanlang would have reacted as drastically as he did. And we also later see it hinted that she did something similar to Ren. Am I the only one who took it as hinting at her powers and nothing else?
 
I’m really not sure why this scene is so divisive. Yes, it’s probably not in Shenhua’s nature to be malicious for the sake of it, but she could see Ryo’s questioning wasn’t getting them anywhere and took matters into her own hands- she wanted her father back after all. If the scene was meant to be played for laughs I doubt Yanlang would have reacted as drastically as he did. And we also later see it hinted that she did something similar to Ren. Am I the only one who took it as hinting at her powers and nothing else?
No I'm in the camp of her using her powers to shit up Yanglang and to ward Ren off.

I'd love to know what she actually did
 
Am I the only one who took it as hinting at her powers and nothing else?
Not to keep going back to the Star Wars connection, but I interpreted the scenes with both Yanlang and Ren as Shenhua utilising the equivalent of a Jedi mind trick -- with differing intensities, of course.

I think it's all subtle and not-so-subtle hints at her powers. In S2 she raises petals in the air. Sure, it could've just been a strong breeze...but we know :cool:

And she's very open about talking to animals (during S3's nightly convos, if I remember correctly). Sure, she could just be a whimsical farm girl that feels close to animals...but we know :cool:
 
We should make a poll about the Shenhua & Yanglang scene, :-).

Count me in the camp that thinks it's mostly serious, although at the very end it gets a bit relaxed when Ryo & co re-enter the room and Shenhua makes a little joke.

But it makes perfect sense that in this scene Shenhua's powers are introduced in a mysterious way, only for them to be slowly revealed later. It's just a shame there's very little built from this in the rest of the game. In fact the entire ending plot with Shenhua being a kidnapped damsel-in-distress makes little sense if Ryo (and the player) knew she has some superpowers available against Niao Sun. I guess it's part of the general rushing of the ending...
 
I definitely agree that Shenhua was using her powers in some way and I've always been pretty surprised at how many fans interpreted it differently. Whatever she did to Yanlang was clearly no laughing matter. The scene does become slightly light-hearted and comical after the fact because of Shiren and Liu's reactions (who obviously have no idea that Shenhua has any special powers) and because of Shenhua's sassy attitude, which is in contrast to how she was portrayed in Shenmue II. But it was fairly obvious to me that she used her powers on him and that the game was not simply invoking some silly trope about cute girls beating up big, tough men.

The thing I didn't like about the scene was that I thought it made Shenhua look hypocritical. She had just stopped Ryo from beating the information out of him with a "Don't do it or we're no better!" speech. Then she proceeds to do whatever it is she does to him, which is quite possibly more inhumane than whatever Ryo would have tried. Yanlang was literally screaming from it and was terrified afterwards. For a guy like him, it sure seemed like that was a lot more unpleasant and traumatic than Ryo twisting his arm or whatever.

While I don't agree that the scene was just meant to be comedic, I do agree with @Tsukuyomimagi99 that it would have been much more interesting if Ryo had gone Jack Bauer on him, so to speak. Perhaps Yanlang is much harder to make talk than the thugs that Ryo has dealt with in the past. It could have been a really good character developing moment if he had just gone to town on a defenseless man until Shenhua had to stop him. It would have shown how far down the dark path of revenge Ryo has gone and it could have been one of the things that made him begin to realize that Xiuying is right and that he's turning into someone he doesn't want to be.

Then, Shenhua could have asked everyone to step outside and done her own thing as a last resort. As it stands, it just didn't sit well with me that she stopped Ryo from getting physical with Yanlang for moral reasons but then proceeded to essentially go Jack Bauer on him herself, albeit in a different manner. But overall, I am glad that the game at least had a moment that hinted at what Shenhua is capable of when using her powers.
 
I know I said that I wouldn't come back to this, but I have been mulling over some points and @B-Man raised an interesting point I hadn't considered.

I’m really not sure why this scene is so divisive. Yes, it’s probably not in Shenhua’s nature to be malicious for the sake of it, but she could see Ryo’s questioning wasn’t getting them anywhere and took matters into her own hands- she wanted her father back after all. If the scene was meant to be played for laughs I doubt Yanlang would have reacted as drastically as he did. And we also later see it hinted that she did something similar to Ren. Am I the only one who took it as hinting at her powers and nothing else?
I mean no disrespect, but please take the time to read my posts to understand my position on this scene. It's exasperating to calmly put forth your argument to have it ignored. It's fine if you don't agree with me, but at least understand where I am coming from.
The yanglang scenes aren't meant to be humorous. There are a few scenes like this in the game that show off Shenhua's bizarre behavior. We made a thread about it a while ago

https://www.shenmuedojo.com/forum/index.php?threads/shenhuas-powers-in-shenmue-3.2852/

Although I admit, seeing Ryo go full-on Jack Bauer mode would have been awesome. Shenhua would have made a good Chloe O Brien
Interesting hypothesis but I don't buy it. Keep in mind that Ryo only started having dreams of Shenhua after he discovered the Phoenix Mirror. So how do we know that it wasn't the mirror causing said dreams instead of Shenhua's powers? And if it was the mirror, then how does that relate to the Yanglang scene?

This also brings up another issue I had with the overall story. If Shenhua was meant to be Ryo's equal, then why is she reduced down to the proverbial damsel in distress? If she could intimidate a strong man like Yanglang, Ren, the Chiyoumen guards or Longsun Zhao himself in the Project Berkeley trailer, then why was Niao Sun able to kidnap her in the first place? She could have easily used her powers to defend herself.

If the answer is that she can not control her powers, then I would dispute that to some degree. In Shenmue II, she clearly states that she used to play with dandelions and provides a demonstration of her powers. This means on some level, she is in partial control of her power. So again, why didn't she use her power to defend herself from Niao Sun?

Another question I have to ask is what would it take for people to see this interrogation scene as comedy? For me, this is simply Occam's Razor in action. One way humor works are by subverting expectations. Most of the audience who doesn't have a huge understanding of the Shenmue lore is simply going to assume that an innocent-looking person like Shenhua could never hurt someone like Yanglang.

Like I stated before, it would have far more effective to simply have Ryo give in to his inner darkness and brutalize Yanglang till Shenhua stopped him. Instead of having a scene where Shenhua acts completely out of character in my view. Because for someone concerned about her father, I don't understand why she wouldn't take a more proactive approach.
 
Interesting hypothesis but I don't buy it. Keep in mind that Ryo only started having dreams of Shenhua after he discovered the Phoenix Mirror. So how do we know that it wasn't the mirror causing said dreams instead of Shenhua's powers?

Whoa...

That's a kettle of fish I don't want to explore right now lol
 
If Shenhua has an ancestral heritage with the mirrors; once someone discovers them, logically she has powers influencing--such as a premonition dream?
 
If Shenhua has an ancestral heritage with the mirrors; once someone discovers them, logically she has powers influencing--such as a premonition dream?
Fair enough. However, I would argue that we need a more thorough explanation of her powers. In other words, I want to know more about Shenhua and the lore. If I am being ignorant in my logic (which to be fair, I probably am), then you have my apologies. It still doesn't change my opinion that the interrogation with Yanglang and Shenhua was meant to be comedic. In any case, thank you for your opinion, it gave me a lot to think about.
 
Interesting hypothesis but I don't buy it. Keep in mind that Ryo only started having dreams of Shenhua after he discovered the Phoenix Mirror. So how do we know that it wasn't the mirror causing said dreams instead of Shenhua's powers? And if it was the mirror, then how does that relate to the Yanglang scene?
I do think that the mirror is causing the dreams, but why is it only Shenhua who can appear and communicate with Ryo in his dreams as a result of him possessing the mirror? I think that Shenhua's powers and the mirrors' powers are connected somehow and work in tandem to allow Shenhua to appear in his dreams. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Another question I have to ask is what would it take for people to see this interrogation scene as comedy? For me, this is simply Occam's Razor in action. One way humor works are by subverting expectations. Most of the audience who doesn't have a huge understanding of the Shenmue lore is simply going to assume that an innocent-looking person like Shenhua could never hurt someone like Yanglang.
It does subvert the player's expectations and I believe that some comedy was intended to be derived from that. But again, I don't think that a slightly comedic subversion of expectations and Shenhua using her powers are two mutually exclusive concepts. If anything, I think any comedy that was there was intended to lighten the tone because the scene could have really taken a dark turn if it had focused more on what Shenhua actually did to him.

And if the implication wasn't that she used her powers, then what exactly was she meant to have done to him? Beat him up? Nagged him about shoes and cute boys until he couldn't take it anymore? Shenmue III's writing certainly has its shortcomings, and I can even point to this scene for some examples of that. But I refuse to believe that Shenmue's story has degenerated into completely inexplicable nonsense just for the sake of comedically invoking some kind of silly anime trope. In that case, they may as well have gone all out and had Ren get a nosebleed at the sight of Niao Sun's tits.

What I'm trying to say is that if Shenhua was the only one capable of successfully interrogating Yanlang, then there has to be an actual reason for that regardless of whether it was intended to be funny or not. Since we know for a fact that Shenhua possesses some mystical or spiritual abilities that normal people do not, Occam's Razor suggests that she used one of those abilities to get him to talk. It's the only thing that makes sense.

I also thought that the way the camera zoomed in on Shenhua's eye with the ominous sound effects and lighting, immediately followed by Yanlang's screams, made it evident that she was doing something serious to him.

This also brings up another issue I had with the overall story. If Shenhua was meant to be Ryo's equal, then why is she reduced down to the proverbial damsel in distress? If she could intimidate a strong man like Yanglang, Ren, the Chiyoumen guards or Longsun Zhao himself in the Project Berkeley trailer, then why was Niao Sun able to kidnap her in the first place? She could have easily used her powers to defend herself.

If the answer is that she can not control her powers, then I would dispute that to some degree. In Shenmue II, she clearly states that she used to play with dandelions and provides a demonstration of her powers. This means on some level, she is in partial control of her power. So again, why didn't she use her power to defend herself from Niao Sun?
I've been thinking about this and it's possible that because she does not yet have full control of her powers, she doesn't know how to use them to defend herself against oncoming attackers. This could explain why she didn't use them on Niao Sun. Recall that Yanlang was fully restrained. She obviously didn't cause an explosion or anything, so she probably just did something to him mentally.

The scene from the Project Berkley trailer probably won't occur until near the end of the series. After all, there wouldn't be much point to all of Ryo's martial arts training if Shenhua could simply blow up all of his opponents with a huge fireball. There will probably be a moment during which she spontaneously uses her power to ward off attackers and then she will finally understand the full extent of her abilities and learn how to use them to their full potential.

It's also possible that she cannot utilize her powers in this way unless the mirrors are in a particular location or used/arranged in a certain way.
 
One of many reasons I was quite satisfied with Shenmue 3. Plenty of tiny tid bits fulfilled. Another was seeing the tree Iwao trained on had my jaw to the floor, despite being somewhat understated.

Still wanna see Shenmue 3 Dreamcast engine, too :(
 
I’m really not sure why this scene is so divisive. Yes, it’s probably not in Shenhua’s nature to be malicious for the sake of it, but she could see Ryo’s questioning wasn’t getting them anywhere and took matters into her own hands- she wanted her father back after all. If the scene was meant to be played for laughs I doubt Yanlang would have reacted as drastically as he did. And we also later see it hinted that she did something similar to Ren. Am I the only one who took it as hinting at her powers and nothing else?
Kind of late, but I just wanted to mention that is wasn't only Ren. She did the same thing to Chai as well.
 
So I was looking at cut content from Shenmue 2, namely Miao Village and I was struck how similar it ended up being to Bailu in Shenmue 3. Everything from thatched roofs on houses, kids practicing martial arts and dare I say statue?
These beta screens were Bailu Village in the minds of fans for 15+ years. The fact the final version is so similar -- training kids, water tower, temple with graveyard, etc. -- is one of the reasons why I'm convinced the main story beats in the final Bailu are faithful to the "original" script outline (circa 2002).

Maybe Chai wouldn't have returned in Bailu, but his presence has zero impact on the story anyway. I don't think that's a coincidence...it definitely feels like he was added in there for the fans. I didn't mind it because it was cool kicking his ass again.
 
I just added details about Shenmue 3's DLC into the FANDOM page as it still only had information regarding DLC was planned:

In doing so, I also found that the PlayStation Store has REALLY BIG icons for the Shenmue DLC packs, so I thought I would place them here in-case anyone is interested:
SHEN3 DLC 1 ICON.PNG

SHEN3 DLC 2 ICON.PNG

SHEN3 DLC 3 ICON.PNG

SHEN3 DLC COL ICON.PNG
 
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