Shenmue and Virtua Fighter (Connections)

[~ ひかり ~]

I always found it interesting the connections that Shenmue games have with Virtua Fighter games, many fans know that the big reason for this was that before the name was Virtua Fighter RPG.

I know that we have on the Dojo threads to talk about the chapter concept arts but i’m creating this thread to talk about every connection with Virtua Fighter, the connections are Characters, places, moves and much more.

Maybe some people will think that i’m taking the connections too seriously, i know a lot of things changed since the chapter concept arts but in my opinion it is fun to look at this connections.

Before the main character was not Ryo, the main character of the story was Akira but i always love thinking that Ryo is a younger version of Akira, Ryo even learns Akira moves and this is beautiful.

One of these days i was looking to the character selection screen of the first Virtua Fighter, i was looking about the Akira’s informations, and one thing in particular caught my attention.

"Job Kung Fu Teacher"

I immediately thought that maybe this is what will happen with Ryo in the ending, maybe in the ending he decides to be a Kung Fu Teacher, he will come back to Japan and take care of the Dojo, on the Dojo he will be a Kung Fu Teacher, or maybe he will be a Kung Fu Teacher in China or other place, this is a interesting ending for Ryo, he will finally understand the last words of his father, he will be close to his friends and loved ones and he will teach Kung Fu, Fuku-san can help him with this, it is interesting and possible, i will really like if this is Ryo’s ending in the story.




SPOILER ALERT
I will talk about one thing that happened in Shenmue III

One of the things i love about Shenmue III is that Ryo learned 2 moves of Akira, he learned the Body Check and the Reverse Body Check, in Virtua Fighter the names of the moves are Youshin Senrin and Kouzanheki, this connection is beautiful, i love that Ryo learn Akira moves.

In Virtua Fighter - Youshi Senrin



In Shenmue III - Body Check




In Virtua Fighter - Kouzanheki




In Shenmue III - Reverse Body Check




What connections with Virtua Fighter you found in the Shenmue Games? it can be characters, places, moves, character informations and much more, in my opinion this is a really interesting subject, thank you.

 

[RyoHazuki84]

Chai is pretty much Lion
Chunyun is Sarah
Greg Moore is Wolf
Rod is Jeffery
The kick that Guizhang teaches is Jacky and Sarah's move
The swallow dive is Pai's move

 

[~ ひかり ~]

Chai is pretty much Lion
Chunyun is Sarah
Greg Moore is Wolf
Rod is Jeffery
The kick that Guizhang teaches is Jacky and Sarah's move
The swallow dive is Pai's move

Interesting comment, thank you.

 

[Sergeynest]

I'm almost 100% sure that the Shaolin Monk in the concept art picture is Lei Fei from Virtua Fighter.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

Kagemaru from Virtua Fighter is voiced by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi who was the main composer for Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka and Shenmue II. Also while there isn't a Kagemaru parallel in Shenmue, several of Ryo's moves are based off of Kagemaru's moves.

Such techniques include: The Shadow Reaper, Katana Mist Slash, Twin Blades, The Demon Drop, and the Crawl Cyclone.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

View attachment 10778
I'm almost 100% sure that the Shaolin Monk in the concept art picture is Lei Fei from Virtua Fighter.

I agree with you and i think we will see a character similar to Lei Fei in Shenmue IV.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

Kagemaru from Virtua Fighter is voiced by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi who was the main composer for Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka and Shenmue II. Also while there isn't a Kagemaru parallel in Shenmue, several of Ryo's moves are based off of Kagemaru's moves.

Such techniques include: The Shadow Reaper, Katana Mist Slash, Twin Blades, The Demon Drop, and the Crawl Cyclone.

I didn't know that, interesting.




It is interesting to see that Aoi Umenokoji have some things in common with Nozomi.

Childhood friend of Akira Yuki.



Job: High School Student

Hobby : Ikebana

In ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, blossoms, branches, leaves, and stems find new life as materials for artmaking. In contrast to the western habits of casually placing flowers in a vase, ikebana aims to bring out the inner qualities of flowers and other live materials and express emotion.

Here Aoi looks a lot like Nozomi

 

[ner0]

Also, another interesting piece of information will be the filenames for several character models.

The obvious ones being AKIR for Ryo Hazuki and also JAKR for young Ryo (possibly short for Junior Akira)

Good reference: https://sites.google.com/site/shenmuemods/shenmue-i/character-ids-models

 

[Mole]

Chai is pretty much Lion
Chunyun is Sarah
Greg Moore is Wolf
Rod is Jeffery
The kick that Guizhang teaches is Jacky and Sarah's move
The swallow dive is Pai's move

I wonder if any of these characters were originally Virtua Fighter characters in the Akira version.
Personally? Greg is probably just a reference (similarities begin and end with fighting style), Chai probably wasn't (backstory doesn't match, nor design), Rod and Chunyun maybe.

I find it interesting when Rod says that he'll meet Ryo again, considering the dude's entire role in the story is just to get beat up. Maybe this was foreshadowing for when Akria goes to rematch Jeffry in the tournament?

Chunyun could've been Sarah brainwashed...altho, her twin brother being there doesn't make much sense, as Jacky fought to FREE Sarah from her brainwashing. Maybe that was changed after the shift to Shenmue, it originally being just some random person? Either way, she is not someone you should ever mess with!

 

[RyoHazuki84]

Forgot to mention that Baihu is based on Lau Chan (and so is Lan Di)

 

[~ ひかり ~]

Pai-chan

She have some things in common with Xiuying. She is from Hong Kong and she has a blue outfit, it is not a lot of things but it is interesting to see.




Shun Di have things in common with Master Jiusi Sun, he is from China and he likes to drink, and the river stage reminds me of Guilin, maybe this stage is not in Guilin, i really don't know but i think about Guilin when i look at this stage.

 

[Sergeynest]

Pai-chan

She have some things in common with Xiuying. She is from Hong Kong and she has a blue outfit, it is not a lot of things but it is interesting to see.

View attachment 10788


Shun Di have things in common with Master Jiusi Sun, he is from China and he likes to Drink, and the river stage reminds me of Guilin, maybe this stage is not in Guilin, i really don't know but i think about Guilin when i look at this stage.

View attachment 10789

View attachment 10791



Interesting to see that in VF 5 Yu Suzuki putted the scar in Akira.

View attachment 10792

Maybe Ryo will take off the Band Aid when is thoughs of revenge towards Lan Di will fade away revealing that his wound is fully healed.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

Maybe Ryo will take off the Band Aid when is thoughs of revenge towards Lan Di will fade away revealing that his wound is fully healed.

This is really nice, i like your idea, i will really like if this happen when Ryo forget about revenge, this way the moment will be even more emotional and beautiful in my opinion.



This is from Akira Yuki - Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol.3


Akira Training in Bailu Village?




Ryo near Shenhua's House in Bailu Village? i mean Akira



Akira in Niaowu?

 

[Mole]

RE: Lan Di and Lau Chan. One of those chapter posters shows a guy who looks like Lau alongside Lan Di. So they probably weren't the same character at first. That said, it would be interesting to know what their connection was in the original story. Maybe Lau taught Lan Di. Honestly, it's weird to think of Lau as being a Chi You Men member. Lau was never EVIL, a total asshole, yes, but not "Run over kittens and beat up an old person" mean.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

RE: Lan Di and Lau Chan. One of those chapter posters shows a guy who looks like Lau alongside Lan Di. So they probably weren't the same character at first. That said, it would be interesting to know what their connection was in the original story. Maybe Lau taught Lan Di. Honestly, it's weird to think of Lau as being a Chi You Men member. Lau was never EVIL, a total asshole, yes, but not "Run over kittens and beat up an old person" mean.

Yes, this is the concept art you are talking about.

We can see Lan Di and on the other side we can see someone who looks like Lau Chan.

 

[LemonHaze]

Also, another interesting piece of information will be the filenames for several character models.

The obvious ones being AKIR for Ryo Hazuki and also JAKR for young Ryo (possibly short for Junior Akira)

Good reference: https://sites.google.com/site/shenmuemods/shenmue-i/character-ids-models

You mean IDs

The filenames are named differently.

 

[danielmann861]

Master Sun might as well be Shun Di
And Wei Zhen might as well be Pai.

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Kagemaru from Virtua Fighter is voiced by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi who was the main composer for Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka and Shenmue II. Also while there isn't a Kagemaru parallel in Shenmue, several of Ryo's moves are based off of Kagemaru's moves.

Such techniques include: The Shadow Reaper, Katana Mist Slash, Twin Blades, The Demon Drop, and the Crawl Cyclone.

Also doesn't hurt that he's a Jiujitsu practitioner.

Has anyone found any similarities or notions that Dou Niu is Taka-Arashi?

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

My apologies for derailing the thread a little bit, but I just wanted to state why Virtua Fighter is my favorite fighting franchise. Much like Shenmue, martial arts are treated with respect. Virtua Fighter eschews gimmicks for realism, balance, and depth. One only needs to view this video to show a more realistic version of Monkey Kung Fu by Eileen.


Jacky Bryant's use of Jeet Kune Do is also a more realistic depiction in comparison to your proverbial Bruce Lee clone.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

Yesterday i played Virtua Fighter V Ultimate Showdown for the first time, in Japan the name of the game is just Virtua Fighter eSports, the game focus is in the online matches, in my opinion the game is good and fun, i'm enjoying.

While playing i noticed something on the stage Ruins, in my opinion this stage looks similar to the location in this chapter concept art.






When i saw this stage yesterday i immediately remembered about the concept art, the type of constructions and where they are is really similar, i really think we will see this location in Shenmue IV, and i think we will see a character similar to Lei Fei in Shenmue IV.