Shenmue The Animation Episode 5: Equal SPOILERS thread

Tomato Convenience Store is in Shenmue II as well so i still have hope in relation to this 🍅
 
I was blown away by this episode. It resparked my anticipation for future episodes. I like the alternate approach they took with the Mad Angel's, Nozomi rescue. I wouldn't mind playing that in the DC version. Still get to fo the 70 man battle but throwing some friends willing to go to bat for Ryo in the mix. Made me like Nozomi a whole lot more. Mark really grew in me too. I wish he would've gave a little bit of pushback in the game. I hated seeing him get his ass kicked every other day.

I definitely preferred this version of three cavalry than the castle team in S3 that got too silly. The fakeout during the Ryo and Guizhang fight was a brilliant move too. I can't wait to see Ren.
 
I really like the anime representation of Chai :censored: I find him creepy and menacing, and I don't really care if he isn't as tough as in the game. He doesn't look like an extremely tough character. He looks like someone who skulks in the shadows, and his defeat outlined how Ryo has improved since the dojo fight.

Funny Bear Burger said:
The lack of Tomato is really disappointing since it effectively means we won't get Izumi in the Hong Kong arc.
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I do wonder if it's music rights...you can't have Tomato without the jingle, and the anime doesn't seem to be using any music from the games really, apart from the main Shenmue theme. Maybe there's Shenhua's theme?

As for Izumi...with all the characters in S2 and the short runtime, the chances of her ever making an appearance was pretty much zero from the beginning I'd say.

Also, calling it now: they're not going to waste time on the boat. At least, I hope they don't. Not worth it.
 
I agree, I’m curious what other fans who are clamouring for the boat chapter, really thinks it adds to the overall story, characterization or progress of Ryo?

I mean it was superfluous enough it was cut from the games and with the anime already telling a truncated version of the story, I also don’t really see any value.
 
With Shenmue III bringing back Chai, the boat chapter really serves no purpose in the game canon anymore for me personally.

It was a cool idea as a manga strip. I don't think it needs to be anything more than that.
 
code l name said:
I agree, I’m curious what other fans who are clamouring for the boat chapter, really thinks it adds to the overall story, characterization or progress of Ryo?
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With good imagination writers can do a nice plot on the boat with even characters that are not in the games, with even character development and much more.

I’m not sure right now if Yu Suzuki wrote something for the boat in The Legend Of Akira days but if he wrote something i think it would be nice to see at least some things.

I want to see something on the boat, i’m not saying it needs to be half of an episode or an entire episode, nothing like that, the anime is 13 episodes so i don’t think we will see a lot of things on the boat, i just think it would be nice to have at least some scenes on the boat.

The boat part can show Ryo getting to know the other parts of the boat and the people that are travelling with him, maybe doing friendships on the boat, can show Ryo studying mandarin, we saw Ryo talking in mandarin in this episode so it looks like Ryo is learning mandarin in this version of the story. In many scenes we saw Ryo with this book and i think Ryo is trying to learn Mandarin with this book.

This things and so much more that can be add on the boat part, like i said with good imagination writers can do a nice plot on the boat.

If at least we see chapter 4 of the manga side stories in the anime it will be nice, the chapter that Ryo fight Chai on the boat and save Xiaomei Ding.

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If they get a second series they could do an alternate version of the boat sequence, in between Bailu Village and Niaowu. Feng Li saves Shenhua from Chai, or a new subplot, so it hurts more when we find out she's the villian. In series 2 they would start to run out of original material and it might be a good way to go deeper into the source material, before the story grows further into its own thing.
 
Hiki said:
With good imagination writers can do a nice plot on the boat with even characters that are not in the games, with even character development and much more.

I’m not sure right now if Yu Suzuki wrote something for the boat in The Legend Of Akira days but if he wrote something i think it would be nice to see at least some things.

I want to see something on the boat, i’m not saying it needs to be half of an episode or an entire episode, nothing like that, the anime is 13 episodes so i don’t think we will see a lot of things on the boat, i just think it would be nice to have at least some scenes on the boat.

The boat part can show Ryo getting to know the other parts of the boat and the people that are travelling with him, maybe doing friendships on the boat, can show Ryo studying mandarin, we saw Ryo talking in mandarin in this episode so it looks like Ryo is learning mandarin in this version of the story. In many scenes we saw Ryo with this book and i think Ryo is trying to learn Mandarin with this book.

This things and so much more that can be add on the boat part, like i said with good imagination writers can do a nice plot on the boat.

If at least we see chapter 4 of the manga side stories in the anime it will be nice, the chapter that Ryo fight Chai on the boat and save Xiaomei Ding.

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300px-Xiaomei.jpg
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While those are nice idea, again I restate what insight, character or narrative progression would a detour on the boat serve? I am unconvinced any screen time devoted to such things can help.

If you watch some of the beta footage/trailers there’s a handful of additional scenes with Wong that seem to have got cut. I would t be surprised if Ren/Heavans get some additional content.
 
code l name said:
While those are nice idea, again I restate what insight, character or narrative progression would a detour on the boat serve? I am unconvinced any screen time devoted to such things can help.

If you watch some of the beta footage/trailers there’s a handful of additional scenes with Wong that seem to have got cut. I would t be surprised if Ren/Heavans get some additional content.
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Let’s imagine for a moment that the anime is 24 episodes, now let’s imagine that the anime team dedicate 2 episodes for the boat part, with good imagination writers can do something meaningful on the boat like Ryo making friendships on the boat that will have a big impact on his life, bad situations during the trip, maybe Ryo having an important master on the boat that will teach important lessons for Ryo and much more.

The anime is 13 episodes so i don’t think the boat part on the anime will have something meaningful, i just think it would be nice to at least see some scenes on the boat like the chapter in the manga side stories.

If they skip the boat part is okay to me, it is what is is, i just think that with good imagination someone can create a beautiful boat chapter.
 
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Hiki said:
Let’s imagine for a moment that the anime is 24 episodes, now let’s imagine that the anime team dedicate 2 episodes for the boat part, with good imagination writers can do something meaningful on the boat like Ryo making friendships on the boat that will have a big impact on his life, bad situations during the trip, maybe Ryo having an important master on the boat that will teach important lessons for Ryo and much more.

The anime is 13 episodes so i don’t think the boat part on the anime will have something meaningful, i just think it will be nice to at least see some scenes on the boat like the chapter in the manga side stories.

If they skip the boat part is okay to me, it is what is is, i just think that with good imagination someone can create a beautiful boat chapter.
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I think if they do season 2 they could compress the boat chapter with the merry cruise quests or trip to Niaowu. Everyone agrees Niaowu, that part of the story, could use a bit more plot.
 
I really think the anime is basically everything it needs to be. It's retelling the story with so much more emotion and passion than the source material. I adore how expressive the characters are here and how they've tweaked things to make motivations more powerful. I think Ryo's main thrust being about knowing who his father was is a fantastic evolution on the themes of the game. Revenge is still there, and I expect it to bubble up to the surface later, but this idea is very engaging. We also get a lot more context for Ryo's daily life and relationships thanks to additions like the karate tournament. Nazomi is done a world of good here too, showing her decision not to stop Ryo from pursuing this quest because he clearly needs this closure, instead she just moves on. Guizang and Master Chen's arc is also very nice here. I like many of the streamlined changes they've done like Nazomi still being held while Ryo fights Guizang.


There are a few things I miss from the games. Namely, iconic music ques. Memories of Iwao never plays and seeing the first scene with the Chens without Encounter of Destiny is weird. Ditto with Ryo ridding the bike, I really hope this is released with a 5.1 audio mix, so game music can be edited into some key areas. Obviously there's a bunch of minor gameplay moments I wish could've been adapted, namely Nazomi's photo, the cat, capsule toys, and the tomato convince store. Those would've been nice world moments to flesh things out. I'm also kinda sad Tom didn't get to shine before leaving Japan, but yeah.

Overall they did Shenmue 1 justice in 5 episodes. I think doing 2 in 7-8 episodes is doable. I really hope the anime is a big success and it continues, so we have at least one version of the saga complete. It'd be amazing if they used the anime to polish some stuff in 3 and include cut content like the train or more overt powers for shenhua.

As for next episode, I think the boat chapter is unnecessary. I don't think Chai should've been in 3 either tbh. I just want a big sweeping shot of Hong Kong as the boat arrives tbh.
 
After watching this on stream last night I was really impressed overall.

The additional content for Mark, Mai and Goro was great though I do feel for Goro, getting smacked around the head 5 or 6 times 🤣

I was gutted they didn't make the call to move the Chai fight to the boat but I can see why. We may still get it but I think it seems a little null and void to fight Chai again but we shall see.

The end to the Guizhang and Master Chen arc was well done.

On the whole they took out what wasn't imperative to the story, added in some nice bits and did a great job so far, though I appreciate some may have found these changes jarring.

Onwards to Hong Kong.
 
About Chai... Chai to me is the type of character that will always come back and get defeated by Ryo just like what happened in the first game, the manga side stories, Shenmue III and now in the anime.

The type of character that will always be in the shadows following Ryo because he want to help Lan Di, his dream is to work for Lan Di. I like Chai being this way after the first game.

To me Chai especially in the anime is the type of character that will always try something and will always get defeated by Ryo similar to what happen in Pokemon with Jessie, James and Meowth.

Some people think this is repetitive but i really don’t have a problem with Chai following Ryo the entire Journey and fighting with him sometimes in different situations, i don’t have a problem with Chai being in Shenmue III, and i will not have a problem if he appear in Shenmue IV following Ryo and waiting for the right moment to attack or to steal something to help Lan Di in a bad situation.

if in the anime Ryo fight Chai on the boat or a few times in Hong Kong i will be okay with this, makes sense that Chai is angry with Ryo and will follow Ryo because he want the phoenix mirror to give to Lan Di, makes sense that the character is this way, that is this type of character in Shenmue.

If that does not happen i will be okay with this as well, all i know is that i don’t have a issue with this.
 
I do wonder if we’ll see Chai at all again this season, given he doesn’t appear at all in S2 the game. Will they work him into the Hong Kong/Kowloon stuff some how?
 
I think is possible that maybe we will see in the anime chapter 4 of the manga side stories and a few more things on the boat.

After that maybe Chai will appear just a few more times trying to attack Ryo, Chai trying to steal the Phoenix Mirror so he can give the mirror to Lan Di.

I saw that someone created a fan game of the Boat Chapter, i want to play but i don’t know how because an error appear when i try to execute the game.

I have a project to write books telling the Journey of Akira/Ryo in detail with the VFRPG concept arts and other informations as inspiration, i started writing the first book, the Yokosuka chapter, after that i will do a separate book about the boat chapter. Maybe i’m one of the few people that think that with good imagination someone can create a beautiful boat chapter with interesting characters, character development, bad situations in the trip, an important master for Ryo on the boat, beautiful scenes and much more.


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I agree with some people in here that the rescue of Nozomi was a little cheesy, I got Niawou castle vibes from it. I can't help but think of the real world consequences Mai, Goro and Mark would face for their involvement.

It seems like Ryo resigned from his job instead of being fired. I suppose if Ryo did lose his job due to attracting attention from the Mad Angels, the same would eventually happen to Mark for his involvement in thwarting their plans.

Also interesting how Chai's involvement in taking Lan Di to the ship was not mentioned. Ryo speaking Chinese was a nice touch, especially since that was the original plan in the games if I'm not mistaken.
 
Hiki said:
I saw that someone created a fan game of the Boat Chapter, i want to play but i don’t know how because an error appear when i try to execute the game.
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Sorry for going off-topic, but I suspect you're getting an RTP related error.

Here's how to fix it:

1. Download this file.

2. Extract and install it to the RPG2000 folder that's part of your Shenmue - The Boat installation
(Sometimes the installation freezes at the end during 'font registration', but that's not a problem. At that point you'll already have the files that matter.)

3. Navigate to your Shenmue - The Boat installation folder, specifically the 'shenmue' folder.

4. Right-click on 'RPG_RT.exe' and choose 'Properties'.

5. Under the 'Compatibility Mode' tab, choose 'Windows XP' (either Service Pack 2 or 3 both work) and apply.

6. Run 'RPG_RT.exe'.

I hope it works for you.
 
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