Spoilers Shenmue The Animation: Episode 1 - Thunderclap - Thread

I can only assume that the martial arts tournament in the beginning was new material. Makes sense to embellish the story and establish what Ryo's life was like before the incident. This sort of stuff would've been simply impossible to justify on the Dreamcast, even given Shenmue's apparently bottomless budget.
 
Just finished first episode. Overall enjoyed it, recognizing the pace felt very different than the games for obvious reasons.

I think it was smart to narratively connect Shenhua and Ryo right at the start, jumping back between Bailu and events in first game.

Some of the backgrounds and key art are excellent along with the settings from the first game. The fight scenes felt very visceral and felt impactful.

Lots to discuss and digest but off to a good start!
 
Alright first episode is in the can.

I didn't expect to see Chai show up in the first episode. Nor did I expect the fight to happen. I get why its moving along at such a rapid pace...it kind of has to given there are only 12 episodes.

I don't know how I feel about that Chai fight. I kind of wish they didn't have Ryo overcome him so quickly. That was one of my favourite things about Chai. You lose the first time you fight him (well, most people lose on their first fight with him) but are strong enough to beat him come the end. Seemed a bit quick. But hey, we still have 11 episodes to go.

Iwao's death scene in game is far more impactful. I thought the pacing was just a little too quick on that in the anime. But I really liked the scene of Ryo at the park reflecting on his father. That was really nice.

Overall, I liked what I saw. I can forgive the pacing just because I know its only 12 episodes and there is a lot still to come.
 
I was very hopeful for this, but that was even a lot better than I expected. This has been one of the most faithful video game adaptions I've seen so far. This is off to a FANTASTIC start!

I don't know how I feel about that Chai fight. I kind of wish they didn't have Ryo overcome him so quickly. That was one of my favourite things about Chai. You lose the first time you fight him (well, most people lose on their first fight with him) but are strong enough to beat him come the end. Seemed a bit quick. But hey, we still have 11 episodes to go.
I hope Ryo wins that arcade fight if that's being covered.
 
It was a good starter for the series, I'd give it 7.5 or 8/10. I can't wait to see next weeks episode!
 
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I can only assume that the martial arts tournament in the beginning was new material. Makes sense to embellish the story and establish what Ryo's life was like before the incident. This sort of stuff would've been simply impossible to justify on the Dreamcast, even given Shenmue's apparently bottomless budget.
Would it though? I feel like if Shenmue was made in this day and age that's exactly how it would open...the tournament would serve as a tutorial for the games fight system kind of thing.
 
Alright first episode is in the can.

I didn't expect to see Chai show up in the first episode. Nor did I expect the fight to happen. I get why its moving along at such a rapid pace...it kind of has to given there are only 12 episodes.

I don't know how I feel about that Chai fight. I kind of wish they didn't have Ryo overcome him so quickly. That was one of my favourite things about Chai. You lose the first time you fight him (well, most people lose on their first fight with him) but are strong enough to beat him come the end. Seemed a bit quick. But hey, we still have 11 episodes to go.

Iwao's death scene in game is far more impactful. I thought the pacing was just a little too quick on that in the anime. But I really liked the scene of Ryo at the park reflecting on his father. That was really nice.

Overall, I liked what I saw. I can forgive the pacing just because I know its only 12 episodes and there is a lot still to come.
Really loved that scene in the park, I wish there were a few additional scenes of Ryo coming to terms with Iwao’s death. The fact he smiles and cracks a joke with Nozomi was the only moment that felt totally uncharacteristically not Ryo.
 
I loved it , pacing is different of course its not an video game so it's OK for me , so far I almost prefer this version of ryo character
 
Sorry, but as that went on, the less I liked it. That was a mess and even more rushed than I feared it would be since it was announced.

The English voice acting was bad, I didn't like how they changed so much and rushed through things. The art looked less impressive than it did in the trailer as well.

I'll watch it again before the next episode, but so far, I'm not wowed by what I have seen.
 
Felt like it moved a bit quick, particularly during the Iwao vs Lan Di fight. They could've prolly cut that karate tourney(But I guess that's the story beat for explaining that Ryo's a badass without needing to go into exhausting detail).

English voice over is meh for me personally. Not horrible, but not adding any flare.

6.5/ weak 7 to me.
 
Can't speak for the English dub...but I thought the Japanese dub sounded fine. I thought Masaya was on-point. He is my Ryo and no one else will ever come close to him...I am still curious to see the English dub though. But I thought the Japanese sounded on point.
 
Would it though? I feel like if Shenmue was made in this day and age that's exactly how it would open...the tournament would serve as a tutorial for the games fight system kind of thing.
I suppose that makes sense but I kind of feel that the fighting mechanics were never the main focus of Shenmue, the code was basically lifted wholesale from Virtua Fighter 2. The start of Shenmue is all about exploration and character interaction, it's only later that a first time player starts to realise how important the martial arts training will become for the end game.
 
I think the first episode in particular probably feels a bit too fast because they're trying to connect Ryo's past and the first few hours of the game to set the tone of the next few episodes to come. They had to condense a few things but honestly it all felt fine the way they did it. The only thing I didn't like was Ine-san agreeing to Ryo's revenge thing so easily. That would have never happened in the game. That aside, goddamn, that was GREAT!! The soundtrack is incredible. And can we talk about the ending/credits? That animation was incredible. Gonna have to give this a solid 8.5/10 for now. Next episode may increase that. :D
 
Really loved that scene in the park, I wish there were a few additional scenes of Ryo coming to terms with Iwao’s death. The fact he smiles and cracks a joke with Nozomi was the only moment that felt totally uncharacteristically not Ryo.
Yeah a little bit, I suppose we're gonna have to get used to a slightly different Ryo.

Even Nozomi didn't feel like Nozomi to me. But that didn't bother me because I've never been much of a Nozomi guy. I kind of like the fact this Nozomi seems like she has a personality that isn't just sad mopey girl.
 
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