I shall go back and read everyone's thoughts in a moment - here is my recap/review!
NOTE: This is a recap/review of the Japanese audio & English subtitled version of the episode, viewed via Crunchyroll. It is currently not possible to view the English dub where I am, in the UK…
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Copy/paste of my final thoughts, including speculation about next week:
This was a very impressive and engaging episode, and I was particularly pleased to see just how much more of an active role the supporting characters were given in the infiltration of the Yellow Head Building. Wong makes a very touching speech at the beginning of the episode about how meeting Ryo has changed his attitude of things, and it adds a surprising level of depth to the character. And despite her initial reluctance to help and unwillingness to drop her toughened facade, Joy has certainly been made a lot more likable and given a lot more depth than her game counterpart throughout her appearances in the anime. It’s also pleasing to see more of Zhu Yuanda as well – and a good reminder of his knowledge of the martial arts! The only real disappointment I had was how Baihu was handled, who really suffered due to the limited runtime and fast pacing. Having said that, I honestly expected the entirety of the Yellow Head Building plus Zhu’s rescue to be covered across one episode, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this episode end where it did. With one episode left, the question is – will they be able to convincingly wrap up the Kowloon portion of the storyline and also commence the Guilin portion, leaving us in the cave with Ryo and Shenhua as
Shenmue II did way back in 2001? Why am I assuming that the season will end there? This is for a number of reasons that seem to indicate this will be the case:
- Next week’s episode, the season finale, is entitled ‘Shenmue’ – this seems to suggest that we will see the titular tree before the end of the episode
- Both Ryo and Shenhua announce the title of the following episode in unison after this week’s end credits – suggesting that the two will finally meet.
- Episode 1 began with the scene of Ryo and Shenhua in the stone pit before we went backwards to the story beginning in Yokosuka – having the season end here would be an effective bookend.
Having said this however, it is already clear there will be some changes made – from the
preview for next week’s episode, we can see that Lan Di actually sets foot on the roof and engages in battle with Ryo – this does not happen in
Shenmue II, where he simply watches the fight between Ryo and Dou Niu from above before making his getaway. This also raises another question – will the fight between Ryo and Dou Niu even happen in the anime? In the game continuity, Ryo and Lan Di do not have a battle like this until the end of
Shenmue III in Niaowu, so it is an interesting choice to make this happen earlier in the anime.
Also, if this season does indeed end where
Shenmue II does, that still leaves a lot of ground to cover for next week. Regardless of whether Ryo fights Dou Niu or just Lan Di, there is the rescue of Zhu, the discussion back at Ren’s Hideout that results in Zhu recommending Ryo go to Guilin, Ryo’s farewell to Xiuying, the arrival to Guilin, the meeting with Shenhua and her and Ryo’s journey to her house in Bailu Village, the reveal of the Shenmue tree, and finally of course, that fateful scene in the stone pit. If all this is covered next week, we can of course expect Ryo and Shenhua’s long trek to the village to be truncated by a fair bit. This of course I would understand, but I hope the episode as a whole does not end up feeling rushed due to the sheer amount of ground needing to be covered.
At any rate, we shall see! As far as this episode goes, my only real gripe was Baihu not being done complete justice, but I can forgive this I suppose. Therefore, I will give this one a
4/5.
