SPOILERS - SHENMUE THE ANIMATION EPISODE 13 "SHENMUE" THREAD
- Thread starter the_phoenix_mirror
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Saw your impressions in latest stream. While I didn’t watch them live did watch recaps and your impressions. Thanks for all your hard work along with @James Brown
It’s much appreciated.
Um, I think the same could have been said about the game, and it worked wonderfully there. In fact, that hard contrast with the events beforehand is one of the reasons it works so well. And that final Shenmue tree reveal and the cave scene feel like a climax on top of a climax.
I also didn't expect the hike to happen in the series seeing how the latest episodes hadn't advanced the plot enough to give the Guilin section proper screen time, but not because I thought it couldn't have worked.
I actually think the game and the anime (such a compressed anime as this, at least) compliment each other really well. I can see how a newcomer who enjoyed the anime would love re-living the same events at a much slower and deeper pace through the games. And I'd expect to do that in the eventual case a new season of the anime spoils parts of an eventual Shenmue IV game released afterwards. So, I want both, but I'll be happy with whatever we get.
I hope, and I fully expect, that there will be no fortified castle at all in a eventual new season covering more story. The fortified castle was announced at the last minute to replace the Baisha segment, so I expect the latter to be the in the anime. Anyway, I agree the next meeting of Ryo and Lan Di will be much different. In fact, as I said before, I think it makes much more sense that such an unbalanced fight happens early in the story like in Kowloon, and not midway like in Shenmue 3.
I don't care much about the rest of changes and omissions made during the anime (some of them I enjoy, actually). But this is the single one I truly miss.
If the new season was about to begin next week, and we didn't have any sign of the story not having been heavily reworked from now forward, I honestly think my interest would plummet. I would keep the locations, I would keep Ryo training under the same masters Iwao had at Bailu, I would keep the Niao Sun double play, and her igniting a war inside the CYM. The friends are salvageable if they get the same treatment as Joy or Nozomi in the anime. But oh god how glad would I be if they got rid of both generic gangs at both locations!
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Games and TV are inherently different, though. You're engaged through participation, there are fewer expectations about how a game should end, and you have no idea if/when the end is coming.
To do that journey any justice at all, they would've had to spend the better part of a full episode on it which, in terms of narrative expectations for a TV series, doesn't make sense.
I know this isn't a popular stance but I actually think Guilin borders on indulgent and is kinda bad in parts, like with the split paths and dead ends. It could've been an hour shorter with not much lost. That said, it was a bold and beautiful experiment. Was it the best way to end a 30 hour game? I'd argue no, but it's mostly interesting and beautiful to look at.
BruceWayne911
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Hopefully in Shenmue 4 we start to see Ryo full mature into a martial artist. So far there are some people that completely own him without any effort.
Here's my recap/review of the finale 
shenmusings.wordpress.com
My final thoughts from the blog post:
Wow, what a ride this has been. I was generally satisfied with the final episode overall, with my only real issue being how rapid the first part of the Guilin chapter was dashed through – many fans will agree that it’s one of the seminal parts of the game, the long trek through the countryside as Ryo and Shenhua get to know one another -so it’s perhaps slightly disappointing to see this entirely skipped here. In an ideal world, we would have had a 24 episode season that would have been able to spare the time for this to be an entire episode – but given that we only had 13 to work with, perhaps this was an unfortunate but necessary cut. However – I would like to think that, if we do get a Season 2, then a lot of the development of Ryo and Shenhua’s relationship would simply be moved there, adding some much needed meat to the admittedly bare bones of Shenmue III’s story (their night-time chats in fact are widely considered one of the better points of the game). It may not yet be too late for us to see the two discuss Ryo’s friends, their differing ways of life and Shenhua’s affinity with nature. I also understand why they perhaps chose the two’s first meeting to unfold this way – Shenhua is kept just enough of a mystery to ensure that there is still a hook for a potential second season, which perhaps excuses the rushed feel of her proper introduction in this episode. And really, given the tease flashforward of the infamous cave scene back at the beginning of the series, we really did need to reach that point by the end of the season.
One of the biggest changes from Shenmue II’s version of events was of course the Lan Di battle – with him actually setting foot off the helicopter and engaging with Ryo’s misguided attempts to fight him. In the game, it felt effective for Ryo’s nemesis to simply be watching everything from the helicopter, being just that slight frustrating bit out of reach. Here, they effectively opted to move the confrontation between the two from the end of Shenmue III to far earlier- and I think this actually works better for the medium of an anime. I think any new viewers who had never played the games would have been disappointed for there not to be some sort of Ryo/Lan Di fight by this point, so this kind of forced their hand here. If there is a Season 2, I’m unsure of how they’ll adjust their meeting in Niaowu given this – it surely won’t feel as effective done a second time – but given the sheer amount of reworking/re-ordering of things this anime has done already I’m confident this would be handled smoothly.
Other characters got their time to shine in this episode well – and I particularly liked Ren’s added dimension of wanting to pull Ryo out of his blind rage – cementing his role as a clear-headed tactician, as opposed to Ryo’s often irrational head-first approach. Joy’s character arc was given a subtle, yet satisfying ending, and Wong seems to have been inspired to take steps to improve his lot in life. The farewell to Xiuying was also well done, her character absolutely done justice in this anime.
Overall, despite the slightly rushed feeling, I really enjoyed this final episode. It of course leaves me with an overwhelming appetite for a second season – the idea of Shenmue III’s story being able to be fleshed out and given a bit more much needed development sounds very intriguing to me. Of course, it still remains to be seen if we will get a Shenmue IV, or if this anime will end up overtaking the source material and complete the story should it be given more seasons – but honestly, I would be more than happy if the latter ended up being the case. Of course, in my absolute heart of hearts I wish for more games, but given the quality of this first season I would be willing to compromise. This episode did a great job of tying all the lessons Ryo has learned together, and I hope any newcomers are intrigued enough to want to check out the games. I will gladly give this one a 4/5.
Shenmue The Animation Ep #13 -‘Shenmue’ recap and 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…
shenmusings.wordpress.com
My final thoughts from the blog post:
Wow, what a ride this has been. I was generally satisfied with the final episode overall, with my only real issue being how rapid the first part of the Guilin chapter was dashed through – many fans will agree that it’s one of the seminal parts of the game, the long trek through the countryside as Ryo and Shenhua get to know one another -so it’s perhaps slightly disappointing to see this entirely skipped here. In an ideal world, we would have had a 24 episode season that would have been able to spare the time for this to be an entire episode – but given that we only had 13 to work with, perhaps this was an unfortunate but necessary cut. However – I would like to think that, if we do get a Season 2, then a lot of the development of Ryo and Shenhua’s relationship would simply be moved there, adding some much needed meat to the admittedly bare bones of Shenmue III’s story (their night-time chats in fact are widely considered one of the better points of the game). It may not yet be too late for us to see the two discuss Ryo’s friends, their differing ways of life and Shenhua’s affinity with nature. I also understand why they perhaps chose the two’s first meeting to unfold this way – Shenhua is kept just enough of a mystery to ensure that there is still a hook for a potential second season, which perhaps excuses the rushed feel of her proper introduction in this episode. And really, given the tease flashforward of the infamous cave scene back at the beginning of the series, we really did need to reach that point by the end of the season.
One of the biggest changes from Shenmue II’s version of events was of course the Lan Di battle – with him actually setting foot off the helicopter and engaging with Ryo’s misguided attempts to fight him. In the game, it felt effective for Ryo’s nemesis to simply be watching everything from the helicopter, being just that slight frustrating bit out of reach. Here, they effectively opted to move the confrontation between the two from the end of Shenmue III to far earlier- and I think this actually works better for the medium of an anime. I think any new viewers who had never played the games would have been disappointed for there not to be some sort of Ryo/Lan Di fight by this point, so this kind of forced their hand here. If there is a Season 2, I’m unsure of how they’ll adjust their meeting in Niaowu given this – it surely won’t feel as effective done a second time – but given the sheer amount of reworking/re-ordering of things this anime has done already I’m confident this would be handled smoothly.
Other characters got their time to shine in this episode well – and I particularly liked Ren’s added dimension of wanting to pull Ryo out of his blind rage – cementing his role as a clear-headed tactician, as opposed to Ryo’s often irrational head-first approach. Joy’s character arc was given a subtle, yet satisfying ending, and Wong seems to have been inspired to take steps to improve his lot in life. The farewell to Xiuying was also well done, her character absolutely done justice in this anime.
Overall, despite the slightly rushed feeling, I really enjoyed this final episode. It of course leaves me with an overwhelming appetite for a second season – the idea of Shenmue III’s story being able to be fleshed out and given a bit more much needed development sounds very intriguing to me. Of course, it still remains to be seen if we will get a Shenmue IV, or if this anime will end up overtaking the source material and complete the story should it be given more seasons – but honestly, I would be more than happy if the latter ended up being the case. Of course, in my absolute heart of hearts I wish for more games, but given the quality of this first season I would be willing to compromise. This episode did a great job of tying all the lessons Ryo has learned together, and I hope any newcomers are intrigued enough to want to check out the games. I will gladly give this one a 4/5.
Darkside_Hazuki
Hates the Fantasy Zone
If this show brings in any revenue then I hope Suzuki uses the whole $20 to start production on the Shenmue 4 video game, because I sure as hell wouldn't want to see the Shenmue story continue with another low-budget Telecom production like this. Until now it was Ys Net that gave us the most disappointing medium for experiencing Shenmue when they made part III. We now have a new champ, ladies & gentlemen.
"Bailu village."
"Really?!"
LOL, I said the same damn thing. Good lord, I'm sure we all knew they'd chop up Ryo & Shenhua's trek through Guilin on this show, but I didn't think they'd wipe it completely from existence. And boy did they blow through the impact of the Shenmue tree "revelation" and the stone quarry. Also I thought Ryo & Shenhua were getting married on that cliff.
Overall, this TV anime was like watching someone play Shenmue I & II with a poor graphics card, all of the good music muted, skipping lots of supporting character interactions & cutscenes, and only knowing how to do like three moves in Free Battle. Lame bastard never once did Darkside Hazuki or even tried to do Arm Break Fire. But I thought the character art was done fairly well, the voice acting is okay (although mostly forgettable with lame voices for Ren & Lan Di), and I guess you can't expect much from a "We should just be lucky that it even exists" participation-award type of TV anime. I give the show a 4 out of 10. Either go back to making video games or for God's sake get a better animation studio than lameass Telecom. The first two Shenmue games were very ambitious, in fact TOO ambitious...so it didn't seem like a good fit to give it such an unambitious production.
I'll wrap it up with this: Anyone that watches this show, but didn't play the video games, is most likely not going to remember who the hell Nozomi was. And I don't blame them.
- More low-budget fight scenes full of wind effects to compensate, along with still-image flashbacks galore. Not even the season finale gave us a good send-off of fluent motion & fight choreography to make this finale stand out from everything else we've viewed on the show. That's a shame because things like Lan Di's armlock kicks could've been a fantastic visual memory on how he handles aggressive opponents, but it just looked choppy as usual. Also Ryo totally did Chai's pounce attack on Dou Niu, that was fuckin' goofy.
- The same old music that we've heard previously throughout the show. I feel bad for the one person who still had hope that we'd hear anything as good as the Rooftop Battle theme from the game (a.k.a. "Encounter With Lan Di"). My condolences.
- Ryo looking like a moron ignoring Dou Niu's threats about dropping Wong but Ryo charges after Lan Di anyway (in the game he shows immediate concern for Wong), and then Ryo gets so hypnotized staring up at Lan Di that Dou Niu screams, runs up beside him, gets warned by everyone in the zip code, and Dou Niu still decks him for free. And now Ryo is so discomposed that Ren has to scream more flashbacks into him. Who writes this shit?
- Overall there's just barely any tension in all of this, especially during those moments where Wong & Joy are just standing around smug. And when did Joy become the typical female anime character that clasps her hands & closes her eyes in relief?
- It's been 10 minutes into the show and then they decide to play the TV intro...and afterwards go straight to commercial. I thought they'd just skip the intro completely and give us another 90 seconds of storytelling. Should've known better.
- Ryo to Xiuying when she asks if he's going to chase Lan Di: "No I'm not. I'm going after the truth." I actually like this line a lot, although it makes Anime Ryo and Video Game Ryo seem like they have different objectives, because in Shenmue III it seemed all Ryo wanted to do was face Lan Di and dramatically yell "I will avenge my father!"
- Ryo had a helluva better send off from Hong Kong than he did from his own hometown, although Wong & Joy watching Ryo depart from an alleyway didn't really have the same effect as watching him walk out the gate of Dragon Street. Best of luck to Wong in his new career of selling poorly drawn-in digital bananas. Some people will probably think Fangmei got a crappy deal on this show as far as screentime and interactions with Ryo, but I'm honestly not too broken up about it. (I barely talked to Fangmei in my first Shenmue II playthrough)
- Regarding the scene in Guilin with the river and the goat, in the game there was such a terrific visual of Ryo (finally) laying eyes on Shenhua for the first time as she's seen in the distance hastily running alongside the river with strong-wind rain & lightning, but this show didn't even try to give us anything as visually memorable. In the TV show you just see Shenhua already standing at the edge of the river with the physical urgency of somebody practicing for a diving competition. What a bummer.
- And then the show goes back to doing what it does best: Speedrunning through the story.
"Bailu village."
"Really?!"
LOL, I said the same damn thing. Good lord, I'm sure we all knew they'd chop up Ryo & Shenhua's trek through Guilin on this show, but I didn't think they'd wipe it completely from existence. And boy did they blow through the impact of the Shenmue tree "revelation" and the stone quarry. Also I thought Ryo & Shenhua were getting married on that cliff.
Overall, this TV anime was like watching someone play Shenmue I & II with a poor graphics card, all of the good music muted, skipping lots of supporting character interactions & cutscenes, and only knowing how to do like three moves in Free Battle. Lame bastard never once did Darkside Hazuki or even tried to do Arm Break Fire. But I thought the character art was done fairly well, the voice acting is okay (although mostly forgettable with lame voices for Ren & Lan Di), and I guess you can't expect much from a "We should just be lucky that it even exists" participation-award type of TV anime. I give the show a 4 out of 10. Either go back to making video games or for God's sake get a better animation studio than lameass Telecom. The first two Shenmue games were very ambitious, in fact TOO ambitious...so it didn't seem like a good fit to give it such an unambitious production.
I'll wrap it up with this: Anyone that watches this show, but didn't play the video games, is most likely not going to remember who the hell Nozomi was. And I don't blame them.
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BruceWayne911
Arm Break Fire (➡️⬅️⬅️ 👐)
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I gotta agree with a few points you made. Watching this anime felt like someone speedrunning the video games. Also none of the fight scenes were memorable or really any good. Alot of single punches and kicks with wind effects. The only fight scene that stood out was the Lan Di. If this wasn't a Shenmue anime I wouldn't like it.
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"It's in Bailu Village" - why did Zhu say this? I thought he meant the Phoenix Mirror but he didn't acknowledge the mistake when Ryo pulled it out.
Completely butchered Guilin...did Shenhua drag Ryo there? Zero interaction between the two to establish their connection. Guilin was where Shenmue's story first began to take flight and they basically cut it out entirely...ouch.
Completely butchered Guilin...did Shenhua drag Ryo there? Zero interaction between the two to establish their connection. Guilin was where Shenmue's story first began to take flight and they basically cut it out entirely...ouch.
OP
OP
the_phoenix_mirror
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You're right actually, Hiki. There are a lot of important moments in Guilin. I've played through Shenmue II's Guilin section though so many times that I just stopped caring for their conversations after my first playthrough and just ended up seeing it as a walk-fest, I've beaten this game like 9 times, so I ended up getting bored with Guilin fast. Of course, I've missed some things like that outcome where Shenhua gets crushed by that tree and dies if you actually roam around for too long though... I'm not making that up by the way it happens.
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That should have been the ending to the anime. That way no season 2 is necessary!!!!
spud1897
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Having had time to digest the episode some thoughts from me:
- The Rooftop fight was spot on. I loved the fighting, the way Ryo went from pure mindless vengeance to calming his mind to take on Dou Niu. I'm very interested to see how they will do Shenmue 3's castle fight now we've had that here. How will they maintain its importance in the story as, whatever people say about Shenmue 3, is a massive story element.
- They closed Hong Kong really well with the goodbyes etc. Well done there.
- Guilin - Now as a game fan I can understand that this section was rushed massively and would have benefited from 1 more episode to give us some of what we wanted. However I always wondered whether Guilin would translate well in Anime form and be a point to send us off on. Should the 2nd season give us those conversations with Shenhua and develop those there then I am perfectly OK with what they did. If they don't I'd be more upset. Guilin divides the community and certainly outside of here as to whether it is awesome or plain indulgent. I really like Guilin but I was more concerned about the rooftop as that, for me, is one of the most epic moments in gaming.
- Talking to my wife (who watches a tonne of Anime) about it she felt they did Guilin well (she's not seen disc 4) and was of the view they basically wanted to give a conclusive end to most of the story stuff they could without raising too many other questions, which disc 4 does in abundance.
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I enjoyed the season overall.
I though Yokosuka was great. It was a surprise to see Mai play an important role as she helps Ryo rescue Nozomi. She's more assertive and to see her box Goro's ears so many times was a shock as she seems shy in Shenmue I.
Ryo being called Hazuki by Nozomi and Nozomi being called Harasaki by Ryo is something I will never get used to.
There is no vagueness about the shadiness of Master Chen and Ghuizang's line of work. However this starkly contrasts with Shenmue I in which their business is above board. It was a surprise to see this change but I'm not sure why it was made.
I would have liked the revelation that Lishao Tao is female to have been more dramatic. It's a shame the credits were rolling with credits music.
Ren's first appearance, also when the credits were rolling, was underwhelming and could have been better. His introduction in Shenmue II was much better as the build-up to his meeting was suspenseful and he is menacing. Ren in the anime wasn't intimidating.
Lan Di causing the cut on Ryo's face and Ryo placing his fingers on his plaster whenever Lan Di is talked about should have been in the games. Loved it.
The final episode is my favourite. The Lan Di fight and Dou Niu fight were done well imo.
Ryo's response to being told that Lan Di killed Iwao because Lan Di believed that Iwao had killed his father Longsun Zhao was proportionate, which can hardly be said about his response in Shenmue II when he reacts as though he is hearing for the first time that his father killed someone even though he had already heard Lan Di accuse his father of murder. His response in Shenmue II bothered me so I'm glad it was 'fixed' in the anime.
The scene with Yuanda Zhu in Ren's hideout was missing the smoke and constellation lights which was a shame as I loved that in Shenmue II.
I'm glad Guilin was truncated as viewers who haven't played the games may have lost interest in the series had there been ten minutes of Ryo and Shenhua walking and talking.
The final scene of the final episode was ruined by the credit roll again. I know it needs to be included but it's still really annoying.
I'm looking forward to season 2!
I though Yokosuka was great. It was a surprise to see Mai play an important role as she helps Ryo rescue Nozomi. She's more assertive and to see her box Goro's ears so many times was a shock as she seems shy in Shenmue I.
Ryo being called Hazuki by Nozomi and Nozomi being called Harasaki by Ryo is something I will never get used to.
There is no vagueness about the shadiness of Master Chen and Ghuizang's line of work. However this starkly contrasts with Shenmue I in which their business is above board. It was a surprise to see this change but I'm not sure why it was made.
I would have liked the revelation that Lishao Tao is female to have been more dramatic. It's a shame the credits were rolling with credits music.
Ren's first appearance, also when the credits were rolling, was underwhelming and could have been better. His introduction in Shenmue II was much better as the build-up to his meeting was suspenseful and he is menacing. Ren in the anime wasn't intimidating.
Lan Di causing the cut on Ryo's face and Ryo placing his fingers on his plaster whenever Lan Di is talked about should have been in the games. Loved it.
The final episode is my favourite. The Lan Di fight and Dou Niu fight were done well imo.
Ryo's response to being told that Lan Di killed Iwao because Lan Di believed that Iwao had killed his father Longsun Zhao was proportionate, which can hardly be said about his response in Shenmue II when he reacts as though he is hearing for the first time that his father killed someone even though he had already heard Lan Di accuse his father of murder. His response in Shenmue II bothered me so I'm glad it was 'fixed' in the anime.
The scene with Yuanda Zhu in Ren's hideout was missing the smoke and constellation lights which was a shame as I loved that in Shenmue II.
I'm glad Guilin was truncated as viewers who haven't played the games may have lost interest in the series had there been ten minutes of Ryo and Shenhua walking and talking.
The final scene of the final episode was ruined by the credit roll again. I know it needs to be included but it's still really annoying.
I'm looking forward to season 2!
Really liked the anime overall.
some various pro and cons
pro:
-outstanding rendition of the characters
-very nice music
-beautiful sceneries
-great atmosphere
cons:
-yokosuka part feels a bit rushed
-some cuts and changes that I don't like (like Nozomi saved by friends for example)
-too speedy, the anime clearly needs 24 episode not just 13
-last episode should've ended at Dou Niu, Guilin is too much rushed
-needs more focus on battle and training, like VF anime, but for this you need more episodes.
I hope that season 2 will restart not from bailu but from beginning of disc 4, if the episode 13 was just an "anticipation" of season 2, than I understand and I can accept this, otherwise cutting that crucial part in season 2 isn't acceptable.
some various pro and cons
pro:
-outstanding rendition of the characters
-very nice music
-beautiful sceneries
-great atmosphere
cons:
-yokosuka part feels a bit rushed
-some cuts and changes that I don't like (like Nozomi saved by friends for example)
-too speedy, the anime clearly needs 24 episode not just 13
-last episode should've ended at Dou Niu, Guilin is too much rushed
-needs more focus on battle and training, like VF anime, but for this you need more episodes.
I hope that season 2 will restart not from bailu but from beginning of disc 4, if the episode 13 was just an "anticipation" of season 2, than I understand and I can accept this, otherwise cutting that crucial part in season 2 isn't acceptable.
well, that's a wrap.
Overall another good episode. I get everyone's frustration with Guilin being truncated but I understand what they were trying to go for and get to the end of S2. I do wish the anime was 3-4 episodes longer, that would have really allowed things to get fleshed out more.
I liked that they did give time to the fight scenes this episode rather than skim through them like many of the previous ones. Although Ryo used swallow dive on Dou Niu like I joked about earlier LOL!
I'm fine with them bringing up the Lan Di fight since they're are no assurances that we will get a second season, but it may impact the S3 content should one get made - curious to see how that will play out either way.
Overall this was a really good show. It's not perfect by any means, and we all have our criticisms or desires for where it could have done more, but it really was so much better than my expectations for a budget anime.
Overall another good episode. I get everyone's frustration with Guilin being truncated but I understand what they were trying to go for and get to the end of S2. I do wish the anime was 3-4 episodes longer, that would have really allowed things to get fleshed out more.
I liked that they did give time to the fight scenes this episode rather than skim through them like many of the previous ones. Although Ryo used swallow dive on Dou Niu like I joked about earlier LOL!
I'm fine with them bringing up the Lan Di fight since they're are no assurances that we will get a second season, but it may impact the S3 content should one get made - curious to see how that will play out either way.
Overall this was a really good show. It's not perfect by any means, and we all have our criticisms or desires for where it could have done more, but it really was so much better than my expectations for a budget anime.
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Like i pointed a few posts before it probably was supposed to happen but 8-9 months before the game got released got cut for some reason as you can see in the shenmue the movie credits Lan Di is on the rooftop not hanging on the helicopter ladder. I'm going to post the picture again.
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Rather unfortunate when the worsts parts of something are the first impression and the final impressions. When I saw Ryo defeat Chai in the dojo within the first episode, I was pretty quick to call it the worst episode and as I went through the rest, it seemed very likely it would stay that way. Especially once we got to Shenmue 2, the pacing seemed to slow down, characters got interesting expansions and the world actually got to breath.
But then Guilin just happened.
If I were to summarise this anime in a simple sentence, it's this. The anime is always 2 steps away from being amazing. If they refocused their efforts a little elsewhere and knew which corners to cut, you'd have a work of brilliance. But instead, what kept happening was the anime would be pulling the right moves for a solid 5 minutes and then make an unfortunate misstep, whether it be speedrunning a battle or skipping a character moment altogether. Everyone bitched about the underwhelming Baihu encounter last episode, but I think that was the perfect summary of this show. It gets really good and then it cocks it a little, rinse and repeat.
The most obvious rebuttal for Guilin's ruining here will be that there wasn't enough time to do it justice, to which I'd give the even more obvious reply of THEN DON'T SHOW IT! Everyone who played Shenmue 2 for the first time thought Dou Niu was the final part of the game anyway. By every metric, it can pass for a closer and even if this show won't get a second season that does Guilin properly, it's better than taking out all the value altogether.
It seems a lot of the positivity for this anime comes mostly from the fact that more people might become Shenmue fans. Because this IP's status is always concerning, considering how long it took for Shenmue 3 to release and how likely Shenmue 4's existence is looking, if more people can become Shenmue fans and keep the brand alive, the anime's quality doesn't have to be amazing. I have a simple question. Could you imagine any first time viewer watching this anime and loving the Guilin section? If it were me, I wouldn't even remember it. Stark contrast to everyone who played it. Very similar in fact to the rescuing Nozomi segment of Shenmue 1, where you're desperately searching for a method of reaching her that isn't the bus. Highlight of the first game, ain't nobody gonna remember that from the anime.
The exact moment I knew I was gonna get annoyed was when Ryo saw the goat in danger and then it cut to a full body shot of Shenhua. Let us remind ourselves this is the mysterious girl that is intriguingly build up over the course of the story up until that point, even appearing on goddamn Yokosuka chocolate. When you get to the scene that reveals her, build it up! Cut to her hat first, show a shot of her running legs, absolutely anything other than just a long shot of her motionless body. Ya seen the recent Batman movie? Imagine if instead of the first 10 minutes of buildup, the opening 30 seconds was a thug going, "Yo, what's that over there?" And then the camera just casually showed Batman standing still like, "Howdy, I'm Batman, I suppose."
It feels only more annoying when I realise they could have given Guilin at least another 2 minutes if they stuck to the much more powerful death stare Ryo and Lan Di share at the end of Kowloon. While the fight made Lan Di appearance powerful, it came at the cost of making him less of a phantom that always slips through your fingers, which to me was not a worthy sacrifice. Didn't help that the fight automatically made the Dou Niu battle less impactful and ultimately... fine, acceptable even. But similar to the highlight in gaming that was the original?
Boyo, I'm heated. This mini-essay of mine is only gonna paint the picture that I hated this adaptation, when in reality, I'd give it probably a strong 6 (which for me, equates to good). My irritations weren't that high or consistent, I was even more forgiving in certain aspects than other folks were. Certain characters, I might say I like more than in the games. I didn't even hate this episode altogether, but the last 7 minutes are so souring that it's like I'm being demanded to air out my frustrations all at once.
But then Guilin just happened.
If I were to summarise this anime in a simple sentence, it's this. The anime is always 2 steps away from being amazing. If they refocused their efforts a little elsewhere and knew which corners to cut, you'd have a work of brilliance. But instead, what kept happening was the anime would be pulling the right moves for a solid 5 minutes and then make an unfortunate misstep, whether it be speedrunning a battle or skipping a character moment altogether. Everyone bitched about the underwhelming Baihu encounter last episode, but I think that was the perfect summary of this show. It gets really good and then it cocks it a little, rinse and repeat.
The most obvious rebuttal for Guilin's ruining here will be that there wasn't enough time to do it justice, to which I'd give the even more obvious reply of THEN DON'T SHOW IT! Everyone who played Shenmue 2 for the first time thought Dou Niu was the final part of the game anyway. By every metric, it can pass for a closer and even if this show won't get a second season that does Guilin properly, it's better than taking out all the value altogether.
It seems a lot of the positivity for this anime comes mostly from the fact that more people might become Shenmue fans. Because this IP's status is always concerning, considering how long it took for Shenmue 3 to release and how likely Shenmue 4's existence is looking, if more people can become Shenmue fans and keep the brand alive, the anime's quality doesn't have to be amazing. I have a simple question. Could you imagine any first time viewer watching this anime and loving the Guilin section? If it were me, I wouldn't even remember it. Stark contrast to everyone who played it. Very similar in fact to the rescuing Nozomi segment of Shenmue 1, where you're desperately searching for a method of reaching her that isn't the bus. Highlight of the first game, ain't nobody gonna remember that from the anime.
The exact moment I knew I was gonna get annoyed was when Ryo saw the goat in danger and then it cut to a full body shot of Shenhua. Let us remind ourselves this is the mysterious girl that is intriguingly build up over the course of the story up until that point, even appearing on goddamn Yokosuka chocolate. When you get to the scene that reveals her, build it up! Cut to her hat first, show a shot of her running legs, absolutely anything other than just a long shot of her motionless body. Ya seen the recent Batman movie? Imagine if instead of the first 10 minutes of buildup, the opening 30 seconds was a thug going, "Yo, what's that over there?" And then the camera just casually showed Batman standing still like, "Howdy, I'm Batman, I suppose."
It feels only more annoying when I realise they could have given Guilin at least another 2 minutes if they stuck to the much more powerful death stare Ryo and Lan Di share at the end of Kowloon. While the fight made Lan Di appearance powerful, it came at the cost of making him less of a phantom that always slips through your fingers, which to me was not a worthy sacrifice. Didn't help that the fight automatically made the Dou Niu battle less impactful and ultimately... fine, acceptable even. But similar to the highlight in gaming that was the original?
Boyo, I'm heated. This mini-essay of mine is only gonna paint the picture that I hated this adaptation, when in reality, I'd give it probably a strong 6 (which for me, equates to good). My irritations weren't that high or consistent, I was even more forgiving in certain aspects than other folks were. Certain characters, I might say I like more than in the games. I didn't even hate this episode altogether, but the last 7 minutes are so souring that it's like I'm being demanded to air out my frustrations all at once.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2018
Now it's all said and done, it's fair to say Yokosuka had the best fight scenes in the anime by a long shot. Despite Shenmue II being the more action-oriented game, the action in Yokosuka vs Hong Kong was much more balanced in the anime for obvious entertainment reasons.
The only real downside to the S1 stuff, in my opinion, was the simplification of the Hazuki basement, and a couple of the episodes feeling too quick-fire with really short scenes back-to-back.
With S2 they did an amazing job with the characters, and the four wude were excellent, but it was here the budget and runtime were felt most, with entire sections skipped and the fight scenes looking far less elaborate, despite a few great moments.
Taken as a whole, though, it was shockingly great. Better than I ever thought it would be given the sheer amount of stuff they had to cover. It was the changes they made that impressed me most, but also the crazy level of detail. As a fan, it's a 9/10 for me.
The only real downside to the S1 stuff, in my opinion, was the simplification of the Hazuki basement, and a couple of the episodes feeling too quick-fire with really short scenes back-to-back.
With S2 they did an amazing job with the characters, and the four wude were excellent, but it was here the budget and runtime were felt most, with entire sections skipped and the fight scenes looking far less elaborate, despite a few great moments.
Taken as a whole, though, it was shockingly great. Better than I ever thought it would be given the sheer amount of stuff they had to cover. It was the changes they made that impressed me most, but also the crazy level of detail. As a fan, it's a 9/10 for me.