SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation: Episode 2 - Daybreak - Thread

Sanzarc said:
I must say I did not play any of the Shenmue games since the disappointment I felt after Shenmue 3, but this anime adaptation brought back some of my dormant enthusiasm towards the series. Both episodes so far followed the games closely, but the story-telling was even better. I cannot wait to see how far the story goes and what we get after 13 episodes. Also, I think the anime is a good medium to tell the story of Shenmue and there is a chance to see more from Shenmue 3 (at least something about Shenhua's father or something).
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I feel the exact same way. Shenmue 3 really put a damper on my excitement to reexperience the games. This anime is giving me high hopes that it will fix nearly every issue I had with Shenmue 3's story and characters if we get a season 2. God I hope they confirm season 2 the moment after episode 13 airs.
 
I really like the expanded role that Yamagishi has in this episode. Considering it is consistent with the games that he was friends with Iwao and they exchanged in martial arts discussions and sparred, I guess it makes sense that Iwao has shared some of his past with him. It shows how close they were as friends beyond the beginning of the first episode. I'll admit I miss Megumi Yasu as the voice of Nozomi in the Japanese version, but the current actress is great. It's interesting that Megumi Yasu has done a lot of swimsuit modeling IRL.

For the action, I think it could use some wider angles but other than that it's great. At the end, I wish they explain the moves just like they did with the Virtua Fighter anime.
 
The second episode was good as well. I liked the fact that they showed Shenhua in Bailu Village again. They also showed the struggle of the adults if they should stop Ryo on his quest for revenge or not better than in the game. It was also cool that gave Yamagishi-San more depth. It was also cool that the episode showed that the Sailor dudes meet Charlie and Charlie ordered them to lure Ryo into a trap. The change of the setup for the trap was ok. I would not mind if they showed the parking lot like in the game but a warehouse is also a nice replacement.

The presentation of the fighting scenes is awesome but Ryo seems a bit too powerful for my liking compared to Ryo in the game at that stage of the overall story.

I also really like the anime Ryo. The writers really managed to retain the awkwardness of the Game Ryo but on a softer scale. His interactions with Nozomi are still quite awkward but he is nicer to her than in the game.


Overall the episode was good.

The only character I missed so far was


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I really hope she gets some screen time in one of the episodes.
 
24Nathan said:
Akame is visible in the first game? I don't think I ever knew that! Anything special about the move scroll?
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Yes, it had probably gone unnoticed until now as the writing isn't clear (although it can be spotted if you know to look for it!).

One correction I have to make to my earlier statement though, is that "Akane" is shown only on the game's version of the tablet. The anime shows "Mother" but this is followed by special Buddhist characters, not her name. This is understandable as memorial tablets do not necessarily contain the person's "worldly" name on the front, but I'm not sure why only Iwao's name is shown.

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Edit: not sure about the writing on the scroll/book, except the last character indicates it's volume 1 of two volumes.
 
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If someone told me a few years back that Shenmue would get a TV show featuring Yamagishi-san as a prominent character, I would've laughed in their face, then cried because it'll obviously never happen...yet here we are, living in the best alternate timeline :oops::love:

gladias9 said:
Predicting that we'll be getting a lot more Shenmue 3 nods in the future and if this is the case... it could be evidence that Ryo's time in Bailu will be completely re-written (for the better).
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I don't think there's any evidence to suggest this will happen. If anything the show has been very faithful to the main plot points, and nothing that's been shown of Bailu so far invalidates anything from S3.

As per S1, I'm sure they'll flesh out S3's characters, rewrite bits and pieces, shuffle events, etc., that's all Bailu needs. Tweaks and fleshed out characters will make a world of difference. I highly doubt they'll completely rewrite Ryo's time in Bailu -- but we'll be waiting for a second season to find that out.
 
orient said:
If someone told me a few years back that Shenmue would get a TV show featuring Yamagishi-san as a prominent character, I would've laughed in their face, then cried because it'll obviously never happen...yet here we are, living in the best alternate timeline :oops::love:


I don't think there's any evidence to suggest this will happen. If anything the show has been very faithful to the main plot points, and nothing that's been shown of Bailu so far invalidates anything from S3.

As per S1, I'm sure they'll flesh out S3's characters, rewrite bits and pieces, shuffle events, etc., that's all Bailu needs. Tweaks and fleshed out characters will make a world of difference. I highly doubt they'll completely rewrite Ryo's time in Bailu -- but we'll be waiting for a second season to find that out.
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To add to this I agree.

What we got in Shenmue 3 was Ryo's arc, nothing more, nothing less. Ryo's main story has been completed for a while and it is the side things around that arc we didn't get in Shenmue 3.

So I could easily see the same path happening, Shenhua's father is missing, she wants to find him, village raided, learn move, Niawou, learn (new) move, castle, lose mirror, end.

But within that I'd love them to do the following:
  • Add in more about Iwao and Zhao's time there.
  • More Grandmaster Feng lore and chat, almost taking on the Yagamashi-san role.
  • More Mirrors lore/mystery.
  • Build relationships with the Bailu villagers.
  • Flesh out the Niawou side characters, why do they want to help Ryo? Shiling is one I really would have loved more of.
  • Have a proper Master Bei training segment.
  • Expand on Niao Sun. Could we see some flashes of her agents in Bailu?
  • Expand on the war between Lan Di and Niao Sun.
They won't re-write the main arc. If anything them being faithful to the presentation of Bailu from Shenmue 3 confirms the opposite in my mind. Fill that arc out with a bunch of side-characters, stories etc and that's perfect.

Then get the damn Anime team to write Shenmue 4!
 
I really liked episode 2. It moved fast, but in contrast to the first episode it had its running time almost exclusively focused on the letter and Charlie, while still having secondary characters being part of that focal theme and leaving enough room for characters like Ryo and Nozomi to ponder and express feelings. That university talk scene between Ryo and Nozomi for example was pretty short, but it really gave us the audience a chance to peek into Ryo's thoughts without him saying much. I really appreciate scenes like that one. It would be almost a perfect episode to me if it wasn't for the action, which it really lacks in quality and it is not exciting at all. Most of the fights seem to be framed in sequences of still shots, or when Ryo performs a move, his opponent is never in the same frame with Ryo, meaning the action shown is usually of a thug being thrown back several meters off the floor to represent impact and cut later to Ryo making a action pose. Even when that's not the case, there is very little frames of animation going on when everyone is in the same shot. But it's not all negative, as there are clear improvements over the first episode. The action during the first encounter with Charlie was well done as Ryo's movements looked pretty fluid and animated compared to what came before it. Also a little sequence in the last action scene in which Ryo dodges, blocks a sequence of enemy group attacks and performs a leg sweep on one of them is also pretty sick, though what follows next is lackluster. So that means there's hope following episodes will have better fight scenes or at the very least the major story fights will. Also hopefully Shenhua will stop reciting the poem twice per episode. In the second episode it can be forgiven as this time she even starts to question about it, but it will get pretty old if she does that for every single episode besides taking precious running time from an already short series.
 
I already didn`t like the first episode and I gotta say I don`t like this one as well. It looks and sounds great; that`s about it.

I don`t like and I don`t agree with what they are doing with most of the characters. Ryo and Nozomi especially are like two different people and their dynamic is weird to me.

And honestly they need to stop with the prophesy poem. I mean I love it dearly. The scroll at the end of Shenmue I, when the ship is sailing and the erhu is starting to play, is one of my favourite moments, especially because of the VO. But they are already overdoing it. It is also already not very subtle but dang, at some point you`re just hammering it in.

This animation just doesn`t have weight.

This piece below exactly summarizes, what Sakuragaoka and Yamanose feel like in Shenmue I in the first few hours.


I`m sorry to say this but this essential Shenmue piece would feel very out of place in this animation unfortunately...
 
MetalSonic said:
I've been looking forward to seeing Megumi and the kitten, I really hope they weren't cut from the anime.
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We can see the kitten in the ending animation so i really feel we will see Megumi and the kitten. I saw the episodes more times and i noticed another nice detail in the ending animation.

Here we can see Nozomi's amulet and the photo of Ryo and Nozomi in the harbor, beautiful details in the ending animation. The anime team is really showing the care with details about the things in the Shenmue world.

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I don't agree that Ryo and Nozomi are like totally different people in the anime, i'm watching in japanese and i'm enjoying, i love their interactions and this way adding more to their relationship.

The anime is giving even more depth to the characters in my opinion. The revenge is there but Ryo is now question more things about Iwao, Yamagishi-san with his own mini arc, more screen time for Shenhua/Bailu Village, more screen time for Lan Di and much more.

I love the games and i will always love the games, i can always play the games but this is a new take on the Shenmue story/franchise, another version of Shenmue, i know the anime will not be 100% like the games and this is okay for me, so far i'm enjoying.

I have a feeling that i will like the anime even more when all the episodes release and i can watch everything.
 
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More thoughts i have about the anime now. The pace in the anime is faster if we compare to the first game? Yeah, without a doubt in my opinion, but what if we compare to other anime with 13 episodes? i think if we made this comparison then the pace is fine.

Can you all imagine for a moment if the anime was with the same slow pace of the first game? i think a lot of people would talk even more bad about Shenmue, the score would be lower and our chances of getting a second season and Shenmue IV would be even less.

I would love to see a Shenmue anime with 24 episodes with more time for more investigation, character development and things like that? absolutely but i have to be realistic especially because of trying to get Shenmue IV and the second season, and continue to fight for this wonderful franchise to continue to be alive, just the fact that we are getting an entire season with 13 episodes is amazing in my opinion.

I never expected that in the anime Ryo would spend an entire episode searching for sailors and asking the characters... "Do you know where sailors hang out?" or an entire episode of Ryo asking people what they know about the day that the snow turned to rain, and an entire episode Ryo running in Dobuita and asking characters and saying... "I see, i see, i see" or "Sou desu ka, sou desu ka, sou desu ka."

I love the games, i love the slow pace of the first game but i really love the route the anime team is going with the anime. The Shenmue identity and essence is in the anime and this is wonderful.

Another detail i found in the episode is the vending machine really similar to the vending machine in the english version of the game. The attention and care with the details is beautiful.

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Hiki said:
Can you all imagine for a moment if the anime was with the same slow pace of the first game? i think a lot of people would talk even more bad about Shenmue, the score would be lower and our chances of getting a second season and Shenmue IV would be even less.
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Honestly, it would be terrible. You're absolutely right.

I adore Shenmue, especially Shenmue 1, and specifically, how peaceful, calm and pure slow-paced Shenmue 1 is. When I play through Shenmue, I go at an absolute snail's pace. I talk to pretty much every NPC, train 1-2 times every day, go to the arcade and slot house almost every day, get every hidden cut scene, phone Ryo's friends every other day, feed the kitten twice a day, open every drawer in Ryo's house, and pretty much interact with everything that I can, literally every single time I play the game. I really, really love that part of Shenmue.

In an anime, that sort of thing would be horrendous. Even I wouldn't enjoy watching that, let alone people who haven't played Shenmue before.

I really do think they have found the sweet spot between keeping things flowing at a good pace so as to be interesting to watch - for Shenmue die-hards and non-fans alike - and including as many little "Shenmue" scenes and details as possible along the way. I especially love the reshuffling and re-imagining of certain story beats so far.

I am so, so impressed by this writing team, honestly.
 
It’s also frankly a different medium. Shenmue especially at the time could revel in that pace and side activities because of the unparalleled level of interaction. That has no place in an anime or film adaptation.

I’ve been pretty happy how they have dovetailed those elements thus far and seem to be faithful to Shenmue. I hope they can bottle more of the series essence as the show continues.
 
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DarksideHazuki said:
Honestly, it would be terrible. You're absolutely right.
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There is a type of anime that is called Slice of life, Slice of life is a category of story that depicts a "cut-out" sequence of events in a character's life, a phrase that describes the use of mundane realism that represents everyday experiences in art and entertainment.

Shenmue have many things about Slice of Life, so i would enjoy a Shenmue anime with 24 episodes depending on the way is done, but like i said i need to be realistic with the situation especially for us to continue to fight for the Shenmue franchise to continue to be alive.

i like this route and pace the anime team is doing with 13 episodes, so far i’m enjoying
 
Yeah, I honestly don't get the sentiment from some folks that the anime should just essentially be an animated version of a full S1 playthrough. I think the anime so far has abridged the non-essential story elements pretty well:

-Ryo finding out that Lan Di is likely part of the Chinese mafia and came in through the harbor
-Looking for sailors
-Looking for Charlie
-Ryo asking native Chinese speakers if they can read Yuanda Zhu's letter

Would the anime be more engaging if there were additional steps to all of those scenes? I think it would ultimately be inconsequential for passive viewers.

As for character changes, I can see how you can be upset if you're a strict purist, but I don't think the anime versions are so far removed from the game versions, either. It's almost an alternate reality if the Shenmue games were created today and there was a lot more experience out there on how to cast, direct, and localize VO.
 
chaikilla said:
I've never ever thought about this before but didn't the 'a man from the east' will arrive in the village part of the prophecy already technically come true before Ryo set foot in the village? I mean, Iwao was there earlier and the prophecy has been told (as far as I know) before even Shenhua was born.

I have a little theory, here. Maybe it's a tad convoluted. In the prophecy poem, I think most of us would agree that Lan Di is the 'dragon' and Ryo is the 'morning star' but I have always wondered who the phoenix could represent. I've thought Iwao in the past but I couldn't back it up with reasons why. Now I'm starting to think that the prophecy tells a tale of two young men from the east, Ryo and Iwao. The part of the prophecy that always made me feel gloomy was the part that states that the young man will fulfil his wishes but at the expense of his own destruction. The prophecy seems to imply that Ryo will get his revenge but at a huge price. What if we flipped this and thought of Iwao as the young man from the east in the poem? He fulfilled his wishes (preventing the mirrors from falling into the wrong hands) at the expense of his destruction (death). In the poem, he represents the phoenix, a symbol of rebirth. While he is not physically reborn, perhaps his will stays alive in Ryo, who retraces his father's footsteps in China and brings a conclusion to the situation with the mirrors. Idk, just a wild thought.

I just want Ryo to have a happy ending.
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Sorry for the double post but I just read this one!

I think this is an interesting take - I agree with @Hiki in that Shenhua being part of the prophecy means that Ryo is as well. But an idea I just got from your take is that perhaps it could be about both Iwao and Ryo? There's been some speculation that Shenhua might have been reincarnated (and if so, why?), so what if the prophecy is something cyclical and an earlier version of "Shenhua" was supposed to team up with Iwao? Then something disrupted it along the way and Iwao's cycle ended with his death?
 
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