SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation: Episode 2 - Daybreak - Thread

Just stopping by to bitch about how my work schedule conflicts with the exclusive airing of the English dub, and young people don't have cable anymore, so that decision to payblock the dub of a niche franchise has to rank among the stupidest bordering on self-sabotage decisions in the history of entertainment.

^^^ Also, based on episode one only (since the owners of Shenmue have decided I'm not allowed to watch it like I do literally every other show in the modern world), I like and much prefer Newzomi to Nozomi. Nozomi was kind of ethereal to the point of fragility. Newzomi is a warrior soul-mate to Ryo.

End of transmission from the underground.
 
danielmann861 said:
I'm not gonna pull punches here. I will say some of the animation does show budget limitations. You really notice it with static background characters who have no life whatsoever to them. I can see the corners cut with the animation. It's not the greatest looking show. I like the look of it, but the budget does show in some regards. Especially in some of the fight sequences and static background characters.

Other than that, I love what I've seen so far. I love that they're really leaning into the mystery moreso.

But also, come to think of it, we saw so much of the early stuff in trailers. Like a lot of the fights in this episode have been key sequences in some of those trailers. Now I'm just even more keen to see the stuff we haven't seen yet. Most notably Hong Kong.
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Not sure if you have watched other anime and hope you dont take this the wrong way but if you haven't, most anime tends to have limited animation with very high detailed backgrounds compared to American shows which tend to have less detail and more animation.
 
Shenhua is a pretty character. I wish they would've kept her old design in Shenmue IiI. I hope we continue to see at least a little bit of Bailu leading up to her fateful encounter with Ryo.
 
pilman said:
Not sure if you have watched other anime and hope you dont take this the wrong way but if you haven't, most anime tends to have limited animation with very high detailed backgrounds compared to American shows which tend to have less detail and more animation.
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Yeah I have watched anime (it's okay I won't take it the wrong way)...I know what you mean but some shows I feel do better to mask their budgets a little better. I don't know if its just me but I'm noticing it here a little bit. Just with the static background characters. It's not really a major deal but I am noticing it. <shrugs>

It doesn't effect my enjoyment of the show though. I'm still very much loving just how much of a love letter it is.
 
It was awesome to see Shenmue III characters so faithfully represented at the beginning.

I thought the pacing was solid; tons of scenes, but many of them had a chance to breathe and play out at a leisurely pace when required.

Even the streamlined investigative parts show snippets of what happens in the game, like Ryo asking about Charlie at the jacket shop, tattoo parlour, etc. It's just so lovingly put together.

It felt like a very concious decision to have Ryo not asking about sailors :ROFLMAO: I don't blame 'em.

The one part that felt a little scrappy, budget-wise, was the Heartbeats Bar fight, which is way cooler in the game...let's be honest. But the fight with Charlie's goons somewhat made up for it when Ryo entered Beast Mode and trashed them fools :cool:
 
danielmann861 said:
Yeah I have watched anime (it's okay I won't take it the wrong way)...I know what you mean but some shows I feel do better to mask their budgets a little better. I don't know if its just me but I'm noticing it here a little bit. Just with the static background characters. It's not really a major deal but I am noticing it. <shrugs>

It doesn't effect my enjoyment of the show though. I'm still very much loving just how much of a love letter it is.
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It's a lot worse in the Phoenix Wright anime.
 
orient said:
It felt like a very concious decision to have Ryo not asking about sailors :ROFLMAO: I don't blame 'em.
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Oh man, you're right. I was so taken with it that I actually forgot about that omission.
 
YES. SHENMUE III CHARACTERS. I LOVE THIS.

Great episode and they handled the investigative parts economically yet satisfyingly.

I really dig the more forward Nozomi. I never disliked Nozomi but I also never found her compelling in the game. I think the changes are for the better imo. Also love how much more involved Yamigashi-san was than in the game at this point, and awesome that they threw the breadcrumbs of the soccer ball boy saying "xie xie" to lead to most likely next week's episode with the lady in the Russiya China Shop.

The only thing I wonder is if we'll see Naoyuki and Ichiro play any pertinent role in the Yokosuka episodes. I thought initially they may have been cut out of the anime as they didn't appear at all, until we see the picture of them in Nozomi's room.
 
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orient said:
It was awesome to see Shenmue III characters so faithfully represented at the beginning.

I thought the pacing was solid; tons of scenes, but many of them had a chance to breathe and play out at a leisurely pace when required.

Even the streamlined investigative parts show snippets of what happens in the game, like Ryo asking about Charlie at the jacket shop, tattoo parlour, etc. It's just so lovingly put together.

It felt like a very concious decision to have Ryo not asking about sailors :ROFLMAO: I don't blame 'em.

The one part that felt a little scrappy, budget-wise, was the Heartbeats Bar fight, which is way cooler in the game...let's be honest. But the fight with Charlie's goons somewhat made up for it when Ryo entered Beast Mode and trashed them fools :cool:
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How so regarding the fight? I mean, different camera angles and such, but even the moves he used to defeat each thug were the exact same. Down to which foot he kicked the barstool with.
 
Too bad I can't seem to screenshot Crunchyroll...

Few more easter eggs/thoughts:
Jukebox in Heartbeats bar looks just like the Rockola one in the games.
Bell Woods Jet Cola! Also "Ripsi", a Pepsi knock off.
Akira and Pai capsule toys in the flashback scene.
Hang On poster on the door of the arcade in the zoomed out pan before Ryo and Nozomi talk to Wang - san
Wonder what the text on the move scroll in the flashback scene says?
Along with Tails on Ryo's desk, there are also Heavy Bomb and Binsbein capsule toys
In the altar room...what do the plaques say? I seem to recall one has Iwao's name on it...in the first game, I believe the other is too blurry to read, but was suspected to be of his mother's. Does the one in the anime say Akane?

@Switch
 
Just finished it up.

- The anime soundtrack release cant come soon enough. These new arrangements of familiar themes are great. Please do Earth and Sea and Swallow dive!
- Seeing Shenmue 3 characters is amazing. I am loving how Shenhua is being integrated from jump. This gives me high hopes that the anime will truly flesh out Shenmue 3's story short comings.
- We got a full episode of detective work. Pacing was great.
- What they are doing with a lot of side characters is great. I never noticed that Fuka-san was much older than Ryo in the games. Yeah he is 26 and I can see it in the show. in the games he was a lovable doof. lol
- So many nice little details like Ryo having capsule toys, all the locations, and characters.
- The plot focusing on Ryo trying to learn about his father over trying to purely learn about Lan-di has made for a much better narrative already. This means by default we will likely get some back story moments we had hoped Shenmue 3would have hadif they ever do a season 2 that tells that games story.
- We got the female centric ending theme like I guessed lol. I am willing to bet that the Shenmue 2 arc will have a seperate ending theme or animation.

IMO this is making for a much better depiction of disc one than the actual games were in terms of story. No complaints at all for this episode. Warehouse #8 and phoenix mirror for episode 3 I am guessing.

I guess if I have one concern about the show, I REALLY hope they go all out with the 70 men battle fight. This show needs that one fight that will go viral in anime circles and social media to bring people in that are looking pass the show.
 
Some additional, random thoughts-

- I liked the constant skulking and presence of Chai hiding in plain sight.

- Maybe this was self explanatory to fans but in the English dub I was always confused at who delivers the line “milk is fine for a school boy” the anime confirms it appears to be Jones Henders.

- I mentioned I found the constant flashbacks sort of lazy device but I also have to remind myself I know every story beat of Shenmue like the back of my hand. I am curious for non-Shenmue fans who aren’t familiar with the story how they are tracking with the narrative.

- I love small detail that Nozomi takes you to Wang which was alternative path you could take when trying to decipher the letter. There’s lot of those small little details only dedicated fans would pick up on.
 
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