SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 3: Yin - Yang Thread
- Thread starter 24Nathan
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ShenSun
Site Staff
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- Jul 24, 2018
haha yeah. I was saying "Damn, that's definitely The Mad Dog" during the episode
RyoHazuki84
俺が益荒男
I also remember Kuwana from Lost Judgment using a stance similar to Gui Zhang and Master Chen. And Yagami does use the elbow assault lol
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- Aug 28, 2018
This episode made me realize something about how information is presented to you in Shenmue.
With only a handful of exceptions, you pretty much always only know what Ryo knows. Again, something that wouldn't work if they just made a carbon copy of the game. I'm glad it seems like they're gonna probably be going to Hong Kong in episode 6. The amount of stuff going on in II definitely needs more time.
I also like how they're exploring the relationship between Gui Zhang and Master Chen more. I think the basement scene could have had a little more fleshing out, but it also makes a bit of sense for Ryo to be more single-minded about it and running off almost as soon as he found the mirror. Hoping he goes back for a little more, but it's also ok if he doesn't.
With only a handful of exceptions, you pretty much always only know what Ryo knows. Again, something that wouldn't work if they just made a carbon copy of the game. I'm glad it seems like they're gonna probably be going to Hong Kong in episode 6. The amount of stuff going on in II definitely needs more time.
I also like how they're exploring the relationship between Gui Zhang and Master Chen more. I think the basement scene could have had a little more fleshing out, but it also makes a bit of sense for Ryo to be more single-minded about it and running off almost as soon as he found the mirror. Hoping he goes back for a little more, but it's also ok if he doesn't.
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- Jul 21, 2020
I still think Zhu is the villain. Lan Di joined up with a criminal group to find his father's killer, and Ryo teams up with criminal groups like the Chens and the Heavens to help pursue his father's killer or find leads to him. Duality and all and I think they're both heroes in their own stories.
Also the line 'everything lies with Zhu' it sounds like foreshadowing to me. Shenmue 2 reveals the mirrors unlock a secret treasure and yet they still keep the original lines that Zhu said about them unlocking Chi You. I think that's because Zhu is Chi You's true leader, but hidden from almost everyone, a bit like 'the mastermind' in the Loki TV series. No wonder he would be telling Chen about the entity that he also worships.
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- Aug 22, 2018
I’ll maybe watch it again to get a better feel for it, but to me it felt like Lan Di was learning about Zhu for the first time in Japan. Of course, his lamented tone could just be because he’s starting to realize that Zhu withheld information from him. In fact, thinking about it now, with Zhu being the former big boss of Hong Kong and Lan Di being ChiYou’s leader for the region, it would be a little odd if Lan Di had never heard of Zhu even without the potential Tentei link.
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Like the episodes before, i really liked this one!
So far so great!!
So far so great!!
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- Jul 21, 2020
Zhu was apparently Sunming's best friend, Lan Di would have of heard of him by all rationale. Unless Zhu was lying about that.
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- Aug 22, 2018
That would certainly explain how Zhu recruited Lan Di to the ChiYou men and is a big part of the reason that I like the Zhu equals Tentei twist. Zhu could have been lying about knowing Sunming (iirc Yu Suzuki has said before that Zhu can’t be trusted), but I’m not sure what he’d gain from the lie. There’s also the possibility that Lan Di never knew that Zhu and Sunming were pals, though if Zhu really cared about Sunming one suspects that he would have offered to take in his son after his murder or, at the very least, tried to talk him out of joining a shady gang. Either way, Lan Di should have already known who he was.
Edit: I just watched the English dub of episode 3 and Lan Di’s reaction to hearing Zhu’s name doesn’t give much away, nor does the way that he says it at the end of the episode. I suppose Zhu=Tentei is still possible.
On a side note, is it possible to call 104 to find out that warehouse number 8 is at the harbor? I must have played through S1 10-20 times and have always used the phonebook to look it up, so it would be pretty wild (though not all that surprising) to learn that there’s another possible solution. I did wonder after my first viewing but completely forgot to ask.
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- Joined
- Jul 21, 2020
I hope this crazy theory is true. That Tentei is different from the other leaders and has something a bit supernatural about him.
I guess the idea is Zhu's age has been slowed somehow by a dark force, a taste of immortality, Chi You uses him to lead the group as its secret leader. They even said in this episode that Zhu writes in an ''old script'' and he knows a lot of Bailu village and the lost treasures of the Qing Dynasty, hmm? They kept showing the imperial envoy in Shenmue 3, I think there's a twist to this mysterious character, feels like a Chekov gunman.
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
Yeah it is. The operator tells you it's in Amihama, and you can go to Kurita-san to find out that that's the harbour. I found this out on my playthrough just prior to Shenmue 3 a couple years ago now.
Another great little detail that this anime has captured.
RyoHazuki84
俺が益荒男
I need to try that next time.
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2020
- Favourite title
- Shenmue II
- Currently playing
- Final Fanasy XI, Megami Ibunroku Persona
Same for me. On first viewing, I felt pleasantly surprised that the scene pacing didn't feel so helter-skelter. I realized, though, that this allowed me the time, mentally, to consider more of the implications of the framing of the scenes, and I didn't really like what I was seeing. (I have no idea what they were thinking with the close-up on Master Chen that cuts off his forehead; I think the simplest answer is that the director really wasn't thinking anything.)
I watched the first three episodes with a friend who has never played any of the Shenmue games, but has watched a bit of anime in the last decade plus. He was intrigued by the mysteries, but felt like the animation and storytelling weren't particularly great. Watching episode 3 again at that time, right after rewatching the first two episodes, I realized that it didn't feel so much better as I'd felt it did in isolation, on the first viewing. I still think the pace was much better, but I can't get over how stupid it was to have Yamagishi-san randomly tell Ryo about the antique shop (admittedly this is more of an episode 2 issue), and the overly convenient parts of the reworked plot, like having Fuku-san just randomly call Ryo's attention to the switches behind the scrolls in the dojo.
I at least liked this episode, though.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2018
My reaction to Episode 3!
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2018
I just got to episode 3 in my viewing of the series. The main things that struck me were the clarity on the Chens being a criminal organization (although the two of them are still the only ones visible to us), and the stark differences between Ryo's and Guizang's relationships with their fathers. I thought the pacing of Ryo exploring the hidden area of the dojo could have been given a few more moments of tension. Still overall I think the series is excellent so far.