SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 4: Shackles Thread

[Mr Sun]

As always, my thoughts are immediately after watching and then i'll go back and read everyone elses thoughts!

Today was a strange one! In a way, it felt like the best episode, but also the weakest. I think what they've managed to cram into one episode is mighty impressive and there lots to like. Who knew there would be a scene with Nozomi and Goro?! Blimey!

I wasn't sure what to think of Mark as he came across as more angry than in the games, but his motivations make sense. Like Nozomi, I quite liked the original English melancholy voice, so the tone in the Japanese was a little strange to me. Goro's motivations for helping Ryo was brilliant. His thinking he was a big shot in the underworld by mistake and then learning about his absent father filled in so much information in such a brilliant economical way!

I also liked how Nozomi wanted to help, although I was disappointed that the confession scene was skipped (although I can see this being a flashback in the next episode before he goes to Kowloon). Nozomi's confession is one of my all time favourite scenes in Shenmue and pretty much set me on the path to be the gentle romantic that I believe myself to be.

So...forklifts. We got them! There was just enough wink, wink fan service, although part of me wished for just a little more. The lack of forklift racing was a shame, but given the context of the story, time pressures and the real life reason of that it would be bloddy dangerous (think of the insurance!), it makes sense not to do this.

So why am I disappointed? Well, truthfully, i'm not. It was brilliant as always. I just wasn't smiling as much. It might be because i've not gotten into a rhythm and now the 'novelty' of the show has ended. I just wish there were a few more episodes, because whilst I think the pacing is almost right, I think there was just a little too much going on this time around.

Finally - I did notice a little easter egg in Nozomi's room of other photo's - one of which was with Nozomi's grumpy friend having a go at Ryo!

I'm thinking they're just going to build up to a big emotional scene with Nozimi next episode, (probably with some version of the confession, like you say) and may even get in a version of the photograph/s taken at the harbour. Would make sense narratively for this to be a memento for Ryo, particularly with all of the Ryo/Nozomi character work they've done so far.

 

[bcdcdude]

I have to rewatch the episode but at the beginning when Ryo is watching Ine-San doing calculations, did anyone interpret it as the Dojo is struggling to keep afloat? I mean it’s an element the games never wanted or frankly needed to focus on, but with Iwao’s passing where was money coming in to support Hazuki residence?

Those daily 500-yen allowences won't pay for themselves!!

 

[orient]

Another great episode -- now I'm just taking the attention to detail and references for granted because the quality has been so consistent throughout

There were a few big improvements over the game story this episode, in my opinion.

Firstly, Ryo getting a job to earn money for a ticket to HK, instead of provoking the Mad Angels, just makes more sense. It bothered me in the game that there's a whole quest about getting a ticket but it's just an elaborate way of getting you to work at the harbour, and the money aspect is completely dropped.

Secondly, Nozomi taking initiative in the anime and acting more autonomously is a breath of fresh air, and makes her kidnapping more logical. Don't get me wrong, it's still a tired plot device, but it's definitely more earned in the anime.

There was a missed opportunity to have Ryo fly-kick a dude off a moving bike, which is like the best scene of the game (guess it could still happen, but unlikely). And also, Ryo and GuiZhang's TKO was no where near as cool as in the game. But that part isn't over yet!

Overall, I loved it.

 

[Obi_Frans]

Another great one. If I had one nitpick, it would be that more weight could've been given to Fuku-San giving Ryo his piggy bank.

Nozomi is really becoming one of my favorite characters in the show, and Ryo's reaction to finding out she worriew over him and later that she hasn't come home was quite moving.

I think the next episode is going to be a banger.

 

[Spaghetti]

Firstly, Ryo getting a job to earn money for a ticket to HK, instead of provoking the Mad Angels, just makes more sense.

Gonna be brutal when he loses all the money immediately in Hong Kong, haha.

 

[Sheephead]

Really loved this episode and how much it expanded on the games yet again. They are just so great at fleshing out the characters which yet again gets me so excited for Shenmue II & III. I REALLY want them onboard for a Shenmue IV! That would be the dream scenario!

A few awesome easter eggs again, and one that really made me laugh as it's so relatable lol.
When Ryo notices that he's put some of the crates on the racking slightly wonky and Mark says that he will sort it out for him it was just perfect! When I play the games I always try to make them as straight as possible but when rushing just before lunch, some of them always become a mess To me, this just points out, yet again, the amount of love and care, and attention to detail from the anime team. You KNOW that they have played the game, and that they love it!

Just overall a great episode! It really made me appreciate Mai, Goro & Guizhang more which is pretty crazy seeing as they are pretty relevant in the games already.

Cannot wait for next week!!

 

[Sheephead]

When it comes to the "17" scene, I just re-watched it and Ryo does write it. He uses the chalk under his foot to draw the "7", so deffo writes it. I assume Ryo did this for one of two reasons.
Either, he knows that Goro will see it, and thus go there and find Nozomi while him and Guizhang are fighting (or doing the 70 man battle royale), or the battle royale will take place there, and this is his way of calling for backup.

I think it will be the first option for the following reason. In the games, I don't think that Goro knows who Nozomi is, so that wouldn't make much sense. However, in this episode they added in a scene where Goro & Mai go to visit Nozomi's Flower Shop. This scene serves as an introduction to Nozomi for Goro. He learns who she is, and that she's friends with Ryo and Mai. If he were to head into warehouse 17 and see her held hostage, he'd help her.

 

[orient]

When it comes to the "17" scene, I just re-watched it and Ryo does write it. He uses the chalk under his foot to draw the "7", so deffo writes it. I assume Ryo did this for one of two reasons.
Either, he knows that Goro will see it, and thus go there and find Nozomi while him and Guizhang are fighting (or doing the 70 man battle royale), or the battle royale will take place there, and this is his way of calling for backup.

That's how I read it first time through -- Ryo modified the '11' to read '17' to alert Goro to Warehouse 17.

By the way, this all stems from Goro's line about knowing "the best place to take a leak" from the game, which is just ridiculously cool if you ask me. These writers are doing some good shit.

 

[ManoTemple]

This small tidbit is encouraging:

 

[Englishhedgehog]

No one's talked about it, so I wanna draw some attention to the sequence of Ryo first learning that Nozomi's been kidnapped, right up to the fight with Gui Zhang. Because I think this is where you can feel the restricted time bother the writers the most.

- Remember how it felt when you were charging through an uncomfortably empty Dobuita to the bus stop, only to have your panic double upon realising the buses no longer running? Of course you do, it's the highlight of the game and very cleverly what getting to know the town has been building up to. No, they didn't have to include it in the anime, because it isn't plot relevant. But it's a fine example of the emotional resonance having to be removed in order to the move the story along. If there were just a couple of minutes of Ryo desperately trying to get to the harbour, losing his mind, that could have been a standout point for the show.

- When you saw Ryo kick the biker off his vehicle, like me, you probably thought that was a cool action shot and a clever method of saving time. And perhaps also like me, you later realised this is also an emotional trade off. Because in making that change, the (already underdeveloped) friendship between Ryo and Naoyuki is weakened. If you think that's a worthwhile sacrifice, valid enough opinion. But it does speak to the philosophy of what is considered 'important' to this anime and what isn't.

- The decision to have Nozomi stay with The Mad Angels is a great one. It immediately adds further tension and emotional stakes. Which makes it all the more unfortunate when the fight with Gui Zhang happens straight afterwards. If the gravity of Nozomi's bleak situation had just a couple more minutes to sink in, that would have added significantly more value.

There's been a lot of talk over how the writers clearly wanted a higher episode count, but what I find even sadder is if the anime had just 1 more episode dedicated to Shenmue 1, that could have elevated the anime further and erased a fair few of the issues.

Chai getting defeated in episode 1 is still awful though.

 

[Englishhedgehog]

It is interesting. I live in that bubble too and I really don't know what newcomers have been saying. Has there been anyone streaming the game? Anyone who maybe got into it from the anime? Or any twitter reactions like that? I know newcomers were generally pretty positive about the anime so far, but I'm more so curious if any of them are playing the game and what their reaction is to the game itself.

I've searched twitter, reddit and youtube and the reaction to the anime has been pretty dead, honestly. I can't find much outside of fans.

 

[chaikilla]

I liked how Ryo's dream looked like the bad ending of Shenmue 2/3. Things are moving very fast.

I think there will be a another season that covers the events of Shenmue 3. Those chapters of the game would probably take about six episodes to cover.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

It's a decent adaptation but too fast. Miss the homeless martial artist and the chase at the end of disc 2.

 

[I Got Sriracha In My DNA]

By the way, this all stems from Goro's line about knowing "the best place to take a leak"

Initially I was slightly bummed they seemingly cut that line since Goro didn't say it when he reintroduced himself so I definitely marked out when he said it later in the episode.

 

[WuyingRen]

- When you saw Ryo kick the biker off his vehicle, like me, you probably thought that was a cool action shot and a clever method of saving time. And perhaps also like me, you later realised this is also an emotional trade off. Because in making that change, the (already underdeveloped) friendship between Ryo and Naoyuki is weakened. If you think that's a worthwhile sacrifice, valid enough opinion. But it does speak to the philosophy of what is considered 'important' to this anime and what isn't.

I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said here, but this part in particular really captured some of my core complaints with the anime. I really do like a lot of the extra scenes and dialogue that we’ve seen so far, but with so much being cut and skipped over, I often find myself wondering whether the new scenes are really worth losing some of the old ones (or others, like Iwao’s death and Ryo’s struggle to reach the harbor and save Nozomi, for example) being rushed through.

At times it feels like the actual meat and bones of the story takes a backseat to ticking off boxes and satisfying tropes, and this, to me, at least, takes away a lot of the emotion.

 

[chaikilla]

Apologies in advance for mentioning Chai again but we know that he's still tracking Ryo and I wonder if they will continue to show him stalking Ryo in China. In Chai's cell in Shenmue 3, it shows a map of Ryo's movements, so Chai was presumably tracking him from the shadows.

I'm starting to have my doubts about the Chai fight at the end of the first game happening in the anime. The Guizhang injury could be done in a different way in the anime, maybe he could hurt his leg during the fight with Terry or something. Wishful thinking here but maybe if we see Chai stalking Ryo in China, we'll learn a little bit about his relationship with Niao Sun.

 

[Jibby]

- When you saw Ryo kick the biker off his vehicle, like me, you probably thought that was a cool action shot and a clever method of saving time. And perhaps also like me, you later realised this is also an emotional trade off. Because in making that change, the (already underdeveloped) friendship between Ryo and Naoyuki is weakened. If you think that's a worthwhile sacrifice, valid enough opinion. But it does speak to the philosophy of what is considered 'important' to this anime and what isn't.

Interesting point. I do feel like they balance it out though. For all we lose in some areas, we get back in other (arguably more relevant) ones. For instance finding out more than we previously knew about the Chens, or fleshing out Ryo's connection with Nozomi.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

I finished the episode for the second time now and i think it is a good episode.

Was nice to see the first scene that is similar to the bad ending of Shenmue II.

It is a slice of life episode, a calm episode with Ryo talking more with Nozomi, Mai-chan, Fuku-san and Goro and getting the forklift job, Ryo working, Mark observing Ryo and changing his opinion about Ryo after hearing about Ryo's father, Ryo talking with Nozomi in the park, Ryo saving Mark and much more.

Was intersting to see the scene of Ine-san with the calculator and Ryo seeing everything, it added more to the story and i felt it was one of the reasons why Ryo wanted to get a job in the anime, to help with money with the bills in the Hazuki Residence or just Ryo realizing that Ine-san can't help him and that he needs to find a solution on how to earn money by himself.

I really love that the anime team expanded Goro in the anime, Goro talking about his father, Goro buying flowers because he wanted to put the flowers in Iwao's grave, this and much more added even more development for Goro and i love that.

Also i love the way the anime team did about Mark, Mark is even more serious in the anime and this is understandble, he is sad and wants to find his brother, it is possible that maybe we will see his brother in the next episode.

Was interesting to see Nozomi investigating about the Mad Angels, an interesting addition.

People who haven't played the game don't know Ichiro and Naoyuki, these characters only appeared in the photos in Nozomi's room, would be nice if these characters really appeared since the first episode, this way adding more emotion to the situation about Ryo wanting to leave Japan and leaving his friends. I hope Ichiro and Naoyuki appear at least in the next episode. I hope that we will see Tom and Shozo Mizuki in the next episode.

I still have hope that we will see Megumi and the kiiten in the next episode, i think is possible that we will see the scene of Nozomi and Ryo helping Megumi-chan to find the kitten.

Some things are happening in a different way in the anime so is not impossible for this things to happen in the next episode, also in this episode we didn't see Ryo trying to buy the boat ticket to Hong Kong, maybe the whole part of Asia travel will appear in the next episode or maybe this was cut out for the anime.

It is not impossible that maybe we will see more of Yokosuka and the characters even after Ryo is in Hong Kong, similar to what we are seeing of Shenhua and Shenmue III characters in Bailu Village, maybe we will even see Nozomi in Canada, it is not impossible.

I think the fight Ryo VS Guizhang is not over yet because in the japanese trailer i remember other scenes of the fight that are not in this episode. In my opinion Ryo changed the number to 17 so Goro can see that and help Ryo, maybe it will be Goro that will save Nozomi in the Warehouse 17 while Ryo and Guizhang are fighting Terry and his goons.

So far i love the anime but i just think that 24 episodes would have been even better, this way more time to develop the story, showing more characters, more character development, more slice of life scenes and much more.

I noticed the sacrifices that the anime team had to do to advance the plot like Naoyuki not making an appearence in this episode, but the anime will be 13 episodes so is understandable this cuts and changes in the story, but this changes are okay in my opinion. We lose in some areas but we win in others like more screen time and development for Yamagishi-san, Goro, Lan Di, Shenhua and many more, maybe we will even see more about Yuanda Zhu and Niao Sun in the anime.

It is an adaptation and i think the scenes the anime team added in the story are really good.

If after seeing the anime the person wants to see more about Shenmue and have a complete experience then the person can always play the games, one media complement the other and this is good in my opinion.

I will see the episode more times but i like the episode and i think the season will get even better and better, i'm not sure if the next episode will be the end of Yokosuka arc, i know we are near the ending but the anime version have many differences if we compare to the game so i'm not sure, the Yokosuka arc will probably end in episode 5 or 6.

i feel that the next episode will be emotional, looking forward for the next episode.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

There was one line from Master Chen that struck me as interesting though. Something about failing Yuanda Zhu...correct me if I'm wrong but Yu has said that Yuanda Zhu isn't all he seems, right? So I do find it interesting that they're really playing that up in the anime.

Zhu leads 5 stars Corp. 5, True 5th leader of the Chi You Men? In Shenmue 2 you need 4 keys to unlock Zhu's room, they're the same symbols of the CYM leaders, he's behind them, foreshadowing? 4 heavenly beasts, Heaven Emperor, Tentei. Love the Zhu is the true mastermind theories. It's a fun rabbit hole to get lost in.

 

[Miles Prower]

My review/recap of the episode is up!

Shenmue The Animation Ep #4 -‘Shackles’ 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…

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Quick thoughts: I really liked Goro's added development and motivation, but bit disappointed with Mark's depiction- not sure how I feel about him being so cold and distant, and also hope this isn't his only appearance! Will this really be the only mention of his search for his brother? Surely not...