SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 9 "Distinct" Thread

Another great episode that cleverly tied together scenes from the game that weren't related before. This was the first from the Hong Kong arc that felt a bit too condensed compared to the game, but my only concern about it is the possibility Ryo is now heading to Kowloon without learning the Counter Elbow Assault. However my hope is that the first part of the next episode will have Ryo's goodbyes or at least a final scene at Man Mo Temple. They could even include the leaf catching with the elbow assault move. These are two important moments for Ryo and Xuiying's relationship (not to mention pivotal for the Dou Niu fight) and would be a shame if they pass it up. But they could get away with it if they include the Demon's Triangle lesson after Kowloon.

Once again i do have to commend the creators' faithfulness in regards to the scenes from the game that are recreated almost 1:1. Especially enjoyed the optional scene where Ren takes Ryo to the Yellowhead and takes their cash.

It's an interesting choice to have Ryo in denial over his desire for revenge but it makes for a less cliche impetus for starting his journey. Ryo declaring his revenge in the Dojo at the beginning of Shenmue 1 was iconic its own right, and perfect for a video game - but also a little corny - and this nuanced approach the anime is taking suits the medium nicely.

I would have liked the episode to specifically state that Ziming was after the Chi You Men to find out about his parents' deaths...unless I missed it, but the flashbacks were just images and we didn't hear Ziming speak. A glimpse of Ziming and Niao Sun from the side story comic would be a great thing to include toward the end of the season as a teaser for what's to come.
 
A better episode this week (I’d give it an 8.5), but am really concerned about the pacing. Can’t see them reaching the cave now, which makes their decision to start there a little bizarre.
 
Enjoying all these easter eggs in the background with this episode having the Bonanza Bros on the boat and the cameo with the barber that teaches Ryo a Wude. Also great to see the Chawan Signs in action and how the anime shows the different results you can get, especially when you screw up on the signing.

Glad to see the pace starting to pick up with this episode ending where Disc 2 finished so looking forward to Ryo's adventure in Kowloon next episode.
 
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Another great episode and great to finally see Ryo and Ren together! I was interested to see how the final wude would be taught and it was brilliant that it was Ren's actions that resulted in Ryo's knowledge of the final piece. I never noticed the parallel's with Ryo and Xiuying's brother, so the final scene had a tinge of sadness that reminded me of when Ryo said goodbye to Nozomi.

Fantastic to see Yuan (although he doesn't seem as sadistic as in the games just yet). My comments are briefer than normal, but i'm just happy to see such consistency episode-by-episode. I'm restricting myself to watching the new episode each Sunday once, but look forward to binging it in a short space of time, or checking out the English dub.

I can't wait for Japanese fans to finally watch the anime too. It's a wonderful time to be a Shenmue fan and i'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops tomorrow on the 4th :)
 
Another sunday around here!

4 episodes left and a lot of things to show ahead of us, I can't see how they are going to do it without cutting too much content. In my opinion the episode of today had a super fast pace and they skipped a lot of nice moments from the disc 2. I'm afraid that if they continue like this to end this season just when Shenmue 2 ends it'll all be very rushed.

They are faithful to the game and I love it. In some parts it is better than in the game but some parts are more epic in the game. The scene when Ryo learn about Ren is fairly more epic in the game. As someone said before, how about the counter elbow assault? I hope Xiuying teach him how to do it in the next episode.

Maybe 13 episodes it's a bit short for a game like Shenmue.
 
I actually can't believe how much from S2 they're fitting in, and how faithful it is, and yet it doesn't feel as fast-paced as some of the early S1 episodes. They're doing a stellar job.
 
Okay, this is the pettiest of petty point outs I've ever participated in, but I'm a petty person, so I'm going to point how it bothered me that the scene in which Zhu Yuanda's associate was kidnapped was so brightly lit. It's been a lil while since I played the game, but wasn't the scene a lot darker in that? I think I would have felt the tension more if the restaurant had been more dimly lit before the thugs broke in.

That inconsequential nitpick aside, I really liked this episode. It struggled a little more than the previous Shen2 episodes with its pacing, but not so much that I was irritated. It's a shame that both the chases sequences from Gui Jiang Diner and after Ren had to be simplified to make time, but I'm content enough with what we saw. The obvious highlight was the inclusion of the final Wude with the barbour, which was a brilliant idea, generally very well executed as well.

My current feelings on on this anime are that it's approximately a strong 7/10 Shenmue 2 adaptation and that rating could vary a fair bit depending on how Kowloon is covered. I consider it the grandest and most epic portion of a Shenmue game so any trace of rushing through the character moments could be a problem. Still, with the current episode count and the assumption of no Guilin, doing it justice seems entirely plausible, so we'll see.
 
Another brilliant episode , but I must admit I'm also glad the Wude story arc is done and dusted now.
 
I didn't think it was fast-paced at all. Most episodes from the S1 seemed to go at lightening speed...with the exception of maybe one. This episode killed it. It had the best pacing, and balance between story and action, yet. This was also the moment where S2 took off and became the best game of the series (and of a lifetime).
 
I think this one dethrones the first Shenmue II episode as my favourite. I really like how they've merged certain story beats to make it flow better. Also as others have said, the art this time is incredible.

I think we're done with Hong Kong now. I'd wager that the next episode's cold open will be the bus to Kowloon and the arrival at Ren's hideout.
 
Not sure why but this episode didn't do much for me and is my least favourite so far. Probably because it adheres to the game pretty closely but when it did it's own thing, it was worse this time around

Ryo eating a pipe twice
Ren's hideout wasn't the garage and no Sam,Cool Z or Larry. Room was pretty nondescript
The fight scenes were weak in this one. We only saw a couple of hits , though they could have done a cool fight scene in Don Juang Diner like in the game.
No leaf catching or counter elbow assault. I'm really hoping the next episode picks up where this one ends and Xiuying will teach this to Ryo before he leaves. The Don Niu showdown is my favourite scene in all of Shenmue to date so I really want them to nail it.

I did like the Ren chase and fall from the roof, that was done quite well, and that Ryo failed "that" QTE first time like we all did !

Still a very enjoyable 20 minutes but nothing that really wowed me like all the others thus far.
 
I enjoyed how the Wude was woven into the episode. It was nice to see that Ryo isn't treated as some kind of superman by the writers, watching last week's preview made me think he'd brush off getting hit by a pipe. Xiuying is, yet again, the most interesting character.

I don't know how they're going to make it to the cave at this pace. I think this will end on disc 3 of Shenmue 2. The events of disc 4 feel like they should have belonged to Shenmue 3, anyway, so if there is a season 2 it will neatly fit.

Also...

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I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
Very economical episode that efficiently ties up the dangling threads before Kowloon. Xiuying continues to be the standout supporting character. It's apparent the showrunners care about her given how much emphasis there's been to her arc/backstory. It's funny because she's not in any of the marketing materials or credits and one would argue she's the second-most important character of the season behind Ryo himself. I'm hoping they put the same level of care and attention to detail to Ren, which at this point I have no reason to doubt, considering he'll be the primary supporting character in the final 3 or 4 episodes.

Actually hope the arrival in Guilin and the cave doesn't occur until the Season 2 premiere.
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Agree with so much of this. I took Xiuying’s absence from the promo materials as a worrying sign that her arc would play a small role in the anime. Then I wondered if it was done to avoid speculation on Tao Lishao’s identity from newbies. Not sure. Whatever the reason, I’m so glad, as you mentioned, the creators have recognised her as one of the series most compelling characters! It’s just such a gift to watch this adaptation of her character.
 
I'm a little in awe with how close this sticks to the game. You can feel it, except the Nozomi kidnapping (which I wasn't big on...seemed out of character). We could've gotten something like HALO, though (i.e., we ignored the game in the making of...). Initially, too, I wasn't too excited about an animated series until I did research, and saw a company like Crunchyroll is a big deal. At first, I figured it was a waste like Shenmue Online. Btw, why didn't they just use the resources for that, and instead, put it into S3 20 years ago? lol
 
ManoTemple said:
I'm a little in awe with how close this sticks to the game.
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Yeah, it's been a spectacular job. How they so closely fit the game, and how the little changes they make do really fit.

Now I'm pretty convinced, despite the promo materials showing Lan Di confronting Ryo directly, that we will get the ending of disc 3 of the game. Thus, Ryo beating Dou Niu, having an epic eye stare with Lan Di, and then after an explanation of Yuanda Zhu, Ryo going to Guilin. The epic of the ending will be some hint that Ryo and Shenhua will finally meet...NEXT SEASON :-)
 
Down by Law said:
Not sure why but this episode didn't do much for me and is my least favourite so far. Probably because it adheres to the game pretty closely but when it did it's own thing, it was worse this time around

Ryo eating a pipe twice
Ren's hideout wasn't the garage and no Sam,Cool Z or Larry. Room was pretty nondescript
The fight scenes were weak in this one. We only saw a couple of hits , though they could have done a cool fight scene in Don Juang Diner like in the game.
No leaf catching or counter elbow assault. I'm really hoping the next episode picks up where this one ends and Xiuying will teach this to Ryo before he leaves. The Don Niu showdown is my favourite scene in all of Shenmue to date so I really want them to nail it.

I did like the Ren chase and fall from the roof, that was done quite well, and that Ryo failed "that" QTE first time like we all did !

Still a very enjoyable 20 minutes but nothing that really wowed me like all the others thus far.
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Im of a similar view to be honest. This ep did nothing for me. It felt like all the shenmue 2 clips from the game were just thrown together as quickly as possible to progress the story to kowloon. Ryo getting hit by a pipe twice made me raise my eyebrow aswell. And yeah the fights were very weak. It kinda reminded me of shenmue the movie in a way. Probably my least favourite ep so far.
 
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