SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 4: Shackles Thread

I thought the scene between Gui Zhang and Master Chen was interesting - Master Chen pretty bluntly indicated they shouldn't care about what happens to Ryo because it would endanger themselves, almost like he promised Zhu begrudgingly to steer Ryo toward the Phoenix Mirror and Hong Kong but had no interest in any further involvement
 
Lan Di-sama said:
I thought the scene between Gui Zhang and Master Chen was interesting - Master Chen pretty bluntly indicated they shouldn't care about what happens to Ryo because it would endanger themselves, almost like he promised Zhu begrudgingly to steer Ryo toward the Phoenix Mirror and Hong Kong but had no interest in any further involvement
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Love the theory that Zhu is the hidden true leader of the CYM and his spies, proxies informed Lan Di Iwao only had 1 Mirror, then sent Iwao a letter deliberately late on purpose so his son would recieve it. Lan Di and Ryo are just a dragon and a tiger on a board and Zhu is pinning them together. In his 5 star room the tiger key is near a replica of Iwao's clothes. That might be how he sees everyone, as pieces.

I don't know if Yu Suzuki is that subtle with his storytelling but it would be an entertaining twist imo.
 
tomboz said:
Out of interest, what are everybody’s predictions as to why Ryo wrote 17 on the floor? I’m guessing that Ryo and Guizang will actually be overwhelmed in the 70 man fight and that Master Chen and his goons will show up to save them.
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I was more wondering if some of Goro’s pals would show up to help, given he was the one who told Ryo about it- but your suggestion is equally possible!
 
I'm not buying the Zhu is evil bit. We had one offshoot comment in a translated interview from Yu, who in the same interview stated he also doesn't remember the story in specific details. I do think Zhu is - or at least, was - manipulating things, but not from the shadows of the Chi You Men.
 
Lan Di-sama said:
I'm not buying the Zhu is evil bit. We had one offshoot comment in a translated interview from Yu, who in the same interview stated he also doesn't remember the story in specific details. I do think Zhu is - or at least, was - manipulating things, but not from the shadows of the Chi You Men.
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The DLC for Shenmue 3 has some interesting potential foreshadowing, Wei the villian of the episode says "I want to be like Zhu.. I'll never be satisfied until I'm on top" What is Zhu on top of exactly? He's meant to be bankrupt and Ren said he lost it all. In the anime Lan Di says "Everything lies with Zhu" That sounds like foreshadowing imo.

I think there will be a twist, to why Sumning died, and I think his alleged best friend Zhu may have arranged it, or covered up the reasons why Iwao was forced to kill him.
 
Another great episode. I don't suppose anyone wants to make some gifs out of the Guizhang fight at the end? It looked so cool I feel like sharing it would convince people who are on the fence to watch the anime.
 
Englishhedgehog said:
- 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.
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I'd argue that this works much better in the games, so I like what they did here (granted, we don't have all the same scenes to compare in a video format). In S1, since you have agency to control your character you've had many hours of gameplay where you explored the environment and learned how to get from point A to point B. This point in the story gives you a literal time limit where you need to remember what you learned to progress, so typically your first instinct is to run to the bus stop. When you find out the busses aren't running anymore, you're really at a loss on what to do next because you, as a player, need to figure out the next steps and you only have a few minutes to figure it out before game over.

I don't think it would work as well in the anime because it'll just cut to Ryo running to a place and then go "Oh no! The buses aren't running! Oh no! The Taxi will take too long to get here. Oh no! I won't get there in time on a bicycle!". I just don't think this part will translate well to the anime because the tension came at this point from having control of your character.


Englishhedgehog said:
- 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.
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To be fair, you mostly "opt in" to Naoyuki's friendship in Shenmue 1 and there's honestly not much development in the games as well. I think I barely knew who the guy was when I first played the game.

Englishhedgehog said:
- 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.
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I also like the change of "you need to kill Guizhang" vs "Mess him up". What would you suggest happen for a "couple more minutes" that would work here? Ryo was led out by the Mad Angels, was thinking to himself if there was any other way out of the situation, bought some time to write out "17" in chalk, before getting to the fight with Gui Zhang.

Englishhedgehog said:
Chai getting defeated in episode 1 is still awful though.
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I wasn't a huge fan of this myself, but I imagine there will still be a final fight in episode 5.
 
tomboz said:
Out of interest, what are everybody’s predictions as to why Ryo wrote 17 on the floor? I’m guessing that Ryo and Guizang will actually be overwhelmed in the 70 man fight and that Master Chen and his goons will show up to save them.
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I re-watched the scene, and yeah I was dumb and Ryo obviously writes down 17.

I agree that it will be a "Chen vs Mad Angels" final fight, but it will start with Goro heading to warehouse 17 to bro-down, only to discover that there's a huge fight going on. Then he'll find Master Chen and inform him of the situation and the gang will come in to turn the tide of the fight.

Or perhaps another scenario would be that Ryo and Gui Zhang are taken hostage in warehouse 17? (but then the same sequence happens with Goro informing Master Chen)
 
Tomato Convenience Store said:
I'd argue that this works much better in the games, so I like what they did here (granted, we don't have all the same scenes to compare in a video format). In S1, since you have agency to control your character you've had many hours of gameplay where you explored the environment and learned how to get from point A to point B. This point in the story gives you a literal time limit where you need to remember what you learned to progress, so typically your first instinct is to run to the bus stop. When you find out the busses aren't running anymore, you're really at a loss on what to do next because you, as a player, need to figure out the next steps and you only have a few minutes to figure it out before game over.
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Yes I think it works better because of the interactive nature of the game. I thought this video does a great job of explaining what makes this such a great moment-

 
I agree. Exploring the basement, the three blades, 5 days of forklift driving, searching for transport out of Dobuita...some sequences aren't cut just to save time, but because they simply don't work as well in this medium. Considering it'd be impossible to fit every character and every sequence, I think they've been smart about what to cut (side characters, interaction-heavy sequences) and what to add (character depth and motivation).

For the "true" atmosphere of Shenmue, we always have the game. For a punchier, more character-driven rendition, we now have the anime.

As for what type of impact the anime is having outside of core fans, I have no idea how to judge that, or if it's too early to do so. I haven't heard of 99% of what's on Crunchyroll, so I don't know what "success" looks like, really.
 
I really love how the anime gives Goro a lot more motivation as it relates to how he develops his relationship with Ryo, and how they managed to bring him and Mai together that’s appropriate to the anime medium. I just wish Takahiro Sakurai was still playing him in the Japanese version. As for the fight, I just wish that when Ryo and Guizhang kicked each other, it wouldn’t pan up. I wanted to see it landed each other and see the impact.

As for the Chens. I’m going to guess whatever “crimes” they’re committing, they’re probably illegally importing antiques and not paying taxes on them lol. At least in the US, that’s the worst thing you can do for the most part (and that’s the only way they could get Al Capone). I think Zhu is probably the same. He’s also probably a tax cheat at the worst lol.

I like that with Guizhang, the anime is still faithful to the games that whenever he strikes with his hands, they are mostly backhanded strikes or with open hands. I wonder if the anime will include the homeless man at the docks who also knew of the Hazuki style.

I also enjoy how they used Mark in this episode though they do change his personality a bit to further build him and Ryo’s relationship. It’s also too bad his voice actor from the original game (a native English speaker who speaks in Japanese) isn’t back. I felt it brought more “authenticity” to the gaijin who speaks Japanese and how the original games give players an idea of what a foreign accent sounds like whenever they speak Japanese. I just wish the morning races were included lol.

I knew from the beginning that an anime has to sacrifice some Things from the original game. It’s not easy to adapt Shenmue into anime the same way you can do with Persona so I am welcome to some of the changes that have been made so far. I hope the anime will attract new fans to the magic of what the games truly have to offer.

Lastly, I like how the bad ending of Shenmue 2 is utilized as a dream.

I am watching this in Japanese with English subs (I will watch the dub later) and I feel that some of the phrases and words are “too modern” and don’t fit the 80s. If I were the translator, I’d partially channel my “inner Johnny Lawrence” to give it a more authentic 80s feel. But we all know that if Ryo is going to win, he’ll need Eagle Fang Karate…which won’t be founded for another 35 years…
 
This was the first episode where I could sense some amount of actual artistry to the direction. I don't know why exactly the change seems so dramatic to me. I actually enjoyed this episode a fair amount, and it has given me some hope that the Shenmue II arc won't be a complete disaster. The fight scenes in this episode also seemed to be ratcheted up in quality, for the most part. (I really wish they had at least preserved Ryo jump kicking a guy off a bike that was actually coming at him, though; I'm also disappointed to see the pointless block Ryo performs on Guizhang in the opening animation actually shows up in a fight scene here.)

I'm afraid to rewatch it, and find more things I don't like, such as the complete disregard from anyone in the Hadzuki residence about why Ryo suddenly wants to take a trip to Hong Kong. In that same breath, I do enjoy seeing Ryo apprehensive about asking Ine-san for any money, when she's working through the finances in the wake of Iwao's passing.

My issue with the animation series is always going to be the brazen way they disregard the part of Ryo's story where he tries to sabotage all the relationships he has in Yokosuka for the pursuit of revenge. This doesn't get made up for down the road. This is the time for Ryo to go through that. I believe there was a way to do it, even while keeping the runtime for the first game brief, but it might not have been fashionable enough for the modern audience. Looking at some comments on Cruncyroll, even this stripped down plot summary in the animation is too meandering for newcomers.

24Nathan said:
Anyone catch the picture of Eri scolding Ryo in Nozomi's room? Nice touch.
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I did, yeah. I also noticed one of Eri, Nozomi and Mayumi, which I found puzzling. No idea why it was Mayumi, and not Noriko. I mean, I'm more of a fan of Mayumi, but it still doesn't make any sense to me.
 
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