Episode Recap - Shenmue the Animation S01E02: Daybreak

Welcome back to the second episode recap for Season 1 of Shenmue the Animation. This week’s episode is titled Daybreak and covers significant ground in the Yokosuka portion of Shenmue’s plot line.

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Just a Nightmare

We open to what is seemingly a recap scene meant to fill in viewers who missed last week’s premier. The key beats of Iwao’s death are played out before events take a strange divergence. Ryo demands Lan Di answer why he would commit this atrocity against his innocent father, and the man’s answer implies there is a darker side to Iwao’s past. Lan Di promises Ryo his father’s fate if he pursues the matter further, which causes an enraged Ryo to charge Lan Di and get put down by the villain once more. Of course, this extra conversation didn’t actually happen and Ryo snaps awake in cold sweat from his nightmare, remarking that it was just a dream before touching his bandaged face, as he does when haunted by the memory of Lan Di.

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Last week’s closing credits sequence featuring the catchy UNDEAD-NOID tune has transitioned to become the show’s opening credits this week. It was a pleasant surprise to see the show add a high quality opening and closing credits sequence to the show.

We get to see Shenhua going about her daily life again, this time visiting Bailu’s village square and interacting with some faces you might recognize from Shenmue 3. She delivers medicinal herbs to Elder Yeh (going by Grandma in the show), who’s teaching the children huddled around her the Prophecy recited at the opening of Thunderclap last week. Shenhua has known this poem since she was a small child and it is one of the oldest teachings in the village. When Shenhua recites “from a distant land in the east, he shall appear”, a village girl named Lin asks who exactly this person appearing is before cutting away. Does Shenhua have any inkling that she’s destined to meet the man from this prophecy? I feel she might, but we’ll have to find out as we go along with the season.

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Terrible at Asking People for Help

Meanwhile, Ryo has left his Tails capsule toy at home and inquires around Dobuita for someone who can decipher the letter from Yuanda Zhu, given to him at the close of last episode. He hopes it contains the information needed to lead him to this mysterious man but frustratingly cannot find anyone able to read it. In a gesture of friendship, Nozomi offers to ask around for someone that can translate the unique Chinese characters on the letter, noting that Ryo not very good at asking others for assistance when he could use it.

Ryo runs into Yamagishi, the elderly man visiting Iwao at the start of last week’s episode, resting at Suzume Park and invites him to the Hazuki residence to pay his respects. Ryo asks him what he knows about his father’s life before moving to Yokosuka, but Yamagishi cuts off the conversation after realizing the lust for vengeance in Ryo’s eyes and advises him to resume his normal life. Instead of Ine-san being the early objector to Ryo’s revenge quest, we are seeing Yamagishi take up this role in the anime.

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Deciding to wait for Nozomi’s help with the letter, Ryo changes focus and looks into criminal activity at the harbor where Lan Di bypassed immigration to enter the country. This is our search for sailors, though the infamous line is thankfully not repeated here. He ends up outside the seedy Heartbeats bar, immediately attacked by two sailors just for showing his face. Quickly dispatching these muscle-bound drunkards, Ryo enters the bar proper and asks for people familiar with Chinese criminal operations. A brawl faithful to the QTE sequence in Shenmue 1 ensues with the establishment’s patrons, and the barkeep gives Ryo a name in exchange for never returning: Charlie.

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Charlie, an illicit underground broker, isn’t too thrilled to hear a schoolboy is asking around town for him and arranges an ambush. It fails after Ryo proves too much for these low level gangsters in a fight, but Charlie sneaks away leaving the trail cold again. Watching all of this in the shadows is Chai, who spent this episode licking his wounds and now awaits the opportune moment to strike and seize the second mirror for Lan Di.



Damn Schoolboy

Nozomi comes up empty handed on the letter front and apologizes to Ryo. Trying to pull herself closer to him again, she suggests applying to the same university that’s already accepted Ryo. His mind elsewhere, he barely acknowledges the mention of his future schooling, nor does he address the obvious romantic gesture she just made toward him. Later, Nozomi worries that Ryo might not go to university at all, before accepting a call from her father in Canada that bodes changes for her own future. I can’t help but feel a little bad for her in the scenes. Her attempts to engage Ryo romantically will surely continue in future episodes and I don’t look forward to her getting rejected.

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Back at Heartbeats, Charlie is worrying over a potential turf war with a rival organization he calls the Chens, and believes Ryo is working with them. Despite his henchmen having just been soundly beaten, Charlie hatches a plan to capture Ryo and utilize him as a bargaining chip against the Chens. Smith and Tony, the two hot headed sailors Ryo beat up outside Hearbeats are still fuming about the schoolboy, and Charlie approaches them with an opportunity to get revenge.

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Smith and Tony find Ryo at You Arcade (now featuring Virtua Fighter!) and sweetly offer the location of Charlie. A wary Ryo follows them to a construction site and the second ambush is sprung. Ryo lets his guard down after dropping Zhu’s letter and is overwhelmed by Charlie’s men, but quickly gets enraged at the thought of losing his best remaining clue and furiously takes down the thugs with haste.

Yamagishi, who expressed his concerns to Ine and Fuku the Hazuki residence earlier in the episode, watches the fight unfold after passing a terrified Tony and Smith fleeing the scene. Here, he seems to realize the unshakable resolve to learn his father’s past the young Hazuki boy holds, as the fight with Charlie ends in victory for Ryo. Lan Di is known to Charlie as one of the most dangerous men in the criminal underworld. Now understanding that Ryo isn’t involved in his turf wars, he expresses a warning about pursuing Lan Di before Ryo leaves with his recovered letter. Chai continues to stalk from the shadows.

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A Drink with Iwao

Retelling an optional scene from the game, Ryo again finds Yamagishi at the park having a drink with the spirit of Iwao. The elderly man has changed his mind after witnessing Ryo’s face off with Charlie. He's guides Ryo, now believing it will be the quickest path to getting his life back on track and points him to antique shop owner Xia Xiu Yu to get his letter translated. Before leaving, Yamagishi teaches a powerful martial arts move: the Double Blow. This has always been a great go-to move in free battles, so it’s quite fun to see it depicted in the anime.

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To close out the episode we’re treated to a segment that harkens back to the title cutscene from the first Shenmue. Shenhua stands upon a cliff at sunset, reciting a portion of the prophecy poem while an eagle flies overhead, screeching into the evening sky. Briefly, we cut to a warehouse filled with Chinese antiques, where two figures cloaked in shadow prepare to enter this tale.

The new end credits roll features a number of wonderfully done paintings featuring Nozomi. A lovely new song titled Sympathy by the band NARUDORA plays during the credits. This is an excellent sequence to close out the show.


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Notable Changes from the Game Series

Spoilers for all three Shenmue games in this section.

Ryo’s Nightmare: In the game, the nightmare is a shadowy sequence replaying Lan Di’s attack on Iwao. The anime adds to this by having Ryo question Lan Di why he would commit the murder and attacking him once more.

Bailu Village: Since we don’t meet Shenhua or see Guilin until late in Shenmue 2, all glimpses of her life in Bailu this season and interactions with the villagers from Shenmue 3 will be content not available in the games.

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Tattoo Parlor: Ryo visits the parlor, but Charlie isn’t there. The game’s first encounter with Charlie sees him attempt to knife Ryo’s face from behind a curtain at this location. Charlie is still notified someone is looking for him by the owner.

Yamagishi’s Expanded Role: His temporary attempt to dissuade Ryo from pursuing his father’s past is a plot thread that doesn’t exist in the games, nor does he provide any help in deciphering the letter.

Nozomi’s Help: Her offer to help track down a translator for Zhu’s letter is unique to the anime.

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Warehouse Ambush: Ambush scenes featuring Tony and Smith from Ryo’s forklift shifts are reworked into this episode to fit with Charlie’s plot line. There were multiple attacks on Ryo at the harbor in the game, so attempts will likely be seen again in future episodes.


Final Thoughts

That was one hell of an episode! It effortlessly covered so much story while keeping an exciting pace. There were a number of scenes that opened up the investigation aspect of the plot the games are famous for. The showrunners managed to line up a trail of clues that were easy to follow while not getting bogged down in small details that would bore some viewers. It feels like they are retooling Shenmue to work in a different medium and the results are incredibly good. These recaps aren’t meant to be reviews, but I would be providing high marks for this one.

Small scenes like Chai planning his next move, Nozomi worrying about Ryo’s future at home, and Charlie plotting against the Chen family are things we couldn’t experience in the game while viewing everything from the perspective of Ryo. These scenes keep the narrative fresh for those who have already romped through the games and demonstrate there's been more going on than we were able to see. Extra focus on characters not named Ryo Hazuki is really building the world of Shenmue out and enhancing what was already an incredibly rich depiction of 1980s Yokosuka and Guilin. Shenmue the Animation is turning itself into an indispensable companion piece to the games for those wishing to fully experience Shenmue’s story.

Episode 3: Yin-Yang will air this Saturday. See you soon for another recap. Thanks for reading!

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