If Shenmue The Anime gets a Season 02...what would you want for it to add considering Shenmue III's weaker storytelling?

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I love Shenmue III...I'm not ragging on it. But I am more than aware the story telling could have been more substantial in that game in certain areas.

So...if Shenmue the Anime gets to Season 2, it would natually be covering Bailu and Niaowu, right? So...what would you want for it to add that the game didn't have in terms of story telling?

For me, I would kind of like to see the original Baisha chapter in Anime form. We all know Baisha was supposed to be a big part of Shenmue III's conclusion...but alas, never happened. So, if the Anime got to Season 2, it could be a great chance to bring that original plot back in and have the ending SIII was supposed to have.
 
I think for me giving context and fleshing out Niao Sun background and motives could be ripe for exploration in the anime.

Here is a character we know was always part of Shenmue DNA since the initial premiere, to side comics and of course appearing in final splash image in Shenmue 2.

Yet she is largely a blank canvas in Shenmue 3, from her disguise and hidden identity, her motivations and role within the Chi You Men and of course her relationship with Lan Di.
 
Flesh out the Niaowu section, and tie it together as a more cohesive whole. Returning Baisha to the mix would be an interesting idea, but it depends how big a departure from the games the anime staff decide to take once they're past Shenmue II's conclusion.

On paper (and in some of the execution to give the game its due), Shenmue III has a solid conclusion that upends the status quo of the series in quite a few major ways. I could see a second season ending not too dissimilar to the game, but with more build up and elaboration.
 
Cut out Bailu. Introduce Niao Sun differently. Cut out Fortified Castle. Go from Bailu to Baisha. Dont waste too many episodes on S3's story, take more room to cover S4 and 5.
 
Imo make Feng Li a fully fledged character so her betrayal and true identity as Nioa Sun feels meaningful. Flesh out the supporting cast like the trio who helps Ryo in the castle and Grand Master Feng who only appears briefly.

Perhaps the old castle conclusion is replaced with the cut Baisha arc.
 
If a second season happen it will be a good opportunity for Yu Suzuki to add even more things in the Story of Shenmue III, things that he had to cut out of the game.

More character development for the side characters in Niaowu, more scenes with Niao Sun, Baisha in the story, maybe flashbacks with Iwao and Sunming Zhao in Bailu Village and much more, if a second season happen it will be a beautiful opportunity to do it like this, to add more things to the Shenmue III story.
 
I personally think three things are a must:
  • Deepen the Bailu chapter. Specifically, delve much more into the prophecy, and into Iwao's and Zhao's journey there. I'd love for them to portray Bailu as the peaceful and quirky town that Shenhua describes on the journey through Guilin. And not only see it under external attack.
  • Develop the Niao Sun character. I don't know if that should be done in a more fledged out Niaowu chapter (which would get more purpose that way) or in my next point...
  • Add the Baisha chapter. The tulous as a setting are wonderful, and should not be missed.
To gain more time for that, they should get rid of the Blue Spiders arc completely. And the fortified castle probably.

I wouldn't be that surprised if they are able to cram all that and even more (Cliff Temple, Luoyang) in a hypothetical season 2. If they are able to cram the entirety of Shenmue I & II in one season, they could do that too.
 
They have the DLC story with Zhang as well where there's a spy in Zhu's organisation, Wei Yangfeng. They can show Zhu deal with the spy after he's been caught by Zhang and show a bit more of his point of view.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
Am I the only person that feels like each game should have its own season.
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Replay Shenmue 1. You will see just how little actual PLOT there is. So far I can see Shenmue 2 taking up more than 10 episodes. But for the most part, the games are filled with padding that makes them feel longer than they really are. These are 15 hour games that feel like 40 hours thanks to the more mundane elements. Honestly you can tell the complete story of Shenmue 1 without skipping an important bit with like 2 hours of footage.
 
kaliskonig91 said:
Replay Shenmue 1. You will see just how little actual PLOT there is. So far I can see Shenmue 2 taking up more than 10 episodes. But for the most part, the games are filled with padding that makes them feel longer than they really are. These are 15 hour games that feel like 40 hours thanks to the more mundane elements. Honestly you can tell the complete story of Shenmue 1 without skipping an important bit with like 2 hours of footage.
Click to expand...

I see your point, I was hoping that Yu would also use some of the story elements that never made it in the game or explore some new ideas. Like Mark and his brother, Nagai Industries, etc.
 
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Shenmue 3's story was too light I agree. So I'm very much hoping the Anime will be a success so we get a better story version of Shenmue III.
- Have more scenes with Shenhua, even if she was just standing there watching Ryo fight the Red Snakes, it would still count. She had way to little involvement in the Niaowu section of the game.
- Flesh out Niao-Sun more but I feel Shenmue 3 was only her introduction to the series. So in Shenmue IV we will likely get to know more about her.
- More story with the new characters like Shiling, Grandmaster Bei, Chengxu Feng, Hsu, Wenxu Su. I can't see some of those characters returning in Shenmue IV so this was a downer in terms of Shenmue 3's story. Maybe some more then others though.
- Don't cut out the good story sections of the game, like Ryo going to the martial arts' shops to learn what type of fighting style Longqi Ge had. I thought this was a great part in the game and on his way to beating Lan Di perhaps.
- Don't cut out the castle part. I loved that part and to replace it with something different would just make it seem pointless in Shenmue 3.

So hopefully the anime will be a success!
 
I think Bailu village will be completely revamped and have a much more important role, and I wouldn't be surprised if Niaowu was left out altogether. I honestly don't remember anything important happening in Niaowu in Shenmue 3.
 
Niaowu was just pointless and unnecessary imho, but the thing that really got me aggrevated about S3 was how bad the storytelling in Bailu was.

So let Ryo actually talk to the two grandmasters who trained Iwao and learn something about Iwao's and Sunming's. Cut the second Shenmue tree (translation mistake?) make the nighttime conversations with Shenhua more substantial.

Cut Niaowu, let Ryo learn the super move from the drunken master and beat Yanlang in Bailu to rescue old Yuan, and let Niaosun capture Shenhua in Bailu and take her to Baisha Fortress (which is of course situated in the evil mountains, depicted in Shenhua's house in S2). Make a really cool infiltration sequence into Baisha fortress and the fortress gets burned down after Ryo confronts Lan Di and Niaosun gets both mirrors and old Yuan tips Ryo and Shenhua off about the treasure map and they use Shenhua's power in some way to obtain the treasure map. Boom, off to the Cliff Temple and into S4 territory we go!

That's what I would hope for.
 
I respect all the opinions here i just don't agree that Niaowu was pointless, unnecessary and that nothing important happened, as far as i know the Fortified Castle is in Niaowu and a lot of important things happened in the castle.

The presentation of some things could have being better in Niaowu? yeah, more scenes and character development for the side characters Shiling Lin, Qiu Hsu and Grandmaster Bei, Grandmaster Bei appeared a little bit more than the others because Bei trained Ryo, but it would have been nice if Bei had appeared even more.

More scenes and character development for the side characters in Niaowu is one of the things that could have been better in Niaowu, but it is not a pointless location in my opinion, many important things happened.

Maybe i'm forgetting some things, i need to play Shenmue III again to remember all the details but right now this is the Important things that happened in Niaowu in my opinion.

1. Introduction of the character Feng Li/Niao Sun on the boat when Ryo and Shenhua arrived in Niaowu, indicating she has possibly been following them for a while. During the Niaowu part of the game Feng Li/Niao Sun appear sometimes and attempts to befriend Ryo and Shenhua and gain their trust.

2. Ryo and Ren seeing each other again, Ren is an important character so it was a big and important moment to see Ren back in the story. Ren helped Ryo in many parts of the story in Niaowu like fighting with Longqi Ge, Shenmue is a martial arts story so it was a big moment to fight the leader of the Red Snakes Longqi Ge, Ren and Ryo lost the fight, and was beautiful to see Ryo winning against Longqui Ge in the final moments of the game, showing that Ryo is progressing in martial arts, showing that Ryo is becoming stronger.

In the first game we have many moments like this as well, moments where Ryo fight thugs and Mad Angels, i like this type of moments in Shenmue III as well where Ryo fights the Red Snakes and Blue Spiders, like i said Shenmue is a martial arts story so it is nice and interesting seeing this moments in the story.

3. Ryo meeting Grandmaster Bei, training and learning the reverse body check with Bei (body check and reverse body check are not the same move) the master of Ryo in Niaowu is Grandmaster Bei, It was really interesting to see Ryo going to many places and learning about the animals styles in Kung Fu, like i said Shenmue is a martial arts story so everything about martial arts are important to the story in my opinion, Ryo learning new moves and progressing as a martial artist is super important to the story in my opinion, was really interesting for me to see this things.

4. Ryo and Shenhua conversations in the hotel in Niaowu, sadly it is not super deep conversations with options to choose like the conversations they had in Bailu but it helped for the bond between them gets even stronger. One of the things about Shenmue III to me is Ryo and Shenhua living together, getting to know each other better, and strengthening the bond between them. Ryo is not alone anymore, Shenhua is in the journey with Ryo and now Shenhua is an important person for Ryo and Ryo is an important person for Shenhua, they had some nice conversations in Niaowu as well.

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5. Everything that happened in the Fortified Castle is important, Fortified Castle is in Niaowu.

A second season is the perfect opportunity to put Baisha in the anime, Baisha was going to be an important location in Shenmue III so it's sad that Baisha isn't in the game.

I love Shenmue III but some things could have been done in a better way. It is important to remember that Shenmue III is a kickstarter game, Yu Suzuki is not with SEGA anymore and the full Shenmue experience is not something easy to do in my opinion, as far as i know Yu Suzuki had a limit budget and time to do the game, was not the same thing like in his SEGA days.

The game was delayed 2 or 3 times, and with some interviews with Yu Suzuki it is clear to me that Yu Suzuki wanted to do more with the game but probably because of budget and time Yu Suzuki and the team had to release the game, Yu Suzuki even said that his score for Shenmue III is probably 7.5. so it is clear to me that Yu Suzuki wanted to do more with the game, it is sad but it is what it is, but even with limited budget and time what Yu Suzuki and the team achieved is really beautiful in my opinion.

If a second season happen i just hope that they can expand the story of Shenmue III, even more details, moments and development in the story and with the characters in Bailu and Niaowu, and put Baisha in the anime, a second season is the perfect opportunity to do this things about the Shenmue III story.
 
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