Shenmue The Animation S01 EP01 Thunderclap - Analysis

Welcome to the Shenmue The Animation Analysis!

I will make analysis of all of the episodes. In my analysis I will share my opinion about all of the scenes in the episodes, the details, the characters and the development of them. I will also discuss the arcs in the story, the characters, theories, the differences with the games,
what we can expect to see in the next episodes and much more.


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After much anticipation the first episode of Shenmue The Animation was released. I watched the japanese version on Crunchyroll, and I have plans to watch the english version someday. This analysis will have a lot of SPOILERS about the anime and about the games.

The anime starts with the scene in the cave. This is the cave scene that we can see in the ending of Shenmue II and at the beginning of Shenmue III. I find it interesting that the anime started with this scene, maybe the final episode will have the same scene? Shenhua recited the prophecy and in this scene we can hear a beautiful arrangement of the Shenmue main theme. I loved that the anime started with this scene, it was an interesting decision.



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In the next scenes we go back to the past, in a time where Ryo didn't know Shenhua yet. We can see a lot of scenes here that were made especially for the anime just before the opening of the first game and I think that this is really nice. This way it adds more things to the story and the lore of Shenmue. We can see Ryo getting ready to leave the house to go to a martial arts tournament, and this tournament will help Ryo get into university. Here we can also see the introduction of many important characters. We see Ryo talking with Fuku-san, Ine-san, Iwao and... and Yamagishi-san! Yes, Yamagishi is in this scene, it was nice to see Yamagishi-san here.




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Iwao said to Ryo... "“It’s still not enough. You are lacking. Keep that in mind.” then Ryo said "Saying nonsensical things, as usual." This is the time where Ryo's mini arc in the episode began. Ryo doesn't understand what his father said. In these scenes I started crying, and the soundtrack in these scenes was so beautiful, I couldn't believe what i was seeing, I was really watching Shenmue Anime! Shenmue is super important to me so i started crying.

After that we saw... "Meanwhile... In Bailu Village, Guilin". We saw Shenhua with a cute goat and in this scene we can hear a beautiful and new arrangement of Shenhua’s Theme. I was already crying so when i saw this scene it made me cry even more. The scenes in the Hazuki Residence, the transition to Bailu Village and this scene with Shenhua, everything about this was so beautiful, the anime team did a beautiful job with these scenes!



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Shenhua has more screen time and this is also beautiful. This way it builds her character for the viewers to care more about her, showing Shenhua’s life before meeting Ryo and much more. When Ryo meets Shenhua later, it will probably be even more emotional for us because of these scenes with Shenhua throughout. After that we are back with Ryo in the martial arts tournament, here we can see that Ryo is super strong. Ryo defeated the last champion of the tournament with just one hit, Ryo even said "No one could even hit me in a fight." This showed just how strong he really is, and that Ryo is confident in his own strength.


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In the next scene we can see Lan Di in a car going to the Hazuki Residence. This scene is not in the game, but it is another nice detail that I appreciated. Ryo’s team won the martial arts tournament and Ryo’s friends wanted to celebrate but Ryo kindly refused, saying that he has to train. In the next scene we see the introduction of Tom. Ryo has a quick conversation with him, and then Tom invites Ryo to eat Hot Dogs. Ryo kindly refuses saying "another time" since he has to train.

Ryo enters Sakuragaoka and notices that it has started to snow. This is where we see a scene that happened in the game but with some slight differences. This is the scene where Ryo fights Enoki and Nagashima and saves Nozomi and a child. Enoki and Nagashima's designs are really similar to the ones in the game, however Nozomi's character design is a little more similar to her original concept art. I personally think that the anime team did a beautiful job with this version of Nozomi!


The child thanks them, runs away, and in act of kindness Ryo gives a tissue to Nozomi for her to clean her clothes. It is a beautiful scene and reminded me how Ryo is a kind person at heart that helps a lot of people, just like in the games. Ryo is a kind person in the games as well, like a hero without a cape, well... Ryo is a hero with a jacket! Nozomi accepts the tissue and then they part ways.

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In the next scene Ryo starts running home, this means that the opening part of the game will finally happen in the anime. This is a very important part in the story, and this part in the anime is almost a 100% faithful recreation in relation to the game. I would say it is around 80% faithful, since many things happen in the same way, such as Ryo finding Ine-san first and then Fuku-san being thrown out of the Dojo. Then Iwao telling Ryo to stay back, Lan Di then asking the location of the mirror, then Ryo seeing Lan Di hitting his father to the ground and then trying to attack Lan Di but...in this part something big and different does happen.



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Lan Di is the one that gives the scar on Ryo’s face and says... "You are not ready to fight me". This is something that did not happen in the game, but I love the fact that Lan Di was the one to make the scar. This adds a depth to the scar and I love the dialogue from Lan Di in this scene. Lan Di is right about one thing, Ryo is not ready to fight Lan Di yet. We can imagine that at some point in the story Ryo will be ready, and when that day comes, Ryo will surely surpass Lan Di in a battle, so this line from Lan Di is very fitting.

After that things happen in a similar way to what happened in the game but with some other minor differences. Lan Di said to Iwao... "Do you remember Zhao Sunming? that’s the name of the man you killed." Lan Di did not mention a thing about Meng Cun, however it is possible that maybe in another episode this will happen. The snow then turns to rain and Lan Di now has the Dragon Mirror. All of these scenes in the Hazuki Residence/Dojo happen in a much faster way in the anime if we compare to the scenes in the game but I still enjoyed the anime version as well. Before dying, Iwao says to Ryo the same important line that he spoke in the game, that line is... "Keep friends... those you love... close to you..."

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The next scene is a scene with Lan Di telling the others to find the other mirror. Chai over hears everything.
These scenes didn't happen in the game. Lan Di seems to know of the existence of both mirrors, so it will be interesting
to see upcoming events regarding this.

In the next scenes we see Ryo thinking about his father and touching his plaster. In these scenes we can see that
the police are involved in the case. Ine-san gives a box of information about Iwao to try to help the police.
This also didn't happen in the game since in the game no police were involved at all, but I actually really enjoyed that the police are involved
in the anime, for now at least. I don't expect that the Police will help Ryo in the next episode, but for the first episode I thought that
it was really great to see the police involved, a small but beautiful decision to put this detail in the anime.


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In this scene Ryo said that he wants to know why this happened to his father. Ine-san said for Ryo to let the police
investigate...Ryo questions more things in the anime and I think this was really interesting to see.

After that an emotional song started to play and we can see Nozomi with her school outfit, at her school. This is probably
Suka High which is really interesting since we never saw Suka High in the game. I think that it is really interesting to add these
new places to the story. The anime team did such a wonderful job with the places in Yokosuka in my opinion. The Hazuki Residence/Dojo,
Tom’s Truck in Dobuita, Chinese Ajiichi restaurant and much more for example.

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After the part with Nozomi we can see Ryo in Sakuragaoka Park. Ryo is sitting on a bench watching a father playing with his child. Ryo then
thinks about his father. Iwao says again that Ryo is lacking, but that one day Ryo will understand.

I like these scenes in the anime and especially with such a beautiful soundtrack. I noticed that Sakuragaoka park is not 100% the same like
in the game but it is very similar, again I like how the anime team designed these places in Yokosuka.



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After that we can see Ryo walking in Dobuita, he questions to himself if his father really killed a person. Then Nozomi appears and
talks with Ryo. Nozomi gives Ryo his tissue back and she tries to comfort him as he is still in mourning. Nozomi invites Ryo to eat at Tom’s hot dog truck, and she offers to pay to say thanks for the other day. Then we can hear Nozomi’s
stomach growling since Nozomi is hungry. Ryo notices this but Nozomi tries to deny it was her. In this scene we can also see
2 jackets that looks similar to 2 jackets from Shenmue III, this is a really nice detail.

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Ryo laughs outloud and asks her to be honest and just say that she is hungry. Some people do laugh like this to try to
deal with bad situations and feeling depressed, this is a way to try to hide those sad emotions. Ryo was trying to deal with what
happened to his father, and I really enjoyed this scene. I love that we can see Ryo showing more of his feelings
and emotions in this version of the story. I love Ryo in the games but I also love Ryo in this version as well.

In this version Ryo continues to be more quiet and introvert but he is showing more of his emotions and feelings. In
my opinion it will be good to continue to show Ryo smiling, laughing, maybe even crying, feeling fear, in difficult situations
and much more, this way the viewers can connect even more with the main protagonist Ryo Hazuki.


In the next scenes Ryo and Nozomi go to Tom’s truck and talk with him. He says that he will be closed for awhile
because someone in a luxury black car hit his truck. This person in the car was wearing a green Chinese outfit,
it is interesting that this is the way Ryo gets a clue/information from Tom.


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After that Ryo had the idea to eat Ramen. Ryo and Nozomi go to Ajiichi Restaurant, and the restaurant in the anime
is really similar to the one in the game, we can even see Tao-san there. It is interesting to see here that Ryo
has doubts if he really should continue to be involved in this.

He talks with Nozomi about Lan Di and then all of a sudden Liu-san overhears the conversation. Liu-san was an NPC in the first
game so it was really nice to see Liu-san in this scene. Then Liu-san offers the information that from Lan Di’s name it sounds like he could be someone involved in the Chinese underworld or Chinese mafia, and that it is not safe to get involved in this.


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With this conversation Ryo got another clue/information, so I find it is really interesting how Ryo gets these clues/informations in this
episode, it was quite a dynamic and clever decision in my opinion, and we have to remember that the anime will be 13
episodes, so these decisions are fine to me.

In the next scene Nozomi asks Ryo if he will return to school after everything is calmed down. Ryo then says...
"When I solve many things." Will we maybe see Ryo going to Suka High in some episode too? maybe... it would be nice to have more
scenes there as well.

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After that Nozomi says to Ryo "Go easy on yourself." Then they part ways, but it really nice to see more scenes with
Nozomi, I enjoyed them a lot.

In the next scene we see Ryo question the clues/informations he got. Ryo here is still in doubt about what to do,
but then suddenly notices that the Dojo door is slightly ajar. Ryo goes there to see why....and then then CHAI APPEARS!

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Chai wants to know where the other mirror is. It is interesting to note that in this scene it's possible that Ryo now knows about
the existence of both mirrors, something that only happens later in the game. Lan Di knows about the existence
of both mirrors as well in the anime version, but I don’t have a problem with them both knowing the existence of
the mirrors and i’m looking forward to see how exactly Lan Di knows this and much more.

Chai hits Ryo and says that he lacks strength. Then while on the ground Ryo remembers what Iwao said, that it is not
enough, and that he is lacking... one day he will understand. After this Ryo finally understands what Iwao meant, and then
Ryo realises... "First, accept that your opponent is stronger than you. And realize that the only way to win... is to
watch your moves."

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After that Ryo wins the fight against Chai. I personally don’t have problems with Ryo winning this battle with Chai in the first
episode, since we don’t even know what will happen in the next episodes. Many things can certainly happen. Ryo however did learn an important
thing in this episode which I enjoyed this very much.

Ryo admited to himself that he lacks strength, that he doesn't know everything, and that he is not the strongest. This
is a good thing in my opinon as it means that Ryo is still learning and improving.



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In this episode Ryo doesn't ever say.."I want revenge, i will have my revenge" or anything like that.


Maybe some people will say that Ryo's entire revenge arc is over with just this one episode. It looks like Ryo does not particularly want revenge
and stuff like that, but it is also important to remember that we have only seen the first episode, so I
think it is still really early to guess.

Maybe in the second episode we will see Ryo having nightmares with Lan Di? This happens in the game, and maybe in the anime
after these nightmares Ryo will start to feel confused, sad and angry and then may even say... "Lan Di killed my father, i
want revenge". It is not impossible for this to happen, again we only saw the first episode which is just the beginning of the story
in anime form, so a lot of things can happen. Ryo's mini arc about accepting his lack of strength and that he is not the
strongest is over, probably in the second episode will start a new ongoing arc for Ryo.

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Does Ryo in the anime want revenge or not? This is what i found from the official Shenmue Anime site.

Shenmue Anime's official website about Ryo:
"A high school boy who was raised in Yokosuka at the Hazuki Dojo. Losing his Mother
at a young age, Ryo trained to master the Hazuki style martial arts under his strict Father. However, one day his
father is murdered by a mysterious man named Lan Di. To unveil the mystery behind his Father’s death, Ryo begins his
journey. Ryo is reckless and prone to getting into fights but has a strong will.

No matter how long the journey may take his determination to avenge his Father will never fade. Along with his personality
and his determination, he often acts without thinking through and gets into many fights during his journey. On the other
hand, he meets many who help him and at times scold him. Ryo’s experiences in his journey lead to him growing as a person."


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After the Chai fight Ine-san and Fuku-san again want to call the police but Ryo says to stop and he explains his decision. He
wants to know more about his father’s past, and even wants to know if his father really was the man he thought he was. It is
really interesting that Ryo question these things in my opinion.

I really think Ryo will follow the revenge path in the anime but will question more about some things in relation to Iwao as well, i really
like this route for the anime version. Ine-san decided to give Yuanda Zhu's letter to Ryo, this in the game happened in
a different place and time but i thought it was okay here in the anime version, i don't have problems with the letter in this scene.


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At the end of the episode we see a beautiful scene of Ryo, Shenhua and Lan Di all looking at the moon, all of this while Shenhua
recites the prophecy.

After that we can see the ending animation with the opening theme. This is a beautiful song and ending animation! We can even see
a forklift in this animation! I love the song and the animation.




So...What we can expect to see in the next episode?

I feel that we can expect to see Shenhua and Lan Di more in the next episode. Maybe the introduction
of some more NPCs from the game that will help Ryo with clues/informations just like Tom and Liu-san did in this first episode. Maybe they will be more slice of life/calm moments. Maybe Nozomi will also get more screen time, along with Fuku-san, Ine-san and other characters. I think there will be plenty more fights, and a new arc for Ryo. We could see Ryo going through many more difficult situations, mysterious moments, sad moments, maybe flashback moments and more learning moments etc.

What NPCs do you want to see in the second episode? Please share your opinions in the comments below!

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Final Thoughts

It was really nice to see Shenhua, Lan Di and Nozomi with more screen time in this episode and it was
really nice to also see the moments before the first game. This added many interesting things for the story and also for the
characters. I really enjoyed seeing these moments before the first game began. It was particularly nice to see how Ryo got his scar, giving more depth and significance to it.


I loved the first episode! It was a mix of slice of life/calm moments, fights, mysterious moments,
sad moments, cute/sweet moments, learning moments and much more. The animation is great, and overall I just loved this first episode and I feel that the season will get even better and better!

What did you think about the first episode?
What was your favorite scenes/moments?
What do you think it will happen in the second episode?
Please share your opinions with us.

Next week I will be back with more analysis of EP 2 Daybreak, thank you all so much for reading!

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Awesome, thank you Hiki!

What did you think about the first episode?
I'm still not sure if I'm a bit too overwhelmed or not, but I really really really loved the first episode. Yesterday was the first day I didn't watch it.
What was your favorite scenes/moments?
Favorite scene: cave scene with Shenhua
Favorite moments: Ryo laughing/dining with Nozomi/Shenhua and the little goat/Lan-Di fighting Iwao/Ryo.
What do you think it will happen in the second episode?
I think episode 1 was all about establishing characters, and episode 2 will be a bit more about the mystery/investigation. I think we'll end with Ryo going to the docks.
 
Awesome, thank you Hiki!

What did you think about the first episode?
I'm still not sure if I'm a bit too overwhelmed or not, but I really really really loved the first episode. Yesterday was the first day I didn't watch it.
What was your favorite scenes/moments?
Favorite scene: cave scene with Shenhua
Favorite moments: Ryo laughing/dining with Nozomi/Shenhua and the little goat/Lan-Di fighting Iwao/Ryo.
What do you think it will happen in the second episode?
I think episode 1 was all about establishing characters, and episode 2 will be a bit more about the mystery/investigation. I think we'll end with Ryo going to the docks.

Thank you, Obi_frans. 😊

I love these scenes and moments as well.

I agree with you, Episode 1 was about establishing characters. in the next episode we will see Charlie, probably tattoo parlor, sailors, Heartbeats bar and much more. Yeah, maybe the episode will end with Ryo going to the docks/Warehouse 8
 
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