Of the two I'd still say that the game depiction is still the better version of Kowloon if only because it provided a much better sense of scale. I'm not asking for much just an establishing shot that looks like this:The Kowloon in the game was absolutely epic but no where near the real Kowloon, I think the game I recall something about the cramped narrow alleys would not be fun to play or technical issues? I dont recall. The Kowloon in the anime resembles the real Kowloon how it existed at the time.
If we do get a season 2, I fully expect it to comprise of story beats from both Shenmue 3 and Shenmue 4.I liked this episode but is not among my favourites, way too fast pacing. My concern is that they leave full season 2 for Shenmue 3, that is the one who has less history content of the three games. They have skipped a lot of content of Kowloon and wanchai, it's a shame. I always like the stellar appearances of Xiuying, with that powerful aura she gives off to surprise even Dou Niu.
I don't really follow the white thai stuff. Is that little girl Joy? I thought it may have been Xiuying because we never found what happened to how her parents die.Whew! Absolutely jam-packed episode, but they still somehow found space for non-game content. The cold open sequence before the credits gives me big "setting up season 2" vibes, if it happens.
I wonder how canon that stuff about Joy and the White Thai organisation is... It'd certainly explain a lot more about her status in the game, which is really only hinted at with her connections to Master Chen and Guizhang.