SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 3: Yin - Yang Thread

Curious where this Bailu thread might end up leading prior to Ryo meeting Shenhua. I do think I'll bristle at the pacing when it comes to Disc 4 of Shenmue 2, I can imagine them accelerating greatly Ryo saving Shenhua through the Stone Pit. Then again, one full episode dedicated to Guilin might be enough to recreate some of those special scenes from the game.
 
sheeponfire said:
The Chen-underworld link makes me think Iwao Hazuki is maybe not quite the innocent guy I thought he was. May have blood on his hands.

The pacing is insanely quick, we must only have one episode left before Ryo heads off to Hong Kong.
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Pacing is better than the Shenmue movie which was predominantly just the cutscenes very condensed. I am not sure if the next episode will be the last in Japan but fitting in

the harbor, working, getting the ticket for the boat and losing it as well as getting scammed, saving Nozomi, the harrassment of Ryo by the sailors, meeting Mark, 70 man battle, Guizhang getting injured, prepping to go on the boat trip to Hong Kong

seems like a lot to put into a single episode. However seeing as how huge Hong Kong and Kowloon are, I could see it being condensed.
 
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They can easily cut the Asia Travel Company boat ticket and I expect they will since the first Chai fight occurred in the Dojo and not the arcade.
 
pilman said:
the harbor, working, getting the ticket for the boat and losing it as well as getting scammed, saving Nozomi, the harrassment of Ryo by the sailors, meeting Mark, 70 man battle, Guizhang getting injured, prepping to go on the boat trip to Hong Kong
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I think it'll take 2 more episodes to wrap up S1. Like you mentioned, there are still a few things to wrap up and 1 episode is probably not enough for the emotional pay-off. I can't imagine it taking more than 2 episodes though. I'm actually wondering what they'd cut in S2, though I have a few ideas I can bring up at a later time.

Spoiler tags probably not needed, but adding them to be safe since pilman added them for his post. I imagine the boat ticket story will get cut or changed, as it's not wholly important in the grand scheme. They could probably condense the "on work harassment" to one encounter, from what I remember it was something like 2 or 3 incidents in S1? I imagine 1 will probably suffice. I also think the "70 man battle -> Ryo leaving for Hong Kong" sequence can take place in the third act of the last episode, I think it's one of those things that might not take as long as we think once we actually watch it.
 
Hiki said:
I don’t remember in Shenmue II but the white leaf is in the inventory in Shenmue III, maybe the white leaf will appear in a different way in the anime, or maybe the white leaf will only be important in the video game version of the story, i really hope the white leaf appear in the anime, it is one of the interesting mysteries in the Shenmue story.

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To me this character is not Chai because of the clothes, looks like Goro’s clothes in my opinion.

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It is in Ryo's inventory in S2 as well yeah - its just always seemed a strange thing to me, but perhaps you're right it will be incorporated in a different way...
And you're right, that does look more like Goro - why on earth would he be following Ryo, I wonder?
 
At this point, its hard for me not to see this as the story Yu truly wanted to tell. Its funny because even though the games never said anything, I wondered if Chen was selling antiques due to warehouse No.8. I never put two and two together and saw the bigger picture in the context of the games though. We are getting more info, character, and story from a condensed retelling than we did from the entirety of Shenmue 1. I knew the episode would end at talking with Chen about Lan-di.

I feel like we have 3 episodes of the Japan arc.
Next episode is going to be Ryo getting scammed and fighting some angels/sailors at his job. Episode after is saving Nozomi. And after that the 70 man battle and boarding the boat I assume. I hope the HK arc takes 5 minutes to go over the fight with Chai on the boat ride.
 
Miles Prower said:
It is in Ryo's inventory in S2 as well yeah - its just always seemed a strange thing to me, but perhaps you're right it will be incorporated in a different way...
And you're right, that does look more like Goro - why on earth would he be following Ryo, I wonder?
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it's definetely Goro - if you crank up the brightness a little you can see the person is definetely wearing a purple shirt.
 
DarksideHazuki said:
You guys are high. Episode 3 was the best episode so far imo. The expansion of the Chens as a criminal organisation, exploring Guizhang's motivations, the introduction of Terry and the Mad Angels in the MJQ Jazz bar, that scene with Lan Di, Master Chen going over the lore of the mirrors, Goro!

So many little scenes and details were one-to-one with the games, too. Ryo bashing his head and grabbing the flashlight, Ryo using the tobacco shop phone, the bus, the Sega saturn on top of the telly, Ryo using the stool to reach up to the banner in the dojo. I was smiling ear-to-ear the entire time, man.
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I think if you are a fan of the games, there is a ton to love with this episode. So much potential added to what we thought we knew with the little changes. I can see why some might liek it the least since there was no major conflict and mostly an episode of intrigue and build-up.
 
This weeks felt a little bit more, point to point. in a more rapid fashion. Not to say I haven't loved it, like the past 2 episodes, but it felt a little bit more rushed, with less time in-between scenes that just moved the plot along.

I too was wondering what was going on with the moves scroll in the Dojo, and then the inventory items you get such as the leaf. But again, the basement seemed rushed, and I don't know why they did that. Take the music from that scene in the game, and you could have a good 3-4 minute scene down there, full of intrigue and even a little suspense. Also not sure of the idea to put the Phoenix Mirror in a chest that was clearly left for Link after he defeats the Dojo Temple boss.

It seems they are trying to speed run though the first game a bit, which does make sense due to the slower nature of the first game. Which I am fine with. Still cannot wait until the next episode!
 
I didn't really expect them to include the white leaf (I don't think it'll end up being that important) but I did think we'd spend a little more time in the basement.

The changes they've made have been great 95% of the time, but they missed an opportunity there to build some tension and mystery. Sure, you could argue they didn't skip anything important plot-wise, and it's the type of sequence that's always going to work better in a game...but still, as a big fan, it just wasn't as powerful (probably a non-issue for newcomers, I'll admit). Even the music felt a bit too off to me. It is the best part of the first game so I'm allowing myself to be picky.
 
Yeah, that was cool. With optional things like that I think it's totally fine to play it off as "well, Ryo just didn't find that thing".
 
Oh wow!

Googling hard to try and figure out if that's the restaurant we were taken to for our Kickstarter dinner...

Edit: no, it wasn't. Which is a bummer, but at the same time, Joe Kitchen was able to figure out where we did go, and have had a great time recollecting the day 😂
 
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KiddMarine said:
Looks like the restaurant is definitely supposed to be in Yokosuka.

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Yeah that's awesome, and makes sense to me as I was wondering why Lan Di was still hanging around Yokosuka after killing Iwao if he already found out about Yuanda Zhu back in China. Seems like this restaurant scene follows on from Lan Di telling the suit in episode 1 to find the other mirror. Presumably the guy they beat up is some sort of Zhu associate in some way (presumably Lan Di doesn't know he's a Zhu associate beforehand, just knows that this guy has Intel.)

Edit: If that really is supposed to be in Yokohama, apparently its only about a 25 min drive from Yokosuka to Yokohama, so totally feasible that Lan Di did this after killing Iwao, and during the events of episode 3 (or maybe a bit before episode 3).
 
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Considering Takahiro Sakurai (the voice of Lan Di) also played Goro in the original games, I'm surprised he wasn't voicing him in the anime as well. I love how the game is offering new dynamics with Chen and Guizhang, and their relationship with the Mad Angels. I think their roles as part of the "underworld" does make sense. I mean, if they were legit, I'm sure they would've fought the Mad Angels legally...unless that's just not their way or can't get anything that'll stick in a court of law.
 
So far the weakest episode IMO, not bad but not great. Still like it and a good moment of the week, but it felt a little bit like a transition episode, even when happening a lot, but I am ok with that :)
 
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