SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 4: Shackles Thread

They're really playing up the father/son stuff, aren't they? Between Goro and now Guizhang
 
Okay another week down...70 man battle next week and then we're done with Shenmue and onto Shenmue II. Yeah, 5 episodes to get through Shenmue. Pretty much what I expected
 
There was a revolving joke during it run that many of the principle characters in Lost had ‘daddy’ issues it seems like Shenmue anime has taken this mantle. Initial, random thoughts-

- Really liked how they incorporated Shenmue 2’s bad ending in the dream sequence. I hope we see more of this

- I thought some of the exposition was clunky this episode, the way they bridged storylines and events during the Harbour did not quite land for me

- First well done fight with some nice animation, shame it was all too brief. I am also disappointed they didn’t recreate the epic slow motion double KO from the game and had them do dueling Swallow dive moves
 
Shenmue E4 image.jpg

Had to pause the episode to take this screenshot. Simply breathtaking in its own right. What I love though is the context, as Nozomi looks out towards the Harbor thinking about Ryo. That's when it hit me, I don't think we've ever seen an establishing shot like this connection every area in Shenmue 1 before, that would simply be beyond the Dreamcast's capabilities. Yet here we have Yokosuka as a fully realised world in one image.
 
Kintor said:
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Had to pause the episode to take this screenshot. Simply breathtaking in its own right. What I love though is the context, as Nozomi looks out towards the Harbor thinking about Ryo. That's when it hit me, I don't think we've ever seen an establishing shot like this connection every area in Shenmue 1 before, that would simply be beyond the Dreamcast's capabilities. Yet here we have Yokosuka as a fully realised world in one image.
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The scene and setting when Guizhang first encounters Ryo this episode also looked really nice.

As @danielmann861 pointed out no Shozo, who is one of my favourite characters in first game but I can understand why they omitted him for brevity. I am surprised they drew new characters for Terry’s crew and no Pedro, I guess his village people get up was a little outlandish?
 
code l name said:
There was a revolving joke during it run that many of the principle characters in Lost had ‘daddy’ issues it seems like Shenmue anime has taken this mantle. Initial, random thoughts-

- Really liked how they incorporated Shenmue 2’s bad ending in the dream sequence. I hope we see more of this

- I thought some of the exposition was clunky this episode, the way they bridged storylines and events during the Harbour did not quite land for me

- First well done fight with some nice animation, shame it was all too brief. I am also disappointed they didn’t recreate the epic slow motion double KO from the game and had them do dueling Swallow dive moves
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Yeah I'll agree with you on some of the exposition...especially with Mark...it didn't really hit for me with Mark. But I suppose that is the flaw of this being as quickly paced as it is. Although this episode did seem slower paced than the others have been.

As I mentioned last week, it really does feel like the cliff notes version of Shenmue. Or what happens when you remove the vibrant world of characters the game has and just focus on the core principles of the story. It's not bad in any way and in some ways it does offer more depth. I actually liked the pay off with Guizhang admitting to Ryo he would do the same this week. It plays up that conflict Guizhang has about his father and his role in the underbelly.

There was one line from Master Chen that struck me as interesting though. Something about failing Yuanda Zhu...correct me if I'm wrong but Yu has said that Yuanda Zhu isn't all he seems, right? So I do find it interesting that they're really playing that up in the anime.

I really like anime Nozomi so much more than game Nozomi...in every way.

I was surprised I actually felt a bit of emotion for Goro this week...I even liked the few scenes he and Mai-chan had together.

Yeah, clunky exposition aside, there was still more here I liked than I didn't.

I'm still really keen to see the HK stuff considering we haven't seen a single scene of the HK stuff yet. All the trailers thus far covered the bulk of Yokosuka, so I can't wait till we get to HK to see how they handle Shenmue II.

Shenmue II is the real question as to how much they will cover. Although I suppose it will make up the bulk of the anime so it will have more time.
 
Yet another strong episode and I'm sure the show was restricted to 13 episodes but my big con is I think they really could've gotten another episode before Ryo's showdown with Guizhang. Would've liked it if we had another episode to learn more about Mark and his brother, have Ryo meet and learn a move from Mizuki, maybe another interaction with Tom then lead into Nozomi's abduction etc.

However for people who are not familiar with the game it probably doesn't feel as rushed.

That said YES they established that Ryo understands Mandarin!

Also love the Bad ending from Shenmue II.
 
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danielmann861 said:
Yeah I'll agree with you on some of the exposition...especially with Mark...it didn't really hit for me with Mark. But I suppose that is the flaw of this being as quickly paced as it is. Although this episode did seem slower paced than the others have been.

As I mentioned last week, it really does feel like the cliff notes version of Shenmue. Or what happens when you remove the vibrant world of characters the game has and just focus on the core principles of the story. It's not bad in any way and in some ways it does offer more depth. I actually liked the pay off with Guizhang admitting to Ryo he would do the same this week. It plays up that conflict Guizhang has about his father and his role in the underbelly.

There was one line from Master Chen that struck me as interesting though. Something about failing Yuanda Zhu...correct me if I'm wrong but Yu has said that Yuanda Zhu isn't all he seems, right? So I do find it interesting that they're really playing that up in the anime.

I really like anime Nozomi so much more than game Nozomi...in every way.

I was surprised I actually felt a bit of emotion for Goro this week...I even liked the few scenes he and Mai-chan had together.

Yeah, clunky exposition aside, there was still more here I liked than I didn't.

I'm still really keen to see the HK stuff considering we haven't seen a single scene of the HK stuff yet. All the trailers thus far covered the bulk of Yokosuka, so I can't wait till we get to HK to see how they handle Shenmue II.

At this rate, I'm thinking we won't get to the end of Shenmue. Or we will get the Dou Niu battle and that's where it will end. With Ryo on his way to Bailu.
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It’s an unenviable position the anime is in, having such a limited run time with so many characters and story to cover. I think they’ve done a good job to date and as you said actually fleshed out certain characters for the better (Yamagishi, The Chen’s and Nozomi) but that has come at the expense of curtailing a lot of smaller characters which is understandable.

What I am curious about is what is the experience for casual watcher who hasnt been exposed or are fervent fans like us? We know Mark’s backstory, personality but will the average viewer care?
 
code l name said:
What I am curious about is what is the experience for casual watcher who hasnt been exposed or are fervent fans like us? We know Mark’s backstory, personality but will the average viewer care?
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It's a good question to have. I'd be curious to see what newcomers think of the anime in general when its all said and done. Even more curious as to how they would feel about the games in comparison to the anime if they do give it a shot.

People usually tends to fall for the thing they saw or played first. This is partially why so many fans have bad reactions to remakes. Outside of them being mostly garbage, fans have emotional ties to the thing they saw first and mostly tend to prefer the thing that came first in comparison. So I do wonder how a newcomer would go with the games and just how different the games are in their storytelling methods.
 
danielmann861 said:
People usually tends to fall for the thing they saw or played first. This is partially why so many fans have bad reactions to remakes. Outside of them being mostly garbage, fans have emotional ties to the thing they saw first and mostly tend to prefer the thing that came first in comparison. So I do wonder how a newcomer would go with the games and just how different the games are in their storytelling methods.
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I was just having this conversation in my head regarding objectivity. I just finished Horizon Forbidden West and decided in part because of the anime to start a playthrough of Shenmue today. So I went from one of the most visually stunning games to HD port of something 20 years old, but in a few hours was immediately transported and engrossed in the world. The animation, character NPC models in Horizon are some of the best I have seen in a game, yet while acknowledging there’s low resolution textures and not nearly same detail in Shenmue I couldn’t help but marvel at the camera composition during cut scenes and way they let the environment in part tell the story. I had to take a step back and ask myself, am I that much in a Shenmue bubble or consider what the average person would think.
 
This episode has the best action sequences by far. It also had a lot of breathing room, allowing for a lot more character moments. Loved the Grand Theft Shenmue moment with the bike.

The amount of depth and screen time certain characters are getting is definitely a huge positive. I think they kinda rushed that ending with Guizhang.. I actually assumed that they would've just left it for the next episode so it would be longer but again the fight scenes were good enough to have me forgive that.

I really respect how the team is handling this adaptation. They are cutting what isn't totally necessary and not only keeping what advances the plot but also adding to it in so many significant ways. I've never felt so intrigued by the Chens and Mad Angels until I saw this anime. It's nice to have a Nozomi that takes center spotlight at times and an even more relatable Goro. Heck even Ryo's presence has been improved. I'm very excited to see how they adapt Shenmue 2's Ren and Joy.
 
Want to add I think it's a potentially big deviation that Mark's brother joined the Mad Angels but that there's no mention of him being killed which leads me to wonder: are we going to see Marks brother to pay off the mystery box the show just set up?
 
code l name said:
I was just having this conversation in my head regarding objectivity. I just finished Horizon Forbidden West and decided in part because of the anime to start a playthrough of Shenmue today. So I went from one of the most visually stunning games to HD port of something 20 years old, but in a few hours was immediately transported and engrossed in the world. The animation, character NPC models in Horizon are some of the best I have seen in a game, yet while acknowledging there’s low resolution textures and not nearly same detail in Shenmue I couldn’t help but marvel at the camera composition during cut scenes and way they let the environment in part tell the story. I had to take a step back and ask myself, am I that much in a Shenmue bubble or consider what the average person would think.
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Man, that was quick...I've still got to buy Horizon Forbidden West. It's on my Amazon wishlist, I just haven't gotten around to pulling the trigger on it with bills and all. Maybe this week I'll do my big order and get Elden Ring, Forbidden West and WWE 2K22 in one hit. Now that bills are covered.

It is interesting. I live in that bubble too and I really don't know what newcomers have been saying. Has there been anyone streaming the game? Anyone who maybe got into it from the anime? Or any twitter reactions like that? I know newcomers were generally pretty positive about the anime so far, but I'm more so curious if any of them are playing the game and what their reaction is to the game itself.

I just hope its at least equaling more sales of Shenmue 1, 2 and 3 from people with even maybe a passing interest in the anime. That's really all I hope.
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
Want to add I think it's a potentially big deviation that Mark's brother joined the Mad Angels but that there's no mention of him being killed which leads me to wonder: are we going to see Marks brother to pay off the mystery box the show just set up?
Click to expand...
Yeah I picked up on that too. Although it was very likely he was murdered I liked how the game left his ultimate fate ambiguous.
 
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