SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 6 "Dignified" Thread

[I Got Sriracha In My DNA]

Joy's still hot as fuck.

Joy is a certified dime in the anime.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

The other Wude could be implemented into the story pretty easily I guess.

Ryo loses patience with Xiuying's training and asks people around town about Zhu, in this version Zhangyu tells Ryo about the Wullinshu and teaches him DAN

Maybe the Wullinshu is not in Xiuying's library in this version and it leads Ryo to Master Zhoushan who has a copy, and he hands it over if Ryo helps him with his former student. They teach Ryo JIE.

Ryo finds and brings the Chawan sign to Xiuying, Ryo catches the leaves as Xiuying instructs, and demonstrates patience, and she tells him her friend Guxiang is knowledgable about the Chawan sign, the old masters' code.

Guixang teaches Ryo YI when he saves her from the loan sharks and goes to ask her about the Chawan sign.

That's just some ways I can imagine, of the top of my head, to streamline the Wude arc.

Also it's wonderful to have new Shenmue content, even if it's not my preferred medium.

 

[24Nathan]

Maybe the trend for Shenmue II will be releasing clips after the episode instead of as a teaser?

 

[danielmann861]

@danielmann861 hope everything is ok with your Dad or for a fast recovery.



Considering that both Yamagashi and now Xiuying can see the look in Ryo's eyes and tell that there's something else beyond the truth that's driving him, whether it's revenge or obsession, I think it's still in play that it will be revealed to the general audience via Xiuying that Ryo is letting vengeance drive him. Perhaps this version of Ryo doesn't even realize it yet.

Yeah, that could be the way its going. I mean I agree, Yamagashi knew something else was up with Ryo and I hope Xiuying will be the one to call him out on it.

As for my Dad? He's okay. Well okay as you can be with Cellulitis anyways. Cellulitis on the leg. They have him on a drip so he will probably be in there for a few days. He's suffered from it before. Last time they put him on a drip and it cleared up so hopefully it should be the same this time around.

 

[Jibby]

Also, they really are sticking to this whole "seek the truth" thing. Yet Xiuying is still acting like he is taking the wrong path? I was listening to the Japanese dub. I didn't hear any of the keywords I know for "vengeance" in Japanese. I was wondering if it's a mistranslation. I have to wonder, what is up with this whole "I'll find the truth" element while downplaying the revenge element?

There seems to be a bit of disconnect there as we go further along. At first I thought it was Ryo playing up the act of "finding the truth" while harboring revenge in his heart. There seems to be hints of it there. Everytime he touches the band aid its a clear reminder of Lan Di...but the story is also playing up that whole "search for the truth" element a great deal so its hard to say what's really going on here.

The impression I get is that Xiuying can tell Ryo's unrelenting pursuit of "the truth" will eventually fester and corrupt into an unrelenting desire for revenge. It's possible that this is the same path that Ziming took in the anime canon.

 

[Cebman]

Without reading any previous replies.

This episode was packed with story from beginning to end. I didn't expect the Xiuying reveal already. Also, I thought Ryo was going to give up getting his bag back after learning he kept all of his cash and valuables in his pocket. It was nice to see the bag chase come back at the end of the episode. Ren teaser was a surprise to have already.

The episode was so long that the end credits had to play through the Xiuying scene. I'm expecting next episode Ryo learns the remaining Wude (even though he learned them before meeting Lisa Tao in the game). Fanmei should make her debut (as long as she hasn't been cut). I'm ready to see Ryo drop some books.

Still disappointed that the boat chapter wasn't shown.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

The impression I get is that Xiuying can tell Ryo's unrelenting pursuit of "the truth" will eventually fester and corrupt into an unrelenting desire for revenge. It's possible that this is the same path that Ziming took in the anime canon.

I hope that's the case. The story of Shenmue is about revenge, so far, that would be an interesting way to repackage it, but still keep us guessing who have played the games.

 

[paddyj]

Easily my favorite episode of the series so far! Just like the pace and vibe of Shenmue I and II feel completely different they've captured that in the anime too.

The environments are gorgeous; a perfect mix of real-life Hong Kong and Hong Kong from Shenmue II, and I loved how the anime delves a little deeper than the game like having a colonial Hong Kong flag in the police station and Joy mentioning the uneasiness before the handover.

It's great that we finally see how Ryo can communicate so easily to everyone in a foreign country. He can speak some Cantonese! Walking around with the little translation dictionary was a nice touch. Although it probably would've made more sense if he spoke English.

 

[Cebman]

I doubt the remaining episodes have the end credits play during a cutscene. That only happened this episode due to time constraints.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

I doubt the remaining episodes have the end credits play during a cutscene. That only happened this episode due to time constraints.

There might be more time constraints. Shenmue 2 is an epic.

 

[Cebman]

There might be more time constraints. Shenmue 2 is an epic.

Oh yeah I can see it happening again. I doubt its every remaining episode.

 

[Lan Di-sama]

I didn't mind the credits rolling during the last scene at all. Actually thought it was pretty cool and extended the episode.

Loved the glimpse of the Shenmue tree we got.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

I didn't mind the credits rolling during the last scene at all. Actually thought it was pretty cool and extended the episode.

Loved the glimpse of the Shenmue tree we got.

I guess the Shenmue tree is symbolically blooming because Ryo is getting closer. An awakening in Destiny.

 

[terry.tsoi]

This is the episode I love the most so far.

Very fast pace which is sensible given the sheer amount of context of Shenmue 2. And the use of the end credit to show more of the story is a very clever decision.

The drawing of Hong Kong is very good. Including an accurate drawing of the policemen. And the description of the situation when Hong Kong was about to hand over to China is great attention to detail.

I also like the interaction between Joy and Ryo, which seems to be more dynamic compared to that of Ryp and Nozomi.

Based on the interview with Wong's voice actor in Japanese, we may expect to see something more than we got in Shenmue 2!

 

[the_phoenix_mirror]

Me watching the ending of the episode:

 

[Down by Law]

Getting some good mileage out that image

 

[Demon's Triangle]

Me watching the ending of the episode:
View attachment 14470

Ren looked dangerous in the ending. Something I think he lost as the story progressed and he became more of a comical partner. I think so far they've done a decent job mirroring the atmosphere of II.

 

[code l name]

Just caught this episode. I was initially shocked they changed the storyline of Ryo loosing his bag, money and Phoenix mirror but by the end didn’t mind this change. I think there was some smart additions and changes.

Also from pure visual perspective, it felt like they added an extra density to the environments not quite seen in the Dreamcast original. Also noted Queen street looked a lot more brown/industrial almost like the beta footage. The shot of Lan Di in the Old Castle really surprised me too!

 

[Jibby]

Something I really loved as well was Joy's direct reference to the official side story (at least, this is what I assume the 'bad break" is a reference to):

 

[Englishhedgehog]

Well this episode didn't feature Dou Niu appearing out of nowhere and Ryo making short work of him, so it's immediately better than the opening episode of Shenmue 1's adaptation.

Speaking as one of the fellows who liked the first 5 episodes, but was also openly critical of them, I'm joining the camp of those who feel this was the strongest episode. Mostly because despite the cut corners, it actually felt like it was able to breathe for a moment or two. The pacing actually felt pretty acceptable throughout and the character moments generally sold themselves. The Shenmue 1 section wishes it could have a segment as steadily paced as the iron palm arc. It wasn't perfect though. For example....

- 10 minutes into this episode, I was thinking, "Man, Wong's lookin hella insufferable, isn't he?" I'm glad they didn't cut out him returning Ryo's bad as I feared they would, but between his anger in his scene with Joy and the fact that the episode's means of garnering our sympathy was exposition, his character's likability felt semi-compromised.

- A few here have complained that Ryo comes across as a bit too overpowered in this anime and the amount of leaves he releases from the tree with that final punch is evidence of that. In the game, he got better, but nowhere near Jianmin's level. Here, the arc ends with an implication that he's as good as Jianmin now, at least in this front.

- While I can understand why some people found the end credits sequence clunky, my constant thought was if they can give extra time to the anime via the credits as well, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY DO THAT SOONER!? That's a solid 10 minutes more of time that you could have given to develop Chai's intimidation, add a farewell to Tom, have Ryo interact with bloody Santa Claus, absolutely anything. Why wait until now? There's jarring and then there's absurdity. I really can't wrap my head around that one.

- Even though I'm all aboard the end credits having a scene or two, showing Ren this early was too much. Episode 2 or even 3, sure, 1, nooooo. We have enough characters to bond with as is at this stage.