SPOILERS Shenmue The Animation Episode 9 "Distinct" Thread

tomboz said:
A better episode this week (I’d give it an 8.5), but am really concerned about the pacing. Can’t see them reaching the cave now, which makes their decision to start there a little bizarre.
Click to expand...
I was going to reply to your previous comment to say that they never said they would cover all of Shenmue 2. I'm sure they said early on that it would likely only be part of Shenmue 2. Having said that though, I agree that if they don't cover it in its entirety then it does make their decision to start with the cave scene a little weird.
 
Pretty sure we heard it'd cover "most" of Shenmue II at some point?

A group of anime fans are about to get ShenTwo'd and cliffhangered into oblivion just like most of us did 20 years ago :ROFLMAO:
 
Reprise said:
I was going to reply to your previous comment to say that they never said they would cover all of Shenmue 2. I'm sure they said early on that it would likely only be part of Shenmue 2. Having said that though, I agree that if they don't cover it in its entirety then it does make their decision to start with the cave scene a little weird.
Click to expand...
Even if it’s not their intention to make it to the end of Guilin, the only other logical end point besides leaving Wan Chai would be the climax of Kowloon, which would still be incredibly difficult to reach with just four episodes left. Besides, from there, Guilin could quite easily be wrapped up in a single episode (maybe less), so it seems a little odd to stop so short of the finish line (especially with them having already teased the cave as the end point.
 
My opinion about the cave scene is that it is just to give context to the Bailu flashbacks and Dream sequences. Without it a viewer unfamiliar to the games would have no idea who Shenhua is. By starting with the cave sequence a casual viewer knows that Ryo eventually meets the character and with the prophecy being really hammered home in those early episodes it's obvious the man from the east is Ryo.

My prediction is it will end with the Zhu scene in Ren's hideout with the knife bring thrown into the map...
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
Is it possible Kowloon or the Yellow Head Building is still in Hong Kong in the anime?
Click to expand...
Not gonna lie, if that's how they do it I'd be heavily disappointed, as Kowloon is a top tier location in Shenmue. I ain't gonna worry though, as I doubt they'd do something that insane.
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
Did anyone notice that Ren's hideout looks exactly like the Kowloon hideout in the game? Is it possible Kowloon or the Yellow Head Building is still in Hong Kong in the anime?
Click to expand...
I was wondering about that myself. The scene was so short, hard to tell if it was the same location, but I think you're right. That was definitely Ren's hideout, in Hong Kong instead of Kowloon. Which could well suggest that Kowloon is being skipped and those story elements being rewritten to take place in Hong Kong.

When you get right down to it Kowloon would put a huge strain on production team's resources. Kowloon in Shenmue 2 would be an immense undertaking to depict in the anime, the sheer level of detail between the unregulated modern buildings and the remains of the ancient fort. Then you have the real Kowloon, the legendary city of darkness, never possible to fully realise on the Dreamcast and still an order of magnitude more complex for the anime to attempt.

Outside of an elite animation group like Production I.G. or Studio Khara I can't imagine anyone would have the resources and talent to do Kowloon justice. So I can't say I blame Shenmue the Animation's production team for balking at challenge. As much as I would like to be proven wrong here and see Kowloon in all its glory before this season is over.
 
Last edited:
Hmm, Kowloon being rolled into Hong Kong isn't something I had considered, but the more I think about it, the more likely I could see it being.

If that ends up being the case, I hope they can make up for it by really focusing in on the big story beats like the Yellowhead raid.
 
I am going to be really gutted if they skip Kowloon
ShenSun said:
Im of a similar view to be honest. This ep did nothing for me. It felt like all the shenmue 2 clips from the game were just thrown together as quickly as possible to progress the story to kowloon. Ryo getting hit by a pipe twice made me raise my eyebrow aswell. And yeah the fights were very weak. It kinda reminded me of shenmue the movie in a way. Probably my least favourite ep so far.
Click to expand...
Well the next episode's called 'comeback' so lets hope it is one :)
 
What are yall talking about Ryo literally says he's leaving 😂
 
RetroLord120 said:
What are yall talking about Ryo literally says he's leaving 😂
Click to expand...

I'm not too pressed if there's no Kowloon, but in fairness Ryo telling Xiuying he's leaving can be as simple as in not staying with her or Man Mo Temple anymore.

Ren also never said to Ryo that Yuanda Zhu is in Kowloon like he did in the game so as far as the general audience is concerned there's no concrete indication that they're leaving Hong Kong.

We'll probably have a better idea on the 2nd preview of next week's episode if Kowloon is happening or not.
 
Here's my recap/review of the episode :)
shenmusings.wordpress.com

Shenmue The Animation Ep #9 -‘Distinct’ recap and review

NOTE: This is a recap/review of the Japanese audio & English subtitled version of the episode, viewed via Crunchyroll. It is currently not possible to view the English dub where I am, in the UK…
shenmusings.wordpress.com shenmusings.wordpress.com

Satisfied with the episode overall, but was anyone else a little disappointed all the build up of Ren wanting to meet Ryo from the previous episodes didn't really add up to much, considering it wasn't even referenced in this episode? Their first meeting and interactions thereafter was essentially just the same as the game, without acknowledging it. I kept wondering if Ren would realise that Ryo was the Japanese guy he'd been looking for. Just seems like a waste to have that set up and not really have it pay off in any way...

Other than that, despite feeling a little rushed this ep was top-notch. I agree with what some of you have said that it seems likely the Kowloon events will now just take place in Hong Kong - Ren's hideout in Aberdeen looks essentially the same as his one in Kowloon, which seems to suggest that's what they'll be doing...

At any rate - did Ryo's epic staredown to Yuan and co remind anyone else of Paddington Bear's 'hard stare'? :laughing: Now that would be an epic staring contest.
 
About Kowloon...

Kiyozono also said that because of the many more attractive characters in Hong Kong, the anime will draw on locations from the second Shenmue game, including a CG recreation of Kowloon Walled City.

Yu Kiyozono is the producer of the Telecom Animation Film.
 
Last edited:
I think Kowloon will be showcased in some form. It will probably be named, just like the Yan Tin Apartments or Dou Jiang Dinner have been named. And there will be supertall buildings and such. But probably it doesn't need to be highlighted as a change of location, with farewells, travel scenes, a big intro, etc.

In fact, that would be more realistic, since Kowloon and Wan Chai are separated by a 12-minute car drive. And don't forget that in the original chapter cards, they both were part of a single "Hong Kong" chapter.

In some way, I think the game needed to make that separation for technical reasons, since Kowloon and Wan Chai/Aberdeen scenario probably didn't fit on a single Dreamcast disc, but it's not needed story wise. On the opposite, having characters "travel" between both locations, like Joy, Wong and Xiuying do, will feel much more organic that way. And, in the anime, that will give the authors more room to keep mixing and reordering events.
 
Another solid episode. I felt the pacing on this was a little more uneven compared to the last episode, especially with the introduction of Ren but ultimately I'm being nitpicky. I'm genuinely impressed with how well the show is handling the material but obviously want more (it sucks when anything is cut).

I'm really happy with the decision to stretch the Wude out to run in parallel to the main storyline. It works better for pacing and allowed the Wude to take more prominence. Especially in this episode where they tied the lesson of Dan into meeting Ren.
 
Down by Law said:
Not sure why but this episode didn't do much for me and is my least favourite so far. Probably because it adheres to the game pretty closely but when it did it's own thing, it was worse this time around

Ryo eating a pipe twice
Ren's hideout wasn't the garage and no Sam,Cool Z or Larry. Room was pretty nondescript
The fight scenes were weak in this one. We only saw a couple of hits , though they could have done a cool fight scene in Don Juang Diner like in the game.
No leaf catching or counter elbow assault. I'm really hoping the next episode picks up where this one ends and Xiuying will teach this to Ryo before he leaves. The Don Niu showdown is my favourite scene in all of Shenmue to date so I really want them to nail it.

I did like the Ren chase and fall from the roof, that was done quite well, and that Ryo failed "that" QTE first time like we all did !

Still a very enjoyable 20 minutes but nothing that really wowed me like all the others thus far.
ShenSun said:
Im of a similar view to be honest. This ep did nothing for me. It felt like all the shenmue 2 clips from the game were just thrown together as quickly as possible to progress the story to kowloon. Ryo getting hit by a pipe twice made me raise my eyebrow aswell. And yeah the fights were very weak. It kinda reminded me of shenmue the movie in a way. Probably my least favourite ep so far.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Actually, when digesting these two replies, yes, I'd agree. I didn't like the location switch either when first confronting Ren. The warehouse scene with the blinding headlights to Ryo's face was quite a cinematic moment. But, I just thought the episode fit in so much with decent pacing the whole time -- i.e., the reason I found it solid.
 
This episode was kinda ok. Action-wise they did a pretty good job with the Ren chase scene. Now the qte-scene with Juan in the market was quite underwhelming.

Obviously some stuff has to be scaled back for the anime but one of my favourite cutscenes from the games is the boat scene with Wong. It's very powerful and emotional, and it's shot so beautifully. But I don`t think it could have been made like that in the anime unfortunately.

I'm curious how they will handle the street fights Ryo needs to win to get into the yellow head building. In the game quiet some time is spend after gathering the wude before starting the street fight quest. I'm not sure if concerning the flow of the show it could be monotonous if it happens right away...

It`s baffling that they led Ryo fail two times in one episode with the same method.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top