The following article contains spoilers forShenmue: The Animation.
It’s arguable which part ofShenmue2 makes the sequel to Yu Suzuki’s a better game than its predecessor, or whether that’s even true or not, however, as theShenmueanimenears its ending, the series makes a compelling case for its Kowloon section to take the crown thanks to another exciting and fantastically executed episode.
Shenmueis filled with side quests, the same type of missions that although fresh and new in 199 and the early 2000s,ultimately failed to grab players’ attention onceShenmue 3came out a couple of years ago. For that reason, it’s not surprising to see the anime’s best episodes be the ones that balance their action with just the right amount of character exploration,a necessary lesson forShenmue 4, such as this week’s “Entangled” which manages to be the most-action packed entry yet, while at the same time expanding on the backstories of some of the series’ characters.
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The episode starts off cutting right towhereShenmuehad left off, Xiuying arrives just in time to save Ryo from being crushed by Don Niu after his failed attempt to rescue Yuanda Zhu alongside Ren. Unlike in the game, which immediately cuts to a scene in the church with Ryo waking up from injuries, this time the audience does get to see Xiuying fighting the crime boss’ thugs, though not Don Niu himself after he and Yuan make a run for it.
Xiuying is perhaps the character with the most unique fight animations, and while those are not reused it’s still a joy to see her fight, as is the case too for Zhu showing some resistance to Yuan and his goons. After waking up in the convent, Xiuying finally tells Ryo why she’s been so protective of him, as he reminds her of her brother who lost his tracks by going down a path of vengeance, a tale that’s certainly delivered more smoothly thanks to the previous teases via flashbacks.
Also, a new addition to the anime is the brief sparring session after which Xiuying teaches the protagonist her Counter Elbow Assault, a move that proves quite useful later on. Regardless of that, it’s time to get back to business and that involves hunting down the Yellow Heads HQ with a tip from Zhu’s aide.
The next few minutes areclassicShenmue, Ryo and Ren go pay a visit to Kai, a blind man with slightly more screen time in the games than here, who asks to spar with Ryo in the dark, thus providing the anime with a rare second martial arts lesson in the same episode. What’s more interesting is the conversation between Ryo and the man as he gives him some rare insight into his father’s past, as well as the dialogue that follows between Ren and Ryo.
After all of that, it’s time for Ryo to take his shot in Kowloon’s flourishing underground fight scene and the payoff is truly great.Shenmue’sFight Clubsceneis one of the most exciting and fun aspects of the game, and although sadly it has to be cut somewhat short here, these moments are truly fun and provide a radical change in pace when compared to most of the anime.
Ryo fights familiar opponents and it’s here where viewers catch a first glimpse at the mysterious Master Baihu, quite possibly the most visually striking character in the whole franchise. The fights are short, but they are enough to switch up the pace ofan anime whose lows were quite dullafter Ryo arrived in Hong Kong.
As if that wasn’t enough, Joy and Ren get some rare alone time with one another which is where theShenmueanime proves its worth by adding some interesting conversations and moments, especially for the former, whose backstory benefits greatly from the extra screen time. Determining why Joy was so willing to help Ryo in the games was not easy, maybe she was just kind to strangers or had a crush on this Japanese tourist, however, getting to know more about her past and his father’s role in the local crime scene adds a lot of depth to the character.
It’s not as if Joy’s expanded role is only seen through her eyes of flashbacks to the moment her mother was killed, as the latter traumatic event is now linked to Don Niu and Yuan who also wonder if this is indeed the daughter of the man from whom they took such power. As a bonus, there’s some extra footage explaining how is it that she and Wog get kidnaped by the Yellow Heads ahead of the next episode.
Overall,Shenmuebenefits greatly from the extra footageadded here and there, and what little changes were made by Suzuki do a lot for the structure of the story. It was foreseeable that episodes 11 and 12 could pull this off and hopefully the anime stays on high until its finale.
