The following article contains spoilers forShenmue: The Animation.
AsShenmueedges closer and closer to its conclusion, Ryo Hazuki arrives at the walled city of Kowloon for a frantically paced episode that barely lets him and Ren catch their breaths in their first encounter with Don Niu. Most crucially, the pair’s adventure succeeds at giving this part ofShenmue 2its characteristic buddy cop Hong Kong movie vibes.
As a matter of fact, theanime’sninth episode might as well be titledRush HourShenmueinstead of “Comeback” because Yu Suzuki does an admirable job at translating the protagonist’s first few hours in Kowloon, which ultimately leads to him arriving at his first main mission objective. In order to get there, fans will be treated to some of the most accurate recreations ofShenmue 2’sbest actions moments, as well as a couple of welcome changes to suit the tone of the series more properly.
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Unlike in its Dreamcast version, there’s no grand entrance or welcoming cinematic sequence to herald Ryo’s arrival at Kowloon, instead the episode starts off with a newly added scene that sheds some light on Shenhua’s past and her relationship with her father, something gamersonly get to explore inShenmue 3. Besides that, the series skips all the “goodbye side quests” that didn’tmake it into last week’s episode, probably a welcome addition, but one that makes the lengthy “Wude” section of the show even more pointless.
Nevertheless, sinceanimeShenmueis actually in a hurryto get back to business Wong gives Ren and Ryu their last briefing before they show up in Kowloon. While the walled city’s imposing streets don’t quite make it as part of the anime’s setting, there is a lot of thought behind the art and backgrounds used throughout the whole episode as almost every single room, hall or street conveys the notion that this is not a nice place to be in the late 80s.
Don Niu and his beloved Yuan take center stage here as Ryo and Ren’s first quick-time event with the towering crime lord goes as badly as in the game, with the anime perhaps even benefitting from more elaborate cinematography to depict the Don Niu’s might. Artists did a fantastic job with every single corner of these buildings, as the trapped halls the two heroes traverse when running away from the Yellow Heads leader look just like inShenmue.
Also to this episode’s credit is the fact that it’s possibly the most action-packed entry so far in the anime because it’s possible to count many important sequences where players back in the day had to do quick button presses in order to disarm Yuan, for example. Speaking of which, this time around Yuan is formerly recognized by Don Niu as his partner, when the big guy is angered by his enemies hurting “cute Little Yuan", thus resolving whatever qualms Suzuki had in the early 2000s about usingLGBTQ characters in Western adaptations.
The overall biggest departure fromShenmue 2 isthat when the crew rendezvous back at Ren’s hideout, the place is now packed with both Wong and Joy, as the latter actually knows Ren from way back here.. All in all, the anime manages to compress roughly 3 hours' worth of gameplay into one of its most entertaining episodes.
Naturally, it’s about time to wonder how the show will handle the last few chapters, as the rest of the game also keeps the story’s tempo going. This one definitely feels like the end ofShenmue 2’ssecond act, with Ryo meeting Yuanda Zhu -even if quite briefly- sets up his final mission.
“Comeback” ends with Xuiying saving the day when she drops by to fight off Don Niu, although. In the games, fans don’t get to see the master’s display of her graceful martial arts skills, and that’s likely to be repeated here, but the final shot does deliver the right idea, that Ryo is still a rookie when it comes to fighting.
The biggest merit for the show is turning episodes like this one into a solid 23 minutes of fun becauseShenmue 3already proved the games' slow approachis a hard sell in 2019. Another positive aspect to keep in mind is thatasShenmueapproaches its finalethere’s very little downtime from here to end.
Maybe there’s room to cram in a couple of street fights in Kowloon, but otherwise, the anime should be heading towards three very busy episodes that might just be the determining factor in whether the series creator gets another shot at continuing his saga the way he’s always wanted or not. At least it’s looking likeShenmue 4could be a thing in the future, so buckle up for more Hong Kong action.
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