Shenmue Episode 8 - "Aspiration" Discussion Thread

[ben0119]

THE CHAWAN SIGN!

[Jman]

"Move these books around.  It was a minigame in the original game, we need to acknowledge it."

"So, what's in these books anyway?  It's dirty stories, isn't it?"

Does the entire population of Hong Kong speak in riddles?  Philosophical statements to confuse Ryo are the equivalent of "I'm walkin here!" in New York City.

"You're so obsessed with that."  Seriously, dude has a wooden dummy for a brain.

Ryo, unlike his successor Kiryu, actually does beat up quite a few girls.  This lady right here is an opponent in an underground fight ring minigame.  Speaking of, here's the final boss of that little questline.

"THAT'S MY PURSE!  I DON'T KNOW YOU!"

Everyone here is very egalitarian.  Man, woman, hands are rated E for everyone.

Landsharks, fights going on without anyone interfering, it's really amazing how much big cities have in common.  Right down to the gentrification.  Also if by soon you mean...10 or 11 years.

"Why are you following that Japanese guy around?"  Is everyone here boneheaded?

The moral of the story, "avoid tunnel vision", I suppose.  Also, of course she's the old master.

I really hope he's writing all this down.

Here's something that the games never really did well, or if they did, it got lost in the awful dub.  Ryo's motive in the game is clear-cut revenge, but in the show it seems to balance between revenge and trying to prove his father wasn't a thug that deserved to die.  The question of course boils down to "Is it about vengeance or justice?", but that's a question the game was happy to answer with "It's about vengeance."  The show seems to be implying his motive is more about justice.