Warning: Spoilers for Shenmue: The Animation episode 1
The open-world Shenmue video games. The series serves as a retelling of Ryo Hazuki’s quest for vengeance against the villainous Lan Di, which began in the first game.
The Shenmue franchise encomes three video games published within a 20-year period. All three were chapters in one story (that currently remains unfinished), which centered on Ryo’s investigation into the death of his father and the person responsible. The first episode of Shenmue: The Animation recreated several major characters from Ryo’s adventures in Yokosuka and explored the events that kicked off his vendetta against Lan Di. Like the original game, Shenmue: The Animation saw the villain brutally murder Iwao Hazuki before Ryo’s eyes. At the end of the episode, Ryo made a vow that he would personally pursue Lan Di and avenge his father’s death.
In both versions of the story, Ryo walked in on the battle between Lan Di and Iwao sometime after a karate tournament. The difference here is that it wasn’t shown in the games. In contrast to the original, the anime made it an important part of the episode and even revealed Ryo’s effortless victory over his enemy in the final round. It was only after the event’s conclusion and his return to the dojo that his story really began.
Before Shenmue: The Animation, all that was known about the tournament is that Ryo sustained an injury in the final round. Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki (who is also the anime’s executive producer) explained in the past that fighting in the martial arts event was how Ryu received his face wound, which he keeps covered with a band-aid throughout all three Shenmue games [via Twitter]. Interestingly, the anime kept the tournament but changed the origin of his injury by having it happen at the hands of Lan Di. His opponent in the tournament, on the other hand, didn’t manage to lay a finger on him.
By showing what actually transpired at the karate tournament, Shenmue: The Animation provided a hint of how much it will be able to expand and deepen Ryo’s story while also remaining faithful to the original story at the same time. In addition to that, the anime provided an early indication of where Ryo stands in regards to his fighting ability. Ryo winning the tournament so easily will help make sense of what comes next, which will involve the teenage karate student going up against hardened gangsters and trained fighters.