Game title interpretations

[Gameguy]

It's been a while but it seemed like Ryo, after getting his rear handed to him and having his father die at the hands of the same foe, knew he couldn't go and kick ass and take names. He had a calm head on his shoulders and had to do his obe-track-minded detective search. Since Shenmue was supposed to have many "episodes", I wonder if this more slow approach wasn't far off from a "Kung Fu" (TV series) where Ryo walks his native and foreign lands, learning and helping others on his quest?

A lot of people point out how the basic plot of Shenmue is basically taken from any random 1970's Kung Fu movie, it seriously is generic like that.

I do think it would have worked better like a TV series type of premise, a "wandering soul" kind of show which isn't exactly a unique premise either. He could have got revenge for his father and defeated this specific villain, but then continue on with his quest, as the real quest would be for continued personal growth. But no, instead he's still working towards defeating this one specific person, and never does. So many shows and film series do this basic concept better; like Kung Fu, Zatoichi, The Incredible Hulk(1978), The Fugitive, The Littlest Hobo, etc. Really any type of villain-of-the-week type of show where the main protagonist travels around would work, there needs to be some actual resolve to the story he's currently facing while still leaving it open ended for more to come after.

Or if they saw a car the night when the rain turned to snow....

Yes, specifically asking about "that" night. As if random people would know what night he was talking about because there could only be one night like "that" night. It's like talking about "That Man" from Excel Saga, only Excel Saga was meant to be a parody.

I did enjoy seeing if Sega put a limit on how many sodas Ryo could drink. Alas he didnt politely decline nor did his bladder burst at about 20 drinks in one sitting. Incredible control over his body.

I wish the game was more realistic and would have Ryo gain weight based on what he consumed in game, like that fan Sonic game where you ate onion rings and got fat. If only they focused on this mechanic over opening random drawers.

[Edmond Dantes]

The dialog is bad, the creator insisted on the English being recorded in Japan so most voice actors weren't fluent in English.

Please tell me somebody found a weapon that was really powerful, especially against living things.

You complained about the English dub in Phoenix 2772 so you might have problems here too.

To be fair there, I'm going by 15 year old memories.... still searching for a subtitled version of that film, especially since I've been reading the Phoenix manga volumes (2772 is apparently a movie-original installment in the saga). Besides that the main thing I remember is the surprise appearance by Black Jack of all people, except here as a prison guard or something (he's the guy with hair that is half-black, half-white, in case you're not up on Osamu Tezuka's Star System).

[Gameguy]

Please tell me somebody found a weapon that was really powerful, especially against living things.

I wish it had that. Seriously, I don't have a problem with Resident Evil's voice acting. The whole game was basically meant to be a campy B movie, and there's actual emotion given in the line delivery. It's not great voice acting at all, but I'm still mostly fine with it. Capcom didn't even expect Resident Evil to be successful, they just expected it to sell around 200,000 copies. I wish I could find the development cost for the original Resident Evil but so far I can't.

Now, just imagine everything is said with almost no emotion whatsoever, and the game is meant to be taken completely seriously and not campy in any way. That's Shenmue. The game that cost $70,000,000 to make.

Besides that the main thing I remember is the surprise appearance by Black Jack of all people, except here as a prison guard or something (he's the guy with hair that is half-black, half-white, in case you're not up on Osamu Tezuka's Star System).

I didn't remember seeing Black Jack in the movie, I'll have to check when I rewatch it. I've never watched any anime focused on Black Jack, or read any of his manga, but I know who the character is and what he generally looks like.

[Edmond Dantes]

I've never watched any anime focused on Black Jack, or read any of his manga

Want me to PM you some links? Cuz seriously Black Jack is the best thing ever, even for people who aren't already Tezukaphiles (although to be frank.... the world needs more Tezukaphiles. Lately I'm in a mindset where his stuff feels like the only anime/manga worth experiencing because I'm otherwise tired of the endless stream of shonen crap).

(.... I get the feeling this discussion might be more suited for the General Cartoon Discussion in the Off-Topic section)