Random Shenmue Thoughts

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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby BlueMue » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:25 pm

That might very well be the case but I find it a nice touch to think that he gave it away to let it get polished up before giving it to Ryo. Maybe he hoped to at least live long enough to see the day that Ryo turn's 18.

Who knows what really was on Iwao's mind. I still find it kinda mystifying that he knew someone was coming for him soon and that he didn't try to fend off the attack by calling for help or something. Maybe he didn't want to do that because he felt like he deserved it or something? But then again he seems to be surprised who Lan Di actually is.
Still so many mysteries surrounding Iwaos death...

Another thing came to my mind. Does the phone number that can be seen in What's Shenmue at the covered building adjacent to the Nex Yokosuka Cinema and across Shinikichi's place (0468 61 5621) actually have any purpose?
There is no acessible phone in What's Shenmue and it doesn't give you anything in Shenmue, not even the Japanese version. Maybe back in 1999 you could call it in real life for some info about the game or something?
Or maybe it's just athentic decoration...

It would've definately been nice if you got some message in the final Japanese game like "Thanks for playing What's Shenmue" or some other little bonus stuff when you call that number.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby MiTT3NZ » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:06 pm

Lan Di arrives at the Hazuki Residence shortly before 4pm. I doubt Iwao was leaving it til later on in the day to pick up his son's 18th birthday gift. Another thing that suggests it wasn't for Ryo's birthday was that there was no mention of it whatsoever until Ine-san found out. You would've thought that if it was just a family heirloom/birthday gift that he'd mention it to Ine-san or Oishi would've told his granddaughter about it following Iwao's death.

The fact he knew that he was going to be killed over the mirror, and the hinted presumption that Lan Di didn't know about the Phoenix Mirror (as the hiding place was a hell of a lot more complex than the Dragon Mirror) suggests to me that he just wanted to get it the fuck away from the place.

Plus, Oishi mentions it's given to Hazukis when they "come of age", which Ryo is still two years away from, so for him to receive it as an 18th birthday gift would be very unusual indeed.

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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby lavrentis » Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:02 am

One thing I love about Shenmue is that it holds a special place in peoples hearts, if you meet someone on a night out and you drunkedly talk to them and bring up Shenmue, and they know of Shenmue you have an explainable connection.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby BlueMue » Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:07 am

MiTT3NZ wrote: Plus, Oishi mentions it's given to Hazukis when they "come of age", which Ryo is still two years away from, so for him to receive it as an 18th birthday gift would be very unusual indeed.

When does he actually say that? In the cutscene Oishi explicitly mentions that it's given to the following Hazuki generation once they turn 18. That implies that Iwao told Oishi that it's for Ryo's birthday.

Why he didn't pick it up earlier? Maybe he was expecting Ryo to arrive much later? I think Ryo was just coming out of school prior to the beginning of the game. Maybe he was planning on celebration with some friends somewhere else for a few hours or something and he felt something bad and rushed home earlier.

Why didn't Iwao tell Ine-san more about it? Well he doesn't seem to tell the others too much about family matters. Considering he didn't even told his very own son about the family crest...

Yeah I know, my theories are getting a bit far-fetched. But hey, I love talking about such stuff in Shenmue and I like to believe that this may have actually been the purpose of giving the sword handguard away. :D
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby MiTT3NZ » Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:36 pm

So he does. I always thought he said "come of age". Still, with his knowledge of his impending death, I still believe that Iwao wanted it out of the Hazuki Residence and hidden away from Lan Di. This could've all been avoided though if he just used that damn sword.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby Giorgio » Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:03 am

When I first played the game I never thought that the voice acting was bad. Probably because English is not my native language. I "learned" that from native speakers and such. Lots of people saying that Japanese is superior. But how do they know? Are native speakers and can critisize if it is good or not?

I believe if you are not a native speak (as with my example) you can not really tell the difference. For one, I prefer the English voice acting, because it is more familiar to the ear (at least I can understand English, in contrast with the Japanese one) and why I love it when it brings me smiles (e.g. "I am just fine and dandy! He he he he he!" You don't get that cheesiness in the Jap one...)

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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby BlueMue » Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:39 am

I know how you feel Giorgio. Had the same experience. English isn't my native language and I didn't find the english dub bad at all. Of course back then it was revolutionary large for a game and was pretty good in general but since the standards got higher and higher it seems cheaper and cheaper. I think people tend to exaggerate when it comes to the voices. There are much MUCH worse dubs. Anyone, even those that don't have English as their native language can tell that the dub of Shenmue II is WAY worse and also why. The voice actors sound bored and unemotional as hell or way over the top to the point of just being silly.

I still really like the English dub of the first game. It really isn't bad. All the main voices are pretty good and pleasant to listen to. Some NPCs do sound awkward, they always did. The problem with the english dub lies more in the recording quality. They did a poor job there, the voices tend to be overly loud, to the point of clipping and it seems the recording studio was has a microphone in an regual ol' empty living room. There is such reverb in so many lines...
Then again, in Shenmue the Movie the voices sound really good. Much clearer, no clipping and no reverb. The dub just get's soooo much better with that quality.

The Japanese dub is generally of higher quality. The recordings are cleaner, without the issue and some lines are actually less compressed and sound WAY cleaner then anything in the English dub (in the game). The voices are also generally better, because they just had more know-how over there. Also it's really just so authenic, especially because the Americans speak broken Japanese with a lot of English inbetween.
There are some voices that don't sound so good here too, though. Master Chen for example has a very "throaty" voice that just sounds voice and annoying at the same time.

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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby Giorgio » Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:14 am

Found this tweet from someone 'brandon sheffield':
thinking today about how crazy it is that sega spent $80 million on shenmue and then about $2,000 localizing and recording english dialog.
Source: https://twitter.com/necrosofty/status/4 ... 8623975424
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby BlueMue » Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:05 am

That's the kind of exaggerating I mean. It's just silly over the top. I still wish they went the route with Jeremy Blaustein for the dub though.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby Giorgio » Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:58 pm

Even though those Shenmue articles are too old, are unique reads, really: The most cheesy line for me was about the fishes on the Koi pond! And especially this thoughtful line!
The player is the divine visitor, the bringer of change. [...] Ryo is a suitable vessel for the divine visitor (that is the player) to fill.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby BlueMue » Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:54 pm

Do those tea heater pillars that stand around in the second living room of the Hazuki residence or the harbor loung exist in that form in Japan? And how do they work? Electrical or with some kind of fire inside? They always looked so strange... The way they just stand on the floor on their own.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any information myself. Would be great if someone how knows such stuff well could explain a bit about those tea heaters.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby Switch » Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:29 am

Do those tea heater pillars that stand around in the second living room of the Hazuki residence or the harbor loung exist in that form in Japan? And how do they work? Electrical or with some kind of fire inside?


They burn kerosene as fuel. They're still available in Japan but these days are probably considered a bit old-fashioned or nostalgic, since air con / electric heaters are more common.

I found a page with photos of one that looks similar to the one in Ryo's house:
http://aladdin-aic.com/products/bf/bf3905/

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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby BlueMue » Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:44 pm

I see! Thank you very much, that's the kind of information I was looking for!
Those heaters in the link really do look similar with that metal grate around them for protection I guess? They only seem to be smaller then the ones in Shenmue.
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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby Henry Spencer » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:39 pm

Giorgio wrote: When I first played the game I never thought that the voice acting was bad. Probably because English is not my native language. I "learned" that from native speakers and such. Lots of people saying that Japanese is superior. But how do they know? Are native speakers and can critisize if it is good or not?

I believe if you are not a native speak (as with my example) you can not really tell the difference. For one, I prefer the English voice acting, because it is more familiar to the ear (at least I can understand English, in contrast with the Japanese one) and why I love it when it brings me smiles (e.g. "I am just fine and dandy! He he he he he!" You don't get that cheesiness in the Jap one...)


Yeah, the voice acting in Shenmue I was really cheesy, but I like it too. Just adds to the "charm" of it all, for me. I even think some of the voice acting in SI was fine, like Guizhang, Lan Di, Iwao, Ine(-san) & Chai all had voices that fit their characters really well. Shenmue II on Xbox though, man, they really went over the line with the bad voice acting there, I think. I do like Shenmue II in Japanese more, only because it doesn't grate my ears like SII Xbox does...

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Re: Random Shenmue Thoughts

Postby Switch » Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:49 pm

BlueMue wrote: I see! Thank you very much, that's the kind of information I was looking for!
Those heaters in the link really do look similar with that metal grate around them for protection I guess? They only seem to be smaller then the ones in Shenmue.


Right, in fact there's also a video (complete with music that wouldn't feel out of place in Shenmue!) showing how the grill section tips up for lighting the heater.
http://aladdin-aic.com/products/bf/howto/index.html

It's another nice attention to detail in the game. A Japanese wooden house like the Hazukis' would get pretty cold in winter.

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