Is Lan Di the Leader of the Chi You Men?

In the English version of Shenmue, Lan Di is described as being the leader of the Chi You Men, a significant fact about one of the key characters in the story.

This information is provided by the trustworthy Master Chen, whom Ryo visits in an early part of the game.

However unfortunately it turns out that while Master Chen may be trustworthy, the English translation is not perfectly faithful to his original words.

Have these words been put into Master Chen's mouth?

Let's examine the Japanese version to find out if this is exactly what was said.

Become a Patron!

Lan Di Statue Photos (Exclusive Edition)

The Lan Di figure by collectibles maker First 4 Figures is now being shipped out to those lucky people who were able to snap one up.

Lan Di remains calm as the Hazuki Dojo blazes around him

The regular edition of the Lan Di figure

Today we have a selection of photos of the exclusive version of the Lan Di figure, provided by Jcgamer60 (Twitter account here) who received the delivery in Canada earlier this week and kindly offered them to share on this blog with the Shenmue community. Regarding the build quality of the statue he comments that he is "thrilled at the quality and attention to detail".

[The photos follow at the end of the next section.]

Become a Patron!

Shenmue Dojo Broadcast Special - 3 December, 2016

The Shenmue Dojo has announced the upcoming relaunch of the Dojo's Twitch channel, with an exciting line-up planned for the first special broadcast being hosted on December 3rd, in less than two weeks' time.

[Nov 28 update] The advertised GMT start time has been corrected to 5pm.

Shenmue Dojo Twitch Channel: Relaunching December 3rd

Here's a run-down of what lies in store in the December 3rd special broadcast:

Become a Patron!

SEGA Online Poll Results & Video Recap

The results from the online poll held this week by Sega Japan were announced this morning by live video feed from the Sega Fes event in Akihabara.

Kensaku Nishimura (left), Yosuke Okunari (center), Hiroyuki Miyazaki (right).

I'll run through the results from each of the three categories in turn, and highlight any comments of interest from the Sega presenters about the results.

If you would prefer to view a quick summary of the results from all categories at once, skip down to the final image in this post.

Become a Patron!

Guide to the SEGA Japan Online Poll. [Now Closed]

In conjunction with an up-coming Tokyo event this weekend, SEGA Japan has put up an online poll in which they ask for the public to name your most memorable Sega game and character, out of any from the entire history of Sega.

Nov 22 update: the poll results have now been announced. I have written a follow-up post here with a summary of the results for each category..

The poll is in Japanese but is very short, consisting of only a few questions and is a great way for Shenmue fans to make our voices heard.

Poll introduction
[click to enlarge]

The questions are as follows:

Q1: Most memorable work of entertainment. Frustratingly, Shenmue is not listed, but to vote for it just enter シェンムー as free text in the first item.
Q2: Most memorable character. Ryo Hazuki (and Segata Sanshiro!) are listed as selectable options. Or enter 芭月涼 (=Ryo Hazuki) as  free text.
Q3: Which Sega creation you wish to see revived. The same answer as Q1 can be entered here as free text: シェンムー
Q4: Your sex
Q5: Your age bracket

See the images that follow for a detailed translation of each question.

Click here to vote in the poll: https://enq.sega.jp/orca/PA99014021/ [Now closed]

The results of the poll are scheduled to be announced on the NicoNico SEGA live stream at 6am JST this Sunday Nov 20th here.

Become a Patron!

Cédric Biscay hints at Shenmue III material for the PSX event

Shenmue III co-producer Cédric Biscay of Shibuya Productions has tweeted out a promising comment regarding the possibility of something Shenmue related being revealed at the upcoming PlayStation Experience event at the start of December.

PlayStation Experience 2016, December 3-4

His replied to a query posed by user Spaghetti from the Shenmue Dojo / NeoGAF as follows:

Cedric: "If we are ready on time, we will show something next december. I cannot confirm at this stage."

While being at pains to point out that this should not be taken as a definite confirmation, it is still a great indication that something is in the works for showing off Shenmue III - perhaps a trailer? - with a chance of it being revealed at the PSX event itself. And if not at the event, then hopefully soon after it.

We shall know more in a few weeks' time!

Become a Patron!

"It can't be... you... ?"

"It can't be... you... ?" These are the words from Shenmue's opening cut-scene gasped by Ryo's father, Iwao, after Lan Di levels an accusation of the murder of a man named Zhao Sun Ming (or "Sunming Zhao" in Shenmue II).

Just hold that thought while we perform an analysis.

A point of interest here is that the final word "you...?" suggests that Iwao may have a tentative idea of who Lan Di is. However is this really the case? It's a small point, but given that Ryo's entire journey kicks off from this crucial cut scene, it is worth a closer look.

In this post we'll examine the corresponding sentence in Japanese to try to get some clarification.

Become a Patron!

Top 200 Dreamcast Games Poll Results [DCJY 2016]

The results of the Dreamcast Junkyard Top 200 Dreamcast Games poll are out, and the Shenmue games have shone through again.

Become a Patron!

Yu Suzuki Comments on Shenmue 3 - Nov 2 Famitsu interview

Japanese site Famitsu.com today published a new interview with Yu Suzuki, in commemoration of the release of the recent Powerdrift 3D on the Nintendo 3DS, centered mainly around various arcade games he worked on at his time with Sega.

The famed Yu Suzuki striped shirt puts in an appearance.
Image credit: Famitsu.com

The good news for Shenmue fans is that the interview contains mention of Shenmue 3 in a few places, including some direct comments by Yu Suzuki.

I've extracted and translated the relevant parts below, starting with this comment by the interviewer:

Become a Patron!