The Shenmue Prophecy: Comparison of All English Versions To Date

We have previously carried out an analysis of the Shenmue the Animation trailer that was launched recently at New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2021. 

This time, we will examine the prophecy wording that Shenhua recites as this trailer plays, and see how it stacks up against the various other English versions that have been published to date. 

Related links:

Shenmue the Animation Trailer Breakdown: Part One

Shenmue the Animation Trailer Breakdown: Part Two

Shenmue the Animation Trailer Breakdown: Part Three

Shenmue the Animation Trailer Breakdown: Part Four

Prophecy Versions to Date

Update: the prophecy that is played again at Shenmue I's ending has differences in wording compared to the one in the prologue, so I have added this version.

Feb 2021 Update: Episode One of Shenmue the Animation contains a fuller version of the prophecy. I have updated the post with these lines.

Versions of the Shenmue prophecy to date have been seen in:

• Shenmue I (the prologue that plays before the title screen);
• Shenmue I (at the end of the game);
• Shenmue II (before the title screen & in the Stone Pit);
• The Shenmue III "Prophecy" trailer; and
• This Shenmue the Animation trailer.
• Shenmue the Animation Episode One

However when it comes to the English translation, while the meaning is retained, they are not identical to each other in wording.

Below, I have separated the prophecy into 10 parts. As will be see, not all parts appear in every version;  a hyphen "-" mark is used to indicate if a part does not appear in a particular game or trailer.

For example, the first game does not include the lines that describe the dragon and phoenix, which are introduced from Shenmue 2 onwards; on the other hand it contains the line "And thus the saga... begins" which is not uttered in the subsequent games.

To help gauge how faithful the wording of each version is to the original Japanese meaning, I have given a fairly literal translation at the top of each.

General note: the Japanese text is written in a poetic or literary style in its use of vocabulary and grammar, as if the words were written long ago.  Hence it is fitting that the English versions also assume a somewhat a poetic turn of phrase.

① その者、東の遠つ国より海を渡りて現れり。

Sono mono, higashi no tōtsu kuni yori umi o watarite arawareri.

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Black Rotary Phone & Other Miniatures | Merchandise

In 2002, toy manufacturer Takara released a "Showa Memories" series of miniature sets that recreated nostalgic items from 1950's / 1960's Japan. The theme was a Japanese hot springs inn, and in fact each of the sets was sold with a packet of bath salts.

For Shenmue fans, a number of items in these sets are just like those found around the Hazuki residence.

The second set shown above, which features a telephone, has items that a guest might typically encounter in their room during a stay at the hot springs inn:

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Weekly AM2 Vol. 5: Interview with Takenobu Mitsuyoshi & Shenmue Theme Ringtone | 11th Jan 2000

In this series we translate Shenmue content from Weekly AM2, the official online magazine published by Sega's AM2 development team back in the day. News and information about the Shenmue series could be found regularly within these pages from the end of 1999 through to 2001 with the release of Shenmue II.

Compared to the previous rather brief edition, Vol. 5 was packed with content, including an interview with the composer of the Shenmue Theme, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, and a report about the Shenmue launch event at stores in Akihabara on December 29th. This edition also contains a good sprinkling of nostalgic technology, including mention of Digital Audio Tape and MiniDisc devices - even a Shenmue ringtone for entering by hand for cell phones of the day.

-Switch

 

Vol.5: 2000.1.11

Hello, this is Takuan.

I hope you guys didn't experience any Year 2000 problems*. We've had a tough time here at AM2, with people who haven't once shown up late for work in the past 5 years turning up late, people's ears bleeding from excessive nose blowing, and weight gain from overeating during the New Year holidays (lol).

*[Note from Switch] The Year 2000 ("Y2K") problem was the general name for flaws in certain computer software that may have caused problems when dealing with dates beyond December 31, 1999. 

This week's contents:

• Ringtone Service Commences!
• Interview with Shenmue Sound Director, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
• Shenmue Report
• Outtrigger Event Report [omitted from translation]

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for November 2021

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic for November 2021 is...

"4Gamer 2010 interview with Yu Suzuki about Shenmue Gai (translation)"

Shenmue Gai (also known as Shenmue City or Shenmue Town) was a short-lived social-network based game that was released in Japan at the end of 2010 but was discontinued the following year. In the game, each player was a student of the Hazuki Dojo. The game was released for mobile phones and a PC version was under development but was never released.

We will translate an interview held with Yu Suzuki just before the game's official release, in which he talks about his motivation for producing the game and some of its key features.

Watch for it on the blog in the near future.

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[Part Four] Subtle Details from Shenmue the Animation Trailer: Recap & Analysis

This is the fourth and final part of our in-depth breakdown of the Shenmue the Animation trailer, which was launched last week at New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2021 to a widely-positive reception. Read the previous parts here:

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three

The analysis continues below.

Shenmue The Animation Title

The next clip starts with an initially-blinding golden glow of sunlight in the sky over a cityscape of tall, densely-packed buildings. A low mountain range stretches in the background.

The camera pans down and out to reveal two figures in the foreground, standing at the top of a building: one is Lan Di, and the other Ryo.

This is not an action scene like the others, but it is almost like a snapshot of action, frozen in time: Ryo is shown lunging forward, elbow outstretched, a grimace of determination on his face; Lan Di has an arm raised to block the attack as he fixes Ryo with his glare, his pigtail sweeping out dramatically to one side. A narrow ray of sunlight can also be noticed beaming across the screen from left to right.

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