Master Wu Lianzhi: Chinese TV Documentary | Guest Post by Chao Yu

With today's post we welcome back Chao Yu, who presents a Chinese television documentary about the life of Wu Lianzhi, with translated English captions. 

Chao can be found at the Shenmue Dojo as yuc02, and is a long-standing supporter of Phantom River Stone on Patreon.

Hey guys, I recently found an old (circa 2008-10) Chinese TV documentary about Bajiquan grandmaster Wu Lianzhi (吴连枝), which gave a fascinating view of the life of a person who inspired Yu Suzuki in his creations of the Virtua Fighter and Shenmue series.  

Through the documentary, one learns of how Wu grew up in Meng Cun as a youngster gifted in martial arts, but often got involved with fights at school and broke the family code.  Later on the show explained how he (and indeed his ancestors) did not initially earn a living through Bajiquan, but a tragic event thrust him into the martial arts world spotlight, ending with him carrying the burden of passing down the Baji style onto the next generations.  Finally as his tireless efforts began to pay off, a chance meeting with Yu Suzuki gave him the chance to travel abroad, and his name soon spread throughout the world.

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Shenmue Theory: Sakuragaoka's Best-Kept Secret | Guest Post by James Brown

Back in 2019, I discovered in Shenmue something truly special and mind-blowing to myself that again proved that Shenmue is more than just a game. Admiring its breath-taking detail led me to discover a seasonal change that only a handful of people would ever realistically discover. In Japan, at the turn of spring cherry blossom season springs into life, bringing picturesque cherry trees into bloom with their sakura blossoms that are certainly a showstopper. And this is also the case in the game, with the Hazuki Residence’s Cherry Tree going through a gradual transformation over a number of weeks, as blossoms begin to bloom, eventually leading to a spectacular display.

The petals then start to fall, leaving them scattered on the ground, another fantastic detail.

• Related post: The Changing Beauty of the Hazuki Cherry Tree

This whole process can be considered a bit of a metaphor it seems, as Ryo is warned of time running out on his quest just before the blossoms start to dwindle - “When the cherry blossoms fall, the dragon shall descend on you” - and when the tree’s life cycle is finished so is Ryo’s, as Lan Di returns to the Dojo with the knowledge of the second mirror; in the process dealing Ryo the same devastating blow he performed on Ryo’s father at the start of the game and taking the Phoenix Mirror. This scene makes a point of showing the Cherry Tree at the end of its life cycle.

This date in the game is around the middle of April, a time which only an extremely… extremely… extremely slow player would reach - or someone deliberately taking advantage of the day skip (even doing this, the player would need to halt the day skips and continue to waste a day at a time as the tree reaches its full bloom).

The above information may not be new to you diehard Shenmue fans out there today - but over the last week, whilst working on the next release of the Suka Pass app with Switch, I had a bit of an epiphany that I’m looking forward to sharing with you today. I would love to hear your opinions!

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Yu Suzuki's Early Days in Manga Form! Part 3/3 | Scanlation by Daniel Mann

Welcome to the third and final part of Daniel Mann's scanlation of a manga about the early days of the legendary games creator Yu Suzuki. The original was published in 2019 by DenFamiNicoGamer, 

Go here to read the earlier parts:

• Yu Suzuki's Early Days in Manga Form! Part 1
• Yu Suzuki's Early Days in Manga Form! Part 2

In this part of the interview, Yu Suzuki talks about how Virtua Fighter evolved, and paved the way for the development of Shenmue. The manga ends with a tribute to the legend that is Yu Suzuki.

Note: the manga panels read right to left.

-Switch

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Yu Suzuki's Early Days in Manga Form! Part 2/3 | Scanlation by Daniel Mann

Part Two of Daniel Mann's scanlation of a manga that was originally published in 2019 by DenFamiNicoGamer, about the early days of the legendary games creator Yu Suzuki.

Go here to start from the first part:

• Yu Suzuki's Early Days in Manga Form! Part 1

Thanks to Daniel for making this fun manga about Yu Suzuki's life accessible to English-speaking fans!

In this part of the interview, Yu Suzuki talks about the first supervisor he had at Sega, the first game he wrote (Champion Boxing), the realism of his hit game Hang-On and more.

Note: the manga panels read right to left.

-Switch

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Yu Suzuki's Early Days in Manga Form! Part 1/3 | Scanlation by Daniel Mann

We welcome back guest contributor Daniel Mann, who has produced a fantastic scanlation of a manga that was originally published in 2019 by DenFamiNicoGamer, about the early days of the father of Shenmue and numerous revolutionary games: Yu Suzuki.

Many thanks to Daniel for making this fun manga about Yu Suzuki's life accessible to English-speaking fans!

This is the first installation of a three-part series. (Note: the manga panels read right to left).

-Switch

In “Waka-Ge no Itari: Game Creator no Seishun” (The Youth of Game Creators), Keiichi Tanaka takes us on a journey through the passionate, youthful and excessive memories of the game creators who struggled mightily during the youthful years of the gaming industry (1980-1990). 

For our 20th edition, this week we welcome an icon in the gaming industry: the one and only Yu Suzuki. He created a number of iconic titles in the 1980s before going on to pioneer the 3D fighting game with Virtua Fighter in 1993. He is also the general director of Shenmue III, the long awaited third installment in the popular video game series, which is set for release this November (2019). He is without question a legend in the video game industry.

In this interview, Yu Suzuki reminisces with us about his childhood and his love for handicrafts, his days in college, his early years at SEGA and much, much more. 

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