The Tiger and Dragon symbolize this balance of power, and in the same way in Shenmue's story we see Ryo with the tiger image on his jacket, and his foe Lan Di who has dragon imagery on his robes. In Taoism, Chinese philosophers saw the universe in terms of a symbiotic yin and yang: yang, active and masculine, takes the form of a mythological dragon yin, passive and feminine, the tiger common to some Chinese forests. There is a deeper connection to the Chinese philosophy of Taoism. Images of a tiger are a popular motif on the Yokosuka jackets (known as "Sukajan") sold along Dobuita Street, and Ryo's jacket design is likely also derived from these.
Hence it is a natural choice of imagery for a young martial artist such as Ryo. In Japan, historically, samurai warriors had tigers on their crests. The Tiger, one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, represents strength, power, and courage. Developer comment (Shenmue II on-disc bonus files, 2002) Finally, we dressed him in a leather jacket since it was determined that Shenmue would take place in the winter." We found out, however, that he didn't stand out from the other characters in the game. "In the beginning, we put Ryo in a plain outfit, a white T-shirt and blue jeans. The reason given was to make his character more distinctive: The later addition of a leather jacket was a deliberate point by the development team.Ī comment from the developers regarding this choice can be found as part of the bonus files present on the Shenmue II discs. Right: screenshot from footage of the abandoned Sega Saturn version of Shenmue. VFRPG Chapter Concept Art, 1996 (screenshot from the Shenmue Documentary Kickstarter trailer)įootage from the unreleased version of Shenmue that was initially developed on the Sega Saturn shows Ryo in the same outfit, down to the wristband on his right arm.
#Shenmue 3 animal style series#
In this post we'll see how the jacket and patches were presented in early concept art, and consider the meaning or intention behind them, if any. It is adorned with a number of patches - notably, the tiger on the back which faces the player for most of the game - but are these merely random designs? This is a topic that has been pondered by fans over the years, so Ryo is rarely seen without his trusty brown leather jacket (especially in the first two games), taking it off only to sleep, or to do some light sparring with Fuku-san in the Hazuki Dojo. This topic was selected by the Phantom River Stone blog patrons via our monthly poll on Patreon and was available for early access.