Miles Prower wrote:Kiyuu wrote:Miles Prower wrote:Actually, I believe you get a notebook entry saying that Joy paid back what you owed for you.
Isn't it like "I paid Joy what I owed to COGH," as money will surely be deducted?
And, if you don't have any debt, Ryo just writes something like "I didn't owe
any money to COGH," though I don't know the exact words in English.
Ah yes, I think you're right...my memory was a bit foggy on that one, I guess Joy wouldn't be that generous to actually use her own money
Joy is one of the only main characters who is actually friendly to Ryo and is actually going out of her way to help him. Fangemi too, perhaps, but she plays a much smaller role in the game. Ren just puts up the pretence that he wants his slice of the takings and that helping Ryo is somehow gonna make him rich and uses this excuse to just generally talk down to Ryo as if he were a child, (despite being only a year older than him).
Wong helps Ryo out by letting him stay at the junk boat, but not before he steals his bag and causes a whole lot of trouble at the beginning of the game. Cool Z is a bit cool with Ryo, too. Even after everything that happened at the wharf he says to him at the Dragon St. Hideout, don't get hurt, it's not that he'd miss him, but Joy would. (I can't remember the exact line, but words to that effect.
Xuiying helps certainly, but is distant and cold, not in an arrogant way, but that it is in her personality to be very serious and to supress emotion
Joy helps Ryo find his bag when it's stolen (telling him where Wong is).
I may have been going off topic a bit. But what I'm trying to say is that Joy is easily the most charitable and friendly towards Ryo, yet he treats her worse than the characters that really do give him a hard time. His responses are quite often bordering on aggressive.
Joy asked Ryo if he wanted to take a walk in the Golden Qr. during a convo (to take his mind off things.)
Ryo simply snaps, 'Go yourself.'
Joy replies, 'Fine.', just sounding a bit dissapointed.
She also offers to lend Ryo some money, knowing that it could be some time before he could pay it back. Ryo declines, but very curtly- which is almost out of character, as he was polite to the point of almost being sychophantic to virtually everyone in Shenmue I and much the same throughout most of II, it's just that he deals with a few more nasties this time round.
She's also going out of her mind worrying about him during the time she hangs out at the hideout and Ryo does nothing to reassure her.
Ryo does rescue Joy when he finds her in the basement with the cage, but he would probably as Bailu to spare anyone, probably even Dou-Nui. He'd probably thank Dou-Nui for telling him where Wong and Zhu were and offer him a page of his notebook to wipe his runny nose with.
Yet when he rescues Joy he seems almost tired and apathetic about it. When Joy explains she was trying to save him, his response is wry and minimal. He also treats her as a burden too. 'Wait here,' he might as well have rolled his eyes. While the contrasting Joy is almost overwhelmed with emotion Ryo just casually jogs out the door to push a few Yellowhead heavies down the steps!
I think Suzuki-san was having a bit of a laugh when he wrote this subplot. I think this running gag itself is quite ingenous. Both games have an underlying sense of humour, sometimes you have to be sharp to pick up on it.
If Joy hadn't have persisted, he'd have pretty much gone to Guilin without saying goodbye. I don't think he'd have given it a second thought. As soon as he gets to a town in Shenmue III, he'd just pawn the coin and the contents of his bag including pictures of Joy so he could buy a nice new Virtua Fighter Set.
Ryo's relationship with Nozomi was often awkward, but he was never impolite even if he could be a little distant. I think that overall, it was decided that while Joy would help trigger and set up some important events for 'Mue 2, she probably doesn't have any significance in future installments, so there's no point Ryo forming an attachment.
The story remains very much incomplete without Shenmue III, yet it's still a very interesting one and still holds up well 4 1/2 years after Shenmue II's DC release.
Ryo paid his dues to Joy, but only because of his moral principles. If he'd owed a debt to anyone, he'd have gone out of his way to pay it. He parts on reasonably amicable terms with Ren, having earned his respect. He probably did this after completing the QTE on the 15th floor of Yellowhead Bldg. after which they exchange 'high fives.' But, poor Joy who's been chasing him around from the beginning of the game, gets little more than an acknowledgement that he's leaving and he's probably not going to see her again.
But it's more of a 'meh, smell ya later', than a tearful goodbye. Although Ryo wouldn't say the former, I'm sure that's pretty much what he meant. Ryo isn't nearly as hollow and emotionless as the games critics say, but alot of their criticism probably stems from having seen or played parts of the game like this.
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