Variations of the patch image on the front of Ryo's jacket..

[johnvivant]

haven't found any posts on this topic so i apologize if this has been discussed before but i was always curious about the image of the patch on the front of Ryo's jacket especially since it varies in different artworks. i think in both games its the horse (unicorn) image that is depicted but its difficult to see it since its all creased and in low resolution.

anyone got any idea's as to the symbolism of these images?
if it doesn't mean anything then why bother changing it for the final game?
it could be that the image changed during the course of development so some of the artworks might be very early.

if anyone has high quality in-game images of the patch from both games then that would be interesting.

here are some links to pics


does anyone think that the shenmue 2x artwork is very early concept art? thats why its different...


image from shenmue 1 - definitely not the unicorn but resolution is bad - but doesn't really look like the flags either.



shenmue 2 ending image depicts Ryo with the unicorn patch:


in the shenmue 1 cover art you can just see vaguely that its the black unicorn..


edit - shenmue 1 cover art this time in poster form and for some reason it changes back to the flags! weird!


shenmue 2 in-game pic- looks definitly like the horse..


judging from these pics, it seems that it was changed from shenmue 1 to shenmue 2... interesting... why do that?

edit - another shenmue 2 image but this time with the flags.. must be different textures in different contexts...maybe its all a continuity mistake


looks completly different again in the 'whats shenmue' demo:


the whats shenmue version looks the same as this image from edge magazine (you'll need to zoom):


that 3 different versions...

posting all this as i find it...i'll stop here.


edit - H S could be an acronym for High School... is this a high school badge? i wouldn't have thought you would put your school badge on a cool leather jacket?
i know in japan they wear naval like clothing for school uniform..this might explain the nautical symbols...?

early (i'm assuming) concept art with neither patch on the front or US flag on left arm. so adding these elements to the jacket was a later design choice?


tiger on the back was an early decision as shown here, but the design is different (prefer the final design - so cool) - also interesting to notice the plaster on the underside of lower jaw instead of being on the left cheeck bone (same as lan di which has been mentioned before)

[Who Really Cares?]

Well things change all the time during development. Could just be a simple case of they think the new design works better.

Could just be they had issues with it in game.

[johnvivant]

the texture quality of it in the games is terrible and you cant make it out at all especially playing in standard def. but i have a feeling there is some kind of meaning in it,

firstly they all contain a nautical 4 point star, which could represent the chi yu men leaders of the different regions which is widely discussed on these boards (along with their corresponding mythical creature)

[Who Really Cares?]

Well wasn't his look simply to appeal to US gamers? I would be surprised if it had a meaning.

[ShOzO MiZuKi]

But why change it randomly?

[MiTT3NZ]

Possibly an Easter Egg or an in-joke amongst the team.

[Axm]

Never realized this john. Thanks for bringing it up.

[DreamcastPast]

Interesting subject. The recently licensed Insert Coin Shenmue hoodie has the 'flags' patch embroidered on it.

[Bluecast]

I always explained it in the first game what's his face says "I will make a special patch just for you"" and they are velcro and he changes them every so often

[MiTT3NZ]

Itoi-san?

[Who Really Cares?]

But why change it randomly?

Could just be a poor consistency from the devs?

[nskachu]

No, I think that represents something. But what does a unicorn stamd for? I'll look this up.

I found this: " The Qilin is generally considered a symbol of happiness, peacefulness, justice, and the blessing of children."

[johnvivant]

No, I think that represents something. But what does a unicorn stamd for? I'll look this up.

I found this: " The Qilin is generally considered a symbol of happiness, peacefulness, justice, and the blessing of children."

from what i have found the chinese unicorn Qilin looks a lot different to the western unicorn. the unicorn on ryo's jacket looks more like a western unicorn.

Quilin


western black unicorn



found this
"The Four Sacred Beasts: The Chinese Unicorn

There is an ancient Chinese myth which explains the creation of the universe. In the beginning, the universe was merely an egg. Heaven and earth were not separate. The stars and the planets were one. But when the egg of the universe cracked, Chaos spilled out. Heaven and earth separated and the stars and planets split.

Into this chaos came P'an Ku, the first god/human. It took him 18,000 years to create the present universe and earth. He was assisted in this work of creation by the four most fortunate animals--the dragon, the phoenix, the tortoise and the unicorn. When P'an Ku's work was completed, he died. The dragon swan into the seas. The tortoise crawled into the swampy wetlands. The phoenix rose into the sky and flew to the open lands. The unicorn galloped into the green forests. These four sacred animals became the guardians of the hidden realms upon the earth and those places beyond, where their strength is undiminished by contact with humans."

4 compass directions
4 sacred beasts assisting P'an Ku, with the creation of the earth

'The unicorn galloped into the green forests.' - is Ryo a representation of the unicorn and when he reached Guilin he galloped in the green forest? its a stretch...

whole site about unicorns here if anyone is interested. i look through it more later.
http://www.allaboutunicorns.com

[Master Kyodai]

I think the one from Whats Shenmue is a black Knight (Chess piece) At least thats also used in the Shenmue 1 high-res textures (Inside Hazuki mansion or talking head????)




I think that's also the one used for the in-game photos

[johnvivant]

I think the one from Whats Shenmue is a black Knight (Chess piece) At least thats also used in the Shenmue 1 high-res textures (Inside Hazuki mansion or talking head????)

I think that is as good a view as we are going to get of that version, well done. it still looks very strange, i suppose i can see what you mean about it possibly being a knight chess piece, but why didn't they have it at more of a side angle (in profile). then you would have been able to see what it was better.

to be honest it looks more like a distressed horse, in a straight jacket, wearing striped pantaloons...lol

i don't think i've seen that version anywhere else apart from whats shenmue demo, and those photographs as you say...

if it was the case that they were trying many different images to see what best appeared in game, then why did it still end up so terrible. its not something that many people would even notice .

edit - so Master Kyodai, are you also saying that this version is also used in the high res Ryo from passport disc?