I'm starting to warm to the idea of potential extended universe material in the form of comics or anime. I was initially worried that making Shenmue cross-media might rule out future instalments in video game form or deviate Sega/Yu too much from completing the core story to create something absolutely nobody wanted (Shenmue Online replete with Hadoukens). Also, I think covering the exact same story events of Shenmue 1 & 2 just in a different format feels a bit redundant when we could be covering new material we have not seen before. I think so long as Shenmue 4 is still planned and if this extended universe material is executed well and leads into it, this could indeed be a good way to satisfy fans who care about Shenmue's story.
I recently rewatched this video where Yu Suzuki talks about the enigmatic third chapter of the Virtua Fighter RPG concept.
Here, Yu says that the scenario in the third chapter where Akira (Ryo) is on a train might be repurposed into Shenmue 4. We also know that while Shenmue 3 adapted chapters 5 & 6, it also tried to adapt select events from chapters 3 (train) & 4 (martial arts tournament) to expand the Guilin portion of the story slightly. However, Shenmue 3 did not tell the rest of chapters 3 & 4, only just some parts. Just check out this image from a Gameinformer interview with Yu Suzuki which shows that bits and pieces were extracted from chapters 3-6 for Shenmue 3, instead of Shenmue 3 fully realising all these chapters in their entirety.
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This got me thinking: if future Shenmue games keep attempting to go backwards to fill in the blanks of previously cut material instead of focusing forwards to wrap up the series, this story will never be finished. This presents a bit of a problem, as we know that Yu is also passionate about more fully realising the story he had planned in this eleven chapter concept.
So, rather than keep having to go back to adapt cut material in something as expensive as a video game which takes a lot of time and resources to make, perhaps the events that we have skipped over but that Yu also still wants to re-integrate back into the story going forward could instead be repurposed into a side comic or anime series? That way, people who 'care about Shenmue's story' will be seeing more of Yu's original 11 chapter vision but just with a slight compromise.
Just thinking about how this could work: The material would adapt any leftover scraps in the 11 chapter concept while acting as a bridge between Shenmue 3's ending and Shenmue 4 to build hype for the next game. The key characters would be Ryo (the headstrong and impulsive hero), Ren (the comedic relief) and Shenhua (the brainy one of the bunch). The series would pick up with the group still travelling to the Emperor's temple where the Chi You Men are gathered as they try to figure out how to open the treasure vault. During Ryo, Ren and Shenhua's journey to this clifftop location, they will get tangled up in some side quests along the way, such as stumbling into various towns and villages where more of the scrapped 11 chapter story events could be repurposed.
For example, in one episode/issue Ryo and friends will get off the Great Wall and stumble into a village that's holding a martial arts tournament where an affiliate of the Chi You Men is participating which could adapt more from the previously cut chapter 4. The series would adapt leftover scraps from the original story while also introducing new locations and content (e.g. an episode/issue dedicated to an Iwao Hazuki and Sunming Zhao flashback in Bailu). You could even introduce all Four Leaders (maybe even Ten Tei) of the Chi You Men having their sinister discussions at their shadowy base of operations as they send their underlings (Chai, Dou Niu, Ge etc) to pursue Ryo while they continue trying in vain to open the Emperor's treasure vault (perhaps the mirrors are not enough but Shenhua's power is also needed as the final key).
The series would end with Ryo, Ren and Shenhua arriving in Baisha village/Luoyang where the Emperor's temple is located with the words...
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...to hype up the next game. That way, casual players who don't follow Shenmue's expanded material will still be picking up where the core story left off in Shenmue 3 with the group arriving in Baisha/Luoyang after their long trek across China. However, more diehard fans like us who read/watch all this extra material would pick up on any of Shenmue 4's winks to that side content (e.g. Ren: "I'm still not over that train ride with that creepy skinhead!").
Just me blabbering away, Shenmue rumours are not good for my health.