Random Shenmue Anime Thoughts

I'm curious. Realized that this will be my first ever venture into the anime genre outside of seeing a couple clips here and there online of anime shows. Anyone else's the same?
 
If the anime is going to be darker than the games, we'll probably get to see Yuan torturing people with knives and the mad angels might be much more fearsome.

I wonder if they will show how Mark's brother died (if he did) to illustrate how fearsome the mad angels are.

Everyone is probably sick of him but I'm looking forward to seeing Chai in the anime...
 
This is great, I always said this would be a great series to make a anime based off of.

Just one big problem I see, It's only going to be 13 episodes. 13 episodes would be fine if it only covered Shenmue 1, but it sounds like at very least, It's suppose to cover Shenmue 2 as well. You really need 40-50 to really execute Shenmue 2 properly.

This is going to feel so rushed, It's not funny. Here's hoping 13 episodes is just for Shenmue 1, and then they need to wait to greenlight Shenmue 2, which will be atleast 30 or so by its self.

I have a bad feeling this is just a cash grab for Sega, like the Ragnarok Online anime(as well as the DS game) was for Gunho.
 
I agree the Shennue anime should just cover Shenmue 1 + the boat chapter. Even if they felt Shenmue 1 couldn't cover 13 episodes they could've made some episodes filler, for example: Ryo battling Enoki and his gang, Ryo & Nagi Industries, maybe even a backstory episode on Fuku-san and/or Chai, and more backstories on Master Chen and Guizhang. I would've liked to see 15-20 episodes but 13 is better than nothing. Hopefully development changes and everyone sees the amount of content available and makes Shenmue more ambitious.
 
I don’t think I could sit through 13 episodes of Shenmue one unless they added some fairly substantial story beats.

With that in mind, I’m more than happy for them to wrap it up through 4-6 episodes - although I do worry that they’ll struggle to fit all of Shenmue 2’s content in there along with it.
 
I don’t think I could sit through 13 episodes of Shenmue one unless they added some fairly substantial story beats.

With that in mind, I’m more than happy for them to wrap it up through 4-6 episodes - although I do worry that they’ll struggle to fit all of Shenmue 2’s content in there along with it.


It's all about pacing, and you would be surprised how little happens in 13 ep most of the time. The harbor area should probally take up 4-6 ep alone.

You could potentially do everything before that in 3 episodes, bit you would likely need to cutout side stories, like the cat/megome, and side activities like training with the village idiot lol. I can imagine the boat only taking 1-1 1/2 episodes though, if they want to add that in(which would be awesome, since that Isn't even in the game, so we don't have a great presentation of such)
 
It's all about pacing, and you would be surprised how little happens in 13 ep most of the time. The harbor area should probally take up 4-6 ep alone.

You could potentially do everything before that in 3 episodes, bit you would likely need to cutout side stories, like the cat/megome, and side activities like training with the village idiot lol. I can imagine the boat only taking 1-1 1/2 episodes though, if they want to add that in(which would be awesome, since that Isn't even in the game, so we don't have a great presentation of such)
I agree, it’s all about pacing. That’s why I think trying to stretch the first game out to 13 episodes would be a terrible idea. I’ve no doubt that there are some who would enjoy it, but typical viewers would be turned off by its slow pacing and lack of action.
 
I agree, it’s all about pacing. That’s why I think trying to stretch the first game out to 13 episodes would be a terrible idea. I’ve no doubt that there are some who would enjoy it, but typical viewers would be turned off by its slow pacing and lack of action.


And what would you suggest get cut, everything that makes Shenmue, Shenmue? Are you not going to have Ryo work, disk 3 is very specific, so much so, the only thing you can get away with cutting, are the races, everything else has to stay.

Then prier to the harbor, what is Ryo just going to magically teleport everywhere? Also like I mentioned, are you going to cut out things like the cat/megome, and training/training fuku, exc. Perhaps Ryo ever going home at all should be cut as well...?

13 episodes Isn't as many as you are making it out to be. 22min or so goes by so fast, It's not a lot of time to do what needs to be done.
 
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And what would you suggest get cut, everything that makes Shenmue, Shenmue? Are you not going to have Ryo work, disk 3 is very specific, so much so, the only thing you can get away with cutting, are the races, everything else has to stay.

Then prier to the harbor, what is Ryo just going to magically teleport everywhere? Also like I mentioned, are you going to cut out things like the cat/megome, and training/training fuku, exc. Perhaps Ryo ever going home at all should be cut as well...?

13 episodes Isn't as many as you are making it out to be. 22min or so goes by so fast, It's not a lot of time to do what needs to be done.
These are questions for Yu and the guys at crunchy roll, not me - but the fact they’re seemingly planning to squeeze Shenmue 1 and most of Shenmue 2 into 13 episodes would suggest that ‘yes’; they do plan on cutting some of these things.

Besides. A lot of the things you talk about are pretty redundant in terms of the series’ plot. The cat, whilst a fun distraction, is absolutely cuttable and we really don’t need to see Ryo repeatedly traveling from point A to point B (this is what cuts are for). These might be elements that contribute towards what Shenmue is as a game, but Shenmue: The Animation isn’t a game.

Videogames and anime are two entirely different mediums and so it shouldn’t be too surprising that the team plan on cutting a lot of the slower paced redundant content and focusing on the action and story. Most people have no interest in watching an animated character buying capsule toys or playing arcade games - and I suspect that this will be reflected in the final product.
 
Mmmmm Im really curious about the duration of each episode.
Anybody can shine a light on that?
Also, How much of the story do you guys think this will cover? Possible the entirity of the Yokosuka chapter? Or more?!

MAN! Can't wait!!
 
Mmmmm Im really curious about the duration of each episode.
Anybody can shine a light on that?
Also, How much of the story do you guys think this will cover? Possible the entirity of the Yokosuka chapter? Or more?!

MAN! Can't wait!!
A few sources have suggested that it will cover Yokosuka and parts of the second game (potentially as far as Guilin). There’s no word on episode length, but around 25 minutes would be a safe bet.
 


Clearly people around here have forgotten what a massive game Shenmue 2 is, and how many key events alone happen, not to mention how integral to the story some of the seemingly mundane stuff is in 2

While I think all the must haves could be squeezed into 30, if I was directing, I personally would make shenmue 2 50 episodes by its self, and 13 for the 1st Shenmue sounds about right.

Hell there are events in Shenmue 2, that would take atleast 2 episodes to pull off. Shenmue 2 in a lot of ways, is still one of the biggest games ever created, due to everything that Yu Sasuki managed to cram into it.

It's truly a epic journey/adventure, you can't rush these things.
 
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