Season 2 officially cancelled (for now)

[JCJ]

Well...In retrospect, I would have kind of liked for Sega to clearly cancel Shenmue 3 around 2004 or so. Instead of having it in limbo for so long. And I don't think it would have prevented the 2015 Kickstarter to happen as it did.

Wondering if Cedric's company Shibuya Productions could maybe help out with Season 2?

They have close ties to Yu Suzuki and YS Net (Shenmue 3) and they work on Japanese transmedia content.

This, too. It looks like the perfect stars alignment for someone in the position of Cedric Biscay. Having the chance of contributing to the series after a bittersweet first experience, but now through a medium which is much cheaper, and which is much closer to his company's expertise. Looks like a no-brainer.

 

[Sonoshee]

This is devastating news. I think maybe Yu could release the remaining story as a novel and we can do a fan translation of it or something like that.

It's been 3 years since S3 and S4 sure isn't becoming more likely as time passes.

Don't give up hope.
How long did we go between S2 and 3?

 

[Sonoshee]

The news really sucks donkey balls, but whose to say things won't change in the future.

We've seen the impossible happen before with the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, and just because we're not getting Shenmue Anime 2 (for now) with Warner Bros involved doesn't mean the Shenmue IP is now finished.

We have lots of people on our side within the industry (Jason, Cedric), and we know YS Net were pitching an early build of Shenmue 4 to publishers two years ago, so we know its been worked on in some capacity. The franchise will continue.

Also, as others have said, by releasing Shenmue 4 first, the creators of a potential future Anime 2 will now have more material to work with to adapt the games.

Well said

 

[bcdcdude]

https://www.thegamer.com/final-space-warner-discovery-netflix-piracy-animation/?utm_source=TG-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=TG-FB-P

Not Shenmue-related per se (although you can replace Final Space with Shenmue and it'd be the same), but as someone who still buys physical media, it made for a grim read. Streaming is not ideal. Paralysis of choice, FOMO culture, a burn-out binge mentality, it just makes watching things feel like work. I was grateful for Shenmue being shown once a week as it allowed me to absorb and savour it.

The fact that the Blade Runner show got cancelled is worrying too. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think it was very good, but Blade Runner is a big name. On the other hand, both films underperformed at the box office and are cult classics, so at least Shenmue is in good company.

They really need to announce a blu-ray for Shenmue. I can't bring myself to pay for a subscription to watch something online...and as the link above suggests, if no option is left, then I feel I have little option than to pirate it.

 

[Nick Hughes]

On that note (apologies for hijacking the thread) I need names of Youtubers with a decent following who are sympathetic/like Shenmue or are proper fans. I am working on something and I need a list of people to harass to get my own way!

Anyone mentions SEPW or RGT85 you're banned on the spot

These are the one's I have down to contact:
Michael Huber
Happy Console Gamer
My Retro Life
Adam Koralik
Mega 64
Scottish Duck17
Sega Bits
BrutalMoose

Top Hat Gaming is a big Shenmue fan and has a fairly sizeable following. Not sure how well placed he’d be for a ‘serious’ video about Shenmue the Animation, though.

 

[spud1897]

Top Hat Gaming is a big Shenmue fan and has a fairly sizeable following. Not sure how well placed he’d be for a ‘serious’ video about Shenmue the Animation, though.

Sweet I'll add to the list. It doesn't have to be super serious, I'm still planning out what I'd want done. Just hoping I can get enough on board to have it carry some weight.

Early days but it's keeping me busy at least.

 

[Nick Hughes]

A few more to consider. Dreamcast Guy is definitely a fan. Then a couple of larger, less obvious channels have made videos praising the Shenmue games-

The Normies

AustinMcConnell

 

[MetalSonic]

They really need to announce a blu-ray for Shenmue. I can't bring myself to pay for a subscription to watch something online...and as the link above suggests, if no option is left, then I feel I have little option than to pirate it.

If by the end of the year there is still no legal way to buy the series in both the JP and EN versions, I'm seriously thinking about finding a way to share my "bootleg" version. I can't stand these business models where the consumer doesn't own anything he paid for. Legal downloads without DRM is something that doesn't exist, and unfortunately there are more and more cases of content being removed from platforms, even for those who bought it. So when I hear about the possibility of it being sold digitally, I'm not very excited. It's only slightly less bad than streaming...

If they don't release anything, it won't be for lack of opportunity. It's guaranteed money, they're very dumb if they don't sell it. But well... if they weren't dumb, they would have renewed the series for a second season...

 

[Nathanial Essex]

At this point, I'll be satisfied with Yu posting a single tweet on how the saga ends.

 

[Sonoshee]

At this point, I'll be satisfied with Yu posting a single tweet on how the saga ends.

We haven't come this far to just give up now.

 

[MetalSonic]

Gamespot posted an article:

Shenmue Anime Series Canceled

Ryo Hazuki will continue to look for sailors for quite some time, it seems.

www.gamespot.com

But unfortunately, the comments on social media are what we would expect:

- People who hate Shenmue and who say it must be as boring as the games
- People that assume that if it was canceled it was certainly bad
- People who only now found out that this anime even exists
- People who are no longer surprised because "this is what always happens to Shenmue"

Well... what a inspiring way to start this Friday...

 

[Sonoshee]

Haters will hate. We just have to rise above it and continue the push as we've always done.

 

[Revan]

Especially given what’s going on in the world right now, imagine being a grown adult who is seething angry over a niche video game series for merely existing and who salivates at every hiccup this series experiences along the way. A very poor reflection on them, and the sad thing is they think they look cool.

Other infinitely more successful game franchises have had a plethora of cancelled projects. At least Shenmue even got a successful season of a high-quality anime.

 

[darksniper]

Any other company would surely kill to own the IP of a succesful Anime and get it moving forward. Sega has always been impossible to understand but this latest venture really takes the piss.

I really hope Sega eventually caves in and support Shenmue like it needs to be. It still surprises me they actually were about to really budget a full fledged Shenmue remake at one point, something that would have caught the community off guard.

Come on Sega, please give Yu the resources he needs to make Shenmue 4 a success. With their full support, it would make this a much easier task to complete rather than than what we're getting from them now.

 

[Joka]

I really hope Yu gets to tell the whole story, anime seemed like the most likely way this was going to happen but now who knows.

I initially thought this was straight up terrible news but if the knock on effect is that it dissolves any legalities with Adult Swim it could actually be positive...

I mean the viewing figures and scores were decent right so there's got to be some interested parties out there circling... The fact it's still up on crunchyroll is a plus too, maybe those numbers will get a boost on the back of the media attention this creates....

Or maybe I'm clutching at straws lol.

 

[Spaghetti]

Or maybe I'm clutching at straws lol.

Nah, shows get dropped by one network and picked up by another all the time. There's definitely hope that if enough noise is made it'll happen for Shenmue too. Just wrapped its TV run in Japan this week(?) too, so we shall see what happens next.

 

[spud1897]

I really hope Yu gets to tell the whole story, anime seemed like the most likely way this was going to happen but now who knows.

I initially thought this was straight up terrible news but if the knock on effect is that it dissolves any legalities with Adult Swim it could actually be positive...

I mean the viewing figures and scores were decent right so there's got to be some interested parties out there circling... The fact it's still up on crunchyroll is a plus too, maybe those numbers will get a boost on the back of the media attention this creates....

Or maybe I'm clutching at straws lol.

No I think you could be right.

We just need to make a tonne of noise about it and make it impossible for someone to not pick it up or for this to be reconsidered.

 

[Revan]

Wondering if Shibuya Productions (Cedric) might get involved perhaps.

 

[red]

At this point, I'll be satisfied with Yu posting a single tweet on how the saga ends.

lol. funny but true.

 

[hmjohnny]

woke up to this new on my feed this morning. I didn't even know that a second season was greenlit and to find out it was cancelled not because of ratings but corporate shenanigans is pretty heartbreaking.

I was really looking forward to a second season...