Shenmue Book Series

S

Ssoldier

Joined
Nov 23, 2019
Has there ever been any discussion around this?

I could see the general story translating very well in a written format.

It is also very low-cost to produce and we would get a crazy tonne more detail on everything. A lot more dialogue, character development, story and development of the environment.

I think it would also give the needed real estate to go through the entire story to Yu's satisfaction and pace.

Not saying this is a good idea by any means (although I would love to read it) but wondering if it has ever been considered by the community?
 
Ssoldier said:
Has there ever been any discussion around this?

I could see the general story translating very well in a written format.

It is also very low-cost to produce and we would get a crazy tonne more detail on everything. A lot more dialogue, character development, story and development of the environment.

I think it would also give the needed real estate to go through the entire story to Yu's satisfaction and pace.

Not saying this is a good idea by any means (although I would love to read it) but wondering if it has ever been considered by the community?
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While i think it will better to finish the story in game form first i always loved the idea of Shenmue in book form. I really think Yu Suzuki will have the opportunity to make the games Shenmue IV and Shenmue V, this way finishing the story in Shenmue V.

I agree that in book form we can have a lot of details, dialogue, story, character development and much more, and it is also very low-cost to produce.

i'm working on a big and special project for the Shenmue community for some time now. My project is to write 11 books telling the entire journey of Ryo (Akira) with the games, the anime, the concept arts of VF RPG and other informations Yu Suzuki shared all this years as inspiration.

For more informations about my project see this thread >>> https://www.shenmuedojo.com/forum/i...project-shenmue-book-series.4227/#post-135670
 
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Hiki said:
While i think it will better to finish the story in game form first i always loved the idea of Shenmue in book form. I really think Yu Suzuki will have the opportunity to make the games Shenmue IV and Shenmue V, this way finishing the story in Shenmue V.

I agree that in book form we can have a lot of details, dialogue, story, character development and much more, and it is also very low-cost to produce.

i'm working on a big and special project for the Shenmue community for some time now. My project is to write 11 books telling the entire journey of Ryo (Akira) with the games, the anime, the concept arts of VF RPG and other informations Yu Suzuki shared all this years as inspiration.

For more informations about my project see this thread >>> https://www.shenmuedojo.com/forum/i...project-shenmue-book-series.4227/#post-135670
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Great to hear that you resonate with the thought pattern I shared.

That is a fantastic project you're taking on Hiki - I commend your efforts and will read into what you're working on.

I agree that the games will likely wrap things up but that doesn't mean a book series wouldn't be an exceptionally effective retelling of the entire saga... I just know that the entire journey could literally be as descriptive and in-depth as the LOTR books.
 
Ssoldier said:
Great to hear that you resonate with the thought pattern I shared.

That is a fantastic project you're taking on Hiki - I commend your efforts and will read into what you're working on.

I agree that the games will likely wrap things up but that doesn't mean a book series wouldn't be an exceptionally effective retelling of the entire saga... I just know that the entire journey could literally be as descriptive and in-depth as the LOTR books.
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Yes, i agree with you, a Shenmue book series can be as descriptive and in-depth as many other books series, the more Shenmue in more media the better.

I would love to see an official Shenmue Book series, but sadly i don't think this will happen, maybe Yu Suzuki is not interested about doing that, we don't even know if one day he will share the Legend of Akira scripts/novels with the Shenmue community, so i had this idea of writing the entire journey of Ryo (Akira) in 11 books with a lot of details for the Shenmue community.

I have plans to make Kickstarter for this project, this way people can really have the books, all i know is that i will share for free the digital version of the books.

I love writing and Shenmue is really important to me, i really want to do this project for the Shenmue community, thank you for the support, means a lot to me.
 
I would pay moderately insane money for a coffee table book involving the original script(s) translated, Kenji's artwork etc. Essentially a buyable version of the Shenmue bible we've seen periodically over the years. That would be insane!
 
bcdcdude said:
I would pay moderately insane money for a coffee table book involving the original script(s) translated, Kenji's artwork etc. Essentially a buyable version of the Shenmue bible we've seen periodically over the years. That would be insane!
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I just want high res versions of those postmortem cards. I’d so blow those up and hang them on my wall.
 
bcdcdude said:
I would pay moderately insane money for a coffee table book involving the original script(s) translated, Kenji's artwork etc. Essentially a buyable version of the Shenmue bible we've seen periodically over the years. That would be insane!
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This is one of my Shenmue dreams as well, this is why i'm doing my Shenmue book series project, i'm doing what i would like to see in a official way, i don't think we will get a Shenmue book series in a official way, i don't even know if we will have the chance to read the scripts one day, so i had this idea of writing the entire journey of Ryo (Akira) in book form, my plan is to finish the Yokosuka book this year.

Elfshadowreaper said:
I just want high res versions of those postmortem cards. I’d so blow those up and hang them on my wall.
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Same for me, i want to do the same thing, for a long time i searched for the high res versions of those cards. I even tried to put in Japanese when i searched but i didn't find it. 😿
 
This would be a great addition. It would also allow us to hear Ryo's thoughts etc and present an entirely different perspective and level of detail.

Game, anime and book series. There we have it!
 
if shenmue 4/5 doesn't get made in the next few years, i kinda think Yu Sazuki has an obligation to the fans to release the whole story, including the remaining shenmue chapters, as a book or graphic novel ( i would prefer a graphic novel series myself).

i don't blame him, Games are obscenely expensive to get made but in my opinion, Yu should of really told us fans how shenmue was going to end back in the mid 2000s, when he himself, believed the shenmue series was "dead" and had no future.
 
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In light of the latest news about the anime... I think a novel would be a great way to keep everyone happy. The general story of Shenmue typically translates really well in novel-form too (split into a 3 volumes even perhaps).

A grahpic novel / manga is probably more likely though (for some reason).
 
In light of the latest news about the anime... I think a novel would be a great way to keep everyone happy. The general story of Shenmue typically translates really well in novel-form too (split into a 3 volumes even perhaps).
Ssoldier said:
A grahpic novel / manga is probably more likely though (for some reason).
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Yu Suzuki already got the whole Shenmue story in novel form at the beginning, so I hope it will not be too much effort to publish it.
 
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/\ has Yu Suzuki ever been asked about bringing the shenmue series to a book or graphic novel form?

if not, maybe someone should ask him.
 
I like the idea. If the next game can't get off the ground during the next 1 or 2 years, book form should be the way to go for Shenmue.
 
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A Shenmue novel or a manga would be a day-one buy for me. I think that Shenmue would do quite well as a novel or an Anime. The storytelling could be even deeper in these 2 formats compared to the cut scenes of a game. You could express the inner thoughts of Ryo for example way better than with cut scenes.

I still want Shenmue to stay gaming series though. I will never give up my hopes that I will be able to play Shenmue 4, 5, and maybe even 6. No matter how long it takes.

But a manga or a novel would be a decent plan B in case there is no other way to finish the story.
 
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