Shenmue The Animation Announced

[Tomato Convenience Store]

I have a feeling this is what Cedric was alluding to when he mentioned Shenmue IV being 50/50, regardless of Shenmue III's sales. At this point, I'm sort of wondering if Sega just wanted Suzuki to prove to them with Shenmue III that if they gave him a budget, he could deliver something. Otherwise, I can't really see why they would put so much effort behind the franchise while not just publishing Shenmue III themselves.

Sega: "Yu Suzuki, you bled us dry! Now it's time for a taste of your own medicine!"

Or like you mentioned, maybe it's a sadistic plan to make Yu Suzuki learn how to deal with a very limited budget before agreeing to give him money for Shenmue IV?

 

[SplashBreeze]

This feels like the first Shenmue announcement that doesn't have some unfortunate caveat attached to it since the release of Shenmue 1. I'm very excited that Sega is backing this and they signed on the heavy hitters in anime broadcasting. The future is looking brighter for the series after today.

 

[hyo_razuki]

So a Sega-owned Studio is making a Shenmue Anime which judging by the cover art looks pretty damn good. Yeah, Shenmue's future is looking not so bad at all.

If this brings in more momentum for the franchise to get S4 off the ground, perfect! But even if the Anime ends up replacing the games as a means to end the story, I'll be ok.

Like many people on here said, S3 kind of "cured" my craving for more Shenmue games.

While a good game would be a thousand times better than a good anime but I'd choose a good anime over more mediocre games any day.

 

[orient]

So it seems Shibuya Prod isn't directly involved, that we know of?

 

[Reprise]

Ok I'm ready for this to be injected into my veins now. Please proceed.

 

[Vivi-gamer]

Geez, of all the things they could have focused on, they're just doing an adaptation... sadly this just falls into a category of indulgence - Something that considering the mild reaction of Shenmue III they're not in the position to do. I just see no point in this, sure it may greet Shenmue to a wider audience and give them a breakdown of the story but will it really incentivize people to make the transition from Anime to Game to continue the story?

Will I watch it, of course! But I really feel this could have been a chance to explore other territory within the world, The Chi-You Men, Iwao's Past, NPC/Character Mini Story's, Introduce Shenmue IV's location - An adaptation was pretty low on the list of what I wanted from this. As I said, sure I'll watch it but I'm not majorly excited to be honest just due to the lack of potential this has.

 

[kaliskonig91]

Geez, of all the things they could have focused on, they're just doing an adaptation... sadly this just falls into a category of indulgence - Something that considering the mild reaction of Shenmue III they're not in the position to do. I just see no point in this, sure it may greet Shenmue to a wider audience and give them a breakdown of the story but will it really incentivize people to make the transition from Anime to Game to continue the story?

Will I watch it, of course! But I really feel this could have been a chance to explore other territory within the world, The Chi-You Men, Iwao's Past, NPC/Character Mini Story's, Introduce Shenmue IV's location - An adaptation was pretty low on the list of what I wanted from this. As I said, sure I'll watch it but I'm not majorly excited to be honest just due to the lack of potential this has.

I fully disagree. Shenmue is not popular enough to focus on side content. Especially when the future of the franchise is up in the air. This is the best way to grow the brand as a whole. If the games were not so dated and mediocre in a lot of parts I would want an anime to focus on other things. But as is I welcome this approach wholeheartedly. Especially after Shenmue 3 killed my desire for any games.

 

[Tomato Convenience Store]

Geez, of all the things they could have focused on, they're just doing an adaptation... sadly this just falls into a category of indulgence - Something that considering the mild reaction of Shenmue III they're not in the position to do. I just see no point in this, sure it may greet Shenmue to a wider audience and give them a breakdown of the story but will it really incentivize people to make the transition from Anime to Game to continue the story?

Will I watch it, of course! But I really feel this could have been a chance to explore other territory within the world, The Chi-You Men, Iwao's Past, NPC/Character Mini Story's, Introduce Shenmue IV's location - An adaptation was pretty low on the list of what I wanted from this. As I said, sure I'll watch it but I'm not majorly excited to be honest just due to the lack of potential this has.

IMO - any sort of side story or prequel would be more of an indulgence, because then you'd be telling a story that would appeal to a subset of fans who are already familiar with the material. Essentially a niche audience within a niche audience. An adaptation of the original material will give them the opportunity to reboot and retell the story to a new audience and also appeal to all current fans. Then if/when we get Shenmue IV, there could be a whole new audience who are up to speed with the story.

I also look at it this way. The anime helps promote the game series, and the game series helps promote the anime. You're now essentially creating extra revenue streams for the franchise by getting profits from the anime and profits from the games.

 

[Down by Law]

Nearly 10K tweets in the UK alone. Warms the soul doesn't it

 

[Vivi-gamer]

Good points, I get it from the stand point as a promotional excercise but as a product I just don't see much value in it.

I'd rather see something more unique, like the introduction story to Ziming. It would have been a great chance to build up his character and then make the anticipation for his story to continue in Shenmue IV more exciting. Of course I say this with no idea of how said story will play out but as an example that brings relevance to this production to the series as a whole, a retelling does nothing - Hopefully I will be wrong and we'll get little tidbids that extend moments like the boat scene.

I'm glad it's happening, it will no doubt be fun but I just can't get excited for this as I would for new Shenmue content. I feel the same way about most gaming remakes to really. I enjoy them, but I'm mostly content with the original expeirences if they were jsut re-released and up-ressed and put into widescreen - Remasters get me super hyped, especially the recent Yakuza 3-5 set! Final Fantasy VII Remake was fun and great to experience in such rich detail - though the changes to the later section went too overbaord IMO.

 

[spud1897]

Nearly 10K tweets in the UK alone. Warms the soul doesn't it

It's not been this busy since the Shenmue III announcement. Imagine what will happen if Shenmue 4 comes.... and people said Shenmue was dead after Shenmue III. I wonder what the long term plan is here :)

 

[Mr Sun]

Very hype indeed. Can't wait to see how they animate Chai (maybe they could just rotoscope Gollum?)

The mind races at the "many unused story beats" - would love to see some flashbacks between Iwao and Akane. It's not impossible that it also establishes more concretely "The Four Kings", to use street fighter parlance, rather than just suggesting Lan di was de facto leader as the games have sort of done so far. Also possible that the series may answer a few of the smaller mysteries, or at least give more context/information.

While the basics of the overall plot of Shenmue have been criticised for being too simplistic, or seen as a sort of "magical realist potboiler", what the games themselves actually achieve are slow burning, deep and wide ranging character development, as well as grounding the fantastical elements in real Chinese history, culture and philosophy. Also just the overall quality of the world building, and creating a sense of place and authentic culture which for me is unmatched by any other game series.

I think the anime can definitely stay true to this by keeping/adapting scenes like Russiya China shop, Yamagishi San teaching Double blow, and some of the smaller, more impactful moments, like buying Shozo Mizuki a coffee at the harbour. Hopefully it includes, and hints at some of this stuff whilst keeping Ryo's naïveté and nobility at the same time. If it can stay true to the environments in the same way, i.e finds a way to convey their history and culture (which is admittedly harder to accomplish when you don't have 20 hour games in which to do it) it will be a winner for me. Either way, can't wait.

 

[code l name]

If it can stay true to the environments in the same way, i.e finds a way to convey their history and culture (which is admittedly harder to accomplish when you don't have 20 hour games in which to do it) it will be a winner for me. Either way, can't wait.

Great post and I tend to concur. It’s really important that it be its own thing and capture those elements of Shenmue without it necessarily copying every story beat established in the Shenmue narrative.

 

[Mr Sun]

Great post and I tend to concur. It’s really important that it be its own thing and capture those elements of Shenmue without it necessarily copying every story beat established in the Shenmue narrative.

For sure. I'm thinking though that scenes like Fuku San repeatedly getting his ass handed to him in sparring may not make the cut.

 

[chaikilla]

Lan Di looks so awesome!

I really hope this fills the gaps in the story so far. The boat/train chapter would be nice bonuses but I'd specifically like the Shenmue 3 plot to be fleshed out more.

I can't wait to see how they do the rooftop fight scene in the anime.

Great news and a great idea. This will bring in a new fanbase for sure.

 

[yuc02]

Anyone notice the "Shenmue Project" on the bottom left of this pic? Wonder what else is coming...

 

[Sergeynest]

Not trying to throw shade but, dam Shenmue gets an anime before Yakuza by Sega? I think either the tides are turning or we're the canary in the coal mine for Sega to see how RGG can also be adapted later down the road as well.

Maybe Shenmue is the test subject; if it does well they are also going to make a Yakuza Anime.

 

[bcdcdude]

I only just woke up to this and i'd like to point out that I stopped watching Pedro Almodovar's "All About My Mother" to comment about how happy I am about this. I will read the thread later, but I will say the animation style looks great. I can't wait to see Nozomi <3

In a way, if you think about Yu-san's comment about wanting Shenmue IV to be a bit more user friendly, this is a perfect example for people who might not have the time or inclination to play the first 3 games, but might be interested going forward.

This year has been shit, but today there is a little sunshine (literally, as I can barely see my screen as I type this).

 

[Sergeynest]

That's just 2020 being 2020 again. Good or bad, better or worse it's safe to say 2020 is the year of the unexpected. Sega started their goodwill towards Shenmue by throwing money to remake the first two games knowing that this would be a large undertaking. Even though we didn't get it, it speaks volumes in the renewed faith they have in the Shenmue brand.

I'm really excited for what's to come. If Sega is willing to fund a Shenmue anime and a Shenmue I and II remake, I'm quite certain they'll be funding Shenmue IV. This likely means that Suzuki will have access to AM2 resources for a much better combat experience (a.k.a porting the Virtua Fighter engine over)

We byke boys. Shenmue byke in this biyotch!!!

I think Sega also realised that they do a lot of money with the Shenmue IP outside the games.
Shenmue fans love to buy everything Shenmue related that appears on the market.

 

[spud1897]

I'd imagine a website/project detail may pop up on here soon: https://tmsanime.com/project