Shenmue The Animation Announced

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At the iconic annual "Virtual Crunchyroll Expo" (held for the first time in digital format), Crunchyroll announced the new partnership with the Adult Swim platform for the production of "Shenmue" - an original anime series based on the franchise of the beloved counterpart game SEGA.

This co-production will be broadcast globally outside of Japan and mainland China on the Crunchyroll and Adult Swim platforms.

"The first Shenmue video game was released more than 20 years ago and we are excited to work with Adult Swim again to bring this franchise to life through the anime series. We look forward to showing our fans more of this action-packed adventure series, ”said Sarah Victor, head of Crunchyroll Development.

Shenmue is a 13-episode anime series that chronicles the adventure of Ryo Hazuki. After witnessing his father's murder, Ryo dedicates his life to searching for the killer - a mission that takes him from the Japanese streets of Yokosuka to beyond the Hong Kong metropolis. In search of revenge, he will soon find out that mystical forces are involved, and in the meantime he is training to become an expert in martial arts.

"The Shenmue world is fascinating and unique, and we're excited to work with Yu Suzuki (the game's creator) to turn his epic creation into anime and make bestial martial arts," said Jason DeMarco, creative director of Adult Swim.

The production of Crunchyroll and Adult Swim "Shenmue" is directed by Sakurai Chikara in the Telecom Animation Film studios, managed by Sola Entertainment. Video game creator Yu Suzuki is also on the team as executive producer.

Recent collaborations between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim include "Fena - Pirate Princess" and "Blade Runner - Black Lotus". Fans eager to see the launch announcement can register for a free Virtual Crunchyroll Expo badge on crunchyrollexpo.com and can access the Crunchyroll Industry Panel in the V-CRX On-Demand section
Translated from here - https://jobs.diez.md/articles/crunc...uctia-unui-nou-serial-anime-intitulat-shenmue
 
Should probably go into the Shenmue 1 forum...
 
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That statement says it's a 13-chapter series, and that it goes "beyond Hong Kong".

That description could fit the entire arc from Shenmue I to III

(It's machine translated from Romanian, though, so maybe the description is not completely accurate :-)).
 
Excellent detective work.

After recent few tweets, not unexpected although I was still holding out hope for some game related announcement.

What an interesting twist of events a company is investing in retelling the original story in a different format. The broader question is how this can help and lead to Shenmue 4...
 
I assumed it was going to be a 13 episode series, but I didn't think it'd go beyond the first game. Beyond Hong Kong presumably means it'll go on to the ending of Shenmue II.
 
Sounds like it will be telling the story of 1 and 2 (and maybe parts of 3) in anime form, which I think can be a good "mini-reboot" of the story for fans and newcomers. I don't really watch anime but I'll watch this.

And honestly, I wouldn't look at this as something that's going to replace Shenmue IV or take away from its budget. If anything, it would be used as a cheaper way to reboot the story instead of a Shenmue 1 and 2 remake so more people are up to speed for a potential Shenmue IV. It'll be much easier for newcomers to jump into the anime instead of playing through Shenmue 1-3 (but of course, the options are still there to play the games as well!).

I don't think this would be created if we didn't have a good chance at Shenmue IV.
 
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