Yu Suzuki & Sakurai Chikara Q&A at Crunchy Roll Expo 2020

Crunchyroll: What key themes do you want to see in the animated Shenmue?

Yu Suzuki: Shenmue focuses on themes like love, courage, friendship and family which are understood around the world. My hope is that it will express the culture and spirit of Japan at the same time

Crunchyroll: How do you expect fans to feel about the animated Shenmue?

Yu Suzuki: Shenmue's oldest fans have followed the series for 15 or 20 years now. Part of being that kind of fan is accepting everything about Shenmue, so i think they'll accept the anime just as warmly

Crunchyroll: What were you excited about being the director for Shenmue?

Mr Chikara Sakurai (Anime director): I mentioned that i was too poor to buy the game when it came out. But I wanted to learn as much about it as i could for free. Getting to finally play it now....its hard to describe. It gave me this very strange feeling. It's like, I can finally do something i couldn't do then, so i need to make sure not to go out of control. I had to avoid this feeling of "I couldn't do this back then, so now I should be able to do what I want with it" I needed to restrain myself and preserve the game's integrity. I dont know if that answers the question, but that was my approach.
 
It’s not often that the press release ends up being more informative than the announcement itself. Guess we’ll have to wait a while for some more info. I guess they’re not as far into production as we were lead to believe if they couldn’t even share a clip.
 
Who made this interview (or badly translated it ) is a criminal!
I understand about being natural and honest behind the camera, but what people say doesn't have much sense:

Producer: "yeah I love Shenmue and I'm proud to announce it
(no trailer/no screenshots)"

Director: "I was too poor to buy the game and now that I did *laughs*, I want not to transfer my feelings and respect the game (and says nothing about the anime)"

Yu: *Stripes transferred from t-shirt to his suit*
"Fans follow Shenmue from 15 years(?)-20 years and will accept everything (and says nothing about the anime)"

Jokes apart, I'd have loved to hear more details on who is involved in the production, estimated airing, heck a couple of screens :ROFLMAO:
 
Other than binge-watching Death Note a few years back and seeing the Sonic OVA as a kid, I know absolutely nothing about anime or how making a show successful works.

How hard would it be for a new project like this with a small fandom to reach a season 2?
 
According the new number of stripes, Yu wants to conquer the world.
 
Other than binge-watching Death Note a few years back and seeing the Sonic OVA as a kid, I know absolutely nothing about anime or how making a show successful works.

How hard would it be for a new project like this with a small fandom to reach a season 2?

If the ratings are good and demand is there, I wouldn't discount a season 2. Supply & Demand is the way of the world.

Probably wouldn't bet on a season 2 for right now, unless it REALLY captures an audience(An epic cliffhanger wouldn't hurt either so that people are more tempted to buy the games).

Anime is often treated like a supplemental promotion source for these companies to raise awareness for the products they are selling(Manga, Toys, Games, etc...). Could be a canary in the coal mine kind of situation too where they just want to test the waters for future products *coughYAKUZAcough*.
 
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