Premiering February 5th 2022 + New Trailer

As Shenmue fans we've been through so many years of sadness...
Happy days ahead, let's enjoy every moment, we deserve it.


This song is one of my favorites songs of the first game, lovely and emotional cover, thanks for sharing.

I agree, happy days ahead for the Shenmue community.
 
I just now realized I don't have Crunchyroll or adult swim so I have no clue how I'm going to watch either version. Maybe they'll put it on HBOMax if I'm lucky cause they have been putting stuff on there from adult swim recently. Man this is disheartening. I guess I'll have to wait till any merchandise or blu-ray is out :/.
 
I just now realized I don't have Crunchyroll or adult swim so I have no clue how I'm going to watch either version. Maybe they'll put it on HBOMax if I'm lucky cause they have been putting stuff on there from adult swim recently. Man this is disheartening. I guess I'll have to wait till any merchandise or blu-ray is out :/.
Crunchyroll is available on consoles/android or just webbased.

 
I'm not going to lie, I have set my expectations a lot lower than most fans since it was originally announced. I'm not trying to be a mood killer or anything, but there are just some things I can't ignore.

I have mentioned a few times since it was announced that only being 13 episodes long is my biggest concern with the anime. I have read the replies saying that the story of Shenmue 1 and 2 can be told in that time, but I am not convinced that it can be told in a satisfying way. What made the games so special to me was the interactions with the world and it's characters. With the time you spend interacting with the world, the more you care about it all. This is incredibly hard to get across on the screen, which is why so many fail and it's incredibly rare to find any good ones.

For me, the greatest anime adaptation of a video game to date is Steins;Gate. The first half of the series was slow paced and they spent the majority of it showing us the world and building up it's characters alongside the story. They could do this because it was a 24 episode series. By doing this, they really made you care for the characters and without it, I don't think the 2nd half of the series would have had anywhere near as much impact as it did. Shenmue won't have that, it's going to be fast paced from start to finish, which is actually completely at odds with what the series is known for. The audience won't get the chance to care for the characters like Nozomi, Fuku-San, Ine-San, Guizhang, Ren, Wong, Joy or Xiuying the same way, simply because they won't have a fraction of the time with them that we got in the games. I have said in the past that one of the best things about Shenmue 2 was the build up to Fangmei's birthday. The interactions with her helped to flesh out not just Fangmei, but Ryo and other characters like Xiuying too. I don't see how they can make this fit in the anime......actually, I am certain that they won't make it fit. This anime will be focused on the main storyline of the Shenmue series and everything else will be pushed to the side, which I think will be a massive disservice to the story as a whole.

Also, this may be seen as a weird complaint when the English dub for the games is often mocked, but I'm not impressed by the English dub in the trailer. Most of the voices do not fit their character and don't sound well acted. The Japanese voice acting absolutely destroys the English voice acting in the trailer, and this is coming from somebody that prefers to watch dubbed anime.
 
I'm not going to lie, I have set my expectations a lot lower than most fans since it was originally announced. I'm not trying to be a mood killer or anything, but there are just some things I can't ignore.

I have mentioned a few times since it was announced that only being 13 episodes long is my biggest concern with the anime. I have read the replies saying that the story of Shenmue 1 and 2 can be told in that time, but I am not convinced that it can be told in a satisfying way. What made the games so special to me was the interactions with the world and it's characters. With the time you spend interacting with the world, the more you care about it all. This is incredibly hard to get across on the screen, which is why so many fail and it's incredibly rare to find any good ones.

For me, the greatest anime adaptation of a video game to date is Steins;Gate. The first half of the series was slow paced and they spent the majority of it showing us the world and building up it's characters alongside the story. They could do this because it was a 24 episode series. By doing this, they really made you care for the characters and without it, I don't think the 2nd half of the series would have had anywhere near as much impact as it did. Shenmue won't have that, it's going to be fast paced from start to finish, which is actually completely at odds with what the series is known for. The audience won't get the chance to care for the characters like Nozomi, Fuku-San, Ine-San, Guizhang, Ren, Wong, Joy or Xiuying the same way, simply because they won't have a fraction of the time with them that we got in the games. I have said in the past that one of the best things about Shenmue 2 was the build up to Fangmei's birthday. The interactions with her helped to flesh out not just Fangmei, but Ryo and other characters like Xiuying too. I don't see how they can make this fit in the anime......actually, I am certain that they won't make it fit. This anime will be focused on the main storyline of the Shenmue series and everything else will be pushed to the side, which I think will be a massive disservice to the story as a whole.

Also, this may be seen as a weird complaint when the English dub for the games is often mocked, but I'm not impressed by the English dub in the trailer. Most of the voices do not fit their character and don't sound well acted. The Japanese voice acting absolutely destroys the English voice acting in the trailer, and this is coming from somebody that prefers to watch dubbed anime.
I absolutely love the Steins Gate anime and you're right about the first half of the anime being world-building and allowing characters to be developed, while the 2nd half was complete mania and plot twists. . However, i know a lot of people who have been put off by Steins gate because the first several episodes were just everyday mundane events. As a result, they never went back to it.

I'd love if Shenmue had 20+ episodes and they could build it out properly, but i don't think Shenmue should risk a slower-paced anime given the circumstances surrounding the ip. Not to mention, in today's world, everyone wants instant gratification or they'll switch over to another show. I reckon the anime should go all out on those 13 episodes with zero filler, high action, character development for the core cast, and tell the shenmue story as best as they can. I think that will give it the highest chance of success.
 
I'd love if the anime had a middle ground of, say, 17 episodes. That'd be perfect. But for whatever reason the anime industry only does 12/13 and 24/25 episode shows. :I
 
This song is one of my favorites songs of the first game, lovely and emotional cover, thanks for sharing.

I agree, happy days ahead for the Shenmue community.
I've made a compilation video of Shenmue music videos performed by fans and this one in particular is one of my favourites.

 
In my opinion it is not impossible to tell the story of Shenmue I and II with 13 episodes, of course it would be nice to have more episodes, a season per game or something like this but the way they are doing i think it will be awesome.

One of the reasons i say this is because they are adding so many things in the story and lore of Shenmue, they are probably doing this because they know they can tell the story.

For example 6 episodes are perfectly fine to tell the story of the first game in a satisfying way in my opinion, they are even adding things to the story of the first game.

It is a different media, for example i think Ryo will not spend 20 minutes in a episode searching for sailors or learning how to drive the forklift, other example... i think Ryo will not spend 15 minutes in a episode talking to random NPCs just for one clue like we can do in the games.


In the games is a different thing because we have to choose the NPCs to talk to them, we have to choose where Ryo will go, in the anime will not be like this in my opinion, many things about the gameplay of the games will not be the same way in the anime, it is a different media.

The focus of the anime will probably be the characters and the story, this to me is one of the reasons why they are adding so many things to the story and lore of Shenmue, because the focus will probably be in the characters, the development of them and the story, maybe we will even see Iwao's funeral or something like this, and it is awesome they are adding this things in the story.

I really feel is important to remember that the anime is an adaptation, if people go to watch the anime with the mindset that the anime needs to be 100% like the games then they will get disappointed by the anime.

I already know that the anime won't be 100% like the games and that's perfectly fine to me, i need to watch the anime first to have a full opinion about all of this but i have a feeling that the focus will be in the story and the characters, i think i will enjoy the Shenmue anime a lot.
 
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I just now realized I don't have Crunchyroll or adult swim so I have no clue how I'm going to watch either version. Maybe they'll put it on HBOMax if I'm lucky cause they have been putting stuff on there from adult swim recently. Man this is disheartening. I guess I'll have to wait till any merchandise or blu-ray is out :/.
You also don't even need an account to view anime on Crunchyroll through the website, although it'll have ads and you will have to wait a week after the airdate for the video to be available. In their latest announcement they also confirmed it will be available worldwide except for Japan so unless you are in Japan you should be fine.
 
Other example... in the first game when Ryo get out of the Hazuki Residence for the first time the first characters we see are Noriko, Ichiro and the kids, the player can choose to talk to them or continue in the path where we will see the scene with Megumi-chan.

In the anime Ryo will talk with Noriko, Ichiro and the kids in this moment? maybe not, maybe in the anime we will see the Megumi scene, maybe the conversations Ryo will have with this characters will be in other moments of the anime. In the game we can choose this but in the anime it is not the same thing, and maybe some moments with this characters will be scenes created specially for the anime.

Probably some scenes from the games aren't in the anime and that's fine to me.

I have some scenes from the games that I really want to see in the anime, but if they cut out some scenes that's fine too because it's an adaptation.

The thing is... it's not that I have super high expectations about the anime, is just that i know that is a different media, that the anime won't be 100% like the games and I'm perfectly fine with this.

There are things that i believe that need to be faithful to the original work but it's an adaptation, this is one of the reasons why i'm enjoying so much seeing new things getting add to the story and lore of Shenmue, this is amazing in my opinion.

I already have the games, i don't want the exact same experience with the anime.
 
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Sorry for the double post but i have a lot in my mind about this.

Another thing... can you all imagine if Ryo kiss Nozomi in the anime? maybe some people will say that this is out of character, that Ryo will never do something like this.

Well... i agree that the Ryo we see in the first game would never do something like this but... but we are talking about the anime.

it is not impossible that for the anime they want to show more Ryo's feelings and expressions.

For example look at Ryo here... we can see Ryo with a happy face, in the first game we don't see Ryo with this vibe in my opinion, to me Ryo is more depressed in the first game and stays more alone.

1642905882297.png


It is not impossible that for the anime they want to put emotional scenes like this in relation to Ryo and Nozomi, or maybe Nozomi will kiss Ryo, this scenes that can be created especially for the anime are not impossible to happen.

Can you all imagine if in the anime we see Iwao's funeral or something like this? all the other characters going to Hazuki Residence or other place to pay their respects for Iwao, showing how the other characters liked Iwao, the characters crying and things like that, maybe we will even see Ryo crying in this part, if this happen i think i will cry as well.

Depending on how this things will happen i will enjoy a lot.

The people who are making the anime are not obliged to make the anime 100% like the games, of course it's great to have a lot of things faithful to the original material but it doesn't have to be everything.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this new take for the Shenmue franchise, we have the original material (the games) and now we will have another version of Shenmue (the anime) and this is amazing.
 
I don't have a problem with how Sega have handled the series in recent years. The series has been known to be a 'cult classic' but is very divisive to be honest, and lost them a lot of money and they still licensed it out to Suzuki to kickstart Shenmue 3 and licensed the rights out to crunchyroll to make an anime. I appreciate them for that, all things considered. Imo Square Enix are far worse who have licenses for Chrono Trigger and Legacy of Kain, vaulted away.
I don't know for sure how the anime was first conceived, but TMS has a big hand in this and they are owned by SEGA Sammy Holdings. This isn't a Shenmue III where it was just outsourced.
 
Sorry for the double post but i have a lot in my mind about this.

Another thing... can you all imagine if Ryo kiss Nozomi in the anime? maybe some people will say that this is out of character, that Ryo will never do something like this.

Well... i agree that the Ryo we see in the first game would never do something like this but... but we are talking about the anime.

it is not impossible that for the anime they want to show more Ryo's feelings and expressions.

For example look at Ryo here... we can see Ryo with a happy face, in the first game we don't see Ryo with this vibe in my opinion, to me Ryo is more depressed in the first game and stays more alone.

View attachment 13874


It is not impossible that for the anime they want to put emotional scenes like this in relation to Ryo and Nozomi, or maybe Nozomi will kiss Ryo, this scenes that can be created especially for the anime are not impossible to happen.

Can you all imagine if in the anime we see Iwao's funeral or something like this? all the other characters going to Hazuki Residence or other place to pay their respects for Iwao, showing how the other characters liked Iwao, the characters crying and things like that, maybe we will even see Ryo crying in this part, if this happen i think i will cry as well.

Depending on how this things will happen i will enjoy a lot.

The people who are making the anime are not obliged to make the anime 100% like the games, of course it's great to have a lot of things faithful to the original material but it doesn't have to be everything.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this new take for the Shenmue franchise, we have the original material (the games) and now we will have another version of Shenmue (the anime) and this is amazing.
That would be absolutely wild if Ryo kisses Nozomi in the anime. It would be really really cool and they absolutely can do it but unfortunately I don't see them going that far though I would love it.

Maybe we'll get a couple school scenes showing his school life or even him hanging out with friends in Doubita before the martial arts tournament and then leading into the start of the game. How i picture the smiling scene is him being all happy and stuff and Iwaos death is what will trigger him being more closed off and distant towards everyone. Maybe that'll start to show it during the funeral and he won't cry but instead be silent with rage. The funeral scene has to be a given and it's such a easy one. Speaking of paying respects I wonder if they'll show Nozomis flowers to Iwao scene from One?

I'm wondering how much of the anime Nozomi will be in it. The motorcycle, amulet at the end & the photograph all have to happen. probably the park fight can be included as well. So that got me thinking will it show the kitten and specifically her visiting the kitten to give it medicine or showing up after Ryo finds it when it goes missing? What about any of the phone conversations between the two or any of the other conversations at the flower shop. On top of the night time park scenes about her crying cause she's needed in Canada or her expressing her feelings to him.

Can't forget the boat chapter has to be a easy one to do as well. This anime is definitely a very nice bonus for us fans. I'm over the moon for it too. Let's get sweaty.
 
I look at it this way: 13 episodes = around 4 hours and 30 minutes worth of content. That's 2 movies' worth. I have no doubt they can find a way to tell a compelling version of each game's story within that time. Of course they can't cover every single scene, nor should they -- this is a different medium and should be treated as such.
 
View attachment 13874


It is not impossible that for the anime they want to put emotional scenes like this in relation to Ryo and Nozomi, or maybe Nozomi will kiss Ryo, this scenes that can be created especially for the anime are not impossible to happen.

Can you all imagine if in the anime we see Iwao's funeral or something like this? all the other characters going to Hazuki Residence or other place to pay their respects for Iwao, showing how the other characters liked Iwao, the characters crying and things like that, maybe we will even see Ryo crying in this part, if this happen i think i will cry as well.

Ryo doesn't strike me as the type that would cry at his fathers funeral. He's too stoic for that. I imagine him more to be the "ball up my fist and walk away from the graveyard with a determined look on my face" type. He's gonna hold onto that anger and go looking for trouble.

I think Anime Ryo will be just as closed off as game Ryo.

Controversial opinion time (maybe)...I'm kind of glad it isn't Corey doing the English Dub. I know some were disappointed by that but I'm actually looking forward to hearing a new English Ryo and how someone else captures his KY aesthetic. That and (this is where it might be controversial) it might be good to get away from the bad VA of the original games...especially if you want to get new people in. Because lets face it, that's what this is all really about. Getting a new audience and having a chance for Shenmue to keep going. So I'm kind of okay with a new Ryo. I'm excited to hear the new guy actually.

Japanese Ryo I've always been happy with but yeah, I'm kind of glad we're getting a new voice actor for English Ryo.
 
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