Season 2 officially cancelled (for now)

It's unfortunate, albeit not entirely surprising.

Call it a gut feeling, but even before the Jason DeMarco interview I sort of expected this. While it may have overperformed, I feel like it probably still didn't make enough of a splash to ensure itself of renewal. A show with 'great' numbers would have had better chances.

And I don't think it has anything to do with the quality of the show, because I really liked it, but rather the limited marketing that was done for it. And I get it: it's a show made on a shoestring budget. They weren't gonna do some big marketing campaign to push it. That makes it very hard for any medium to break through and really set itself apart from the competition, though. A cult following and good mouth-to-mouth often just aren't enough.

That said, no cancellation is ever truly final. Nobody knows it like this fandom. At some point people with decision-making power will re-evaluate the anime.
 
Sad news, but on other side, the world of anime was always like that, with canceled seasons and later renewed, etc.

We have to keep fighting, and keep asking for it to Crunchyroll.

On the games, before than nothing more comes out, I even would accept a 2D rpg like Eiyuuden, perhaps that is the way, do a game not so powerful technically or graphically and be able to focus on the story.
 
I'm all outta hope. I mean, I hope the series thrives somehow, but man... just can't catch a break.
 
If Ys NET is even making a game right now, waiting for а announcement is pointless. Nagoshi, the creator of Yakuza, said in an interview that the most important lesson he learned in the game making was that he shouldn't wait 2 years for a new game, after Yakuza 1. I know that Yakuza is a different game, the company is different, even the situation... But if the person says that this is the most important lesson he has learned, then there is a reason.

That was his words after the suggestion from one of his staff:
"Momentum could fate really fast. If we were to wait two years, the fire would have went out, having to start promotion all over again to bring back the flame. It wasn't efficient in terms of costs, nor was it efficient to have the game disappear from people's minds. This was true from a market perspective. I was worried if we could achieve that, but I really thought he had a point." Although I am more of an artisan type of creator, I thought that time was required in order to bring quality. But I made it a priority to launch the game after one year, then I thought of the game's content. The volume was quite dense, but it had to be done in a year. In the end, Yakuza 2 did twice as many sales as the first game. Looking back, I think that if that staff didn't say what he said at the time, the series probably wouldn't have lasted for more than 10 years.

I know that we will be happy to play the game even after 5 years, but the new fans, whatever their numbers may be, won't wait and will move on to other games. They've got to do something fast and don't worry to much about what haters may say. :)
 
What is Warner's relation to all of this? I think I'm out of the loop (in general, with everything in life, not just the Shenmue anime).
 
What is Warner's relation to all of this? I think I'm out of the loop (in general, with everything in life, not just the Shenmue anime).
I know WB are doing stuff where they're pulling shows for some sort of Tax write off or something, but I'd assume they aren't the primary license/rights holders for the Anime I would of thought that'd be Crunchyroll/Sony
 
Wondering if Cedric's company Shibuya Productions could maybe help out with Season 2?

They have close ties to Yu Suzuki and YS Net (Shenmue 3) and they work on Japanese transmedia content.
 
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This is a crushing update. I always felt that with its TV ratings exceeding expectations, Shenmue would at least continue through the anime, even in IV stays in development hell for years.

The anime being cancelled puts the franchise into doubt... again. If IV is in development in someway, there needs to be a teaser ASAP (even if its just a logo) or any momentum gained from the anime will be lost.
 
"This series is doing well, and we should go with Season 2 but let's cancel it because fuck y'all"

Shenmue can NEVER catch a break. It's ridiculous. It can't even catch a break when it's doing WELL.
 
This is devastating news. I think maybe Yu could release the remaining story as a novel and we can do a fan translation of it or something like that.

It's been 3 years since S3 and S4 sure isn't becoming more likely as time passes.
 
I've been thinking about this all day and I truly believe that the stars aligned as best they could, but it wasn't enough. I am a staunch traditionalist for physical media and while I think streaming has its pros, I think the last few years have proven that almost nothing is safe from capitalism. Don't get me wrong, businesses are in business to make money and i'm not naive enough to suggest otherwise, but there's something grim about all these acquisitions, IP whoring and all-or-nothing success stories.

It's kinda painful, because it might give potential investors for Shenmue IV the jitters and when things are feeling grim right now, it's not a good time. I often wonder what would happen if the anime came out around now. Would all these acquisitions mean that Shenmue could've been in a 'Batgirl' tax write off situation? It doesn't bear thinking.

Frankly, if Shenmue "failed", then it certainly wasn't due to its quality. I blame capitalism, pure and simple. Fuck those greedy pigs. And I shouldn't say this, but if they don't release a blu-ray then I feel no qualms pirating a copy. I've paid Crunchyroll for 4 months subscription and bought merchandise. I've done all I can.

As i've said before. Art > Commerce.
 
What is Warner's relation to all of this? I think I'm out of the loop (in general, with everything in life, not just the Shenmue anime).
Warner-Discovery ultimately own Adult Swim and are going through a massive round of budget cuts and tax write-off shenanigans that have resulted in a complete $90 million movie getting shitcanned, and entire series disappearing from streaming services + discontinued physical releases (where applicable).

The saving grace is that Shenmue: The Animation isn't solely in their hands, even if Adult Swim pulling out means a lost funding partner and no space on North American television now.
 
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