Shenmue the Animation

I didn't watch many anime this season, but of the few I watched this was my favorite. Shenmue the anime is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the first 2 games and finally helps tell the story of Shenmue the way the game's creator always wanted it told without any of the hardware limitations of the Sega Dreamcast or budget worries.

So, what the Hell is a Shenmue? Before we get into the anime review, we have to talk about one of the most unusual franchises in the history of gaming. The story of Shenmue begins with its creator Yu Suzuki. This guy was 25 years ... old when he made his first hugely successful arcade game in 1983. Throughout the 1980s, he just made hit after hit for the arcades. Games like Space Harrier, Hang-On, Out Run, etc. He was a programming wunderkind and everything he touched was gold. Then in the 1990s, he directed Virtua Fighter 2, which was a huge step forward for competitive fighting games and had a heavy influence on series like Tekken, Dead or Alive, and Soul Calibur. By 1999, Sega trusted Yu Suzuki so much that they were willing to sink the equivalent of 123 million dollars in today's money into Suzuki's dream of creating the video game version of a Shaw Brothers Kung-fu film. Yu Suzuki really, REALLY likes 1970s Kung-fu films! Since the Dreamcast wasn't the bestselling console, the game lost quite a bit of money. However, Sega doubled down and gave Suzuki a boatload more money for Shenmue 2, which also lost an ungodly amount of money and helped lead to Sega's bankruptcy and purchase by Nintendo. For 20 years, Yu Suzuki promised that he was working on Shenmue 3. However, he admits that he didn't pay any attention to gaming developments during that time or play any games. Instead, he spent a large sum travelling around the world riding roller coasters. However, he was eventually able to kickstart and release Shenmue 3, which played exactly like a Dreamcast era Shenmue game on the PS4. Reviews were mostly negative, although I personally found it amusing.

I mentioned that Shenmue was heavily inspired by Suzuki's love of kung-fu films, and I really mean that. Our hero Ryo is a goodhearted teenager whose father is the local martial arts master. One day, a cruel yet powerful kung fu master from a rival school kills his father and sets Ryo on the path of vengeance. Ryo must now track down various kung fu masters and train under them to learn the techniques to avenge his father. Meanwhile, Ryo also wishes to uncover more about his father's past. His father was somehow entrusted with 2 mirrors that hold the key to unlocking the world's largest treasure, which is pursued by triad gangsters who wish to resurrect the Qing Dynasty. The plot is straight out of a kung fu film and is pretty damn fun!

Unfortunately, Kung Fu films rely on a lot of training montages and don't actually have that much meat to their stories on average. In the game, Shenmue decided to pad its length with menial, repetitive chores. An NPC will send you to the shop to get milk and you have to wait 15 minutes in real time for the shop to open. One thing the Shenmue games received both praise and criticism for is just how little they care about player convenience. Shenmue is the gaming world's closest thing to art for art's sake. Yu Suzuki wants you to experience his vision and doesn't give a shit if you're not having fun. Shenmue the anime has a bit of padding to stay faithful to the games. For example, we still get about 5 minutes of Ryo learning how to operate a forklift. However, the anime is overall MUCH better paced and feels like a real story. The anime is able to flesh out some characters that didn't get as much time in the game. Another way that the anime improves on the games is explaining things a little better. In the games, the main villain just fucks off at the end of the 2nd game and players thought he was ducking Ryo. This is why players got very upset that Ryo couldn't touch him in Shenmue 3. However, the anime has the villain briefly fight Ryo and realize he isn't nearly worthy as a challenge before fucking off, so it is much clearer what Ryo's skill level is compared to the villain. It was a minor touch, but the anime has tons of these little moments that polish up the story. The people who made this anime weren't just taking a paint by numbers approach. They truly cared about and loved Shenmue, which was cool to see!

When you look up the production to Shenmue, you immediately encounter something horrifying. Crunchyroll. Original. Anime. Immediately, all expectations of quality go soaring out the window! However, in this instance those fears aren't justified. Shenmue looks just fine. It's pretty well directed. It's not Ghibli quality but it's a HUGE leap forward since Ex-Arm!

Overall, this was a fun little anime that I'm kind of sad almost nobody watched while it was airing. I highly recommend watching this one if you've never played the Shenmue games and are interested to see what the franchise is about. I would also recommend this to longtime Shenmue fans as well. As someone who enjoyed the game trilogy, I had a great time with the anime. Basically, this is a fun, underrated little anime that is very much giving a watch.

For the uninitiated, Shenmue might just be another series that people are willing to take a back seat on binging all at one time, but for the true diehards, Shenmue is a masterpiece of a franchise that's like no other: it's arguably one of Sega's most beloved IPs with a heavy cult following with the first two games released on Sega's once-beloved but short-lived final game console, the Sega Dreamcast in 1999 and 2000, and Shenmue III making a revival in 2019. And fans might've wondered what an anime adaptation of Shenmue would look like if it was made modern, and courtesy of series creator ... Yu Suzuki and One Punch Man S2 director Chikara Sakurai, we finally got it thanks to Crunchyroll and Adult Swim's Toonami collab (that's thankfully no longer under their once-maligned Crunchyroll Originals banner).

Let's get this out of the way for the true diehards: According to producer Yu Kiyozono, the anime was in development for around two to three years during the time Shenmue III was produced and released, but it wasn't released until after the game came out. Kiyozono also stated that the production crew went to Yokosuka to get an accurate feel of the city's streets and atmosphere, while the anime will see most of the core Japanese voice actors return from the video games (i.e. Masaya Matsukaze with Ryo Hazuki and Takahiro Sakurai with Lan Di), although some of the cast will include new voice actors to appeal to the game's younger fanbase. Producer Joseph Chou of Sola Entertainment mentions that Yu Suzuki was heavily involved in the production to plan out the narrative with backstory information that was never implemented in the games, while director Chikara Sakurai added that some free roaming aspects were included with Ryo talking to people in the streets. So take in all of these, and you can see the care and passion of the staff team in bringing the Shenmue dream alive to the small screen, and they've largely succeeded.

For the newcomers who don't largely know what Shenmue is all about (largely because time is lost to this beloved IP), Shenmue the Animation adapts the overarching story from the Dreamcast games into one package. The premise is that Ryo Hazuki is the son of a family dojo, and so sets the story that his father was murdered by this clan called the Chi You Men through Lan Di, and that Ryo Hazuki is bent on getting revenge, crossing paths with people and learning the way of martial arts until he reaches his goal to defeat Lan Di. Sounds way too simple for modern-day standards, but I'd tell you that back in 1999/2000 this was something very different than your typical RPG that defies genres and even causes polarizing opinions till to this day.

The core characters are back with Ryo Hazuki and Lan Di (their VAs are the same as the Japanese version of Shenmue), while some others like Shenhua and Nozomi Harasaki get some new VAs in order to make the anime sound fresh to newcomers. That's why diehard fans have craved for a Shenmue revival after the Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001, and Shenmue III was released to fanfare in 2019 to feature more of the same, but yet still having the same polarizing opinions. And this is where the new younger fanbase comes in to experience what would the first 2 original games would've felt like, without getting too flashy on its character appeal that's all the same if you've played both games before (and not the overzelaous English version which were some of the worst but hilarious dialogue VOs).

Being a subsidiary of TMS Entertainment, Telecom Animation Film did decent on the visuals and action overall, it just did enough to service the plot with a tight budget. But I've gotta say that it's such a treat to finally watch Shenmue summed into 13 episodes which I feel is the perfect duration to flesh out both games in general without losing too much of its mostly side-quest appeal and the alluring story that was so far ahead of its time back in the day. But I miss the Lucky Hit segment, wish there was more of it. Music was decent-to-good as well with Kashitaro Ito churning out another banger song of an opening with Narudora's calm ending that also fits within Shenmue's draw of musical proportions that while is not close to famed composer Yuzo Koshiro's stellar composition in the games, it's just good enough to glide over the series in the most general way.

Fans of Shenmue, DO NOT MISS this adaptation. It's a faithful replication of the Dreamcast games, and I can reassure you that you won't be disappointed at all. As for the newcomers, please don't take the somewhat maligned score for what it is, try it out for yourself and experience the Shenmue franchise the way that it's supposed to be in its own greatness.

Shenmue The Animation is an adaptation of the masterpiece game series Shenmue.

A game series that revolutionized the game world in 1999, Shenmue and Shenmue II are games way ahead of its time. Shenmue is more than games to me, Shenmue it is a beautiful experience that i will never forget, and now we got a anime and this is wonderful. The more Shenmue in more media the better

This adaptation tells the story of the games Shenmue I and Shenmue II.

I'm a Shenmue fan and i love the anime, the anime added more informations and even more screen time and development for a lot of characters, ... this way adding many things that don't have in the games.

Some things that have in the games were cut out in the anime, and other things changed but i understand why, the anime is another version of Shenmue and i'm okay with that.

The anime expanded the story, the lore and the characters of Shenmue and this is beautiful. The anime team had the attention and the care to the details about the Shenmue world.

The action/fights are good, the story is wonderful, the characters are interesting, the soundtrack of the anime is beautiful and much more, a great adaptation.

I love the opening and the ending of the anime, beautiful animations and beautiful songs.

The anime complement the games and the games complement the anime.

The anime is recommended for everyone, for the Shenmue fans and also for the people that never played the games, if you never played the games then the anime is a good way to start in this beautiful franchise.

If someone want to have the complete Shenmue experience with all the details then i recommend the anime and the games.

If you love the anime then i recommend the games as well, the games are special and unique experiences. Some things i prefer the anime version and other things i prefer the games version.

I'm so happy that the Shenmue franchise is alive, and i have hope that one day we will see the conclusion of this wonderful journey in the games and in the anime, i will always support Shenmue.

I hope one day we can get a Shenmue Anime Blu-ray release and Shenmue Anime soundtrack.

I love the anime and i hope we can get the second season, beautiful adaptation

The anime in my opinion is a companion to the games, it is not something to replace the games, it is not something to look 100% like the games, it is something to walk side by side with the games and to me this is wonderful.

Shenmue is an amazing story about martial arts, family, friendship, revenge, is about dealing with the pain of losing someone important and many other things.

It is about the people Ryo meet and what he learns from them, it is about Ryo improving as a martial artist and as a character, all of this done in a beautiful way. It is so unique and special to see Ryo's journey.

I lost my mother. I relate to the Shenmue story in many ways

Shenmue is so special to me and help me in many moments in my life, Shenmue help me dealing with my mother's death and much more.

When any kind of art manages to help someone in life in some way it's something very beautiful and special. Shenmue is important to me and to many other Shenmue fans around the world. Shenmue is a wonderful journey and experience.

Shenmue touched my heart in a deep way that i will never forget, Shenmue means a lot to me.

Shenmue is a beautiful and special journey, a unique experience. Watch it and judge it for yourselves.