2017 New Year's Greeting from Yu Suzuki & Team
A short New Year's message from Yu Suzuki & the Shenmue III team has appeared on the official website.
[Update: the official message is now available in English on the site, which I have inserted below in place of my translation.]
New Year’s Greetings Everyone!The message is accompanied by a cute New Year's animated "post-card" illustration featuring Shenmue characters!
We hope you are having a holiday season. The development of Shenmue III has stepped into its second year, and our team is in high spirits.
Without your support, we would not have been able to make it this far. We thank you again for all you have done to make Shenmue III a reality.
We look forward to continuing our journey with you in 2017, and wish you a wonderful year ahead.
From Yu Suzuki and the Shenmue III Team
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The kanji at the bottom read 迎春, a New Year's greeting literally meaning "Arrival of Spring". |
Illustration Details
In any case, let's see what interesting details are hiding in the illustration.
There are a number of small details that are specific to Japan that are interesting to pick up.
In each of the top corners is a
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Plum blossom |
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Sun rising behind Mt Fuji |
There is also a pair of birds flying past the tree in the foreground - perhaps an oblique avian nod to this year being Year of the Rooster according to the Chinese Zodiac calendar (something which Japan also employs)...?
We see that Ryo and Shenhua are dressed in traditional Japanese kimono. In Japan, traditional dress is often worn on special occasions such as when visiting the local shrine in the New Year - although many people these days also wear Western-style dress.
The decorated bat that Ryo is swinging is a kind of wooden paddle, which is used to hit a small shuttlecock (the object with green, yellow and red feathers with which he rather clumsily whacks himself in the eye). This is a traditional game similar to badminton called hanetsuki which is often played at New Year, particularly by girls.
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"Hanetsuki": a traditional game similar to badminton |
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Wooden paddle with a fiendish face |
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Ink-faced Ryo |
Happy New Year from Phantom River Stone
Let me take this opportunity to wish all blog readers & Shenmue fans a very Happy 2017!
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Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteAnd also to you!
DeleteExcellent article once again. And the official logo has been used again! :D iyapol
ReplyDeleteThanks Iyapol. I'm also liking the use of the original logo :)
DeleteAllways interesting to see those details!
ReplyDeleteHappy new year!
Vanjoelsan
Hope you're also having a good one!
Delete