Masaya Matsukaze on Shenmue the Animation - Mini Interview [May 2022]

In this post, we translate a short 2022 interview that was held with Masaya Matsukaze, who voiced the protagonist Ryo Hazuki in Japanese in all Shenmue games, about his involvement in the Shenmue the Animation anime adaptation. The interview was conducted during the period of the anime’s broadcast in Japan.

Matsukaze also shares memories from the recording booth and offers insight into why even the smallest details in Shenmue continue to resonate decades later.

The translation begins below.

Originally released in 1999 on SEGA’s home console, the Dreamcast, Shenmue is a legendary action-adventure game that has influenced countless titles since.

Now, the anime adaptation Shenmue the Animation has been streaming across various platforms since April 2022, and as of May, has also begun airing on TOKYO MX [TV station].

We’ve obtained an official interview with Masaya Matsukaze, who plays the lead role of Ryo Hazuki. In it, he talks in depth about the anime adaptation, describing it as proof that “the miracle isn’t over yet.” He shares his impressions from the voice recording sessions, his thoughts after watching the finished episodes, and what continues to make the world of Shenmue, including the original game, so captivating.

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New Year’s Greetings for 2026 from Yu Suzuki and YS Net | Cultural Notes

Yu Suzuki and YS Net have once again marked the arrival of the New Year with a charming Shenmue-themed greeting illustration and message, published as part of Famitsu.com’s annual New Year special.

Famitsu introduced the feature as a celebratory roundup of New Year’s cards and messages from 95 game companies, reflecting on a lively 2025 and looking ahead to 2026, an anniversary year marking Famitsu’s 40th birthday.

YS Net’s New Year Message

YS Net shared the following message with Famitsu readers:

ファミ通読者の皆様、新年明けましておめでとうございます！

昨年お知らせした『シェンムーIII エンハンスド』は、より遊びやすく、より深く楽しめる作品として鋭意準備中です。もう少しだけお時間をいただければと思います。

今年も皆様の期待を超えられるよう、新しいチャレンジを届けていきます。本年もよろしくお願いいたします！

New Year 2026 illustration from Yu Suzuki and YS Net, published as part of Famitsu’s annual New Year feature.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for January 2026

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:

"Inside Yu Suzuki’s Project Berkley: a First Glimpse"

In late 1998, as the Dreamcast era was just beginning, Yu Suzuki began teasing his next project under the code name Project Berkley. Rather than a traditional announcement, Suzuki chose to reveal fragments of the project through a special video on GD-ROM that came bundled with Virtua Fighter 3tb.

Coverage by the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine from the time paints Project Berkley as something deliberately hard to define: not quite a game, not quite a movie, but what Suzuki described as “FREE”: Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment.

The article focuses on mood, visual direction, and ambition, teasing a vast world, universal themes, and the now-famous image of a mysterious young girl who would later become central to Shenmue’s identity. This early glimpse offers a fascinating snapshot of Shenmue before the title, the town of Yokosuka, or even Ryo Hazuki had been fully revealed.

Coming soon to the blog!

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