Shenmue 2 Interview with Yu Suzuki | DoriMaga May 2001

This interview with Yu Suzuki about the upcoming release of Shenmue II for Dreamcast was published in the May 2001 edition of Japan's DoriMaga magazine. It took place following Sega's decision to cease production of the Dreamcast a couple of months earlier in March 2001.

The translation begins below.

DoriMaga: There was a huge turnout at SEGA's recent event, Game Jam*, reaffirming the great anticipation for Shenmue II. What plans are there for the Dreamcast in future, and what is the significance of Shenmue II? Let's hear a message from Yu Suzuki to the readers of the new-look DoriMaga magazine and users of the Dreamcast.

*Note from Switch: Game Jam was a trade event held in Tokyo by SEGA the previous month, in April 2001, and featured preview gameplay of Shenmue II.

Suzuki: Game Jam was fantastic. While we apologize for any inconvenience caused due to the crowded space, we are delighted that so many people attended. Seeing such a large number of attendees makes us very happy. Seeing so many attendees on that day made me think, "It's a shame we're giving up on the Dreamcast..."

DoriMaga: The event featured the first-ever demonstration using actual hardware, but how far along is the development of Shenmue II at this point?

Suzuki: Well, as of the end of March, it's mostly been bug fixes. That means we've essentially locked in the program code, and from there, it's mostly about replacing data and focusing on debugging. Since April, we've been diving into that work, and at the moment, we're at a stage where it's nearing the finalization process. At this stage, if we are able to iron out any critical bugs, we'll be looking at finalization in just a few weeks.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for April 2025

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:

"Recently-discovered Character & Location Renders by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata"

Some of the many newly-found renders

Recently, an astonishing discovery was made: an extensive online archive containing over 120 3D-rendered images from the development of the first two Shenmue games has surfaced. These images were posted on a personal webpage belonging to Hideki Kawabata, a senior graphical artist credited as one of the two "3D Character Main Designers" for the original titles.

The webpage was first archived by the Wayback Machine in February 2022, which suggests that access may have changed from private to public around that time.

The collection includes a wide range of 3D renders featuring main characters, NPCs, and a small number of locations. While many of these designs appear in the first two released games, others do not. This hints that some may have been cut during development - or potentially they may even provide glimpses of content planned for Shenmue IV and beyond.

In this blog post, or more likely a series of posts, we will browse through the collection and take a closer look at some of its most interesting and surprising items.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Shiro the Dog & Kuro the Cat: JPN vs ENG Character Profile Differences

The original Shenmue Passport provided detailed character profile descriptions for every character in the first game. These profiles (or abbreviated versions) were also published in various strategy guides and magazine features at the time. Until now it had been widely assumed that these profiles were identical between Japanese and English versions, but two recent discoveries have shown that this is not the case.

In this post we will be comparing the differing profile descriptions in the official profiles in the Japanese version vs the English for two animal characters: those of the white dog & the black cat.

Let's get started!

Alternative Lives

A hint that discrepancies may exist first arose thanks to a video created by our friend who runs the fantastic Wandering Through Shenmue YouTube channel. Among the wealth of Shenmue content on the channel is the Suka Pass Saturday series which highlights a certain aspect of the Shenmue Passport fan-remake Suka Pass app each week - and on this particular day, the official background of the white dog was introduced.

The English profile explains that the white dog, whose name is given as Shiro, can be found wandering around the streets of the residential area of Dobuita - however this information raised a couple of small but puzzling inconsistencies. Firstly, despite her home being in Dobuita, the background graphic that was displayed for this profile is New Yokosuka Harbor. Secondly, when playing Shenmue itself, the white dog can indeed be seen at the harbor. What is going on?

The white dog going for a walk at the harbor. (Screenshot from Wandering Through Shenmue's 6 Hour Walk Through Shenmue: Harbor Day/Night)

To answer this enigma, let's start by examining the English profile description for the white dog, and then translate the Japanese profile to see how it compares.

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Hazuki Ishigaki: Shenmue Release Event in Akihabara (December 1999) & Official Profile

Continuing on with the topic of Hazuki Ishigaki (check out the Interview with Hazuki Ishigaki in Yokosuka), who played Shenhua in the Japanese versions of the first two games in the series, here is a post she made on her online diary at the time. It contains a small selection of photos and comments about her attendance at a release event, held in Akihabara on Shenmue's release date in Japan: December 29, 1999.

Below this we've translated her official profile from 2004, showing other TV and radio shows she had been involved in at the time.

So let's get started with the diary photos she posted, with a translation of her comment under each.

--- Hazuki Ishigaki's diary post (29 December 1999) ---

Today, a Shenmue Release Event was held at Yamagiwa Soft in Akihabara. We were lucky to have a warm and refreshing day under a broad blue sky, unusual for this time of year.

Everyone who had been looking forward to this day gathered here along with a large number of reporters. There was wide coverage from radio, television, magazines, and on the internet. Remarkably, there was even a representative from a French gaming magazine (their business card said 'Journalist, Japan Representative') who had traveled all the way to cover the event!

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for March 2025

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:

"Shenmue: The Animation - Interview with Masaya Matsukaze (Animate Times)"

Shenmue: The Animation aired globally in early 2022 (yes, almost two years ago!), introducing a new generation of fans to Ryo's journey.

In the Japanese-voiced version of the animation, Masaya Matsukaze once again takes on the role of Ryo Hazuki. As the long-time voice behind the character, Matsukaze offers unique insights into Ryo's  development, both in the original game series and its anime adaptation.

In this interview published by Animate Times, he talks about his experiences reprising the role, sharing his thoughts on Ryo’s personality, the story's themes, and the challenges of adapting the Shenmue world for animation.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Interview with Hazuki Ishigaki in Yokosuka | Dreamcast Magazine October 1999

In this post, we will be translating a feature about Hazuki Ishigaki, the voice actress for Shenhua in the Japanese version of the first two Shenmue games, from a magazine at the time.

Ishigaki was 21 years old at the time, and her acting and voicing career had started a couple of years earlier, with appearances on Japanese TV and radio prior to her work for the Shenmue games. Online information suggests that she retired from acting around March 2004.

The magazine feature was published in the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine's October 1999 edition, and contains a series of Q&A as well as Shenhua cosplay photos taken on location around Dobuita St, Yokosuka. 

Although this was still a few months before the release of the first Shenmue game at the end of that year - and well before Shenhua would be properly seen in-game in the second game - the character of Shenhua would already have been a familiar sight to gaming enthusiasts from promotional material and magazine articles.

The introduction to the interview article states:

"Thank you for waiting, Hazuki-chan fans. Shenhua couldn't wait any longer for her turn to come, so she has come to the streets of Yokosuka! What discoveries await her in this foreign land?"

Background:

At the time of publication of this article in September 1999 (although the magazine was officially the October 1st edition), interest in Shenmue had been further fueled with the distribution of the What's Shenmue demo to the public. Regarding the full game, the release date was officially still scheduled for October 28th, although a delay would be announced soon afterwards. The autumn edition of the Tokyo Game Show was to take place September 17th-19th, with a special Shenmue promotion at the Sega booth.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for February 2025

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:

"Weekly AM2: Translation of Next Issues (Vols. 13 & 14)"

The topic selected this time is a continuation of our translations of the official online magazine published by Sega's AM2 team back in the day, the Weekly AM2. This magazine published content about the Shenmue series from December 1999 through to around the release of Shenmue II in 2001, and a link to issues of the Weekly AM2 thereafter became a regular feature of the Shenmue.com website.

This time we will be translating further editions of the Weekly AM2: Volumes 13 & 14, published online on 7th March and 14th March 2000.

Vol. 13 Preview of Shenmue-related content:

• Shenmue Director Okabayashi to Appear on TV
• Hazuki-chan to Appear on an Internet Program!!

Vol. 14 Preview of Shenmue-related content:

• New Content Now Available on Shenmue Passport
• Wallpaper Download
• Submissions Wanted: Shenmue Illustrations & 4-Panel Manga
• Ringtone #3

These editions will be translated in a future post on the blog.

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Weekly AM2 Volume 12 [29th Feb 2000] - Guizhang Chen's Background

In this series we translate Shenmue content from Weekly AM2, the official online magazine published by Sega's AM2 development team back in the day. These pages regularly featured news and information about the Shenmue series from the end of 1999 through to 2001 with the release of Shenmue II.

Shenmue content in Vol. 12 features a developer interview about the character of Guizhang Chen, providing insight into how his character design came about, and even some of his hobbies!

-Switch

 

Vol. 12: 29th Feb. 2000

Hello, it's Takuan!

Did you attend AOU2000*?

The excitement and the crowd were overwhelming.

I've written a report on it, so please check it out.

We have an article that fans of Guizhang from Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka will love.

There are also plenty of other articles that can only be read here, so don't miss this week's Weekly AM2!

Let's get into it!

*Note from Switch: the AOU Show (Amusement machine Operators' Union), was an annual show held in Japan for arcade and amusement machine companies to exhibit their hardware to the public. It  ran from 1986 until 2013. In 2000 it was held at the Makuhari Messe convention center near Tokyo.

This week's contents:

• AOU2000 Report [not translated]
• Insights into the Creation of the Super-Popular Character of Guizhang
• Interview with 18 Wheeler Developer Mr. Goji [not translated]
• Four-Panel Manga Submissions

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