(Part 3/3) Concept Art From the 2022 Shenmue The Animation Promotional Event

Today is Part Three, the final part, of our exploration of the art from Yokosuka City's Shenmue anime celebration! 

Links to the previous parts:

• Part One: Concept Art From the 2022 Shenmue The Animation Promotional Event
• Part Two: Concept Art From the 2022 Shenmue The Animation Promotional Event

Special thanks: thanks again to も_なお Mo_Nao for kindly providing the source photos from the event, to which cropping & straightening has been applied. Be sure to follow her on X (Twitter) at @greed_air for a heap of original Shenmue content!

Hong Kong Locations

"Come Over Guest House, Wan Chai (night)"

"Wan Chai (morning)"

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(Part 2/3) Concept Art From the 2022 Shenmue The Animation Promotional Event

Welcome back to our exploration of Yokosuka City's Shenmue anime celebration! In Part One, we delved into some intriguing concept art and sketches from the game's early days and the anime's creation. 

Now, in Part Two of this mini-series, we'll uncover more captivating art from the streets of Dobuita that were on display during the event.

Let's continue our visual journey through Shenmue's world.

Special thanks to も_なお Mo_Nao for kindly providing her photos taken at the event, to which cropping & straightening has been applied. Be sure to follow her on X (Twitter) at @greed_air for a heap of original Shenmue content!

Hazuki Residence

"At the Hazuki Residence gate"

"At the Hazuki Residence gate (night)"

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(Part 1/3) Concept Art from the 2022 Shenmue The Animation Promotional Event

Concept art displayed at the entrance of the Honey Bee restaurant

In April to June 2022, Yokosuka City ran a promotional event in celebration of the Shenmue's adaption anime form, which was run in collaboration with IGN Japan. There were various activities arranged including give-aways of Shenmue The Animation themed postcards at participating stores and an online gacha-gacha game.

• Related post: Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced
• Related post: Photo Report: Shenmue The Animation Promotion in Yokosuka
• Related post: Yu Suzuki's Visit to Dobuita Street with IGN Japan

During the event, exhibits of concept art and sketches from both the early days of the game's development as well as during the anime's creation were put on display inside a number of stores around the Dobuita Street area.

The event was divided into three periods or "phases" that lasted 3 weeks each. The artwork selection was completely refreshed at the start of each period, rewarding those visitors lucky enough to be able to visit Dobuita St multiple times across the event period.

As only a limited number of fortunate fans would have been able to attend the event in person, we have gathered together as many photos of these art pieces as possible, with adjustments applied for perspective and/or contrast. There was a mixture of sketches and art from Shenmue The Animation, as well as from development of the first Shenmue game.

This first post focuses on images displayed during the Phase One of the event.

Special thanks to も_なお Mo_Naomi (@greed_air on Twitter / X) for providing her photos for the art displayed during Phase Two and Phase Three. The Phase One photos were sourced from my own visit. 

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for September 2023

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:

"Concept Art from the Shenmue The Animation Promotional Event in Dobuita (2022)"

In April to June 2022, Yokosuka City ran a promotional event in celebration of the Shenmue's adaption anime form, which was run in collaboration with IGN Japan.

• Related post: Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced
• Related post: Photo Report: Shenmue The Animation Promotion in Yokosuka
• Related post: Yu Suzuki's Visit to Dobuita Street with IGN Japan

There were various activities arranged including give-aways of Shenmue The Animation themed postcards at participating stores and an online gacha-gacha game.

In addition, there were physical exhibits of concept art and sketches from both the early days of the game's development as well as during the anime's creation, to be found on display inside a number of stores around the Dobuita Street area.

In this post, we will aim to bring together and present as many pieces as possible of the fascinating art that was displayed during this event.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Yu Suzuki's Visit to Dobuita Street with IGN Japan | Video with ENG Subtitles

As part of the Shenmue the Animation promotional celebrations earlier this year, IGN Japan's Esra Krabbe met up with Yu Suzuki in the real Dobuita, in Ryo's hometown of Yokosuka (April 2022). As the original video was made available with Japanese audio only, for this post we have added English subtitles so fans around the world can enjoy hearing the series' founder reminisce about the development of the games and the anime series.

This is the extended version with extra footage compared to the originally-released video. I hope you enjoy hearing Esra and Yu-san's comments as they soak up the atmosphere and interact with various shopkeepers.

In a future post we plan to cover the concept and storyboard art shown in this video, which was displayed in several shops around Dobuita as part of the event, in detail.

A transcript with still images from the video follows after.

This topic was selected by the Phantom River Stone blog patrons via our monthly poll on the Phantom River Stone Patreon and was available for early access. Thank you for your support!

Video

Transcript

<Esra Krabbe & Yu Suzuki greet each other outside the Honey Bee restaurant in Yokosuka>

Krabbe: Hello, Yu-san! Long time no see.

So, this is the the "Honey Bee". In the game the name is Funny Bear. This is the place, isn't it. It was the inspiration, so how about we grab a bite?

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for September 2022

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:

"Yu Suzuki's Dobuita St Visit Video with Esra Krabbe: English Subtitles"

Earlier this year (2022), a promotional campaign was held in Yokosuka to celebrate the Shenmue anime, with a livestream event, guide maps, postcards, merchandise and gacha gacha games.

Yu Suzuki also traveled down to Dobuita to take part in the celebrations, and explored the area with IGN Japan journalist Esra Krabbe. Together they visited several shops in and around Dobuita, chatting with shopkeepers and examining some of the anime art that was on display as part of the promotion.

It is heartwarming to see the creator himself returning to the actual location on which the first game was based, and hear him reminiscing about the creation of Shenmue I and the anime.

As many fans outside of Japan may not be able to follow the Japanese conversations, we'll be working on translating the conversations into English to create subtitles for the video. 

An announcement will follow on the blog once the subtitles are complete!

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Photo Report: Shenmue The Animation Promotion in Yokosuka

For the last two months, a promotion to celebrate the release of Shenmue The Animation has been running in Yokosuka. I went down to check out each of the eight stores participating in the promotion. This post has a selection of photos from the visit.

Four of the participating stores were on Dobuita Street itself:

• Dobuita Station (tourist center)
• MIKASA Vol.2 (Sukajan jacket store)
• Taisho (embroidery & patches)
• KANMANIA Yokosuka (souvenirs & cafe)
• Kakita (military clothing)

While the others were located nearby:

• HONEY BEE restaurant (on Route 16)
• MIKASA Cafe
• Hanamatsu flower shop

Inside each participating store, Shenmue-related artwork and sketches were on display, and they also had Shenmue anime postcards to give away with a purchase of 500 yen. The owners were all very friendly and welcoming to Shenmue fans, and I managed to persuade some of them to strike a pose for the blog photo!

Arrival in Yokosuka

I arrived at Yokosuka-chūo train station, on the Keikyu line, handily located about a 5-minute walk from the Dobuita Street area.

East Gate of Yokosuka-chūo station

The Yokosuka city tourist information center can be found immediately to the left as you exit the East Gate of the station (it has moved in recent times from "THE PRIME" shopping center building). With the newly-updated Shenmue The Animation themed version of the Sacred Spot map, and a leaflet detailing the current campaign, we head in the direction of Dobuita Street.

Left: the cover of the Shenmue Sacred Spot map. Right: a leaflet about the current promotion, known as the "Anime Celebration Project"

Main road near the station

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Famitsu Interview with Yu Suzuki, Masaya Matsukaze & Yu Kiyozono | Shenmue Anime Release Commemoration

Shenmue the Animation commenced online distribution in Japan in weekly episodes from April 2022, and on the TOKYO MX television channel in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area from the beginning of May.

To commemorate the anime's release, Famitsu.com conducted an interview with YS Net's Yu Suzuki, creator of the Shenmue series and supervising director of the anime; Yu Kiyozono, producer of the anime; and Masaya Matsukaze, the voice actor who plays the main character Ryo Hazuki in both the game and animation.

The interview was held on 29th April 2022, on the day of the livestream talk event that was held in Yokosuka. Our translation of the interview starts below.

Yu Suzuki's Supervision Started With the Roof...

This was the first time I had spoken with Suzuki and Kiyozono since our online interview about the announcement of the anime adaptation.

Kiyozono: So we meet at last in real life! [laughs]

Q: Matsukaze-san, how did you hear about the Shenmue animation adaption?

Matsukaze: If I calculate backwards, the anime project must have already been in the works since the production of Shenmue III, but I didn't know about it when I was working on the game.

Thanks to the fans, and the efforts of Yu-san, Shenmue III had been released at last. Just as I was reflecting how lucky I was to be alive, and that it was truly a miracle, I was approached about the anime adaptation. It was well after the project was underway.

Following on from the release of Shenmue III, I was thrilled that the miracle of Shenmue was not over yet! I was thrilled.

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The Shenmue Game Yu Suzuki Wants to Make Next | Excerpts from the Yokosuka Livestream

During the recent livestream talk event to celebrate the release of Shenmue the Animation that was held on location in Yokosuka, Yu Suzuki was asked about his plans or intention for his next Shenmue-related project.

The focus of the livestream was naturally on the anime, but in this post we have transcribed extracts from Yu Suzuki that are pertinent to the topic of the Shenmue video games and any plans for a next Shenmue entry (translations by Switch).

Reflections on Shenmue III

While the focus of the livestream was of course the anime, in the latter half the topic turned to Shenmue III. The MC, Esra Krabbe of IGN Japan, pointed out that, while he had held interviews with Yu Suzuki several times in the period leading up to the game's release, there had not been so much of an opportunity to talk with him about the game in the 3 years after its release.

Yu Suzuki: Through the support of long-time players, the game [Shenmue III] was able to be realized through Kickstarter, and they rated it really highly. That's largely because I put my heart and soul into it with fans in mind, and made it just for them. Their high ratings really gave me a feeling of achievement and I was very happy to see that.

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Shenmue x Yokosuka: Livestream with Yu Suzuki, Yu Kiyozono, Masaya Matsukaze and Esra Krabbe

Tune in 29th April at 6pm JST for a special livestream in which Yu Suzuki and other special guests will be talking about Shenmue The Animation!

Featuring special guests:

• Yu Suzuki (anime executive producer, YS Net)
• Yu Kiyozono (anime producer, Telecom Animation Film)
• Masaya Matsukaze (voice of Ryo Hazuki, Japanese voicing)

and with Esra Krabbe (MC, IGN Japan) as MC.

According to the stream description:

"We have invited some illustrious guests related to the anime series to talk about what makes Shenmue The Animation so appealing, as well as details of the Shenmue ✕ Yokosuka Anime Commemoration Project promotion".

Watch: 

Note: the livestream will be in Japanese, but we plan to provide English subtitles, or a summary, in the near future after the stream has ended.

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Online Gacha Gacha Commences | Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project

Today marks the official start of the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion, with real-life Yokosuka playing host to a number of special activities such as exhibition of anime and game materials at certain shops associated with Shenmue.

Fans around the world can also take part in a virtual capsule toy game, which is now available for play!

Four of the collectable digital scenes that can be obtained from the gacha gacha game

Rules

Players get 20 free turns per day, and the aim is to collect a full set of 20 15 digital stills of scenes from the anime and the game.

Once you have completed the full set, you qualify to enter into a draw to win a physical greeting card.

One entry per person.

Sample of one of the 15 scenes to collect (translations added)

I Should Try It

The gacha gacha game is live now! It can be played from this page.

(Personally, I still need four to complete my set: #8, #10, #11 and #14 but I've run out of turns for today...)

Related post: an overview of what is planned for the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion:

• Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced

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Mirror Pouches | Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project

The Yokosuka City tourism office has announced some new Shenmue merchandise that has been created for the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion which starts officially tomorrow (23 April, 2022).

The items are embroidered drawstring pouches, which come in both Phoenix Mirror and Dragon Mirror designs. The Shenmue logo appears underneath, and the fabric used is special to Yokosuka, being the same material as used for the "Sukajan" jackets.

Size: 250 x 180 x 20 mm

Price: 2,420 yen each (including tax)

Purchase limit: one of each design, per person

The pouches will be available at MIKASA Vol. 2, the Sukajan jacket shop on Dobuita Street. However unfortunately, there are no online sales. But if you have the chance to visit, you won't want to miss checking them out.

MIKASA Vol. 2 information:

• Open daily from 11 am to 6 pm.
• TEL：046-823-0312

Related post: an overview of what is planned for the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion:

• Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced

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Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced

 

Yokosuka City has announced an upcoming promotion running from April through to June, in celebration of the adaption of Shenmue to anime form, in collaboration with the Shenmue Project and IGN Japan. The promotion will feature:

• Updated Sacred Spot Guide Map
• Livestream event with Masaya Matsukaze, Yu Suzuki, Yu Kiyozono, Esra Krabbe (29 April, 2022 at 6pm JST)
• Exhibition of anime and game materials at certain shops associated with Shenmue
• A shopping promotion (postcard collectibles)
• An online gacha gacha with digital downloads
• A gacha gacha on-site in Yokosuka

The promotion will be centered around Dobuita Street in Yokosuka, and will be split into three phases:

Phase One: 23 April to 13 May, 2022

Phase Two: 14 May to 3 June, 2022

Phase Three: 4 June to 26 June. 2022

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