Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for September 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 any accumulated from previous months), the winning topic this time is:

World Guidance Guidebook - Shenmue Staff Developer Survey

Shenmue Chapter One Yokosuka: World Guidance

The World Guidance guidebook was published shortly after Shenmue I's original release in Japan and contains some of the most detailed and complete information about the first game of all the guidebooks published at the time.

As a special feature, at the end it includes an exclusive survey held with Shenmue developers themselves, and while the length of the survey is brief (in the form of a short six-question list), it is sure to give some fascinating insights from those who worked on the project.

The survey is introduced in the guidebook as follows:

Shenmue Staff Survey - 57 People!

The massive development team poured their collective effort into creating Shenmue: Chapter One ~ Yokosuka. To close out this book, we present the real, unfiltered comments from the staff themselves. Of course, this is only a portion of their voices, but it gives you a glimpse into both the hardships and joys of game development. Please read through with anticipation for what’s to come in the next installment. 

 

Note: Except for team leaders, all names are shown as initials, and honorific titles have been omitted.

Survey Questions

1. What do you like about Shenmue?

2. Who is your favorite character, and why?

3. What scene left the deepest impression on you during the game?

4. Are there any hidden “tricks” you secretly included in the game?

5. Do you have any interesting episodes you can share from development?

6. Shout out one thing you'd like to say!

7. Please give a short message for the players.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Hideki Kawabata's Renders, Part 3 - Unused and Future Characters

Welcome to Part Three of our review of the art renders shared by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata (previous parts can be found here: Part One and Part Two).

In today's post, we will finish our coverage of character renders with a selection of some particularly interesting ones, including some who may even be potentially included in upcoming chapters of the story.

Unused Opponent for the S2 Duck Racing Event?

This character render is simply named "Female Martial Artist". She is dressed in a sleeveless red tunic-style dress that features a high collar with decorative fastenings down the chest. A gold hairclip or comb holds back her hair on one side, and she has a green sash around her waist.

"Female Martial Artist" (29 March 2000)

This character was unused in the games, but the text does hold a clue about her development background: part of the description reads "Okabayashi Special-Order Hidden Character".

It is probable that "Okabayashi" refers to Yoshihiro Okabayashi, who managed the Event Planning team responsible for creating in-game events - in fact, he was responsible for secretly creating and including duck racing in Shenmue II if the player follows an intricate set of steps to unlock it.

Okabayashi's name has cropped up elsewhere in past posts too, when it was hinted (many years later) by a fellow project member that he was fond of ponytails on female characters:

"The reason the rejected Izumi Takano appeared in Shenmue II was due to strong campaigning by Mr. O from the Planning team. He is a big fan of ponytails!"

The description indicates that Okabayashi may have made a special request to Kawabata to create a 3D model of a martial artist, with the words "hidden character" suggesting that she was planned as an unlockable character rather than featuring as a main storyline character.

It would seem likely that this female martial artist model was created as a candidate for one of the opponents Ryo needs to fight to access the duck racing in Shenmue II (in the released game, Ryo fights the characters of Izumi Takano and Eileen Edelweiss instead).

Shenmue II: Ryo needs to defeat Eileen in order to access the secret duck racing event

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Hideki Kawabata's Renders, Part 2 - Shenmue I Characters Deep Dive

In this continuation of our review of the renders by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata (if you haven't yet read the introductory post, go here for the overview), we will look at several Shenmue I characters that are of particular interest - as well as some early unused characters.

Former Student of the Yūki Dojo: Masayuki Fukuhara

Fuku-san's character render sheet contains a table of information relating to the model which is similar to the one found on the other characters in the collection. This includes key information such as:

• Character Name:  Fuku-san / Masayuki Fukuhara
• Filename: FUK_M
• Skeleton type for the model: OHS
• Polygon count: 1200
• Fingers sway: Completed - this may refer to a checklist task to ensure finger movement animations are provided for the character
• Swaying objects: Belt - items that require special information, in this case the belt on his gi
• Submission date: 27th October 1998 - approximately one year before the Japan release

Render dated 27th October 1998

Interestingly, we can see written on Fuku-san's gi in the above image the dojo name of "Yūki" (結城), suggesting that even at this somewhat late point in the development process, the renaming of the protagonist from Akira Yūki to Ryo Hazuki had not yet occurred.

Also included in the set of renders is one showing Fuku-san in casual clothes - complete with "Fuk-san" embroidered on the breast of his jacket! The model information specifies that the "skirt" (hem) of his jacket is something that should sway as he moves.

Render dated 20th May 1999

The above image of Fuku-san is the one that was revealed at a live-stream event promoting the release of Shenmue I & II at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2018. The news that Fuku-san had originally been planned as the Mad Angels kidnapping victim came as quite a surprise at the time, followed by an amusing comment from a member of the development team: "When Yu-san saw it, he said, 'No one would want to save this guy!'"

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for August 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 any accumulated from previous months), the winning topic this time is:

Sacred Spot Guide Map - Shenmue The Animation (English Version)

The superb Shenmue Sacred Spot Guide Map is a multi-page tourist pamphlet highlighting locations of interest to Shenmue fans around Yokosuka, created through a collaborative effort between Yokosuka City and SEGA.

The guide map was first released at the end of 2017, impressing fans with its high quality and thoughtful detail.

Original version (Japanese)

An updated version of the map followed in 2018 at the Tokyo Game Show, featuring a new cover and other small changes to commemorate the release of Shenmue I & II.

Shenmue I & II version (Japanese)

The updates didn't stop there - another revision was released in June 2022, themed around the new anime that had premiered earlier that year: Shenmue The Animation.

Shenmue The Animation version (Japanese)

Not only that, but versions were produced in both Japanese and English, catering to a wide range of tourists and fans visiting the area.

The most recent version is the Shenmue The Animation English version, printed some time after the Japanese edition and its existence is perhaps not as widely known.

In this post, we'll summarize the differences between the three versions - along with download links - so you can find them all in one handy place.

Coming soon to the blog!

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An Archive Unearthed: Hideki Kawabata's 3D Renders, Part 1

Earlier in the year, a discovery was made of a stash of online Shenmue content: an archive containing over 120 3D rendered images from the development of the first two Shenmue games. These images were posted on a personal webpage belonging to one of the 3D Character Main Designers for the original titles.

Some of the many newly-found renders

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

How the Website Was Discovered

This year, a large collection of original Shenmue development artworks and design documents was acquired at auction by a small group of dedicated fans. These materials were generously made available to the wider community. While reviewing the contents, one name appeared repeatedly: Hideki Kawabata. Further investigation into his background led to the discovery of a historical page on his personal website - and it is here that an entirely separate treasure trove of 3D character and promotional renders from the Shenmue development era was found.

This series of posts will focus specifically on these images, as posted on Kawabata’s website, rather than the extensive auction-sourced materials housed on the Shenmue Dojo which will be a separate future topic.

The collection on Kawabata's page 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, we will give an overview of what the collection contains, and subsequent posts will take a closer look at some of its most interesting and surprising items.

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Weekly AM2 Volume 14 - Shenmue Theme Ringtone #3 | 14th March 2000

Vol. 14: 14th March 2000

Hello, Takuan here!

Last week, the main image on the Shenmue.com homepage was changed to one featuring Ryo and Guizhang.

When I checked the BBS, I was surprised at the response we had!

Please keep sending in your thoughts and feedback via email or on the BBS.

I’ll keep doing my best, so thank you for your continued support!

This week's contents:

• New Content Coming to Shenmue Passport
• Daytona USA 2 featured on B'z's new album! [not translated]
• White Day Special: Wallpaper Download
• Just Two Days Until Hazuki Ishigaki's Internet Show Appearance!
• Last Chance to Enter! Win Tickets to See Hazuki Ishigaki on Anime Donburi
• Call for Shenmue Illustrations and 4-Panel Comics!
• Ringtone #3: Continent and Sea

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for July 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:

Famitsu.com article: 25th Anniversary Shenmue Reunion with Key Former Developers

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Shenmue's release on the Dreamcast in Japan, Famitsu.com invited several former project members to reminisce over dinner about their experience of working to create the masterpiece that is Shenmue and reflect on the game's legacy.

Left to right: Takeshi Hirai, Eigo Kasahara, Makoto Wada, Keiji Okayasu, Kenji Miyawaki, Takashi Matsuda, Toshiyuki Kurooka

The participants consisted of key members from the original Shenmue development team:

• Eigo Kasahara, who served as Planning Director for Shenmue I and II, and also worked on the Shenmue Passport and the PS4 remaster.
• Makoto Wada, a programmer on Shenmue I and lead programmer on II.
• Takeshi Hirai, the main system programmer on Shenmue I.
• Keiji Okayasu, the Assistant Director on Shenmue I, II, and III.
• Toshiyuki Kurooka, a programmer on Shenmue I, who focused on events around the Hazuki residence & the basement. 
• Takashi Matsuda, a CG designer on Shenmue I and II who created many of the game's NPCs. 
• Kenji Miyawaki, a graphic designer responsible for character designs and UI across the series.

The discussion is full of fun stories and inside jokes, while at the same time revealing just how intense the work environment was at the time, and the immense dedication shown by the development team to bringing the games to life. Not to mention the startling revelation that a PS2 port of Shenmue I was developed internally but never released...

"I didn't go home for two months." - one of the dinner participants.

"This isn't that kind of game!" - Yu Suzuki, upon discovering that the developers had implemented boob jiggle physics.

"We created Yokosuka from scratch in just one year - after the game's announcement (at the Shenmue Premiere)" - Takeshi Hirai.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Weekly AM2 Volume 13 [7th March 2000] - DreamFlyer Announcement

Vol. 13: 7th March 2000

Hello! Recently, I started my second playthrough of Shenmue, and I've been spending most of my time practicing the Elbow Assault move.

I'm actually about to reach the advanced level.

My Ryo's days are filled with endless Elbow Assault practice - and plenty of time spent turning the dial on capsule toy machines. Elbow Assault, capsule toys, Elbow Assault, capsule toys...

I'm sure he'll end up both strong and with a massive collection of capsule toys!

Okay then, let's get started!

This week's contents:

• Shenmue Director Mr. Okayasu's TV Appearance Information
• Chance to Win Tickets to Watch the TBS Radio Show Anime Donburi Recording [not translated]
• DreamFlyer Download Announcement
• Hazuki-chan's Internet Show Appearance Information!
• Virtua Fighter National Tournament Announcement [not translated]
• Special Interview to Celebrate the Release of Virtua Cop 2 for Dreamcast [not translated]

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for June 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:

What's on the Menu in Dobuita: Yamaji Soba Noodles restaurant

Dobuita's many restaurants have been crafted in realistic detail, offering a variety of different cuisine and dishes, despite not being critical to the game's story. We have previously examined the many dishes available at Manpukuken Ramen, and this time will be visiting Yamaji Soba Noodles.

With its calm, traditional interior, Yamaji Soba Noodles provides the perfect place to workers in the district to stop in for a quick lunch or a meal before returning home.

Susumu Aketagawa preparing fresh soba noodles

What particular dishes do they serve here? We'll be checking out what's on offer.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for May 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:

Feature Translation: A Year and a Half Following Shenmue (March 2000)

Not long after the release of Shenmue ~Chapter One: Yokosuka~, the Shenmue Complete Guide, with its distinctive black cover, was published in Japan by SoftBank under the Dreamcast Magazine brand. Included in this guide was a special in-depth feature that looked back on the game’s ambitious development.

In this post, we will be translating the full piece into English. It's a fascinating glimpse into how Yu Suzuki and his AM2 team transformed an experimental RPG prototype into what would become one of the most groundbreaking titles in gaming history.

Across several pages, the article traces the project’s evolution - from its early days as Project Berkley to its eventual release as a new kind of interactive experience, dubbed FREE (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment), reflecting Suzuki’s goal of letting players live the story rather than just read it.

This article captures a rare retrospective on the Shenmue project, written just a few months after the first game's release. While much of it reflects on the development journey, it also looks ahead to what was already underway at the time: the next chapter set in Hong Kong, and beyond that, mainland China. 

Coming soon to the blog!

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Yu Suzuki & Kenji Eno on Shenmue, D2 and Game Development | October 1999 (Famitsu)

In the October 1999 edition of Famitsu DC magazine, an extensive discussion was published between two great figures in the games development industry: Yu Suzuki (SEGA) and Kenji Eno (Warp Inc.), about their much-awaited upcoming titles that would see release in Japan a few months later in December of that same year.

Yu Suzuki and Kenji Eno, 1999

The article starts with the following introduction, suggesting a mix of reactions from gamers at the time: anticipation for the upcoming releases, and frustration at delays:

Shenmue and D2: two titles that have been part of the Dreamcast's lineup since the console's announcement. However, these two games have been continually delayed, much to the disappointment of many. While some devoted fans have waited patiently, the number of frustrated fans has also grown.

These two epic titles have finally begun to reveal their full scope. The timeline for their release has almost firmed up. The more you see and learn about these games, the more you realize that they're not the kind of projects that could be developed in just a year or so. Both of these games employ realistic, cinematic CG that is animated in real-time. Picture ten years from now, for example: it will be clear that these creators are writing a new chapter in the history of games as interactive entertainment, and that these two titles have irreversibly raised the bar for both quality and quantity.

Standing at the brink of history in the making, this is something we should humbly appreciate.

This extensive discussion totals 6 pages - thanks to SkillJim for providing the page scans.

Let's get started!

Yu Suzuki - Profile

Director of Sega Enterprises' Second Software Research and Development Department. A game creator with a large fan base, who made "AM2" (his old department name) common terminology in the industry. He has worked on 3D fighting games like the Virtua Fighter series and has created arcade hits such as Hang-On and Space Harrier. In his private life, he is a guitar enthusiast, with a deep love for his Peavey Eddie Van Halen* model and a collection of large Marshall amplifiers.

* Note from Switch: the Peavey Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang guitar series is a collaboration between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and Hartley Peavey's company, Peavey Electronics manufactured between 1996 and 2004.

Kenji Eno - Profile

CEO of video games development company Warp, with his first hit game being D. Afterwards, he worked on titles like Enemy Zero and Real Sound: Kaze no Regret. Three years ago, he started on D2. Its originally-planned platform, M2*, was canceled, so the project had to be entirely reworked for the Dreamcast. In addition to his duties as CEO, he also took on production, direction, composition, and performance. For D2, he was responsible for all of the music.

* Note from Switch: the Panasonic M2 was a planned video game console platform developed by 3DO and then sold to Panasonic. However plans to release as a console were canceled in 1997 and instead Panasonic released M2 as an Interactive Media player in 1998. 

Kenji Eno passed away at the age of just 42 on February 20, 2013, due to heart failure brought on by hypertension (Wikipedia).

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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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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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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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Examining Shenmue II Storyboards | Design Documents

In the Spring of 2022, a promotional event was held on location in Yokosuka to celebrate the anime adaptation of Shenmue, Shenmue The Animation, which was organized by Yokosuka City in collaboration with SEGA and IGN Japan. Various pieces of concept artwork were exhibited at a number of shops in the area, some being from the anime while others were sketches and illustrations from the time of development of the first two games.

Among the artwork were reproductions of certain storyboards from the game, detailing the camera shots and spoken lines to guide creation of cut scenes in the game. 

The three storyboards exhibited at the event which we will cover in this post are from Shenmue II and are entitled:

1. "Encounter with Joy"
2. "Xiuying's Tears"
3. "Encounter with Shenhua"

We will be looking at these in more detail and translating any written notes and characters' lines, noting differences of interest between the storyboards and the final implementation of the cut scenes in the game.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for January 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:

"Photo shoot: Megumi Yasu as Nozomi Harasaki + Mini Interview [Dreamcast Magazine March 2000]"

The March 2000 editions of Japan's Dreamcast magazine featured cosplay by Megumi Yasu, the voice actress who performed the voice of Nozomi Harasaki in the Japanese version of Shenmue.

Accompanying the Nozomi Harasaki cosplay photos was a brief interview with the actress, which we will also be translating.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Yu Suzuki Special Interview (Biography) - Japanese Air Twister Booklet 2023

Following on from its original worldwide release via Apple Arcade for Apple devices in June 2022, Air Twister was subsequently released for consoles & PC in November of 2023.

Air Twister Special Edition (Japan)

One of the physical editions made available in Japan was a Special Edition that included a number of extras, including the soundtrack on double CD, a square card with Yu Suzuki's signature and a "Special Interview" booklet.

This 50+ page booklet (which can be seen near the bottom right in the image below) contains an extensive interview with Yu Suzuki, in which he talks about not just Air Twister but also his own background in the games industry - with one of the games discussed being Shenmue, of course!

Contents of the Air Twister Special Edition set (Japan)

With the set being for the Japan market, the Special Interview booklet was only in the Japanese language.

Air Twister Collector's Edition (Strictly Limited Games)

For the overseas market, the Air Twister Collector's Edition has been announced by Strictly Limited Games, and is to feature a Yu Suzuki Biography booklet with its own unique cover design.

Yu Suzuki Biography booklet cover (Air Twister Collector's Edition from Strictly Limited Games)

While its exact content has not yet been confirmed, presumably this contains a translation of the Japanese Special Interview booklet.

 

However, as of the release of this post, the Collector's Edition has not yet been released. Originally slated to be released in "Early 2024", at the time of this post in August 2024 it is yet to be seen, with the expected release date given on the official website now reading "2024 (exact date TBC)". A brief product status is provided, although this has remained unchanged since the start of the year:

Product Status - Update:

Production files have been approved by licensor and are now with Platform Owners. Once completed, files will be handed to production.

Interview Translation

To ease the pain of the wait for the Collector's Edition to appear and discover Yu Suzuki's thoughts and anecdotes, we have translated the Japanese interview into English - originally, the intention was to translate excerpts of interest, but we've ended up covering the full interview from the booklet!

Thanks to SkillJim for providing scans of the interview pages.

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